...those who mock accents, probably speak only one language and that too not so well.

The biggest sign of low self esteem is putting others down. Confidence takes work, with it comes politeness. Nice talk :)

If native english makes fun of your accent,ask how many languages he/she speaks.

People who mock people with strange accents are everywhere, they're just typical narrow-minded people that don't know that everyone has a bit of wisdom to teach

Dear dislike brigade: If you actually watch the video, you realise that he's not just complaining about his own woes, he's making a really important point about how "normality" is sidelining anybody who falls outside of what is considered to be "normal", even if statistically they are a large portion of the population. You might not realise it, but that's important to you too, since statistically most of you watching fall outside what is "normal" in one way or another.

what he is trying to say is to have some empathy and face your fears.we all must accept others for what they are.

I find accents very cool and I dont understand the point of people making fun of it.

This man is probably more intelligent than anybody making fun of his accent. Also, most probably funnier than the same people.

i dont think his accents hard to follow, but youtube comments and children are vicious creatures

Only people who doesn't speak at least two languages won't understand the goal of this video. Thank you for this though, it reminds me my story in my first day in a french school with my african accent. I'm eased that other people are sharing my story and could make fun that 😊

gosh I hope he doesn't read some of these comments

people are so mean and although I can't apologize for them. bless you

There are three comments in a row that are calling this guy a narcissist. But isn't narcissism an unrealistic positive view of one's self? There is nothing wrong with someone being happy about himself. He has overcome self doubt. I appreciate this talk very much.

I love his accent, accents are so amazing to me.

I love that he was able to face his fears and overcome them.. now that takes courage.

I too, will try to speak up from now on. Thank you for the inspiration!

I feel like a lot of people in the comments don't have a close friend who is a second language speaker of their native language. I live with my brothers Japanese girlfriend who has lived here for years. She works every day to improve upon her pronunciation and spent the whole summer doing an English course. It can be so frustrating to ESL kids when people say they haven't been working hard enough to learn the language and then proceed to mock their accent. It's a normal and understandable thing when someone is self-conscious about their accent.No one likes to be made a joke of! But whatever, loved this Ted talk and the way he incorporated the animation into it. Hopefully the comments get more positive!

I'm not a native speaker and could understand every word...

This is my new favorite TED Talk

I think his accent is cute

Funny and interesting. And heart-breaking when you think how much people feel 'less than' because of the way they speak. But, honestly, accents (and speech impediments) are actually cool. I have a weird one -- mixed British and American with a bit of Thai thrown in :) Oh and Safwat, if you read this, two things a) always stay ABNORMAL. Normal is boring. It's just like everyone else. And why would you want to be like that :) Normal people rarely achieve anything remarkable. It's the 'abnormal' ones that shine. and b) Ignore people on the Internet. A huge percentage are twats who would never dare say to your face what they'll say hiding behind their fake names online.

This is a very inspiring talk. As a teacher of English for Foreign Learners, I witness every day how being self-conscious of one's accent can impact one's ability to develop confidence and speaking skills. But I always try to talk to my students about this and show them how our accent is not a flaw. It's a part of our identity, part of our history. It tells a story about where we come from and what we have experienced in life. It obviously takes a long time to deconstruct this idea of "I have to sound like a native speaker, otherwise I'm not good at speaking English". But it's wonderful to see the gain in confidence when it happens. ♥

this makes a huge amount of sense

Honestly, people mocking accents usually speak one language and don’t know how hard it is to get rid of your native accent.

Tbh, I know how this guy feels because I struggled and still struggle to some extent with the fear of revealing my flaws in speech (not to the extent of this guy though) but everyone has problems and we all have to overcome them.

OMG !! I'm the same way, although he has got over it. Hope I would someday get over it too. I feel depressed when I can't even do the simple conversation. It's not just English, but the other 3 languages that I speak. I stutter in all of them.

I found his voice quite soothing actually.

