Accent of Call Center Agents and influence on American Accen

Jennifer   Mon Jun 26, 2006 10:49 pm GMT
Ravi,
That's a good question! I don't know. I guess just keep practicing with our non-native speakers that are known to speak clearly. Also, tell your American/British/Canadian, etc. friends that you really want to improve your English and to let them know you won't be offended if they correct you. Also, pay attention to facial expressions so that you can tell if someone is confused, or if s/he is just nodding his/her head but doesn't really understand everything you are saying.

If all else fails, just slow down! I think Americans (and probably others) are mostly okay with foreign accents when we are calling American companies as long as we can figure out what you are saying (and it would probably work the other way with you, right?) You probably would be okay with an American speaking Hindi or one of the many other Indian languages as long as you could understand him/her, right?

I think the biggest problem with the accents is that when you call customer service, you usually have a problem of some sort, and it can be frustrating if you have to keep explaining yourself to someone in another country and if you can't understand what the company's rep is saying to you. Customer support is frustrating enough without that added frustration. No one wants to be on the receiving end of substandard service-- especially if it's due to the fact that a greedy company found cheap labor on the other side of the world.

And, of course, there is the problem that we feel our jobs are being taken away and we can do nothing about it. One last thing-- my two Indian professors tried to defend the practice of offshoring by saying, "We are taking the jobs that no one in America wants", or "Yes, those jobs are leaving, but they are being replaced by better jobs." To the first statement I would say: you are wrong. I know a lot of people who would like to have a call center job here!!" To the second statement I would say: But you need a college degree to get those better jobs that are being left behind. Not everyone who would have qualified for a call center job can qualify for these jobs.

Ok-- enough with my whining. :-)
same Ghandi   Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:40 am GMT
<<<You use wrong grammar...
wrong spelling>>>

chinese,

FYI, grammar and spelling a 2 different things.

Of course you are saying those things, because you are Chinese and have hard time learning English since you weren't born here in the US.
It would take you centuries to learn good English.
USA   Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:49 am GMT
<<<<Ok. Kids. No more fighting. And what British and American native speakers would tell you about English mistakes. They do make horrible mistakes as well. Damian would update your guys on this.>>>

It is hard to convince Americans that they make a lot of English mistakes themelves. They can't spell, they make grammar errors and then they say "our errors are different than a non-native's".
In my opinion some Americans and non-natives make the same mistakes.
Let me give one simple example: yours and your's or its and it's.They consider that only non-natives make these kind of mistakes.
Ha Ha .It was agood one.
Guest   Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:54 am GMT
"It is hard to convince Americans..."

Because it's not convincing.
USA   Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:56 am GMT
<<<Because it's not convincing>>>
Very convincing, though.
Guest   Tue Jun 27, 2006 2:57 am GMT
Yes, very convincing that it's not convincing.
Mahesh   Wed Jul 05, 2006 9:39 am GMT
Hi,
I am working in a Software Organization, my understanding with English is good but at the time of discussion with US Clients, i cant understand their Accents,
Can any one help me to overcome from this probs.
Ferdie   Thu Jul 13, 2006 2:27 am GMT
okay
Ferdie   Thu Jul 13, 2006 2:31 am GMT
Indian accents it's so difficult to understand especially in the medical transcription voice files. I think the Indians need more trainings on American accent. Filipinos are better than Indians in expressing their opinions & ideas in English both written and verbal. They can easily adopt American and other European culture.
Ferdie   Thu Jul 13, 2006 3:02 am GMT
To Mahesh,

You know Mahesh! I think you need to study more on basic principles of intonation and diction so that you can catch up in dealing with these Americans. Yes, we know some Americans who speak slang and it is so hard to comprehend them; just imagine they have 50 states and each states have different way of life, culture and pronounciation style so you have to double your effort to explore more on English language.

Is my message okay to you? By the way, I'm from Philippines and our educational system here that English has given top priority in order to catch up the new trend specificaly in the field of information and communication technology (ICT) business.

Thanks.
haha -_-|||   Thu Jul 13, 2006 3:58 pm GMT
Ferdie Thu Jul 13, 2006 3:02 am GMT
To Mahesh,

You know Mahesh! I think you need to study more on basic principles of intonation and diction so that you can catch up in dealing with these Americans. Yes, we know some Americans who speak slang and it is so hard to comprehend them; just imagine they have 50 states and each states have different way of life, culture and pronounciation style so you have to double your effort to explore more on English language.

Is my message okay to you? By the way, I'm from Philippines and our educational system here that English has given top priority in order to catch up the new trend specificaly in the field of information and communication technology (ICT) business.

Thanks.
==================
Perfect grammar, perfect English. Everyone bow to him!
Travis   Thu Jul 13, 2006 10:24 pm GMT
>><<<<Ok. Kids. No more fighting. And what British and American native speakers would tell you about English mistakes. They do make horrible mistakes as well. Damian would update your guys on this.>>>

It is hard to convince Americans that they make a lot of English mistakes themelves.<<

Depends on what you call "mistakes".

>>They can't spell, they make grammar errors and then they say "our errors are different than a non-native's".<<

They *are* different in that they aren't really errors to begin with, besides orthographic errors; rather, they simply are differences between the standardized literary language and the dialects that most people actually speak. This is unlike errors made by non-native speakers, which actually are errors, rather than just features of individuals' native dialects which happen to differ from the standard forms.

>>In my opinion some Americans and non-natives make the same mistakes.
Let me give one simple example: yours and your's or its and it's.They consider that only non-natives make these kind of mistakes.
Ha Ha .It was agood one.<<

As for things like "yours" and "your's", these are orthographic errors, and are a different matter from simply having dialect features that differ from standard forms. And yes, these are actual errors, as opposed to just non-standard forms.
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