Professors' Accents Make Lessons Harder

Vinh Nguyen

Most people have had a professor who just makes the materials so much harder than they are because of his or her accent. If you have never, consider yourself lucky. For instance, "a University of California at Berkeley sophomore wondered why she never heard of the term 'mersify' before." It turned out that the professor was referring to multiply as she found out three weeks later when the professor finally wrote an X sign on the board. According to this particular article, "the problem continues -- and may even be increasing, some experts say." Having nonnative professors surely adds to the diversity of the campus; however, it sure is a big problem when students do not gain anything from the lectures. One University of California at Berkeley sophomore Sophie Khem said, "It bothered me a lot. I forced myself to go because I thought, `I'm paying so much,' but once I got there, I couldn't make out anything he said." So as I am closing this post, I am leaving you with one thought, "Should professors with heavy accents lecture hundreds of students?"