This is a very natural and spontaneous chat. I started speaking to my phone on the spur of the moment because I wanted to convey my innermost feelings about this situation. You will notice that I hesitated; my voice faltered at times; and the tone of my voice changed countless times.
A quite conservative and narrow-minded old lady felt entitled to make a derogatory comment about the way I glottalized some consonant endings. Even though I’m equipped with the tools to easily debunk language myths, what I’m sharing with you are my innermost feelings and how vulnerable I felt when I received this harsh comment on my accent. Not only did she lack references, but this very same person also ended up being prejudiced against another person, who was a native speaker, in the classroom. The upside of this situation is that I am both a teacher and a linguist, and I am equipped with ideas to help me get rid of some unwelcome feelings. However, most importantly, I am a human being, and regardless of what I know, this sort of comment may leave indelible marks on how we perceive language.
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