Hi, I'm about to interview for med schools and I wondered what you think. I would have asked in the other pre allopathic forum but i don't figure they would know the answer to this. I have a bad brooklyn accent. It's not just the accent but the words, like, "yea, shore, etc". Even when I consciously substitute them with "yes, certainly, of course", I still have an accent. Other brooklyn kids I know have accents from old countries and all and it doesnt sound so bad b/c those arent accents with negative connotations. Others are at different colleges and have been away and don't have the accent so bad. Others just don't have it b/c they live in manhattan beach. What do I do? Is there some way I can get rid of it in 20 days for my first interview or even within 50 days for the next? Any language exercises? Should I just keep practicing with interviews? Anyone ever interview a prospective with something like this? How bad does it come across? Thanks.
Bad Accent a real Problem?
- Thread starter superso
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Not from experience, but I don't think it'll come across any more negatively than a foreign-country accent. It just shows where you're from, that's all...I apparently say some words with a Philly accent, some with a NY accent, and some w/a Boston accent...considering that I haven't lived in the latter 2, I don't know how 😕 ...but I wouldn't worry too much 'bout it 😀
superso said:
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the accent itself isnt a problem, but on any interview, or in a professional situation, you want to project yourself as being educated and well spoken, so just be sure that you do substitute words like yea for yes, use correct grammar, and speak slowly and clearly. if you do all those things, i dont think any that anyone will form and stereotypical connotations. just get yourself into a habbit of having a "work dialect" and a "casual dialect". you'll be fine. good luck with your interviews!
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It really shouldn't hurt you as long as you're polite and speak correctly. Of course it also depends on where you're interviewing and what they are used to hearing. Down here in the South, those NY accents really grate on our nerves, no offense!
fourthyearmed said:
I agree it shouldn't hurt you unless you interview in the south and even here it wouldn't be that big of a deal as long as you were polite and use proper interview etiquette just the same as anywhere else.
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I interviewed for residency at UConn with a panel of 3 attendings (one was from New York). He asked me a question that I still don't know what he asked, but I just looked back at him in confusion and silence. The others on the panel must have recognized the language barrier and they chimed in with other questions. Of course I grew up in Mississippi and couldn't understand them any more than they could understand me.
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superso said:
I wouldn't really worry. If your accent is VERY bad, you can always go work for Dell and answer tech support calls- God knows I can't understand anything they say. Fuggedaboutit.
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i agree that the only way the accent itself might hurt you is if the interview is in the south. although, i don't think it would be a big deal. i know when i went up to the northeast for an interview, i felt like being from a red state in the south cast me in a negative light to some of the other interviewees (a lot of them were from ivy league schools in the northeast) and they kind of treated me like this southern idiot. the actual interview was ok, but i got a real bad feeling about these elitist types and definitely didn't feel at home.
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doc05 said:
What accent is that supposed to be??
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fourthyearmed said:
Nawlins???
The people I know from NYC that went to college elsewhere lost their accents after being immersed with the local people in their new cities. Maybe something you might be say is that your confident that you'll acquire the new accent once you're away from home. Really, though, the thing they're most concerned about is that you're proficient in English and it sounds like you are.
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Here, maybe this will make you feel better about your accent:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/00/10/ericKandel.html
🙂
It's not the accent but what you do with yourself that counts. This guy has a voice right out of the old neighborhood and he laughs like a horse - no offense intended, I just love him and so do his students!
Be yourself and be proud of who you are. People will see you as you are and see the self acceptance and they will also like you for yourself. We have a guy here at our school who sounds like he just stepped out of the roughest Mexican LA neighborhoods and in this all white, homogenous place I love his accent - and him!
👍
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/00/10/ericKandel.html
🙂
It's not the accent but what you do with yourself that counts. This guy has a voice right out of the old neighborhood and he laughs like a horse - no offense intended, I just love him and so do his students!
Be yourself and be proud of who you are. People will see you as you are and see the self acceptance and they will also like you for yourself. We have a guy here at our school who sounds like he just stepped out of the roughest Mexican LA neighborhoods and in this all white, homogenous place I love his accent - and him!
👍
That's cute!Similar threads
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