1) Thinking about accents, and how I have 3 "foreign" accents and don't speak any language like a "native". When I speak English, I have a Cantonese accent. In Cantonese, I have a North American English accent and in Mandarin I have BOTH a Cantonese and NA English accent.
So my whole life I've struggled with shame about not speaking like a native speaker - anywhere. Today someone on the phone remarked (good naturedly) about my Chinese accent and asked if I was from China. I felt very conflicted because I was born in British-controlled Hong Kong.
It's a mystery why my Cantonese accent is so obvious. I came to Canada when I was 2 years old. Despite serious efforts, I never learned how to pronounce "th". It sounds like "d" or "f" which is very annoying because people get confused when I try to say any number including "3".
I dreaded the beginning of each school year because eventually, my classmates would realize my speech "impediment" and tease me mercilessly. One time, kids in the classroom surrounded me and all stuck their tongues in between their teeth to make exaggerated "THHHHHH!" sounds.
I think partly why I dedicated myself to becoming a better writer was to get back at the bullies. I was often the top of my class in English and the kids started asking me for help with their homework and copying off my spelling quiz sheets. I still had an accent, though.
Then I had to improve my Cantonese and learn Mandarin to pursue my dream of working as a foreign correspondent in Hong Kong + mainland China, and to my dismay, after years of study, I still had a very strong accent that was a mix of both Cantonese and North American English...
It was really irritating when it dawned on me that I *still* wasn't "fluent" in any language. But then one day in Beijing, my Mandarin tutor said something that instantly lifted all my shame:
"Your accent is your heritage. You don't need to get rid of it. It shows who you are."
"Your accent is your heritage. You don't need to get rid of it. It shows who you are."
In Vancouver, I wonder if I encounter racist attitudes more often than Asians without Asian accents.
I wrote about some of these incidents here:
thestar.com/vancouver/2019…
I wrote about some of these incidents here:
thestar.com/vancouver/2019…
It's really not fair since actually, we all speak English with accents. There isn't a "normal" way of speaking since English is not a tonal language. It's just that some accents are considered way more desirable than others. British = generally 3x more intelligent. 🥰
If I can say so myself, I think people like me are great for making the world more connected and closer together. I am not "from" any one region. I'm home in different places and that's lovely, because we all live on one earth. The end. ☺️
Responses like this are making me cry! I'm trying to file a story before deadline haha. Thank you all 💛
😭😭😭😭💪💪💪💪💪
I think so. I only have a mild accent and I dress like a "local" so that is buffer, too.
This sometimes happens to me in Hong Kong too. I would be having a perfectly normal convo in Cantonese with people and then all of a sudden it’s wait a minute you’re not from here? Sometimes it’s genuine curiosity and sometimes it’s snooty/dismissive.
Insert hot pot melting pot analogy 😊 