Accents are awesome, They tell you a story about people, I used to have an accent when i first moved to Australia, and to be honest it did effect me, people did mock me. But now whenever I deliberately speak in an accent, people laugh because it's cool. It's too bad that the world isn't more accepting! AMAZING TED TALK!

sorry you had to endure the abuse, and so glad you found your voice. most of us are so very self-conscious of how we perceive our own voices, and we do not realize until later in life, we are all equally ugly or equally beautiful. So bravo, sir !

Mr. Saleem, may I say this directly to you: this is one of the best TED Talks I've ever seen, and you very precisely stripped societal norms down to the core problem - norms themselves. This talk is the very essence of TED, as TED is built upon basic interaction in a societal context, taken to new heights. The more people who hear you, the more people capable of furthering their heights, or redirecting them. Bravo!

Very well said. Very courageous. These "normal expectations" are closely tied with entitlement. And is made worse by the fact that social media platforms allow anyone to use cowardly anonymity to decry in an abusive manner, anything different from what its expected.

People in groups, particularly groups that feel superior, can be incredibly mean, and apathetic. Humans are a group animal--sometimes we're a herd, sometimes we're a pack. Our actions in groups tend to be dictated by the leaders--so be careful who you chose to follow as your leader. You may not want to be a leader yourself, but you DO have a choice over who your leader is. You CHOOSE to follow them. And if you don't like your leader, find a new group with a leader you do like, and who acts in a way you approve of, rather than in a way that you have to excuse. Normalizing mean/bigoted actions and talk subconsciously reprograms your brain to accept those actions and that talk. So, next time someone decides to make fun of someone's accent, don't encourage them by laughing too. Realize that that person might subconciously feel threatened because an accent often means that you aren't speaking your native language...which means you speak more than 1 language, which means you are intelligent, which folks who are closed minded often had to stunt in themselves in order to fit in with the group they are a part of.

I'm so grateful for your talk. As a child I found it so hard to communicate with other children and preferred to stay at home drawing. You've given me courage to start expressing myself and communicating once again through drawing. I've waited a long time, a lifetime, and at seventy years old I shall start again. Thank you so much and by the way I love your voice it suits all the characters and you 😃

I just got mocked by a stranger while I was speaking to my friend in London. I was mad. How could this little comment leave such a bad taste? But it did. Now I’m over it after hearing this! Thanks Safwat! 🥰

Hey I'm not a native english speaker and I can understand every single word he speaks without any effort, so I guess maybe he is not the problem. Come on people!

One of the greatest TED talks I have seen. Used it for an advanced ESL class I teach. Could not have asked for a better video for the class. Thank you Safwat Saleem

Really enjoyed this talk! Sociolinguistics is an important topic often overlooked, keep speaking up!

He finessed a win right there. GREAT WORK.

I'm proud of his confidence his voice is eloquent

I think his positive thinking is so good.

Loved the talk and its delivery...definitely spreading the message.

Growing up in the uk I have also faced many criticism due to the way I speak .. 😂 I couldn't pronounce some words right 😁 and then would be very embarrassed when laughed upon .. Alhumdullilah (due to the grace of Allah) I have a lovely British accent now as I have progressed with my English (still pronounce some words wrong😂) I sit at top English and French in my school even though English isn't my first language .. So I have a message for all of you lovely ppl out there ! Keep going ! Keep doing what you want ! Other ppl are just OTHER PPL they don't matter and it is hard to ignore ppl coz they are quite you know mean 😁 but hey better days will come ! And for those ppl who judge class, status and the person themselves on their accent or dialect well you my friend need to go back to school and learn some manners, the beauty of travel and tourism in which u discover amazing pp with amazing accents ❤️ and stop being ignorant fools !!!

That was amazingly brave of you.

A beautiful and inspiring story.

Thank god for closed captions.

his childhood reminds me of mine. im glad this video was made.

