Episode Transcript

“Shalom everybody, I’m Liel K. Bridgfrod and this is (Un)marginalised. You’re listening to a very special teaser from a bonus episode released for patrons only. If you like to listen to the rest of the rest of this episode, go to my patreon account on www.patreon.com/LielKBridgford or just click the link in the show notes. Now, do people still ask you about your accent? Or comment about it?

“Yeah.”

“Tell me, because we are, how many years has it been now?

“About 16, 17.”

“So 16, 17 years and people still comment and/or ask about your accent. Tell me what they say now.”

“They ask me where I’m from, to be polite.” Liel laughs. “They don’t want to guess anymore because my accent is confusing. People think, a lot of the time they think I’m American, or from somewhere else. I was in America about, close to ten years ago. And there people asked me where I was from as well. Here everyone asks me are you American, but in America they’re like are you Australian? So apparently to Australians I sound American but to Americans I sound Australian, so I don’t know what my accent is sounding like anymore.” giggles. 

“People comment, or ask or laugh, I’ve had quite a few people laugh at my accent.”

“What?”

“Yeah, people laugh at my accent. Someone, I would not name that person obviously. Back when I was still studying, and I was trying to get into an internship, which I got at the end for the record.” both laugh. “And it was like a phone helpline work. But someone, an Australian, obviously, said something like, you know you’re going to pick up the phone and they’re going to hear your accent, that’s so cute. Something like that.”

“Oh my goodness.”

“And literally laughed.”

“Wow.”

“And that was so hurtful. I remember feeling anxious before the interview.”

“That would’ve made you feel a lot more anxious.”

“Yeah, because I was like, are they going to reject me because of my accent? Asking where you’re from, that’s another thing that-”

“It makes you feel like you don’t belong.”

“Exactly.”

“Cause, oh, I’m from here, No you don’t sound like you’re from here, no you don’t look like you’re from here, so where actually are you from? But for me, I am from here. I’m from Melbourne.“

“And you’re an Australian citizen as well.

“I am.”
“And you have been here for 17 years, and you’ve done more than half your schooling here, and university, and you’re working. You are Australian.”

“I need to say, a little funny story here. I love my manager to bits. So if she ever hears this, I love you. Um, giggles. I was at work a few months ago, and I was having a bit of a rough week. I’ve had a lot of report writing to do. And my words were becoming a bit mumbled and jittery and my writing was not great. Usually I pride myself a lot on my writing. My manager was touching up on a report that I was doing, and laughed and kind of said, oh it’s not like English is your second language, obviously on a good day you would write an amazing report. You just had a few hiccups, It’s not like English is your second language. I’m like, actually it is, I think you forgot.” giggles. 

“I find that really offensive though, as well, honestly. It kind of sounds like a compliment.”

“Almost.”

“But I’ll just note to anyone who’s listening, that’s not a compliment.”

 “It was a genuine forgetfulness, unintentional.”

“Of course, she wasn’t trying to be mean or anything like that.”

“No.”

“But in general people make comments about, if you don’t sound a particular way, if you don’t have a particular accent, like the mainstream accent, then it means that you’re not, your English isn’t good enough. And I find that really, it’s an assumption that people have.“

“It’s an assumption that if you’re not born here.”

“Yeah, then your english isn’t good enough, or your language skills, or your communications skills. And I find that really offensive. Why do we need to eliminate individuality in styles? A person that comes from a different culture brings another layer, and it’s not the same, but that’s not a bad thing.”

“No, not at all, it’s adding to it if anything.”

“Exactly. And so, I find that really offensive, oh it’s your second language, just because it’s my second language doesn’t mean I am less good at it than you are. Just because my vocabulary isn’t as large as someone else’s it doesn’t mean that I am not as good at communicating using this language. Studies show that if you’re bilingual or multilingual then you have better capacity to use languages in a creative way.”

“Your brain is supposed to be more adaptable. You as a person are more adaptable to change, and I think it also causes your brain to be more elastic and be able to absorb more and learn more. Um, I think people always say that people who know more than one language are a lot smarter in some ways.”

“I mean I’m not saying we’re smarter.” laughs. 

“I mean, I am.” laughs. 

“You are, definitely. Laughs. But I just want to get the recognition that we are not less smart than someone else. I think that’s the basic thing that people need to stop believing. And replace that with an enrichment kind of idea.

I’d like to respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which I’m recording the podcast, the Warranjri people of the Kulin Nation, and pay my respect to their elders past, present and emerging. As we tell our stories, I want to highlight that traditional owners of this land have been storytellers for generations.

Thank you for listening to the teaser episode. If you want to hear the rest, just go to my Patreon account, you can click the link in the show notes. And don’t forget, you can connect with me on any of the major social media outlets. Just find me on Liel K Bridgford, or click the links in the show notes. Looking forward to connecting with you.”