You don’t need to sound American

“I fought my accent for so long,” Gadot says. “Like, I gotta sound more American. I was a little bit shy about my accent. Until I let it go. My dialect coach told me, ‘As long as you’re clear and understood, own it.’ And since I’ve started to own it, I feel free.”

― Gal Gadot in GQ

What’s your first language?

Mine is Indonesian.

I was exposed to the English language when I was 6. Or maybe earlier, I’m not really sure because my mom was a kindergarten teacher and she always brought home some books in English from the library.

From the age of 6 to 18, I always had English classes at school. I also was enrolled in some courses here and there.

Continue reading “You don’t need to sound American”

User Manual to Working with You

Getting to a new work environment is always a struggle. No one knows you. No one knows how to work with you.

It’s even harder if you’re working remotely. There are no hallway or watercooler chats. There are no serendipitous conversations or introductions. There’s no chance to randomly meet people. Everything is intentional.

Here’s what can be helpful.

A personal user manual. What should be included in your manual? Here are some examples:

As you can see, there isn’t a limit on what you can share in a user manual. The more personal, the better, but it all depends on whether you’re comfortable sharing them. It’s like the book of bio you fill out in high school.