Today, I didn't get a part-time job as a German teacher because of my strong accent, as it was explained in a rejection message.
That was my first job interview for this role, and I didn't even speak German during the interview; it was hold in Russian.
After the interview, I recorded a short 2-minute video, which revealed my accent.
I cried. I was literally reduced to tears because German means everything to me. I've been speaking German for as long as I can remember.
Finding out that they find me not good enough to teach is like a stab in the heart.
I am so passionate about teaching, I adore German, Germany, foreign languages...
I cried while walking to the kindergarden to pick up my son and couldn't even speak or listen to him. What a sorry sight! It looks like I need to do something with my nervous system.
Now, two hours later, I've pulled myself together, but I still can't make conclusions and plan my next steps. Is my accent really so strong? Or were it my general face expression and behaviour, not friendly and happy enough for somebody applying for a teacher's role - I didn't smile, for example, and looked reserved. Did I really want to get that job?
Do I have to start working on my accent and hire an overpriced accent coach?
Is my English accent as bad as my German, or even worse? What if I have general pronunciation problems because of my deep bite and tonsils (sorry for these health details).
Sorry for bombarding you with all these questions.
No good day for Bananafish.
cover photo is mine
Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry you had such a tough experience 🥹 But "every dark cloud has a silver lining," and at least now you know what you need to work on. I speak fluent German and would be more than happy to have a Zoom session with you and evaluate your accent and maybe help you with the sounds. And obviously I can also help with English. I'm working with Norbs on his English accent and it's going really well. Let me know if I can help. I'm also on Telegram если что))
@CocoPop thanks for comforting words and useful editing as usual. I have some sort of отходняк (a post-interview hangover) now :)) Good to know that you're on Telegram. I won't disturb you though, I remember you're busy with a book translation. Someday, I hope to come here with a cool fiction story filled with lots of idioms, instead of all this (= а не вот это вот всё!)
For what it's worth, I finished the book two days ago. So the offer stands whenever or if ever you feel up for it. Don't be sad! When God closes one door, He opens another 😉
@CocoPop 🙏🤝 For what it's worth - that was an absolutely new phrase to me
*for me 😉
Some people commented on my accent, that it is strong/ difficult! One of them was a friend who said that she hardly could understand anything I said and that maybe I should learn the American accent. I tried to laugh it off and told her I wouldn't change my unique accent which made me special. :)
I think this could be a topic for one of my next posts here. Cheer up!
@Double-Zee Thanks for sharing! Personally, I don't mind people having accents. Some of them (accents) sound even sexy :))