I recently had the opportunity to interview for a new position in the company that currently employs me. I was relieved to finally get through the screening process. I was very grateful for the opportunity. I was both excited and apprehensive at the same time. I hadn’t interviewed for anything in more than three years and my interview skills are not exactly magnificent.

Then I wondered if my accent is still very pronounced. Sometimes accents pose a communication barrier. I know I have had to rely on Angie sometimes to translate me to other people because the words I’ve said form totally different words and phrases to my listener. Angie is used to me so she can understand me no matter how fast I speak. She also says it is a talent that she has developed. Even when she worked at K-Mart, cashiers would ask her to assist when they received questions from foreign individuals who could and were speaking English but were difficult to understand.

I prefer to convey my message without the aid of a translator or third party so I really wanted to work on losing my accent. There wasn’t enough time before the interview, though. Besides that there were a lot of other things I needed to work on. Trust me. My accent was the least of my worries.

Regardless, accent training is something that I would like to pursue down the road. After all, I’m now an American. I should sound like one. 🙂