You have an accent, too.

I can’t remember if this happened in 2019 or 2020. I was job hunting back then, and then I came across a job posting that caught my eye. It said in the description, “No accent when speaking English.”

It wasn’t the exact words written there, but that was the idea.

I was interested in the job. Or I think I was desperate for a job. Either way, I wanted to send an application, but a video recording was required. I needed to record my speaking because they wanted to know if I had “no accent.”

That put me off because, firstly, it wasn’t a speaking-based job. It was a writer position. But still, I was curious about what having “no accent” sounds like, so I tried speaking with no accent — a monotonous voice.

I recorded myself and was planning to send the file to the employer. But I wasn’t sure if I had no accent at that time. What is “no accent” anyway? I just moved on because there are other fish in the sea.

That was an American company, and I am a non-native English speaker who has been in the Philippines since I was born in 1996.

Some Americans may not be aware of this because, of course, the tone of their voice as well as that of the people they encounter in their daily lives sound normal. “No accent.”

But from our perspective, Americans have an accent.

So if they want “no accent” when speaking English, it confuses us: Do they want us to sound lifeless, or do they want us to speak with an American accent because that is what sounds “no accent” to them?

Personally, if it is the latter, I will feel conflicted because the American accent is an accent from my perspective. If I speak like an American, then that is not a “no accent” to me. That is, indeed, the American accent.

I am not sure if my natural way of speaking sounds “no accent” to others. It sounds “no accent” to me, but some people may think that I sound ugly. Not offended because maybe I also think that they sound ugly.

And I really do think that some people sound ugly.

Regardless of whether the accent sounds good or bad, I think it is part of one’s identity and thus must be accepted — at least in situations where it doesn’t matter, like a writing job. *shrugs*

If you are curious about my “accent” (there are too many “accents” in this post and the repetitiveness already got on my nerves), I have videos here.

Let Us Talk About Accents When Speaking English was originally published in A Writer in Disguise on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.