British accent: a handicap?

Question

Can anyone shed any light on the difficulties I might face teaching English in South Korea and being British. I hear horror stories of schools replacing British teachers for Amercan ones as students had complained; moreover, I don't particulary want to have a handicap. I would like to have the possibility of finding a job relevent to my qualifications and experience, not my accent. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Can anyone shed any light on the difficulties I might face teaching English in South Korea and being British. I ... of finding a job relevent to my qualifications and experience, not my accent. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.[/nq]
Tell your local employers (and students) you lived in the US for many years and how everyone always remarks on your cultured New England tones. They won't know the difference but won't want to admit it. Or look at a job in one of the many countries (admittedly away from the Far East) where the prejudice goes the other way.
Is this that 'best kept secret in Asia' ad in the Graun?

DC

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Can anyone shed any light on the difficulties I might face teaching English in South Korea and being British. I ... of finding a job relevent to my qualifications and experience, not my accent. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.[/nq]
It's quite strange what ideas people have about British and American accents. Here in Germany many people regard an American accent as being sub-standard - although I was replaced once as the teacher of a course at a computer company by an American with no teaching qualifications just because of his accent (but that had something to do with the prejudice of the manager who had learned his English in the States - and the untrained teacher was considerably cheaper than me)!

I'm sorry I can't offer you any advice here. But a fake American accent would probably be worse than your existing one.
Good luck.
Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

Usenet · Answer

Students and employers should be reminded that people with English and American accents understand each other without difficulty, which implies that the differences in accent between them are quite small. A student learning English needs to be able to do the same thing, and so he needs exposure to both accents. Which accent he choses to learn is a separate issue, but unless he's already a very advanced student, his own foreign accent will mask any American or British pronunciation features he may have learned.
It has been remarked to me that students who like the U.S. will claim that the American accent is easier to learn and understand; students who like the U.K. will claim that the British accent is easier to learn and understand.
Also, if employers or students are going to be that picky, then one must ask them which American accent or British accent they prefer especially in the latter case, since British has several accents of nearly equal prestige. For American, the General American English spoken by the bulk of North America is the usual choice (and that's what's usually available as well, since most Americans and Canadians speak it).
I would have some reservations about teachers with very strong and exceptional regional accents, such as cockney or a strong Deep South accent. Not too much of a problem for beginners, perhaps, but it would rapidly become one as they advance. In these exceptional cases, perhaps the teacher should consider learning a more standard pronunciation (it's easier for him than it would be for students).

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British accent: a handicap?

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