What state is she from?

[HaroldTwinss]

Hey, fellows.

I can't get what state is this girl from. Any help? Some of my guys say she's from the East of the USA. Some say she's Western. Soooooo, help me win 100$! I bet she's from the East.

 

[GoesStation]

She's not a native speaker.

 

[jutfrank]

The state of Russia? That's East of the USA.

Just listen again ten seconds in to how she pronounces pronouns. That doesn't sound native to me.

 

[GoesStation]

I only listened to the first ten seconds or so but I also thought she sounded Russian.

 

[HaroldTwinss]

Noooo. . I can't lose 100$ hahahah

 

[probus]

Russian learners of English beware.

The creator of the Youtube video about pronouns, xxxx, currently lives in xxxx, California. On vkontakte, Russia's most popular website, she bills herself as a "professional tutor of American English." As pointed out by others, she does not sound at all like a native speaker. Students looking for a tutor should find a better one.

I'll see if I can post this warning on vk.com (i.e. vkontakte). Can any user here translate my warning into Russian for vk.com?

Maybe moderators should take the offending post down, but leave this warning up? What would be best?

 

[Tdol]

I am not sure what her native language is, but I agree with the others that it is not English.

That's a strong accent. Many Russians who speak English have a far less pronounced accent than that.

She does link to Russian pages and sites.

 

[Tdol]

Noooo. . I can't lose 100$ hahaha

You shouldn't if you're both wrong. :up:

 

[HaroldTwinss]

Umm why students should find another tutor? Do you know this girl? Do you know about her education, life and so on? Maybe she is very good at teaching,didn't think of that? One thing is an accent, another one is being so mean to a person u don't know. Including the fact that she's CELTA and TEFL certified. So I think she's pretty good at what she does.

I just asked here about her accent not to lose 100$, but as one person here said "we are both wrong", so I guess I won't lose anything

 

[GeneD]

As pointed out by others, she does not sound at all like a native speaker. Students looking for a tutor should find a better one.

She does say she's a professional AmE tutor, but she doesn't claim she's a native English speaker. Moreover, it should be obvious, I think, for Russians that she's Russian: her Russian is good and natural, and while posting, she makes comments in Russian too. So I'm not sure she's lying about her "nativeness".

I can't say anything about her professional skills, though, and whether her credentials are true. Do you think she's a fraud?

I can translate your message into Russian. It's not a problem at all since it's my mother tongue.

I don't want to sound pessimistic, but I'm almost sure she'll delete the comment, though, if it's offensive to her.

 

[probus]

She may be useful as a teacher provided she makes it clear that her English is strongly accented. However, tutoring as opposed to teaching should include pronunciation and accent. She's no good at that and I stand by my statement that students looking for a tutor should look elsewhere.

 

[probus]

Umm why students should find another tutor?

Well, there's one good reason right there.

Why should students find another tutor? In English, questions are inverted. A CELTA certified teacher would know that. I think she is lying about her credentials.

 

[GeneD]

I don't know about her as a tutor, but I'm almost sorry for the girl. I wouldn't write a comment unless she is lying about her credentials and that she's a native speaker. About the latter we can be sure - she's not lying. About the former we know nothing. I don't think we should do any harm to the poor girl, frankly.

 

[HaroldTwinss]

As someone who earned his living in the English state system for over twenty years teaching French and German, and an RSA/CELTA/CertTESOL trainer of non-native speakers of English for several years, I would be the last person to condemn someone who teaches a language thar is not their native language.

ps. I don't agree that her English is strongly accented.

Very wisely said. I appreciate your answer.

As I'm reading the comments I can't get why some people are so mean. Not knowing the person saying so much tho I simply asked for the accent.

Thanks to all of you for your comments, positive or negative.

That girl is a friend of my friends. And she was born in the USA and lives in Santa Monica now. Her accent, I still dunno. She now lives in Santa Monica tho she lived in 15 countries before. So maybe her accent is the mixture of all the nations? And my boys say she is CELTA and TEFL certified, been a teacher for more than 10 years. Yeah, her accent can b weird for us, but guys. Leave her in peace

Anywho, thanks a lot to everybody and have a great day.

 

[GoesStation]

She may have been born in the United States but she certainly didn't grow up here or grow up in an Anglophone household. She has a pronounced Russian accent. But that doesn't make her unqualified to teach English.

 

[jutfrank]

The Russian part of her accent is far from strong. Much of the way she pronounces is typical of US English.

It is completely unjustified and unfair to suggest that she is anything less than a competent tutor.

 

[Tdol]

Closing thread as it seems to be getting out of hand