The boy looked at me skeptically across the playground. “Your accent’s posh,” he said bluntly in a thick Yorkshire accent. “Where are you from?”
Actually, I was “from” the same neighborhood as he was, but as a pastor’s kid, I had moved around several parts of England before coming to this one. No one had ever been able to guess where I came from via my accent, which is normally an easy marker of identity.
Later, when my family moved to the States, I met many people who were excited to meet a Brit. They commented on my voice, asked me to “say something,” and sometimes joked in their version of an exaggerated English accent. They meant well, but I felt awkward being signaled as the odd one out.
So I began to change my British accent to an Americanized one. In fact, I accomplished the shift so well that when I returned to England, I had several people ask me where in the States I was from! Even today, my way of speaking is a mixture between American and British English.
What does your accent betray about you?
TCKs often fall into one of two extremes – we try to stand out loud and proud, or we try to blend in, conform, and disguise our differences.
Our voice is one way we emphasize our similarities or our differences. Our voice can signify “otherness” or belonging.
As I have switched between accents, languages, and ways of speaking throughout my life, I have often thought about the experience of the apostle Peter.
In Matthew 26, while Jesus is put on trial, Peter waits outside in the courtyard. Verse 73 records,
“After a little while, the bystanders came up and said to Peter, ‘Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you’” (ESV).
Peter denies the connection, but his voice has given him away.
After his restoration and commission by Jesus, Peter gives a passionate and eloquent sermon, and later a defense to the council, about Jesus. His speech gives him away again, but this time in a different sense:
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13 ESV
I ask myself, Can people recognize that I have been with Jesus? Or do I shift my “accent,” as it were, to disguise my identity as a Christ-follower when it might be easier to blend in than to stand out?
Who do you sound like?
As a Christian, my core identity is in Christ. While I may be classed as a global citizen on earth, I am most truly a citizen of heaven (Phil. 3:20). Does my voice give that away?
These days, I finally don’t feel so much angst over how my accent slips between English and American. I don’t feel so insecure that people can’t easily identify what country or district I’m from.
But I do care whether people can tell that I’ve been with Jesus. I want my speech patterns to show the core of my identity.
How about you?
When other people hear your voice, may it also be clear that you have been with Jesus.
TCKs for Christ: Staff Writer
Lynette Allcock Yoon
is a writer, teacher, and former radio host. She grew up in three countries and now lives in South Korea with her husband. She writes about life abroad, faith, and relationships from an expat, TCK perspective. Lynette loves helping fellow wanderers and sojourners to feel seen, encouraging them to overcome the challenges and find the beauty in cross-cultural living. Outside of work, she enjoys musical theatre and long walks with good friends.
You can find her on Instagram @wordsforwanderers or at lynetteallcock.com.
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