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Comment by dazzla | Hacker News Reader

Everybody has an accent! There is not a single person in the world that has "no accent"!

This may seam like nit picking but it is in fact very important. When someone in the US says they think someone speaks English "with an accent" it's actually the fact that they are not speaking English with an American accent. Who's to say that speaking English with an American accent is the correct way?

The English language is used in many parts of the world and has diverged immensely. Pronunciation has changed, spelling has changed, words have been added, etc.

So bear that in mind when you say someone speaks bad English or wonder why don't they make the effort to speak it "correctly".

Also remember communication is 2 way. If you can't understand someone due to their accent most likely they cannot understand you due to your accent.

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"Who's to say that speaking English with an American accent is the correct way?"

If you're trying to found a company and get venture funding from Americans, you need to be able to communicate well with Americans. No one is saying there's a correct way to speak anything, but it's obvious Paul Graham is talking about founders going for an American market.

"Also remember communication is 2 way. If you can't understand someone due to their accent most likely they cannot understand you due to your accent."

That's just straight out wrong, sorry to say. There are plenty of cases of one way unintelligibility in ALL parts of the world, in many languages. English is no exception, just consider the stereotype of American tourists being confounded by Australian or England-English.

Absolutely.

"If you're trying to found a company and get venture funding from Americans, you need to be able to communicate well with Americans. No one is saying there's a correct way to speak anything, but it's obvious Paul Graham is talking about founders going for an American market."

However a big part of startup accelerator is about helping the founders gain the skills needed to be successful. No reason communicating well with Americans shouldn't be one of those skills that help is given for.

"That's just straight out wrong, sorry to say. There are plenty of cases of one way unintelligibility in ALL parts of the world, in many languages. English is no exception, just consider the stereotype of American tourists being confounded by Australian or England-English."

Yes it can be mostly a one way problem but there will always be subtle problems in both directions. I'm a UK native and have been living in the US for many years married to an American wife. We still come across words or phrases that confuse each other.

If the conversation is about Americans moving to China, and appealing to Chinese investors, to build their startup, tips regarding proper Chinese manners and Mandarin speaking techniques are appropriate. When it is about startups trying to make it big in the US, it is about English and the American "accent".

What PG said is completely clear (it is...ahum...without accent), and those who purposefully try to argue this point, invent equivocacies, etc, add no value to the conversation.

What I'm attempting to add to the conversation is another perspective to communication across accents. I think understanding other people's perspectives helps break down communication barriers. Both sides can try and reach across the gap.

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