My friend who lives in Canada once told me that when I moved there, I would need to speak slower to make sure people could understand me. This is because Nigerians usually speak English faster.
I didn’t pay much attention to her advice because I was certain it didn’t apply to me. It’s funny how confident we can be sometimes, or maybe it’s just being a bit arrogant?
However, shortly after I moved, I discovered that some Canadians had trouble understanding me when I spoke English because of my Nigerian accent. This was difficult to accept.
Allow me to provide some clarification on why this was upsetting.
I was born and raised in Nigeria, as you may have already figured out. While growing up, I only spoke English. By the way, I have some understanding of Yoruba and Hausa, but I’m not fluent in either. In a nutshell, English is the only language I’m really good at.
So, when I found out in Canada that people didn’t understand me well because of my accent, it made me really frustrated. It made things worse that I tend to talk faster when I’m excited or nervous. And it’s not fair that I can understand Canadians perfectly fine, but they can’t understand me. This just feels really wrong to me.
Some Nigerians I know have found a solution to this problem by speaking with a Canadian accent. The idea is that you can better communicate with someone if you speak in a similar way as they do.
My concern is, do I need to change my accent whenever I visit another country? For example, if I travel to Australia, should I then adopt an Australian way of speaking? Or imitate the British way of speaking when in the United Kingdom?
In my opinion, I think that the way we speak shows where we come from.
Trevor Noah, in his “Don’t Lose Your Accent / Learning Accents” joke on YouTube, said
An accent is just somebody speaking your language, with the rules of theirs.
My way of speaking is a significant aspect of who I am. It acts as an unmistakable sign, proudly showing my cherished home country, Nigeria. The core of my identity resides in these subtle variations in language that effortlessly come out when I talk.
So, here’s the deal – I’ve made up my mind to speak a little more slowly and enunciate my words like a true professional. But I’m not giving up my awesome Nigerian accent. After all, a little spice never hurt anyone!
One thing I’ve learned from this experience is that it’s important to be more patient when someone speaks English with an accent. Having an accent does not indicate a person’s intelligence level.
I’ll close out with this succinct comment by @Slackster75 to Trevor Noah’s joke on accents:
Don’t make fun of somebody with an accent, they speak one more language than you do.
Alrighty then! Picture this: You’re in my shoes, what would you do? Stick with your unique accent or just let it fly out the window like a mischievous bird?
Share your thoughts or experience in the comments! Much obliged!
