Home > Events > Workshops

Understanding Accents Workshop

Communicating Across Language Barriers

On November 16th, 2011, Judith Wild, a Portland resident and retired PSU Instructor for English as a Second Language, presented her workshop, Understanding Accents.  Sponsored by Community Outreach, this workshop addressed the psychological, cultural and linguistic challenges people face listening and responding to people from diverse, multilingual communities. 

How do you feel when you can’t understand the person with whom you need to communicate?  How do you feel when you are the speaker and can’t speak fluently or are not understood by the listener?  People who attended the workshop discussed their responses to these questions and shared experiences.  We watched a video of a Zimbabwean and Vietnamese speaker, discussed the linguistic and grammatical differences between languages and went over some helpful do’s and don’ts for speaking and listening. 

Important lessons people said they would take away from the workshop included:

• Having and showing empathy – realizing that the person you are conversing with is likely having similar feelings to your own. 
• Listen and ask people to say something more slowly.  Repeat what you heard, if needed. 
• Relax and slow down; own it up front that you are having difficulty understanding the person with whom you are speaking. 
• Be present!  Remember what your purpose is in the conversation. 
• Communication is emotional.

For more information, visit Communicating Across Language Barriers.  Another resource shared was www.forvo.com, an online audio pronunciation guide.  For a list of the Do’s and Don’ts handout, click here. 

 

 

< < Back