I am always faced with the dilemma of whether I should embrace my original accent or continue trying to mimic a particular accent in English. Suffice to say, as a language learner, I can't shake the feeling of satisfaction and pride in acquiring something difficult in the learning process since it's more like passing one milestone after another in a lifelong journey. So, I know that polishing my accent would be the next big deal for me because I'll be in love with the sound of my own voice if I happen to get a better accent. Most of the time, I always doubt my native accent when speaking in English because I gravitate toward the way people will perceive me as a fraud who is trying so hard to be like someone else that I am not. I can't also repress my tendency to impress people if I can speak at a nearly native level in English. In this way, I consider that I will no longer have to be worried about people's views on my accent without a shadow of a doubt. That is the reason why I constantly put pressure on myself that changing accents would be a game-changer for me.
There are always two sides to every story. On the other side, I put every idea of the sounding-like-a-native-speaker phase into perspective. As it may sound cliche but the truth is we already are native speakers of our own languages. When it comes to another language, a lot of us tend to romanticize the idea of sounding like a native speaker as opposed to accepting that we will never be a native speaker of another language unless we are born into that. It's their privilege that the language they are born into is predominating every part of the world, so every information and opportunity is at hand for them to pursue. With that being said, I'm not insisting that this entire process is out of the question that you can't even imagine speaking like more of an American or a British. There are countless people out there, whose accents are incredibly good that no one seems to believe that they are not native English speakers. It's their stories but they don't have to tie in with your personal beliefs over accents or whatever it is.
Our accents flow in our identity. They tell a lot of information about us due to the fact that they are a rich source of the culture where we belong, the background where we came from, and the tribe that we are born into. I see them as cues that help people exchange mutual cultures and social customs despite a myriad of differences in each other. I want to be ready and willing to share if somebody asks something related to my nationality or ethnicity because of my accent. I can't name how many times my curiosity has been sparked when being asked these questions and I often end up digging into the history and general knowledge about my country. This shows no matter how obsessed I become with western culture and the ways they communicate with each other, there is still an inherent amount of attachment to my mother tongue that defines my identity. Now that I've been shifting a lot of energy to the sounds of another language, I also started to notice some aspects of my own native sound; what distinguishes these two languages and what draws a fine line between these two sounds. The bottom line is that both languages are worth embracing so, I don't need to subordinate one language to another for the sake of language diversity and cultural differences.
P.S. The image of this writing belongs to the rightful owner:
I think it is enough to be able to speak well in another language and to work on our accent so as not to be misunderstood. As a native English speaker, I am happy to listen to non-native speakers and accept their accent as part of their identity.
@GrahamEdwards Exactly. I don't wanna cause any miscommunication in any conversation so, that's why I think our accents and pronunciation matter for getting our message across clearly. Thanks for reading and correcting my mistakes!
The first part was already great but the second one is even better. I agree with everything. I also noticed that by learning American accent I started to understand British one and also I can pinpoint the differences between English and my mother tongue. It's also a great fun and satisfaction to be able to imitate others' accents, not only to show off but first of all to pay respect to their culture.
I loved this post, it was very well written and your ideas were greatly developed! I have also had this dilemna, I don't go out of my way to learn accents but I have noticed that my voice sounds different depending on the language becuase each language has its own tonal sounds, rhythm etc but I know I defintely don't sound native, I do find it curious when people try to imply otherwise but I think they are just being nice since for many it is super important.