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Never Be Ashamed of Your Foreign Accent
Do you know what a foreign accent is? It’s a sign of bravery. — Amy Chua
Like many others, I hated my accent.
Growing up in Hong Kong, I studied in a typical school where we used Chinese as the teaching language except for English class. As much as I love English and had seized all the opportunities to practice it, I could hardly talk like a native speaker despite learning the language since three.
Ironically, I only noticed that I have an accent until participating in the public oral examination where I met the international schools’ students who speak perfect English. I was surprised since I never knew anyone around me who could do that; I even thought it was impossible if we are in Hong Kong, living and breathing with Cantonese each day. It turned out my world was way too narrow back then.
That was the moment when I started admiring those people and wanted to be one of them. The first step? I needed to banish my “terrible” accent. I began to find materials to help improve my pronunciation. I went obsessed with learning American English and wanted to sound like the actress in the show. I immersed myself with dramas like Vampire Diaries, Walking Dead, and videos on YouTube for people teaching how to get rid of accent and talk like an American.
