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0Hi...am used to speaking with a British accent(RP).Now I have to speak with an American accent as I interact with people from US more frequently.I am able to pick up a few nuances of Am Accent......but not able to completely perfect it......Any tips....thanks! 050010id1

Khoff · Accepted Answer

0 I don't see any reason why you have to speak with an American accent to interact with Americans - you just have to be able to understand it!  Generally Americans are charmed by British accents. 0-

CalifJim · Answer

0 1. Be sure to pronounce your "r"s. All of them! ("pear" is like "peh-R", not "pay-uh") 02br
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002. Be sure to pronounce intervocalic "t"s as "d"s, unless the "t" begins a stressed syllable. ("Adam" = "atom", "latter" = "ladder", etc. in AmE. -- but "attend" has a strong aspirated "t") 02br
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003. Be sure to pronounce all your lax "a"'s the same as in "sack". British "glass" and "dance", etc., have a different 'a' sound. Americans have the same 'a' in both "sack" and "dance". Note that when the British say the word "faster", it sounds to an American like "fosta". 02br
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004. Be sure to use the sound in BrE "glass" to say the AmE word "gloss", and similarly throughout. Drop the British "o" in "hot", "not", "got", etc., completely. American don't (can't?) say that sound. 02br
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005. You can get by in AmE without using the "au" sound as in "author". Use that same BrE vowel in "glass" again for these "au"s. 02br
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006. Drop the 'y' glide in initial "tu" and "du" and "nu" and equivalent combinations. (Am "nooz" for Br "news", Am "toon" for Br "tune"/"tyoon"/"choon", Am "doon" for Br"dune"/'dyoon"/"joon") 02br
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007. Depending how posh your British is, I suppose, you may have to change your "long O" sound more or less. In some British accents when an an American hears Br "I know", it can sound fairly close to Am "I now". 02br
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00If I think of otheRs, I'll let you knOw! 05002br
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00CJ 010id15

Guest · Answer

0Thanks a ton CJ!! 050010id2

Designer · Answer

0 Hi, 02br
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00Couple of things that you could keep in mind 02br
00*In case a word has the letter t and n close to each other..the "t" disappears. 02br
00for e.g.interesting=inneresting(AmE) 02br
00*also words like better in BrE=bedder in AmE.. 02br
00*Roll your "r"s in all words. 02br
00*Also use more liasons like....want to=wanna in AmE 02br
00 let me=lemme in AmE 02br
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00Hope this helps...05002br
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00>De 010id1

CalifJim · Answer

0 Actually, an unobtrusive, unaspirated "t" in "winter", "county", and the like still qualifies as American English. Yet it's true that some people do drop those "t"s completely. Personally, I can't get myself to say a "t" after the "n"s in "twenty" or "plenty". 02br
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00How many dollars do you think you'll need, Jim? 02br
00I think twenny is plenny. 02br
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00The phenomenon described by the technical term "rolled R", if that's what you're using, would not apply to American English at all. 02br
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00CJ 0-

Khoff · Answer

0 I think the "t" business is subject to individual variation - personally, I don't think I could get myself to drop the t's (in "twenty" and "plenty," for instance) if you paid me! (Unless I was half-asleep or half-drunk) 02br
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00And thanks, Jim, for confirming my feeling that we don't actually roll our R's - we just pronounce them, rather than dropping them all over the place. 0-

CalifJim · Answer

0 khoff, 02br
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00Carry a recorder around with you for a few weeks. Listen to yourself after a week's rest from it. You'll be surprised to hear yourself saying all sorts of things that you would have earlier denied to the death that you ever say! Our opinions of ourselves are not always based on the objective truth - because self-observation is so difficult! And our pronunciations are not always as clear and proper as we believe. 02br
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00I have a friend who will say - with not the slightest indication that it's a joke - things like, "The subjunctive in English is dead. I never use it myself. And if I were you, Jim, I'd just stop thinking about it." 02br
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00(I'm not saying you don't say the 't's in "twenty" and "plenty" by mentioning this, by the way! Your remarks just triggered some general ideas I've had in mind for some time.) 02br
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00CJ 0-

Guest · Answer

0 Dr. Bruckner in den OP! 0-

Eimai_Anglos · Answer

0 Re: CalifJim's list: 02br
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001. That's me (English). 02br
002. Nope, that's American 02br
003. That's me (English). 02br
004. That's me (English). 02br
005. Nope, that's American 02br
006. Nope, that's American 02br
007. (You mean "dependent on" not "depending"). I say "Oh" as in "toe". 02br
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00Conclusions: 02br
00I guess I'm not posh. 02br
00I may be half American! 02br
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00Oh, for Iraq I say "eerack" not "eye rack". I guess that makes me English? 050010id5

LeicesterLad · Answer

CalifJim, your comments on pronunciation of British vowels, particularly point number 3 in your list, refer only to RP, or at least English as spoken in the south east of England (and amongst the few upper classes people left throughout England)

The majority of the English (as in nationality, not language) would pronounce "bath" to rhyme with "math" and "pass" to rhyme with "mass". With all respect, it's seems to be a common misconception - particularly among Americans - that most English people say "bahth" and "pahss". You'd get the long "a" in London and the southeast, but in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Newcastle, Nottingham etc - indeed maybe three quarters of the English population at a guess - the "a" sound would be flat. You'd never hear the Beatles, or Ozzie Osbourne, or Sean Bean say "pahss me a glahss of water please"!

The same goes for "u". In the south east of England, "rush" (as in move quickly) would be pronounced more or less the same as in California, but anywhere from the middle of England northwards, "rush" would rhyme with "Bush" (as in the President's name).

The letter "o" as pronounced in "Boat" is a bit more complicated. The almost unique south eastern English dipthonged pronunciation goes as far north as the north Midlands (Nottingham), but north of that, and especially in Yorkshire, "boat" is similar to "bought"

Note - I'm talking about the ENGLISH here, not the BRITISH. Scots, Welsh and Irish English is a whole new thread! And some regional versions of English (eg South West) complicate things further,as their "bath" is somewhere in between the north and south pronunciation.

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