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 work with a nurse from Kentucky with a very thick accent. Here in Florida we have a large population of people from the Northeast Upper mid-west, so people take notice of accents. However, from a nursing standpoint, other than a comment like "where are you from" it really doesn't seem to hinder her.
I confess to picking up on people's accents and trying to guess where they are from, and asking them. Most people with accents different than the locals are used it to and are pleasant about it.
How does someone's dialect infer ignorance or stupidity?
It doesn't.
However, there are prejudiced people in the world that actually judge a person by their accent. People from the North hear a thick Southern accent and make a prejudgement. Just like when some Southerners hear a NY accent, they presume the person rude and pushy.
Accents are accents, nothing more, but people do read things into them that are prejudiced. Maddening isn't it?
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...)....
Hahahah! No, I actually do not say "y'all", at least not anymore. I've compromised-- I say "you all". Better or worse? I don't know.
However, there are prejudiced people in the world that actually judge a person by their accent. People from the North hear a thick Southern accent and make a prejudgement. Just like when some Southerners hear a NY accent, they presume the person rude and pushy.
Accents are accents, nothing more, but people do read things into them that are prejudiced. Maddening isn't it?
I think you got my original meaning across better than I did. I did not intend to offend anyone. I am from the rural foothills of NC and the only way I "escape" heavy regional accents and thick dialect is at school which is in a more educated region in the central part of the state. When I come home after being away for a few months, they are always there to welcome me back and remind me where I am.
Personally when I speak to patients, I do so professionally and at a level they can understand (i.e. not in medical speak).
In my life and even at work I'll say "I'm fixin' to go to lunch now and Julie is watching my patients". "Or good night y'all, have a good night". Let people judge me how they will, I'm not owning any of that into my self-concept because those are not moments I'm making a speech to a Harvard audience. This is who I am. Southern born and bred, I'm not editing my speech for anyone in casual conversation, or changing "y'all" to "you all" to suit someone else. humph. LOL
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.
Two comments. First, there are lots of 'southern' accents. Just like there is a Bah-ston accent and a CHI-cargo accent. In the 'deep' South of plantations (and sadly, slavery) where I was born (Montgomery Ala) people think that 'Mountaineers' are the real dredges of the Southern pot. In the 'real south' one says: Y'all. In the Appalachian South, where I lived for 30yrs and raised my family, one says: You-uns.
Second, all the colors of the rainbow are beautiful and every language in which one can say: "I love you" is a beautiful language.
But the 'deep south' Mississippi (or as I grew us saying: Miss-ippi) and Georgia (Joe-ja) and Alabama dialect? Well, Mark Twain wrote an essay about that accent. He titled it "Southerners Talk Music". Because we grind down the harsh 'Ahrs' and 'Kays' of the English and know how to phrase and slow the cadence of our language for the most poetic sounds.
And btw--my regular speech has been described like this (by a NewEnglander) 'wow, you've really got a mouthful of grits there, doncha buddy?' I almost fell on the floor laughing out loud.
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
WHY would being the exception matter? How could you possibly tell the difference, based on, say, a six-minute encounter?
ETA: What if the ONE PERSON you disregard on any given day IS THAT PERSON?
Two comments. First, there are lots of 'southern' accents. Just like there is a Bah-ston accent and a CHI-cargo accent. In the 'deep' South of plantations (and sadly, slavery) where I was born (Montgomery Ala) people think that 'Mountaineers' are the real dredges of the Southern pot. In the 'real south' one says: Y'all. In the Appalachian South, where I lived for 30yrs and raised my family, one says: You-uns.
Second, all the colors of the rainbow are beautiful and every language in which one can say: "I love you" is a beautiful language.
But the 'deep south' Mississippi (or as I grew us saying: Miss-ippi) and Georgia (Joe-ja) and Alabama dialect? Well, Mark Twain wrote an essay about that accent. He titled it "Southerners Talk Music". Because we grind down the harsh 'Ahrs' and 'Kays' of the English and know how to phrase and slow the cadence of our language for the most poetic sounds.
And btw--my regular speech has been described like this (by a NewEnglander) 'wow, you've really got a mouthful of grits there, doncha buddy?' I almost fell on the floor laughing out loud.
In the 'deep' South of plantations (and sadly, slavery) where I was born (Montgomery Ala) people think that 'Mountaineers' are the real dredges of the Southern pot. In the 'real south' one says: Y'all. In the Appalachian South, where I lived for 30yrs and raised my family, one says: You-uns.
Papaw John
Okay---- yes! And it is also unfortunate because most of the people that I have found myself the most comfortable with upon first introduction have that mountain twang. I'm a place about 1 hr. from hardcore appalachia, but I just wanted to add that around here, we don't even get out the "you-uns". It is simply "y'uns". It can be very endearing.
fair or not, many people judge you the way you look and sound. your accent is more on what they associate it with than your inner beauty. they think you are not smart enough even though you are smart. so, project yourself with power. if you think your life will be better by softening your southern accent, there is nothing wrong practicing new pronunciation while you are taking a bath or cooking. however, if you are satisfied and you are not bothered by the way people are treating you because of your accent, just be yourself.
million years ago, our ancestors had to survive in jungles against bigger animal preditors. they developed tools
( sharp woods and stones used as weapons) in order to compensate for their small body size and inability to move faster than the other wild animals around them. for me, workplace is a modern jungle, we need to continually develop new skills and adapt to the situation in order to enhance our survival change. if softening your accent will help you to focus more on your job rather than what might people perceive you when you speak then it might be another important tool to have.
nothing wrong with your southern accent since one of the posts here mentioned that we all have accent. however, workplace is full of politics that sometimes you need to compromise and sometimes you need to stay tough. ultimately, you are the one who can determine if you need to develop new dialect just for the workplace; otherwise, be content and just try to enjoy your life.
fair or not, many people judge you the way you look and sound. your accent is more on what they associate it with than your inner beauty. they think you are not smart enough even though you are smart.
then perhaps those people just aren't worth it to me to get to know.
A schmuck in some ways, sure, but still.....thumb.gif.09f7460d3e1ff8d6732564d77b5465cb.gif){kind=avatar}
:yeah: 
:lol2:
Tweety, BSN, RN
36,337 Posts
I work with a nurse from Kentucky with a very thick accent. Here in Florida we have a large population of people from the Northeast Upper mid-west, so people take notice of accents. However, from a nursing standpoint, other than a comment like "where are you from" it really doesn't seem to hinder her.
I confess to picking up on people's accents and trying to guess where they are from, and asking them. Most people with accents different than the locals are used it to and are pleasant about it.