How can I catch an american accent?

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Thethenothere123

#232572 Mon, 05 Jun 06 09:53 AM

Englishuser wrote:
Why are you guys so anxious to pick up an American accent? Wouldn't a British one do? This is my personal opinion, of course, but I would certainly recommend a British Received Pronunciation instead of an American accent as it (RP) is a very clear accent and will this be understood in all contexts and situations. Best of luck with your pronunciation!

Depending upon the learner's native language, they may not be able to emulate either accent to the point that the listener would be able to distinguish between the two or even be aware of the fact that the speaker was attempting to use a specific accent. For instance, I frequently encounter Indians (from India) that think they're speaking with an RP accent, but to me (and to others I would imagine), they simply sound like Indians speaking English.

Besides, I think that both Received Pronunciation and General American (both are the traditional newscaster accents) are equally intelligible anywhere in the world.

Thethenothere123

Joined on Fri, Mar 3 2006

Los Angeles, California

Full Member (187)

Accents, American accents, Pronunciation, Speaking English

Patrick Bilson

#232703 Mon, 05 Jun 06 06:02 PM

I agree with the advice people gave you so far. Don't worry about not living in the US, I didn't either and I didn't have major problems getting an American accent. Just be patient and allow yourself enough time to change your speaking patterns. Losing an accent is not something you'll be able to do in just a few weeks.
A few more things that might help you:
-Try to speak English as much as possible. Only regular practice will make your foreign accent go away.
-If you don't know many (or any) American people, have conversations with yourself. Imagine that you're an actor learning his/her part.
-Think in English
-Buy a little tape recorder and tape yourself reading an article from a newspaper. Listen to your own recording an analyze what you need to work on

There's a ton of other stuff you can do to practice - be creative and just keep going!

Patrick Bilson

Joined on Mon, Jun 5 2006

New Member (04)

Accents, American accents, Speak english, Articles, Conversations

Englishuser

#232747 Mon, 05 Jun 06 08:51 PM

Please see Thethenothere123's post on p. 1

Yes, it certainly is true that many people who attempt to speak in a Received Pronunciation just sound like foreigners speaking English to the native listener. However, as a learner of English as a foreign language, one must have native speakers to imitate, native speakers to learn from. I think native speakers with an RP accent are good role models for foreign learners. How successfully one succeeds in imitating a native speaker is then another story. Other native English accents (and perhaps even some English creoles, depending on one's needs) can be just as good for a person who studies English pronounciations as RP. It is all a matter of personal choice. However, it must be remembered that many pronunciation related materials such as tapes and pronunciation dictionaries are RP-centred. And I do think it important to be as consequent as possible when you speak: it sounds odd to mix RP speech patterns with General American or Jamaican ones, for instance.

Englishuser

Joined on Thu, Mar 30 2006

Regular Member (717)

Accents, American accents, Pronunciation, Speaking English

Kakaiyu

#395337 Sun, 22 Jul 07 10:01 PM

Before I tell you any advice, I think that you should know that some Amercans find an accent incredibly sexy. I can understand that you want to blend in, but don't beat your self upabout it if you can't completely perfect your accent.

Okay, now, to improve your accent I think it might be beneficial if you watched material that had both American and British accents being spoken side-by-side. I think it would help because you could kind of "compare" the accents, almost side-by-side, and the differences might stand out more if you hear an American accent saying something immediately after you have heard a British accent saying it. The only thing I can think of right now is the movie "Marie Antoinette" directed by Sofia Coppola, which has actually been criticized because it has a mixture of British, American, and French accents.

You probably know these colloquial abbreviations and conjunctions, but I'll put them anyways just in case. You should probably have a person with a native American accent tell you how to pronounce these, since they would probably sound really odd pronounced wrong :
kind of = kinda (pronounced KIND-uh)

the = (pronounced like "thuh word", though NEVER spelled this way, and sometimes, even "th'noun")

sort of = sorta (can be pronounced either sor-duh or SOR-duh)

What do you, What are you = watchya ("Watchya think?" "Watchya going to do?") (pronounced WUT-chya)

What do you = can also be called whaddaya ("Whaddaya going to do?") (pronounced WUH-duh-yuh)

doing = doin' (pronounced DOO-in)

Kakaiyu

Joined on Sun, Jul 22 2007

Kagoshima, Japan (originally from Georgia, USA)

New Member (05)

Accents, American accents, British accent, Nouns, Abbreviations

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