It pays to be transparent

I will never forget the English Writing college class when I turned and asked the fraternity brother behind me for a rubber, in my proper British English accent. I immediately became the class clown as he and his friends burst out laughing. Even though everyone thought my accent was ‘cute’ I was intensely attuned to the exhausting instantaneous translation my brain did before speaking up in public.

All nonnative speakers have had similar experiences, or may have experienced the stressful ‘impostor’ syndrome when we've had to speak extemporaneously in English. The course feedback that I received today makes up for all the embarrassing moments, starting with the ‘eraser’ one. The feedback refers to part of the Communication Tips course that Brenda Bailey-Hughes and I have designed for LinkedIn Learning/Lynda.com. I fretted when writing the section on American English Tips and Traps. I wanted to speak to the nonnative speaker like myself and try to save them embarrassing moments of misusing idioms and other slang. But would I lose face? Would my current and future students see me as a phony? Lesson learned – it pays to be transparent. Dear learner, if you see this, thank you for pointing out what truly matters!

“I have watched several other videos hosted by Tatiana. I appreciate her expertise and professionalism. However, in the video "American English Tricks and Traps", I saw a very different side of her. She shared some of her struggles with the English language, and in so doing revealed a much more human--and humorous-- side. I actually laughed out loud several times during the video (laughing with, not at, of course!). This new view of her will positively affect how I view future presentations she makes. Thanks for putting yourself out there, Tatiana!”