Today, the parent of a student called to ask me about a homework assignment. At the end of the call, she told me that I seem to be losing my "Asian accent" from when she first talked to me in the summer. I was born in the US, grew up in NJ and speak perfect English. FML
Collection
Fall
Dead leaves, the first cold of the season and an umbrella flipped inside out: fall, the season of grace.
Today, I went to see the school counselor to schedule my classes for school. She asked me if I knew how to speak English. My parents are Chinese and I don't even know how to speak Chinese. I've lived in America my whole life. Plus, I even spoke to her in English to ask about classes. FML
Today, my teacher, who's Irish, called me insensitive and stupid for imitating her accent. I'm Filipino and my parents immigrated to Ireland where I was born, and then we moved to Canada when I was 14. Her response to my explanation? "Bullshit." FML
Today, we had a substitute teacher. She was taking attendance and had trouble pronouncing my last name. When I corrected her, I heard her mutter under her breath about, “Goddamn Mexican immigrants…” I’m from Greek ancestry, born in the USA. FML
Today, at work, I was helping someone who really sounded like she had a Boston accent. So, I asked her where she was from. She has never been out of state. Turns out she has a speech impediment. FML
Today, my mom hit me in the face after an argument she didn't win. According to her, Mexican and American are languages, and not dialects or nationalities. She even argued with my teachers, and threatened to remove me "from a school full of uneducated people" after they told her I was correct. FML
Today, I was eating at a Chinese restaurant, when I stopped the waitress to tell her that even though I am of Chinese heritage, I can't understand a word of Chinese. After an awkward silence, she told me she was actually speaking English. FML
Today, my teenage daughter asked me if accents are hereditary. FML
Today, I called the Vietnamese teacher at my son's kindergarten by my Chinese colleague's name. Luckily, she didn't catch it. I'm not a racist, I was just tired after a long day. FML
Today, at a tutoring center, one of the tutors looked at my worksheet and laughed. She then showed all the other tutors my mistakes and they laughed along with her. The best part? They all speak Chinese and they think I can't understand them. I'm Chinese. FML
Today, I found out that my parents don't know the difference between a foreign person and a deaf person. They've been yelling at our exchange student for the past 2 days. FML
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Top comments
candisweets 10
You should have asked her when did she lose her manners and respect for others.
tazmanmike2013 17
Sorry to hear it OP, some people speak without thinking
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Comments (65)
tazmanmike2013 17
Sorry to hear it OP, some people speak without thinking
candisweets 10
You should have asked her when did she lose her manners and respect for others.
moonsalt 20
Some people get into the habit of being rude.
BeastOfJupiter 7
And, unfortunately, like any other habit it is difficult to break.
skeptic54 8
The retardation, it runs deep with this one
shakiam014 12
That sucks, sorry about that. Im sure your English is great.
Crofty92 17
No need to patronise him.
shivamtrivedi 24
You can tell her that her hearing has improved since then, and give her an A for improvement.
iLike2Teabag 27
Well, at least you don't have a jersey shore accent, right? Hard to get any respect if you sound like Snooki.
Qwermy 16
Damn that show. Basically nobody in NJ talks like that, and the rare few who do are from New York
ihavenolifehaha 16
Thinking that you speak perfect English is a matter of opinion.
BoltTheSuperdog 22
That parent might have been just the slightest bit racist...
lysx84 24
No. Commenting that someone has/had accent is NOT racist. Discriminating against them or judging them based on the accent is racist.
klutz44 28
Assuming that someone isn't a native English speaker because they are of Asian descent is racist.
fmlrulesBolt 14
Asian accent is cool
PattonGilette2 18
a
murdersquirrel 15
the kid has nothing to do with this.
chinaski7628 32
I know lots of good kids who have terrible parents. It can happen.