He is a nice guy, he shouldn't explain what we should feel about his art though, if it's sad funny to one person it might be hilarious not sad to the next. Very talented guy, glad he's gaining confidence, he'll do good things.i

Thank you for this talk, it made my day. Ignorance can be quite hurtful, but challenging people's version of normal (especially narrow minded people) will always be a worthy pursuit!☺

Thank yo for such inspiring speech. Especially for someone who struggles with having accent, every day)

This was inspiring. Loved this Ted talk

what a great guy

Thank you for this speech and the positive comments here. I have an accent and have always been self-conscious of it. It does put a lot of weight in your mind which causes you to lose a lot of opportunities. I remember being asked non-stop, when did I arrive. Then met with shocks when people say, “but you have an accent”. I then replied, “you have an accent too?”. It quieted them. This video and the comments here gave me a new perspective. I love the example of colours. I suppose the way our tone gets delivered only serve the ears, but the most important things are the knowledge and capabilities we have to change the world in a positive way.

I love his accent ♥

Thank you for your courage and your words!

I love this guy.

also, this guy's art is incredible!!!! everyone should check it out

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. Great speech.

Funny. I've learned in life that people aren't paying as much attention as we think they are giving. Most of it is from self consciousness in our own mind. I used to think everyone was scrutinizing me. When I realized that's not true, very freeing.

yes!

I have a lisp and was made fun of growing up. this spoke to me deeply. thank you.

Love him! 💕

honestly, i hear myself like I'm about to cry. One of the reasons why I took Social Work. I may befriend everyone, but I can't talk in front of them altogether. We have this term "pabebe" that describes me. It a negative image, but I don't know how to be otherwise.

The comments on this video prove the fact that internet is full of bullies, freaking cypher-bullies!!! It's a great video, he's a great guy and the content is rich, if you're willing to listen.

Thanks, it is helpful for me as a migrant❤

I love this tedtalk

I like your voice dude :)

It's kinda said that there's an English subtitle available ;)

how can i find his video！？！！！

great job

i remember "flowers for Algernon"

I'm bilingual (Thai and English) not quite master Chinese yet. I choose the most well perceive accent. I actively try to speak like that. I think it will make people think better of me.

his accent is good enough more like adorable

5:59 the audience so admire him 😻😻

Very interesting

YAAAASSSSS I LOVE THIS

So inspiring and beautiful. Absolutely baffled at some of these absolutely ignorant comments!

My mom does this and I told her to stop because of SEVERAL reasons! And to that she said “we’re all people and we all make fun of each other so it doesn’t matter!” I WAS VERY UPSET!

omg ur so brave

Dude you're awesome!😄😊

♡ im not trying to compare handicaps, but stutters, or simply instances of people not being able to express themselves without being laughed at make me really angry and upset

Love from Nepal.

He had a good accent

This man looks almost identical to Daniel O'Brien, from Cracked.com. Not an insult, Mr. Saleem, as he is one of my favorite actors/creative directors from Cracked's KZfaq channel. Keep on speaking up, you're doing great.

I like this guys voice :-)

his accent is beautiful

I can relate to the accent part, but I think he shouldn't have taken the negative comments so seriously because 1. His accent is excellent. 2. It's KZfaq, we have very intelligent people and people with 4 working brain cells all in one platform.

I didn't quite get that "they don't see X color if they can't make it" bit. Besides that, nice talk.

really, a great motivation. thanks youtube! 😇

Professional victim?? There's nothing wrong with your accent, buddy, and it sounds very relaxing to me.

Personally found this accent really attractive.. I don't understand the peanut butter thing? He is really well spoken :')!

That was very good

I came here because of this happening a lot to me. I don't know what to do.

I like you and your voice.

I like his accent

His accent is so cute. :3

Still waiting on part 2

the fact that this talk has such a small fraction of views compared to others truly aids the topic he's speaking about

It was pretty good!

I don't get that part with the colors

Normally if someone has an Indian (or Pakistani i guess) accent i can only understand if played at normal 1x speed. But with this talk of Safwat's i can listen at 1.5x speed no worries, he talks fine.