I read with interest a recent post on Linkedin by Irene Contreras: "I DO have a foreign accent, so what?". Irene is from Venezuela but lives in USA and writes that she told that she had "a strong accent" so she started to "conceal it". She further writes that the results were "catastrophic" and that trying to hide her accent "wasn’t the solution; that became a new problem".
There's no doubt that we all have an accent! In Ireland we can tell which of our 32 counties a person comes from after hearing just one or two sentences - I'm sure it is the same all over the world. Some people are very self conscious about their accent and try to posh it up a bit. Most of us don't bother.
I have been living on the south side (posh me?) since 1986. I was born and raised in South Co Wicklow near the Co Wexford border, and when I hear my own voice in recordings, I always think I sound like somebody who is from South Co Wicklow near the Co Wexford border. Apparently not - my family tell me that I am soooooo South Dublin with my accent! A bit of a mix I guess is what I have.
Many of my YouTube Channel viewers leave comments - mostly asking questions and thanking me for posting the video. I do get some negative comments, and very often these are related to my accent:
- omg your accent is so annoying
- shame about the accent, thumbs up if you agree
- I really hate this guy's accent
- FUCKING ACCENTS!!!
I also get some nice comments on my accent:
- Are you from Ireland? Nice accent
- Came for the content, stayed for the accent
- The accent is everything man
- Thanks! Your accent made this even more fun to listen to
- I really enjoy Eugene's Irish accent. It makes learning fun again :D
You can't please everybody!
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