Nigeria Abroad
Few Nigerians will ever admit to having trouble grasping American or European accents—because native English accents, like other elements of the Western culture, have come to signify higher breeding in the minds of many Nigerians, some of whom regard their own tongues with contempt.
Part of that is a result of ingrained racism that deems African accents inferior. But beyond the politics of accents is a real struggle for African immigrants, including those from non-English-speaking countries.
“Communication is a real challenge,” Mayowa A., a Nigerian IT specialist in the US tells Nigeria Abroad, recalling the story of a top Nigerian professional who lost her job to communication problem.
“I know one woman that worked in a multinational in Nigeria before coming here. I’m not talking of a low-level staffer. Top exec. In fact, she got a big job here easily due to her CV. But she didn’t last a month. The whole place was too fast-paced, and she couldn’t understand the work culture. They let her go.”
Eke says when he newly started working in the US, much of what was being said at the workplace was flying over his head though he had spent months watching American movies to familiarize himself with how Americans speak.
“I understood like, 40%. And that’s a problem at work because it means you’ll make mistakes by not getting instructions. The worst were public announcements. The speakers were not loud enough but that wasn’t an issue for people familiar with the accent. You’ll end up looking like a fool even though you’re as smart as everyone else.”
A Ghanaian nurse in the US who spoke to the magazine says she lost her first job being unable to understand most official communications. She narrowed her next job searches to locations with more diversity: making mistakes in health jobs have severe consequences, so she opted to work elsewhere until she got more familiar with American accents.
“I was lost for like a year,” a Nigerian-American doctor tells Nigeria Abroad. She had come straight from secondary school in Nigeria and went to university here.
“I understood most of my teachers because they didn’t speak as fast as some of my classmates. I couldn’t make friends, so I became a loner in class. I soon noticed that part of the challenge was how they pronounce words. In Nigeria, we’d say ‘nesesry’ for ‘necessary.’ Americans say ‘nesesery,’ ‘mandetori’ (mandatory). And many like that. The key is pronunciation.”
Boma Nnaji, a Nigerian-Canadian architect says his daughter has become helpful in setting him straight on same pronunciation.
“I’ve learnt to embrace my accent and I’ve also learnt proper English pronunciations from my 5-year-old daughter who corrects me each time I’m am at the drive-through trying to pay for her McDonalds: ‘Daddy it’s burger, not bogger.’”
Nnaji’s work experience on communication is remarkable.
“I realized months after getting a job that the interviewer was bracing for the worst when he knew from my resume that he would be meeting with an African. So, he was glad that I could communicate in English at least. Remarks like that drive me mad. Although, that is more tolerable compared to those that would instantly give an attitude the moment they notice an accent. Mostly customer service people would deliberately keep saying they don’t understand you once they sense the slightest African accent. It’s not the same for people with accents that are termed classy but are strong nonetheless—like Scottish, Irish and Australian.
“The pressure to sound North American became strong after a few months and lots of ‘What did you say’ at the workplace, so I tried but mehn, it gets really tiring. I get exhausted before the end of the workday from rolling my tongue. Sometimes, I run out at lunch just to get on the phone with my brother to speak pidgin and unwind. That gets me energized to finish the day.”
Coming from Nigeria as a grownup, “you have to battle this accent problem,” notes Mac OK, a Nigerian real estate dealer in the US. “I decided to keep my accent. Indians come here and keep their accents and remain employable due to the skills they possess. For Americans, sometimes it’s not like they don’t understand you; they just want you to know you don’t belong here. That’s why, if they are the ones seeking something from you, they will understand you perfectly.”
Unlike Mac, many Nigerians make efforts to change their accents so they can blend and not get spotted as foreigners at every encounter. A Nigerian teacher in the UK says she adapted by reading the lips of British speakers that have more local accents.
Effort to subdue the Nigerian tongue can, sometimes, have unintended consequences. A Nigerian doctor in Canada was once discredited by a judge who questioned his accent, claiming his speech was “garbled”—perhaps he was unconsciously trying to smoothen it.
This story first appeared in Nigeria Abroad
