“You Have No Idea How Smart I Am in My Native Language” — Reflections from a Brazilian Mom in the U.S.

As a Brazilian living in the USA, I have embraced the mission to bring to light the discussion about the expectations of the job market on the English skills of migrants. So far, I have experienced a reality in which I had to work much harder to have my professional value recognized because I am not a native speaker.

Here is my polemic message on this topic:

For organizations: please stop being unrealistic regarding diversity. Either you live in the effortless comfort zone of exclusive native speakers, or you choose to benefit from diverse solutions, truly providing equal opportunity by listening to voices with an accent.

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For teachers and schools: please stop profiting from the myth of “native speaker perfection” and respect your students’ heritage. Teach us how to communicate effectively, incorporating our accent, without picking on pronunciation as if this were the way to perfect our non-native language.

For migrants: all you need is to be understood. Your non-native language needs to be improved only if you are not functional in this society.

For all of us: truly listen to accented voices, and stop crushing migrants’ self-confidence by looking down on them because of their accent.

I know this is a utopian speech, but it is my way of starting a daily mindset revolution toward the world I want my child to inherit.

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