How to Communicate effectively as an Immigrant -Part 1

NaijaGirlInCanada
Jul 17, 2020
2 min read

Dear present and future immigrants,

English is not native to us but it is our first language . Don't let the people asking you

" how come you speak English so well, make you doubt that”

The truth is ; we all have an accent. That is part of our identity.

Just because ours is different and also since we’ve made a decision to come live in North America, we have to figure out ways to communicate effectively.

Let me tell you a story . As a Client Support Coordinator, I spend a lot of time on the phone with different clients.

Part of my job is to build a relationship with them and knowing my name is a very important aspect of that . One of my clients came in one day to ask for “Janice” please note : that’s not my name .

it took the front desk almost 30 minutes to figure out that I am “Janice”

which meant that every time this woman called me and I introduced myself as “Janet” all she heard was “Janice”

So guess what I do when I introduce myself over the phone now? I spell out my name using the content of this free template I’m about to share :

J as in Juliet

A as in Alpha

N as in November

E as in Echo

T as in Tango

From my experience, it is very possible for accented speech to obstruct communications. and if people have trouble understanding what you are trying to say, this can lead to one becoming excluded or cause you to experience some frustration when in conversations with other people on the phone.

Now, we don’t want that , do we?

Do your co-workers have a hard time understanding some words when you say them?

Have you had to go through the ordeal of taking that customer service call and having to tell them your name is ''Oluwafisayomi" and the representative had a difficult time figuring out if you said "m" or "n" ? Try using the NATO phonetic alphabet .

The NATO phonetic alphabet is a spelling alphabet that was Originally used by airline pilots, police, members of the military, and other officials when communicating over radio or telephone.

It is used to spell out words in an effort to counteract misunderstanding due to different pronunciations.

Cool right?

I have created a free template below, that you can screenshot , add to favourite and use the next time you have to get on that Phone call.