Conquering My Fear: Starting a YouTube Channel as a Non-Native English Speaker 

Thank you! That’s so nice of you. I am too 😊🎉

Thank you! That’s very kind. Since starting this channel in February, I have definitely gotten more comfortable speaking English, and more accepting of the way I speak it 😊

Thank you, happy to hear that 😊

Thank you! 🩷 Yes, maybe I will do a video on Norwegian food after the summer 😊

Haha, wow! Thank you ☺

That’s great! Thanks for watching 😊

Thank you! That’s great 😁 Happy to hear you enjoy my videos!

Thank you! That’s good to hear 😊 Haha, there are a lot more of you than there are of us 😂

Thank you!

Thank you! Welcome ☺️🫶🏼

Aww thank you ❤️ Being jugded kind of comes with the territory on RU-vid, but you can do it! It’s worth it, it’s so much fun 😊

Beautifully said! Thank you 😊 Welcome to the channel, and I hope you’ll enjoy my videos 🌸

thank you! yes, in the end that is the most important thing 😊

Oh wow, that’s so interesting! Thank you for saying that 😊

Thank you! That is very true, and I’m starting to embrace that about myself more now 😊

Thank you! 😊

Thank you! RU-vid is so much fun 😄

Hi there!

Thank you! Yes, it gets a little bit easier for every video, but I don’t exactly enjoy hearing myself haha 😊

Oh thank you, that is nice to hear 😊

Thank you 😊

Oh cool! Hello there ☺️

Thank you! That is good 😊 Welcome to the channel!

@@VictoriaSagely 🥰

Hello there! yes, you should really visit! just avoid coming during the cold dark winter haha, wait for spring or summer 😄 I have never been to Poland, but would love to go someday.

Thank you 😊

Haha! Tusen takk 🥰❤️

Hi! Thank you, happy to hear that 😊

Thank you for this comment! Very good points. I try to remind myself of this. But often times, Norwegians are the ones that are most cruel to each other about the accent. At the same time, I can’t care about that too much 😊

@@VictoriaSagely yeh it is the same where i am from. And thats good that you dont care too much!

That's so nice of you, thank you! Appreciate the support 😊

Thank you! ☺️

haha aaw thank you 🥰

I would recommend starting a new channel, that’s what I did! I had 1k subs on my Norwegian channel, many of them inactive though, but I don’t think my English videos would perform well with that audience. The subs would not click on those videos, which sends a bad signal to the RU-vid algorithm. So start a new one, and just remember that it takes a few weeks or even months for RU-vid to find your right audience. Good luck 😁

@@VictoriaSagely thank you so mich for your answer. It makes total sense 👌 you confirmed what was going on my mind👌 I will start a new channel 😊 Also good luck for you 🙏

Glad you found me! Thank you 😊 I don’t have my Norwegian vlog channel live anymore, but my Pokemon channel is called Victoria Elsker Pokemon 🌸

Thank you for subscribing! Welcome to the channel 🥰

Good to hear! thanks ☺

Thank you, really appreciate this comment! It's difficult to say what kind of American accent I mean (within USA), but I think most Norwegians just want to sound good (whatever that means). The Norwegian English accent is often made fun of here in Norway, so no one wants to speak like that. Petter Solberg is often used as an example of this way of speaking, there are many RU-vid videos on "Petter Solberg English". As you say, it's better to speak in your own natural accent, but the problem is that I'm still trying to find my accent. As English is not my native language and I've never lived abroad, it can be challenging to find a way to speak that sounds natural to me. I don't know if that makes sense. Since childhood, we've been watching American TV shows and movies, which has essentially set the standard for us, and can be difficult to live up to. As I have grown older, I have come to the realization that it is very unrealistic to sound American. When I realized that, I finally felt brave enough to create this channel and not be so hard on myself. Things are going pretty well, even if my English is not perfect, which is a relief!

@@VictoriaSagely I have never heard of him so I looked him up and I have to say y’all must have some strong internal insecurity about how you speak 😅. He sounds intelligible and perfectly fine, very European accent but that is to be expected. I think the accent many people mean when they think “American” is this really middle of nowhere America that has almost no character. I call it TV accent, you can hardly tell anything about it except that is very exportable to overseas. Some Canadians have it until they say “bag” or “about” and it betrays them 😂. My fav US accent is the Southern drawl or Texan. I wanna say “bless your heart” with a strong southern accent to anyone that annoys me and just watch their face fall 😈 When I was younger I read this children’s story about a crow that saw these graceful swans, he tried to mimic their walk and grace. He couldn’t quite get it and tried to go back to his crows, they asked him why he walked like that. He ended up forgetting how he walked naturally. I remind myself of that story whenever I see people -especially on social media. A reminder to be authentic and myself. Another perspective I am not sure you might have thought about is how reassuring seeing you speak with your accent will be to other folks for whom English isn’t their first/primary language. You speak much more carefully than we do and at a slower pace which is very helpful for people to understand. I think that is a major plus and a brownie point for speaking in your natural pace and accent. If that is important to you then I think that is something to ponder upon ☺️. Also, how do like the bread-maker? I have been contemplating buying one but have never taken the plunge 🤭

Yes, we really do have a strong insecurity, haha. Not everyone experiences it, though; mostly the younger generation or people my age, because teens nowadays are even better at speaking English than we are. I agree with your point that speaking at a slower pace makes it much easier for all the non-native English speakers to understand. I like that! I'm loving the bread maker! It originally belonged to my parents, who never ended up using it. Its usefulness really depends on your needs and how determined you are to use it regularly. I like to make not only bread but also buns and pizza dough with it. I find it quicker to use and easier to clean than bringing out my kitchen machine 😊