How important is it to have an American or British accent to succeed as a Udemy instructor?

Hi,

I'm an Indian and like most Indians my accent is quite thick.

It's observed that fellow Indians normally follow what I speak, but have never taught a foreign national..

Does this restrict my reach only to Indians?

Do I have to change my accent to expand my reach?

Could some one please help me understand what role does ones accent or pronunciation play on being an effective Udemy Instructor.

Be Happy!!
Madhu Nag Shetty

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Karansetia

Hi @Madhu-Nag-Shety
Accent do play an important role but Indian accent is accepted and promoted largely on Udemy and there's a great scope for indians to Reach international audience.

So i think you should go ahead and set an example.

All the best 🥳!

unknown

If I enrolled in a course and could not understand the instructor, or had to expend an inordinate amount of effort to understand him/her, I would ask for a refund. It's not about having a British or American accent, it's about NOT having an accent so thick that someone who isn't Indian can't understand what you are saying. If it's a concern, hire someone to do voiceover for you.

RandyMinder

The issue really isn't whether anyone has an accent. We all do to someone from another country, or even people within the same country. The issue is whether someone will be able to understand you.

If I purchase a course and I have a hard time understanding the instructor or I'm spending too much time focusing on the actual words coming out of the instructor's mouth, I will get a refund. Your (non-Indian) students will do the same thing.

I will admit I have a very difficult time understanding most Indian instructors. Not only does their accent tend to be very thick, but they often talk fast, which makes it even worse. You said your accent is thick. If so, you really need to focus on speaking SLOWLY. Otherwise you will find that many of your students will ask for refunds, or leave you with a bad rating.

Madhu-Nag-Shety

Hiring someone to do voice over is a great idea. Thank you dear @Anonymous

Thinking about its effect on old students who would take my courses on Udemy in the future and also establishing personal connection with new students

Madhu-Nag-Shety

Thank you dear @RandyMinder

Speaking slowly is something that I can defnitely adopt

Madhu-Nag-Shety

Thank you dear @Karansetia

Feels good to hear words of encouragement

Be Happy !

TeeterTats972

Hi,

Just curious, how much does subtitles help? I mean, even if you're struggling to the extent that you need to turn off the audio, but the subtitles ( auto-generated or self-made) are in good sync, would you (or in general, someone) still ask for a refund?

Thanks

TeeterTats972

Even I have a thick accent, but I plan to correct the auto-generated subtitles to the best possible, at least for the core videos. Do you think that would help @RandyMinder
?

Thanks

RandyMinder

I have found that Udemy generated captions are pretty bad. For someone with a thick Indian accent, the generated captions would probably have to be written from scratch. And, if the captions don't contain properly constructed english, or very close, that would probably be as annoying as poor spoken english.

RandyMinder

@TeeterTats972

That's hard for me to say. If the captions you generate do not contain proper english, with proper grammer etc., that, for me, would be just as annoying as the thick accent.

I would certainly suggest you have someone who speaks and writes fluent english to create, or at least review, the captions you create.

GourangGarg943

Hi I am a indian to and am leaving in USA, but I have really few problems with other people understanding my accent so I think you are good

CarlosDeLeon

@Karansetia
wrote:
...Indian accent is accepted and promoted largely on Udemy...

Just curious: What's the source or basis for that affirmation?

RajeshCR

Hi, In my opinion, words contribute to the least, compared to your body language and the liveliness, you bring to your lectures ! It is the 'feel' that the audience get from your lectures, which brings about an 'understanding' in them and not just giving information. My first course is on communicating effectively, and you may want to have a look, if you wish! Thank You.

RandyMinder

I could not disagree with you more on this. As a student myself, and from many comments I've read about this, if I cannot understand the instructor, or spend too much time focusing on what he is saying, I'll get a refund or leave an appropriate review. It doesn't matter if the instructor is "lively" or not. Understanding him/her is everything.

Body language is irrelevent if you cannot understand the instructor. And, besides, many courses never show the instructor as he/she is teaching, which I prefer anyway. For most courses, I don't want to see the instructor as I find that distracting. But it depends upon the course.

unknown

Nah, I disagree. The understanding comes from the explanation of the content. If I can't understand you, your explanation is useless.

TeeterTats972

Thanks @RandyMinder
.

So I can conclude that if the subtitles are written from scratch and are with proper grammar, we should be good to go?

This is important for ppl like us, with a thick accent since we can't change our accent overnight and/or if we try to change, a fake accent is something which not everyone can pull off successfully. So the best we can do is have proper subtitles.

RandyMinder

No, I didn't say that. Some people might find captions ok, some will not. Not everyone likes captions. I personally do not. I find it distracting to listen to the instructor and have to read captions to understand what the instructor is saying.

Granted, I could mute the instructor but you have to remember that your students will be paying you money for your course. They should not have to mute the instructor and read captions. They expect the instructor to be able to communicate clearly and effectively. If you cannot do that then you could hire a native english speaking person to do your voice-overs. I'm not sure this will be financially viable, but it is an option.

