Sometimes Taiwanese think speaking English with a Taiwanese accent means your English is not good enough. A very well-known English-teaching YouTuber in Taiwan Ray Du speaks excellent English, but some viewers criticize his Taiwanese accent when speaking English. I personally do not think he speaks with a strong Taiwanese accent, and I like the way he speaks with what it takes as a fluent speaker – great pronunciation, intonation, and a very natural flow, which I realize are the key problems of Taiwanese speaking English, not an accent.
The Fundamentals
Why did I come to this conclusion? Obviously, the foreigners he talks to have zero problems understanding him, and he can always carry on fluent conversations. If you also think language is a tool to generate a conversation and facilitate communication, the fundamentals, such as correct pronunciations, intonation, and comprehensible usage of phrases and collocations, are more crucial than accent.
Take myself for example. I tried to work on my accent and found the more I tried to sound like a native American speaker, the less I could do well on my speaking flow which contains the fundamentals of the language (phrases, collocations, idioms, pronunciations, intonation, etc). I came to realize that I need to build solid bricks before painting them with colors. Therefore, getting my head around English logic by building solid fundamentals becomes my top priority.
In my previous work, I sometimes got phone calls from Europe and India. They all speak English with strong accents of their native languages but that does not affect me understanding them. Yes sometimes I would be confused about certain words they said, but once we got improved in our pronunciations, the conversation got easier. I believe they feel the same way about our English. The most important thing is we respect each other and fully understand that language is a tool to get communication going
I especially like what Dena (Youtuber Hey it’s Dena) shared in a collab video, “Having an American accent, or a native speaking accent, is kind of like makeup. If it helps you become more confident about yourself, then go for it.” I really love the insight. You can work to add it on if you like, and if you don’t think it is necessary, it is totally fine!
Besides that, an American English teacher once told me the most common problem she found in Mandarin students is not accent, but flat intonation. A flat intonation could bore people or somewhat makes people miss the message you’re trying to deliver. Correct pronunciations and natural intonation allow people to get to know you quicker and better. So why not work more on this before worrying about the makeup?:)
Back to the question — does accent matter? I believe the answer is yes and no! It does matter if you feel more confident speaking with a native accent, and it does NOT if you can communicate without difficulties.
Sources:
Ray Du English
Hey It’s Dena
Hey It’s Dena & Chen Lily collab video
