are you a native speaker?

I saw this message the other day on couchsurf. They were looking for someone who would like to act in front of a crowd, who wouldn't be afraid to talk with a microphone and who speaks English, better with an accent.

I know that I don't have an Italian accent, as everyone thinks that I am front Eastern Europe when I speak English, but I do have an accent. I do speak English and I would like to start again my childhood hobby of acting. So, I got in touch with the person who put the advertisement on couchsurf.

First step: phone interview. The name of the guy with whom I had to talk to was Liam, which I pronounced "Laiam" (read it literally as I wrote it)........I would say that I started very well with my English. He corrected me on his name and then his next sentence was: "we only want native English speakers"....I wonder how he could guess that I was not :-)

Anyway, that opportunity for a nice break outside my main work hobby/earning money (yes, they were also paying for this acting....all my friends were making fun of me asking me if it was a porn movie....otherwise, why looking for inexpert actors???...but would you need to be a native English speaker to act in a porn play??? and would that be in front of a crowd??? I don't think so...) is gone......it was gone in less than a minute of a phone interview actually. I guess I did very well.

Ok, not a native English speaker to act.

Next language. French. I applied for a teaching position here. I do have quite of an Italian accent when I speak French (everyone spots me as Italian already when I say "bonjour")...It seems that I got selected for the interview, which is in French. The person who will get the job will have to teach in French. Mandatory: in French. My ex-boss here has a plan to help me to get rid of my Italian accent in less than a week for the interview.....I don't know how he is going to achieve that.....why couldn't I teach with an Italian accent? I do have problems with the language and I am still lost in translation sometimes (when it comes to work, I think in English)....but I guess I could teach....It appears that as a non-native French speaker, I would have some possibility to get the job only if everyone else who got selected for the interview will not show up......highly likely, I would say.....

Anything that I could do here by speaking my native language then???? apparently, none is looking for Italian speakers.... :-(

At least my consolation is that even if my native language is the wrong one in terms of job market here......it sounds very nice and I am proud of it!