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In This Episode

Think there’s only one “correct” way to speak a language? In this episode, we bust the myth of the perfect accent - and help you claim your own voice. Lisa and Rebecca also tackle the cultural baggage around pronunciation and representation. This week’s shoutout? Language content creator @ProfWoodyMrFord, whose videos bring clarity and joy to language learners everywhere.

Key insights in this episode

• Why accent snobbery needs to go
  
• The difference between a "native" accent and a "legitimate" accent
  
• Why sounding like yourself in another language is not only okay - it’s essential
  
• How accents are deeply personal, socially shaped, and always evolving
  
• Rebecca shares her “Give Yourself Another Hat” mindset reset for learners

Your Joy Builder: the takeaway

The Joy Builder of this episode is your satisfaction builder. To answer the question “But how do I know which accent is the “right” accent?” The main answer is: If you are earnestly trying to sound intelligible, you’re still allowed to sound like yourself. You’re allowed to use your voice, your vocal cords, your tongue, your teeth, your lips to make the sounds you can make. When learning a new language, you can’t start by deleting all your language history since birth so that your brain is a completely clean slate.  You’re allowed to have YOUR English accent and YOUR French accent and so on. We don’t mean it’s ok to play up an accent in an offensive way, we mean that as an earnest student of a language, it is OK to sound like yourself while speaking it. So aim for the accent that works best for you, try your best, but in the end, go easy on yourself. People shouldn’t be such extreme accent snobs that others get turned off of learning new languages.

Links

• Episode 4 is brought to you by Flodesk
• Theme music is provided by Milk Fangs
• Our Oh La La shout-out was @ProfWoodyMrFord
• Share your thoughts and language-learning journey with us on social media: continue the conversation by connecting on LinkedIn, BlueSky, Instagram, or Pinterest
• Watch the vlog on YouTube
• Sign up for materials and resources we've created just for you!

Reminders and acknowledgements

If you're found value in this episode and you haven't already subscribed make sure you tap that button to keep on breaking new ground in your language learning. Please take a moment to review the show on your podcast app, or to send this episode to someone you think could use it: It all helps us continue to build a safe-space for the fluent and Fluent•ish that is free of snobbery and filled with joy!

Fluent•ish the Podcast is brought to you by Little Crab Educational Press. Thank you to the language learning communities on BlueSky, Reddit, and Instagram for sharing openly about the struggles that people have to overcome to persevere in the pursuit of becoming fluent (or fluentish) in an additional language. Remember to Subscribe, Rate, Review, and Share from wherever you get this podcast.

Fluent•ish the Podcast is recorded remotely (most of the time) between Victoria and Vancouver which sit in the unceded traditional territories of several Coast Salish nations, across which we are grateful to live and work.