When I came to Canada forty one years ago, I was confident that I would not have difficulty in communication. I then spoke in English with considerable proficiency. I taught and wrote in English. But I was wrong.
During my first weeks in this country, I had difficulty understanding the native speakers of Englsih. They spoke very fast, “ate” many of the vowels and used figures of speech that were alien to me. Even the signs in the streets baffled me. What is a “crosswalk?” After a while I learned it was the pedestrian lane.
I found that I understood people in offices more than in the mall or shops. I did not realize right away that people I met spoke differently until I became very conscious that this was a very multicultural society I was dealing with.
There was however, a mode of speaking that the then so-called host society used and called it Canadian.
I also felt during those first months that certain people sort of measured my personality by the way I speak. “ Where are you from?. You have a very strong accent.” I took these remarks by the way they were said. Sometimes they were friendly curiosity. Other times they were expressions that looked down, an insinuation that I did not belong. There was one instance when a comment on my accent was made by a fellow countrywoman after I delivered a speech on a gathering. She said it to another “kababayan” who relayed it to me. “ Iyan ba ng ipinagmamalaki mong speaker. Halatang-halata na hindi tagarito, sa kanyang accent.”
I know that I have not lost my accent. It is the effect of a first language that is very phonetic. I am more aware now of the difference between long e as in sheet and short i as in shit. I take care that I do not commit that error. But other than those sounds that make a great difference in meanings I am confident that I can be understood.
Accents can be individual, local or national. In the Philippines, wherein there are twelve languages and one hundred forty-three dialects spoken one can just imagine the differences in accents. Within one language alone, Tagalog, several accents can be identified. There is the Tagalog from Bulacan, different from the Tagalog spoken in Batangas and Quezon. The Pampangos lose the h in the beginnings of words and put them where there is none. There is a joke I remember from childhood when we made fun of the Chinese way of speaking in Tagalog- What are the three kinds of meat? Manok, mamoy, maka.” (manok, baboy, baka).
Children of Filipino parentage born in Canada usually do not have the Filipino accent. So are children of other ethnocultural origins born in this country. The same is true of individuals who came to this country before the age of puberty. They can easily modify their mode of speaking. There are others who came older and have tried to speak with the common accent but had difficulty. They sound very artificial.
There are indeed people in the community who use accent as a tool for discrimination. Some employers consider the manner of speaking as a criterion for some jobs like receptionist or telephone operator. Accent may also be a gauge of one’s position in society. There is what we call the Queen’s English as different from the commoner’s English. Accent can also be used to identify the culture one belongs to. There is the vocabulary of drug users; of the mob group. I read somewhere that when slavery was still an accepted institution, slaves tried to develop an accent of their own so that masters would not know what they are talking about when they had secrets to share.
We should not be ashamed of our accent. It is a part of our culture. When one comments about our accent with a colour of looking down on us, the response we should give is “Yes, I do have an accent. It is because I speak another language. When you speak with people from my country of origin, you will also be considered with an accent”.