Korean Job Discussion Forums

[missty]

I should start by stating that I am from England, and have a very standard British accent.

So, today I had to pre-record the listening test for the new students at my High School. My co-teacher asked me if instead of recording it in my own British accent, whether I could speak with an 'American' accent.

After the initial few moments of digesting this suggestion, I tried to 'politely' say no to her. My co-teacher was concerned however that the new students wouldn't know what I saying. I was more concerned that the new students would either find my 'American' accent so hysterical that they couldn't concentrate on their test, or just that they couldn't understand my 'attempt' at an American accent to begin with.

I am terrible at accents anyway, I come from just near Bristol and can't even do the Bristolian accent very well (although I am not too sure that this is a bad thing).

So there were a few minutes back and forth of: 'no, I'd be terrible' to: 'oh but at least try', to: 'no, America rules the world.' (In my defense it was the first thing I could think of to get her to stop asking, and it worked - the Brits won through in the end).

So my question is this: Is a British accent that difficult to understand for Korean students? And if it is then why do they bother hiring people from other countries in the first place? I'm not going to speak fake American for the whole time I am in the classroom, so the kids might as well get used to it. Plus they wanted to make the test hard so that the new kids would know that they meant business. What better way of freaking them out than by speaking like the Queen, - wouldn't one agree?

[sobriquet]

[Slaps]

[gangpae]

[Kwangjuchicken]

[wylies99]

OP, I've heard PLENTY of Americans, teaching in Korea, say the same thing- that they've been told that they have an "accent."
Well, sometimes "accent" is used as an excuse to tell a foreign teacher that Koreans, especially incompetent Korean teachers, don't understand what you're saying. Also this happens because the previous foreign teacher did a bad job with speaking and correcting Korean teachers and students.
My advice? If you think you're doing a good job, then just continue to do a good job. Just don't believe everything you're told and don't make this into an "England vs. the USA" thing.

[Ramen]

Huh?

[fromtheuk]

Trust me OP, some Koreans really don't have a clue.

They don't realize British English is the original version and therefore the best.

Because they see America as top of the pops, they automatically assume their version of English is the best.

Just bite your tongue and patronize them. They are so ignorant they don't even know most intelligent Americans are dieing to sound English.

And before I'm labelled intolerant, I'm of Pakistani descent, so it makes no difference to me anyway. But the truth must be told!

[berrieh]

Why can't you Brits speak English properly like us Americans?

(Kidding!)

I'm terribly glad that there's at least somewhere, in some venue (besides blowing things up---something we seem to excel at needlessly), no matter how silly, where Americans still reign supreme. So what if our modern day Rome is burning, Koreans prefer our accents!

At any rate, thank you for making me smile. I've never understood the issue with accents, but I've grown up in the melting pot of the melting pot, so every 2nd person here has some sort of weird accent-Columbian, British, Indian, Chinese, Southern(American), whatever.

I find it amusing when people say "American" accent as though there's 1. I know they mean "TV English," but surely you must be easier to understand than an American Southerner or someone from Brooklyn!

[elavndrc]

Even for some Americans the British accent is hard to understand....at least for me anyways... usually depends on the person speaking but I do have to use a bit more effort.

[fromtheuk]

But the point is they don't reign supreme, in the eyes of Koreans they do, precisely because they have no idea about what quality English is.

If they knew something about the language, they'd prefer the British version.

I think the popularity of American English, regardless of it's actual worth is pathetic.

I always speak with a British accent and correct my students when they use American pronunciation.

[Jeff's Cigarettes]

There are very few pronunciation features of any American dialect that didn't come from somewhere in the present-day UK or Ireland, so most aspects of American speech that sound British, Scottish or Irish have been in the US for centuries.

[missty]

[Privateer]

[fromtheuk]

The only problem I've encountered is when you say some words in class with British pronunciation, because the students are only familiar with American English they actually think you don't know English!

My scumbag co-teacher tried to correct my pronunciation of some words i.e. changing it to American pronunciation.

I explained to her there are various ways of pronouncing specific words, and some of them are British and some of them are American.

If it's not American, Koreans think it is wrong. This is what I mean about their lack of appreciation of the language. If they understood English, they'd appreciate the British version far more.

I'm not saying it from any nationalistic viewpoint, just based on merit.