This article is in partnership with Day Translations.

Many digital nomads and remote workers may speak English as a second language or they might be working in a country where English is not the official language or the local people’s native tongue.

Speaking a foreign language comes with many challenges and, because English is widely spoken around the world, the expectations from English language learners sometimes can be quite high.

Let’s explore some of these challenges as well as other related factors of speaking English as a non native person.

1. Accent Anxiety

If you have ever learned a foreign language and you have first travelled to the country where that language is spoken, you may have experienced some anxiety trying to put a complete sentence together. On top of trying to make yourself understood there is also the issue of having the right accent. In fact, some people tend to prejudge and assume an air of superiority simply because a non native speaker has an accent or their accent perhaps is spoken by a different social class. For example, in London an accent that sounds like you have lived in Knightsbridge (a very affluent area) or similar South West area, your own life may get you further in your career than having an East End accent (which is traditionally associated with the working class).

For international students who are completing their studies in English as a foreign language, accent anxiety is a common problem. As explained in a research paper by Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, published in 2022, foreign students may feel insecure about speaking English with other people, preferring to communicate in written form. While being understood when talking is considered an essential element of oral communication, the majority of English learners shared in a questionnaire that sounding like a native was not essential. However, those who believed that sounding like a native speaker was essential, put themselves under added pressure on themselves to refine their pronunciation.

This was more of a personal goal rather than a reaction to other people’s expectations.

Those who felt that other people would judge them based on their pronunciation expressed concerns about how they spoke and had negative feelings about communicating in a different language. These concerns were associated with how others perceive them if their accent didn’t sound like a native’s and with potential risks of misunderstandings.

2. Having the Right Accent Can Give an Advantage in the Workplace

Even though employers cannot discriminate on the basis of accents because of legislation, some forms of micro discrimination can happen informally, such as not asking someone to talk at a meeting and ignoring their contribution to a discussion.

It is difficult to prove that these instances are happening but it has been reported that they have takend place: for example the BBC shared the example of an employee who had been purposedly not invited to Zoom meetings because of their accent.

3. The Positive Side of Accents

For balance, there is also a positive side of having an accent: it can actually bring people together and support communication.

It was reported that imitating someone else’s accent without mocking it actually improves understanding. A study from 2010 looked at how speaking mimicking someone else’s accent allows for better comprehension. For example, the rhythm of certain languages are completely different from English, but if you speak English with a different pace that mirrors the one from a non native speaker, it can lead to fewer misunderstandings. In other words, if you are asking a question you change the way you speak to indicate you are not making a statement but you are expecting an answer.

Sometimes, by simply slowing down your speech if you are a native English speaker can help improve comprehension.

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