Poor accent

Question

Hi there, I need your kind advice regarding speaking english with a Britich Accent..

My major case is my poor accent,, no-one can understand me whenever I speak in my accent, what's the right mean to improve it ?

Many thanks

Crux_online · Accepted Answer

There are a number of variations within the British accent. Here are some suggestions on how to improve your accent:

1. If you have any close British friends or acquaintences, speak with them as often as possible while imitating their accent. Sometimes people are offended by this because they believe you to be mocking them or poking fun. Let them know that this is not the case and don't be afraid to ask them to say some things slowly so you can hear the sound changes. Generally you will want to learn the accent of educated people because the uneducated often develop very bad habits of pronunciation while the educated often cling like barnacles to their pride in well-spoken English.

2. Watch the speaker's mouth closely, particularly while watching the television. The movements of the mouth will lend clues to the shapes required to make certains sounds. If you have British films on DVD or VHS, watch them and emulate their accent. Oftentimes the accent portrayed is considered a standard accent and actors tend to have very good diction (speak very clearly), and this helps a lot.

3. Listen to news radio broadcasts. In particular the types of broadcasts that seem to repeat about ever 30 minutes or so. This helps you to find the meter and rhythm of the language. Every language tends to have its own 'feel' and you can only get it by listening--then speaking.

4. Talk to yourself. Don't be afraid to evaluate yourself. You may want to do this with some degree of privacy since others may thinks you've gone crazy

5. Most of the accent in Britain seems to be founded how the vowels sounds glide. There are few 'pure' vowels in British English. For example, the 'o' sound in boat begins as a pure [ o ], but ends very close to being [ u ]. Some accents even begin the 'o' with an [ e ] sound (like 'bet'}, then glide through [ o ], then [ u ]. Listen closely to the word and you will begin to see that these sorts of glides are very, very common. Listen for others and emulate them.

6. Local theater actors often spend time analyzing accents and dialects in order to present them professionally on stage. If you can avail yourself to the theater, approach the cast to see if there are any tips they can offer. There are even cassette tapes and CD's that I've seen that break down various accents for just such anaylsis.

7. On a more academic note, J. C. Catford has a great book on phonetics. It is written almost like a self-study guide and goes through the sounds that can be made, how to make them, and the symbols that represent those sounds. Reading the book causes you to become intimately acquainted with the articulation points of the mouth and throat. You will come away from that book being able to understand the genesis of any sound in any language. Honestly.

I hope these help.

I might also point out that 'over-doing' the accent while you're learning is okay, but you will want to restrict the over-done version to your own practice; dilute the practice accent to a more natural feel while you're actually communicating. The diluted accent will be some mix of your practiced British accent and your natural accent and will feel more comfortable to you. Over time, you will find that you will no longer need to 'over-do' it.

C

Amurok · Answer

Thank you so much for your help.

I am even a little moved by your serious attitude and of course i get something helpful from your thorough and careful article,especially your second opinion of 'watch the speaker's mouth'.It is a good idea.I'll try it.

I am from china so i have the problem of pronounciation too.Anyway i am so happy to read your art about the ways for forieners like me of improving the pronounciation of english.

Thank you!

Crux_online · Answer

AmurokI am from china so i have the problem of pronounciation too.

Being from China present a some special problems for you. Chinese words (at least those of ???) are restricted to ending in a vowel, 'n', or 'ng'. You will need to train you mouth to make ending consonant sounds for comfortably.

Also, many Chinese sounds are nasalized, meaning the the sound is made partially by letting the breath of speech escape through your nose. At least this is how I emulate the Chinese accent when I speak Chinese.

Western accents (except French and possibly a few others) mostly do no nasalize much. Pinch your nose closed while you practice speaking English and train your speech muscles to speak through the mouth; release your nose for 'n', 'm', and 'ng' sounds--those are the Engish nasal sounds.

C

Anonymous · Answer

Hello there....
I am confused about this.......Is there a general rule in phonetics that if "s" is followed by "p", then we should sound "p" as "b"? if "s" is followed by "t" we should sound "t" as "d"?...

Poor accent

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