I'm planning to begin a nursing career in the fall of 2007 (accl. BSN program) and was wondering about something. I have a STRONG southern accent. I'm not ashamed of it, I love my accent. I had no idea I even had one until I was 16 and while on a trip to California some people let me know. The question I have is could I anticipate any issues or trouble with my accent? Also, and PLEASE be honest, it won't hurt my feelings (much =) but what would your reaction be if you are from a place where southern accents are not common and heard your nurse have a twang to the voice?
I work in the healthcare industry and deal with RNs, Quality Improvement personnel, Administrators, Drug Reps, etc on a daily basis and most of the ladies (99% of the people I work with are female) don't seem to mind. However, I feel like a few are looking down their respective nose at me while I talk. I even had a person who thought they were on mute one time say to a group I was on a conference call with "this guy from KEN-tucky thinks he's going to teach us something". One of those real sarcastic tones. I rolled my eyes and smiled because I knew they were the ones making an a$$ out of themselves.
I'm already somewhat apprehensive about being a guy in this profession and fighting off sterotypes. I had never given much thought to any preconceived notions about my my voice though. Will I have another sterotype to deal with? Honestly, what do you think when you hear a guy (or a lady) with a southern accent? Please don't think we're dumb....
Any feedback or commentary would be greatly appreciated!
I think it would be hard to find someone who would not question another's intelligence, especially an adult, who mispronounces words, speaks with flagrant grammar, etc. That is the real world.
I'd neverassume that someone who does this is less intelligent or even question their intelligence:madface: . Perhaps they have a LD, or some other issue aside from intelligence or education that's preventing them from pronouncing words correctly, or using the wrong grammar in speech. FTR less educated is not the same thing as less intelligent, for i know quite a few people with Ph. D.s that are dumber than a 10 pound box of cow pies.
Sad thing is, i had a feeling this thread would go down this path. :angryfire
I'm a yankee who has lived in the south for about 8 years- and I get a little teased for my northern accent! My son, born and (so far) bred here in the south (he's 6YO), has a great southern accent. Every now and then I need to interrupt him and say:
"Honey, could you repeat that in Yankee so Mommy can understand?"
And then we laugh. I've picked up a little of the southern accent, but it really comes on strong when I'm disciplining my son. (Maybe so he can understand me? hahahaha.)
I think you'll be fine. You'll just need to repeat yourself a couple of times for some people, but it's no big deal. That's pretty much what I have to do down here with my northern accent.
I hope I'm reading this wrong. I really do. Do you mean that other parts of the country give a better education than Southern schools? It's NOT unreasonable to assume that a person with a strong Southern accent is ignorant? In what respects is it reasonable to assume ignorance? Please, do tell.
:angryfire
All points that I, too, wondered about....I also thought it was interesting that the comments came from someone who says they are North Carolinian by birth...and also claims to have been raised here.
Following my father's Naval retirement, we settled in northeastern NC (so I claim to be North Carolinian by default, sort of). I've lived in quite a few states and three countries. I now live in Durham, NC and some of the most IGNORANT (and I differentiate between "ignorant" and "stupid") people I've met are among the "transplants" here in the RTP area. Ignorance is combatable by educating oneself...but occasionaly it seems as though some of these individuals don't want to bother with gathering the facts and settle instead for stereotyping. Trust me - I've seen it; I've seen it here in my OWN OFFICE, and it's disgusting. (If people don't like us, why do they stay here?)
I was in Oklahoma (where I lived for four years) last week and someone there in a restaurant in Shawnee (just outside of OKC) commented on our accents and asked us where we were from...we all had a good laugh about how different a "Southern" accent can be based on where you are. As can a "Northern" accent - I've spent time in Albany, NY, and have met some of the most soft-spoken and FRIENDLIEST people there; it's always hard to believe they're only a few hours from NYC, where everyone's screaming and so many think that because we say "ya'll" and "yes ma'am" and "no thank you" as a matter of rote we must be among the STUPIDEST people on the planet. (As if the prejudice towards us makes them superior in some way... )
Sorry, ya'll - this thread has really gotten my panties in a bunch.... :monkeydance:
Also, jmho, but it is a bit hypocritical of you to say that "anyone who assumes ignorance OR stupidity based on the way someone else speaks REALLY needs to get out more". That is not reality. I think it would be hard to find someone who would not question another's intelligence, especially an adult, who mispronounces words, speaks with flagrant grammar, etc. That is the real world
I'm supposed to accept as "reality in the real world" that someone assumes I'm stupid or ignorant simply because of my accent? I'm really supposed to ACCEPT that?
You're making yourself look prejudicial with this stereotype of Southerners. Truthfully, at the end of the day, I (and many others below the Mason-Dixon) couldn't care any less about what others think of my accent. It's an integral part of my personality. I'm educated. And, no, I don't feel the need to prove it to anyone.
I'd neverassume that someone who does this is less intelligent or even question their intelligence:madface: . Perhaps they have a LD, or some other issue aside from intelligence OR EDUCATION that's preventing them from pronouncing words correctly, or using the wrong grammar in speech.
Sad thing is, i had a feeling this thread would go down this path.:ANGRYFIRE
You are entirely right Marie-- they could have "some other issue aside from intelligence or education" that prevents them from speaking correctly, but that would be the exception, not the rule
, I was really referring to dialect, which can infer ignorance
So does this apply to everyone? Northerners? Cajuns? Texans? Californians? Or does this apply only to Southerners?
but that would be the exception, not the rule
So, it's a RULE now that those you believe to speaking incorrectly are ignorant or stupid? How is this going to play when you're trying to teach your patients?
Am I the only one that feels this attitude has no place in this profession?