I would make creating captions a last option. Not only will you need to find someone fluent in english to create them but it will be very time consuming and will need to change every time you make a change in your course.

RajeshCR

Thanks @RandyMinder

Jorim

@Madhu-Nag-Shety
wrote:
Hi,
I'm an Indian and like most Indians my accent is quite thick.
It's observed that fellow Indians normally follow what I speak, but have never taught a foreign national..
Does this restrict my reach only to Indians?
Do I have to change my accent to expand my reach?
Could some one please help me understand what role does ones accent or pronunciation play on being an effective Udemy Instructor.

Be Happy!!
Madhu Nag Shetty

Hi Madhu,

Unfortunately, I do believe having a thick accent restricts your reach. It is not about having an Indian accent, though. If I have a hard time understanding your lectures because of your pronunciation, speed, intonation, rhythm, etc. I will very likely not get much out of the course or even ask for a refund.

That being said, if you want to reach an international audience, work on having a neutral English accent. For natives of different languages you'll be able to find tips on Youtube and other platforms in how to neutralise their accent.

I'm German and worked on my speaking skills with a programme called Speak Clearly, which helped me a lot. Send me a PM if you would like more information.

P.S. I don't think it's about having an American or British accent. It's about speaking in a way others can easily understand. I often think of people who went to international school when it comes to that. It's neither American nor British English they speak but they're pretty much the easiest to listen to because they've adapted their speaking in a way to make it easy for non natives of different backgrounds.

Madhu-Nag-Shety

Thank you, dear @Jorim

My tutor suggested the same and I'm looking into it seriously.
In the name of accent neutralization, I'm afraid I'll start faking it.
Either way, I'm planning to give it a shot
By the way, I'll PM you to know more about Speak clearly program

Cheers!

Madhu-Nag-Shety

Sorry not sure how to PM on Udemy. If you don't mind, could you send the information to madhunaag@ymail.com

Precious-Ufu589

Without understanding, communication is of no essence. I agree that accent could somewhat make your audience a bit uncomfortable or excite them with laughter. Regardless of either case, once your audience understand you clearly without struggles, then accent is no longer a concern. I have always enjoyed Indian accent. :smileyvery-happy:

debra1111

I see your courses are yoga and wellness which is my field as well (most people I know are in these fields or take the courses). This changes the response greatly from other fields. American and British strongly prefer to learn yoga from someone in India or born in India. We yogis also understand thicker accents better. My only suggestion (without hearing your video) would be to speak slower than you would to Indians. Our Western brains function slower with listening and are used to slow talking with heavy enunciation. I think you will do really well on this platform. Please reach out to me should you wish more details.

Madhu-Nag-Shety

Many thanks, dear @debra1111
(Debra)
Your message has boosted my confidence, It's so relieving to know that in our field westerners prefer Indian trainers (Of course with quality). I've started training on talking slowly. Please share your email, I'll be happy to reach out

Be Happy !

debra1111

Madhu,

I also see that you got your degree is from Swami Vivekananda's University who has probably had over one million students outside of India. Highlight your educational background and you will have no problem helping students with wellness and yoga. soloyogacoach@gmail.com

Madhu-Nag-Shety

It's getting better and better for me
You are kind
Many thanks, Debra

Vlad_B

Dear @Jorim
,

Can you share (here on this forum) more details about the Speak Clearly programme and/or how you worked on your speaking skills?

It would be very, very useful to many instructors (and me, of course).

Thank you,

With kind regards,

Vlad.

Jorim

I sent you an email.

Jorim

Dear @Vlad_B
,

This programme helps to understand how every single letter is pronounced and is pronounced in connection with other letters. What I liked most where the so-called "minimal pairs". Those are words that are almost the same but pronounced slightly differently:

sheep - ship

thing - thin

bet - vet

You can find a lot of these just googling for "minimal pairs". Nailing the pronunciation of these can help a lot. Just practice saying the pairs and pay attention to the differences.

Additional to that, it looked at the rhythm of the English language (which usually is overlooked in language classes!). Check out Youtube for free resources on that and experiment speaking with the rhythm (keep in mind that the rhythm changes a lot from e.g. British to American to Australian English etc.)

If you really want to go deep and improve your pronunciation a lot, check out

https://www.speakmoreclearly.com/

and

https://www.mimicmethod.com/

I've used both and liked them. Keep in mind though, that you get out of the programmes that which you put in: Low energy and effort = almost no results; high energy and effort = big results ;-)

Hope that helps,

Jorim

IrfanSharif

Hi,

I have been going through the same and I have noticed that Indian/Pakistani students never face any issue in understanding my voice. But other students do.

In some research on the problem, I have reached the conclusion that problem is not with the accent, but the clarity of the speech. So, I am working on speaking more slowly and clearly.

Please share your thoughts.