Your Foreign Accent ≠ Your Identity

Your foreign accent is not part of your identity.

There. I said it.

If you don't peruse Reddit accent forums (highly recommend against it) or social media comments on accent videos in general (also recommend against it)...

You may or may not be surprised to hear that whenever people bring up the concept of "accent reduction" or "accent modification", some people get mad.

Why?

Because to them, their accent feels like it's part of their identity.

It feels like they're being told to change themselves. In order to fit into something that's being forced on them.

Completely understandable ... if you operate under the assumption that your accent is something you're born with. That being German / Russian / Chinese / Mexican / Nigerian / etc. somehow means you must have this accent.

It would make sense then that you would think changing this accent changes who you are as a person. That somehow you're less German / Russian / Chinese / Mexican / Nigerian / etc.

I've heard people say this before: "I'm proud of my heritage and my ancestors. I don't want to change my accent."

If that's how you feel, that's totally fine. Really!

That being said, I think your heritage and ancestors have zero to do with your accent. In my opinion, you're not any less you whether you have a foreign accent or not.

I certainly didn't feel any less German or Czech after changing my own accent.

Why do I think that?

Because when I work with my clients (and it was the same case for myself), it's very clear that the accent is a result of lack of knowledge. Not of a specific cultural background.

Sure, the language you grew up speaking will have influence on what your tongue and jaw are currently used to.

But the reason you have a strong accent is not because you have a German / Russian / Chinese / Mexican / Nigerian / etc. passport.

Again, it simply comes down to lack of knowledge. Our teachers growing up taught us what they knew. Grammar and vocabulary. At least my teachers taught us nothing about pronunciation. And they all had accents as well.

They never knew what I learned at acting school. About phonetic symbols, proper sound mechanics, stress, linking, intonation.

And they didn't need to. Their concern was to help you speak English. To speak it well enough that you could read, write and hold a conversation. In short, their goal was to help you overcome the language barrier.

But this is why you have a strong foreign accent.

Because you just don't know any better. And you've been operating this way for a long time. So whatever your current habits are, they're very ingrained.

And, honestly, I think this is why people resort to thinking their accents are part of their identity. In my opinion, it's a cop out.

People know (at least subconsciously) just how strong their current habits are. They know that actually changing the accent is hard. It's not like ordering off Amazon Prime. You have to put in the work.

Most people, in truth, don't think it's even possible.

So if somebody says "you can change your accent", they get triggered. They rationalize their lack of action with "my accent is part of who I am".

That’s like saying being bad at math is part of your identity. It’s not—it just means no one taught you properly, or you didn’t get enough practice.

Changing your accent (or "reducing" your accent) is the same. It's a skill.

Now, to be clear. I'm not saying every non-native speaker must reduce their accent.

If you're fine with how you sound and speak, that's fine by me. No skin off my back.

However, if you're anything like I was when I came to the US in 2014, you are tired of:

• having to repeat yourself and being unclear

• not feeling confident when you speak English

• not being able to communicate the same way in English as you can in your native language

• feeling socially isolated as a result (like you're muting your personality)

To me, a strong foreign accent that does these things to you is like a barrier. I mentioned the language barrier earlier.

This is what I call the accent barrier.

And this is exactly what I help my clients overcome so they can speak with the same confidence & authenticity as in your native language(s).

Note: I made a distinction that's important. I said that foreign accents are not part of our identity or our culture. If you are a native speaker, that's different in my opinion.

When a native speaker has an accent—say, a Southern drawl or a Boston accent—that is part of their identity. It reflects where they grew up, their culture, sometimes even their social class.

But us? When we learned English, we weren’t absorbing culture. We were copying a teacher. Usually one who wasn’t a native speaker either.

It's not cultural. It's not heritage. It's lack of knowledge.

So again.

Your strong foreign accent ≠ your identity

What is part of your identity? Your story. Your values. Your voice.

And in my experience, a strong foreign accent often hides that. It creates misunderstandings, makes people underestimate you, or makes you hesitant to speak up. Changing your accent doesn’t change who you are.

It finally lets people see and hear who you are.

All right. Rant over, I promise.

This one felt important because it's a limiting belief I see all the time. Most of the time, when clients reach out to me, they're already past this belief.

If you were on the fence, I hope this helped.

PS - If you read this, odds are you're at the beginning of your accent change journey and you don't know where to start. I'm currently offering free accent assessments (Value $200). All you have to do to book one is fill out a 3min application to make sure we're a good fit.