I'm still wondering in what respects it's OKAY to assume ignorance. . .regardless of exceptions and rules. Why is it OKAY to assume anything about someone that you likely know little-to-nothing about?
So does this apply to everyone? Northerners? Cajuns? Texans? Californians? Or does this apply only to Southerners?
So, it's a RULE now that those you believe to speaking incorrectly are ignorant or stupid?
Am I the only one that feels this attitude has no place in this profession?
To the first part, applies to anyone with a dialect so heavy and english so broken that it prevents a fellow english-speaker from understanding them.
To the second part, I'm not saying it is a "RULE" in the way that I think you interpreted it. I'm still speaking about the assumptions. And by the way, I do not have an attitude. This is just my impression of the interactions I have witnessed and taken part in.
Try having a Newfie accent! I have been all over Canada and visited the US, South West Texas where my best friend lives. I am very proud of my heritage and my accent.
Everyone that I have encountered did not treat me any differently than anyone else.
The accents here vary region to region. I have a very heavy Southern Shore accent. That would be an Irish accent.
We do as Newfoundland people experience stigma associated with the way we speak and our culture. To each his/her own.
I take care to enunciate and be articulate when I speak in a clear manner
so even though I have an accent everyone can understand what I am saying.
How does someone's dialect infer ignorance or stupidity?
LuvMyGamecocks, you have not thoroughly read my posts. I answered this question before you asked it. Ignorance to English grammatical rules and phoenetics, blah blah blah. I feel like you are on the defensive with me as though I am personally attacking you, someone else from the south. Well, I'm telling you now that I am not, that was never my intention. Ignorance is not limited to any specific region of the country/world, SES-- it exists at all "levels" of human society, everywhere-- you and I both know that...tell me how to better clarify my intentions because I am out of steam.
Also, jmho, but it is a bit hypocritical of you to say that "anyone who assumes ignorance OR stupidity based on the way someone else speaks REALLY needs to get out more". That is not reality. I think it would be hard to find someone who would not question another's intelligence, especially an adult, who mispronounces words, speaks with flagrant grammar, etc.
Pardon me for allowing myself to be baited, but how would you know if that statement is hypocritical on my part, since you have NO idea who I am, and you do NOT know me personally?
I would say that's a bit PRESUMPTIVE on your part.
And it's true - "anyone who assumes ignorance OR stupidity based on the way someone else speaks REALLY needs to get out more".
That is, in fact, reality. I'm sorry you don't see it that way.
I will admit, I may assume (rightly OR wrongly) a difference in EDUCATIONAL LEVEL - but that hardly makes the speaker STUPID or IGNORANT (ignorant of grammar rules, yes, but I believe you "get my meanin'"). A bachelor's degree - or even a high school diploma - hardly incurrs intellegence on the holder. It shows you can keep your behind in a series of seats for four years. And I'll have TWO of them by next December!
Use of vernacular hardly makes one stupid. I've heard Oxford educated Brits who revert to the colloquial "me" as in, "I'm on me way", when they're back at home among family and friends. So you really can't assume anything based on the way a person talks. Yes - there is a time and a place for everything, and colloquialisms should not be used in professional situations - but PLEASE. Unless you pronounce every "g" on the end of every word...
I also doubt that you yourself ever speak with completely correct grammar. I've yet to meet anyone who does. ("Flagrant grammar"? Don't you mean "flagrantly incorrect grammar"? Or "flagrant disregard for correct grammar"? See what I mean? We're all guilty of being HUMAN and IMPERFECT.) I don't believe it if you say you've lived in NC and you DON'T say "ya'll" - which we ALL know is completely screwed up, and we say it ANYWAY. NO - I didn't use it in my interview at Duke University, and I don't use it when I'm addressing a pharmaceutical company representative here at work, but by golly I use it when I walk into the break room to find out what YA'LL are doin' for lunch!!
I've met Bill Clinton in person, when he was the President and I was working a Secret Service detail for him as an Air Force military working dog handler. He's very friendly; he comes across as sincere and interested in people. He shakes people's hands with BOTH his hands and looks you dead in the eye, repeating your name with his "Glad you're here; everything going well for ya'll today?". And actually, his accent IS quite heavy - it's a lovely Arkansas drawl. I don't think he walked into the UN meeting he was in NYC to attend and addressed the delegation with, "How're ya'll doin'?" - but his "down-home" way of addressing us is what makes him a supreme politician and one heck of a diplomat. You couldn't deny the power that seemed to precede him as he descended the stairs of Air Force One that day (five Yankee agents based at the JFK office asked me, "You wanna see something cool? Get Marco and let's go" and took me out to the tarmac), but he was just a normal guy just as screwed up and as human as the rest of us once he hit that red carpet on the tarmac. (Anyone who thinks you can't smell power has never met a President. Once you've seen a Marine lock up and salute as one gets off AF1 right in front of you, you know you've smelled power.) And it was very impressive.
He's a poor kid from Arkansas who made good. A schmuck in some ways, sure, but still....
(I have to digress here - I was thinking, oh my God, that's MY President - that nice guy who just shook all our hands KNOWS THE COMBINATION TO THE NUCLEAR FOOTBALL. He's the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. I was SO proud that day! I'm a sucker for patriotic stuff as it is!)
I now step gracefully off my soapbox....and apologize to MarieLPN for allowing myself to be sucked in (because I know this stuff drives her nuts...)....
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Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN
12,126 Posts
I'd never assume that someone who does this is less intelligent or even question their intelligence:madface: . Perhaps they have a LD, or some other issue aside from intelligence or education that's preventing them from pronouncing words correctly, or using the wrong grammar in speech. FTR less educated is not the same thing as less intelligent, for i know quite a few people with Ph. D.s that are dumber than a 10 pound box of cow pies.
Sad thing is, i had a feeling this thread would go down this path. :angryfire