Trouble c accents at work?

Nurses General Nursing

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I have a really hard time with language accents be it either foreign or regional dialects. I had an altercation with a house supervisor the other day who accused me of not listening when I did not understand her and asked if she could repeat what she said. When I explained I have a hard time with accents she became very offended and further accused me saying "you just do not listen and I do not have an accent!" Well, she DOES have an accent and a strong one and I barely understand half of what she says. This supervisor continued to berrate me accusing me of not listening and I literally had to walk away from her because she was being so innappropriate. Most of the NAR's also have a strong accent and I have a hard time understanding them. This is starting to feel like a problem. I think the supervisor took it as a racial issue and this I do not understand - I had the same problem when in Ireland last year and again when in New Orleans several years ago. Anyone have any input to share?

you mean they were raised/grew up in africa? reared sort of makes them sound like animals. no offense meant.

actually "reared" is proper terminology too. "i was reared in (insert place)" is very proper.

i took the test again, this time not quite so literal in my answers. it still put me in the midlands, including pa. my dad lived in pa as a boy, but i never have. i've been in ca since i was 13, international before that.

oh, didn't know that. sorry.

Specializes in NICU, PICU, MNICU.
I'm originally from California and moved to Texas last year. I am constantly being asked this question: "Where are you from?"

People never have any problems whatsoever with comprehending what I say because I speak proper English. I personally think I am asked the annoying question because I'm an African-American female who speaks standard English. The majority of the black people around here speak English using African-American English Vernacular or a deep Texas drawl.

To the original poster: it is tremendously annoying for an individual to be told that (s)he has an accent. I can see why your house supervisor became offended.

I also lived in the Dallas area for quite some time, but spent my childhood in Illinois. I was always asked where I was from because my vowels were "different". And I am caucasian. I think it has more to do with the Texas-centric attitude than anything else. I worked with plenty of African-Americans in Dallas who didn't have the above-mentioned "African-American English Vernacular" or a "deep Texas drawl.

At one point in college, I used to be able to pinpoint the Texas accent, as there are variations between East Texas, Dallas area, San Antonio, and Houston. Can't do that anymore!

As someone else has mentioned, EVERYONE speaks with an accent. It's only noticable if you are around people with different accents. And as health care practitioners we should all be as clear as possible when we speak.

An aside, I had a friend in college who was almost totally deaf, but who had a hearing aid which helped and was spectacular at reading lips. Many people didn't know she had a hearing problem but they often asked where she was from as she had an unusual "accent" :cool:

Specializes in NICU, PICU, MNICU.
http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have

this is a cute quiz that will tell you which American "accent" you have, based on the regions of the US. It was accurate for me. I live in the midwest and reading the quiz I could picture different areas I have friends from and seeing THEM saying the words.

I love this quiz! Pinpointed me exactly, as I'm a "Midlander", which explains why all my Midwestern colleagues keep telling me I don't sound like I'm from Texas ;)

Gave the quiz to my husband.... pegged my Texas boy as a Northerner! But he explained that he had a sixth grade teacher that drilled them on pronunciation (particularly pen and pin which is sometimes the same in Texas!)

Specializes in Med/Surg.

The quiz says I'm "Midland" and therefore don't really have an accent. I thought as much, though I grew up in Oklahoma and I do know people "back home" who sound fairly southern/western.

As far as nurses with accents, we had a really hard time when my mom had surgery a couple of years ago. Her nurse had a strong middle-Eastern accent. (this was the same nurse who wouldn't do anything about the IV even though Mom's arm had puffed up -- what should she have done?)

Mom couldn't understand her at all. I did better, so when I was there I could translate. (and my parents always thought I was just whining when I said I couldn't understand my professors in college!) Having grown up in a small town with very little diversity, it was quite difficult making that adjustment.

