Why Your Business Gets Judged on Its Accent

Foreign Language Training Services

Have you ever tried speaking in a way that is mainly spoken by the people you socialize with? If yes, then have you done it to not seem a foreign element to them? Researchers have proven that the notion of being judged based on one's accent is not very unusual nowadays mostly depending upon the language training.

This type of psyche gives rise to stereotyping, further hindering social mobility and career advancement. Here's when accent softening services come to your rescue!

After a study at the University of Jena, it has been found that how different people might mean different things during a conversation is based on their accent. Further research has indicated that people with an impressive portfolio might not be appointed for a high-profile job because they are non-native speakers and make language drops.

They think it makes the latter less skillful and unsuitable. Weird, right? In a monoglot nation such as the UK, these problems related to predisposition are often faced at the juncture of recruitment.

How To Adapt Foreign Language Training and Accent

A reasonable explanation that can be given here is that people allow these sorts of prejudices to make life simpler and verdicts quicker. Accents give an account of one's age, personality, and degree of sanity. It has been practiced when people used to live in tribes and did not mix inter-tribally.

What happened in ancient times is not accepted now in this modern world, especially when rejecting talent and creating friction between different communities. Earlier, what used to be known as oratory lessons are now Accent Softening classes usually taken up by the employees whose employers are of the view of the latter sounding too informal.

The Accents According to Region That We Like

Advertising Firms have been using regional accents to their advantage for quite a long time now. The reason being, few messages are conveyed right, only when delivered through regional tones. Now there's something odd to it — few countries despise their accent for unknown reasons. While the British rarely use American accents in their advertisements, the Americans are comparatively more tolerant of global inflections.

UK audiences are so accent-acquainted that, at times, all they care about is the flawless accent of models in the promotion of a product that they are selling. For instance, the famous 90's beer ad, which appeared like a perfume ad was still applauded for the elegant accent put up by the Mancunian woman!

What is Business Accent?

The accent signifies that one is conducting one's work/business outside of their dialect group. When trying to enter into foreign markets or operate in the markets of different countries — accent plays a vital role. It can either be an advantage or prove to be a disadvantage for those labels.

 There's another misconception that needs clarification, i.e., Accents are much more than just the language. It's about the dressing sense, food habits, culture, and manners practiced in a particular nation. The motive behind many foreign brands concealing their identities to seem more like a Domestic brand is that a bulk of the World's population believes that only Domestic brands can remedy domestic problems.

However, the efforts invested by the foreign companies in studying, analyzing, and understanding other markets, to be empathetic towards their requirements deserve appreciation! Yet, our innate tendency to be hostile towards something unfamiliar allows us to judge any non-domestic brand on its credibility criteria. 

Further, no brand should seem overly alien because it will only increase a sense of "this is surely for other people, not for me" kind of feeling in people, making it a less socially acceptable brand. Brands have to be very careful as their minor mistakes can handily lead to a huge downfall.

 Acknowledging One's Accent

Few brands in the market choose to embrace their own identity instead of concealing it and flaunt their culture through their brands in foreign lands. Sometimes they use a simple logo maker for a professional logo which helps share brand values and message

UK catalog company Bodem has prospered beautifully in the US markets while proudly exhibiting its UK identity.

This brand also had its luck factor working...we can say that because of the bold moves undertaken by it in the US! It has made sure all this time to monitor its accent and has made a vast and significant place for itself in the US market for these key reasons :

• Ease of Currency Exchange.

• Providing clear information about the tax policies.

• Trying to sound less original and more conversational. For instance, using the term 'Holidays' rather than 'Christmas' and 'Shipping' instead of 'Delivery.'

 Softening One's Accent

Accent Softening processes might help the brands who have stakes abroad boost their presentations and make them more palatable to the audience! A few points should be kept in mind when one is incorporating one's brand into a non-domestic market :

• Hiring the right people not only relieves you a little of the workload but also is a helping hand in the decision-making process.

• Work with a Credible Interpretation. Agency or reputable agents shall advise on how to correspond culturally and make sure the label understands its market.

• Local Campaigns and Marketing Teams can solve a dozen difficulties by providing feedback collected from the local audience.

• Don't be a penny-pincher and try to save money by repurposing collaterals ordinarily.

How Brand Get Judge On Its Accent

Several brands hide their accent so smartly that clients fail to figure out its origin and that it comes from a unique market altogether.

Examples include Woolworths, Belgian-German-Dutch C&A, etc. These brands are still remembered as the Domestic brands of the United Kingdom, whereas these originated in totally different cultures as that of the UK.

Despite their foreign inception, they understood the market very well. But as we know, it takes time for things to settle in place. These brands also took a reasonable amount of time to entrench into the UK market.

Also Check - Top 5 Reasons Why Computers Can’t Replace Human Translators

If it were today's scenario, it would have been difficult for the brands like Woolworths to stay in the market with such tough competition. Still, it was then that the competitions were more minor, so was the creativity that resulted in the brand's success. It made such a place in the market as if it was there forever. Nowadays, labels have less time and higher competition to establish themselves in a foreign land.

How Brands Leverage on Language Training with respect to Accent

For instance, there was this ad of AT&T communications company targeted to the Latino audience which illustrated a Puerto Rican couple who was getting late for an event, and the wife was telling her husband to call up and inform the hosts that they won't be able to make it up on time. Now, this ad was disliked mainly by the targeted audience because of 2 reasons.

Firstly, unpunctuality is not something Puerto Ricans apologize for, and secondly, in Latino culture, wives don't direct or instruct their husbands, as they feel it’s not culturally appropriate. Therefore, it shows how poor knowledge about a particular market one operates in can lead to losses and lack of prominence in the long run.

Why Choose Vinsys FLS For Foreign Language Training

Vinsys offers specialist business foreign language training courses for more than 15 years across the globe. With a network of highly experienced and qualified native teachers, we organize professional tuitions and training in all corners via Skype or online.