My professor seems to be a bit new at the teaching gig, and I say this because she seemed a bit nervous fumbling around with the overhead and stuttering occasionally. However she speaks with a heavy Chinese accent.

Now, I personally have no problem whatsoever with accents (with the exception of Jamaican accents, but I haven’t encountered any Jamaican professors yet), but a lot of people seem to have issues figuring out what professors with accents, be it Asian or European or Latin American, are saying. I’ve noticed that this is particularly rampant in technical majors such as Engineering, Physics, and Mathematics.

Here’s the deal. I suppose it’s fine if you have problems with your professors’ accents. It takes time to get used to and if you’ve never been around people with those particular accents before, you may have trouble. I don’t quite know why I’m good with accents; perhaps it has to do with the fact that I understand a language besides English. However, if you’re going to criticize someone for speaking with an accent, think twice.

I heard a lot of murmurs around the room about how people wanted to switch sections and whatnot. I felt a little sorry for the professor when this happened, and I honestly believe that it is up to the student to learn to cope with accents. Granted that professors may have a responsibility to communicate clearly, but not everyone can be a perfect speaker. It is especially sad to see people being complete jerks about professors with accents. You’d think that by now they would be used to it.

It’s time to wake up and face the facts people. Your professors are brilliant people from all around the world, and they are going to have accents and sometimes speak in broken English. It is up to the student to adapt to these circumstances if they truly want to learn.