Now, I work with people all over the world and while I still struggle at times I find it surprisingly easy and enjoy conversing with people from many cultures.

lol I usually ask them to repeat themselves at a slower pace, and I move in way closer, and turn my head so my ear is in front of them. Usually helps lolz, if it doesn't, I usually crack up.:smiletea2:

hey,

i still have my german accent (been here two years now but can't help it ;-)) and i find that i have to repeat myself alot, especially when i attempt to say any word that has an "r" in it ;-) i just cannot pronounce this letter in american english. oh well. i guess theres nothing wrong with sounding like a toddler when you're 26.... :-)

but i have to admit, i myself have a very hard time understanding people with different accents- wether its foreigners or just people from southern us states. so i really dont get offended when people don't understand me, i know what its like.

the funny thing is- i just took that test http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_america...nt_do_you_have and it put me right here in the midwest, where i live. i guess pretty soon i'm gonna start cooking "hotdish" and considering any temp above 0 "mild" ;-)

Specializes in Psych, Med/Surg, LTC.

I am from PA and have a Boston accent according to the quiz. Where I work, most of the doctors are from India. They all speak excellent american english, but they have a heavy accent. I can make out the accent, but they talk SO FAST that I have such a hard time understanding them, especially on the phone. I sound so stupid, when I ask them to repeat themselves several times. Especially over the phone. The one doc must think I am an idiot. I did not understand his t/o due to him talking so fast, so I asked him to repeat himself for the 4th time. There were several orders he said, and I guess he thought I didn't know what they were. He started explaining what each set of labs were. I felt bad that he thought I was stupid! I did not want to offend him by saying I couldn't understand him, but I really don't think it is the greatest thing for him to think I am stupid, either!

Specializes in Psychiatric.

I like that quiz too...it pegged me dead on as having a Southern accent, and I have a THICK one...I was perfectly understandable in my native Alabama, but I moved to Oregon last year and usually 2-3 words into a conversation, the other person will say something like 'Wow, where are you from, Texas?' (I always fake offense and say 'Can't you hear that I'm from Alabama? lol) I think it's funny and my coworkers are always asking me to say words for them, and the doctors love it too, for some reason (and one coworker always just gets so cracked up when I say 'My Daddy')...but it's okay with me...they sound funny to me too! lol;)

(btw, anyone from the South knows that we all sound different...people from Georgia talk different from those of us from Alabama, and we in Alabama talk differently from Texas, and so on! lol):lol2:

Specializes in Med/Surg.
the funny thing is- i just took that test http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_america...nt_do_you_have and it put me right here in the midwest, where i live. i guess pretty soon i'm gonna start cooking "hotdish" and considering any temp above 0 "mild" ;-)

what's hotdish?

(and i know what you mean about the temp... i still can't get used to it. always thought "comfortable" was anywhere between... oh... 50 and 100. !

Specializes in ICU, nutrition.

That quiz pegged me as a southerner, and rightly so, although my accent is such a weird blend of Appalachian mountain, Arkie and Cajun that no one else sounds like me. I love hearing people guess where I'm from (they're usually wrong!) Anyway, I use "Can you slow that down for my Arkansas ears?" for those folks that speak way too fast for me to understand. That was a huge problem for me in south Louisiana (those Cajuns speak FAST!!), not as bad in the midwest.

People do expect that I'm an idiot when they hear me talk. I try not to prove them right!!

Konni

Specializes in Neuro ICU, Neuro/Trauma stepdown.
IWhere I work, most of the doctors are from India. They all speak excellent american english, but they have a heavy accent. I can make out the accent, but they talk SO FAST that I have such a hard time understanding them, especially on the phone.

And the last names? Forget about it. The names are not familiar american names, so I cant predict what name they are getting at when I can't even make out the letters they are saying. This is the hardest part, because when it comes to pt care stuff, I pretty much know what they are going to say, or what they are getting at. Most of the docs I'm talking to are residents on different services that rotate. And I always feel either dumb, or like I'm hurting someones feelings by not understanding. One day. Two residents show up, and stay awhile. The american lady ended up playing interpreter and I was getting embarrassed.

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