I have been trying to reduce my accent so that I can meld in the American culture. I feel the best way to do it is to make few local friends and talk to them regularly, but I can't find new friends and my accent insecurity keeps me back from trying hard as well. What are some tips to reduce the accent? I have tried watching videos on YouTube, but unless I actually converse, it's not improving fast enough.
Enter what you want to say in a text to speech translator app and pick a nice accent. The only caveat would be that you’d have to type a lot. But hey, your typing speed increases and you will have a consistent accent!
Did you see that ludicrous display last night?
What was Wenger thinking sending Walcott on that early?
try recording yourself. focus on sounds/issues one at a time.
Try to record yourself speaking without accent and then listen to your voice. Detect the words that you are pronouncing with accent and practice
If I were you I'd read about how your accent is different from the American accent and work on specific parts of your annunciation. I did this to get rid of my shitty Pittsburgh accent when I was young. You can also take therapy or watch therapy lessons online. Here's an example program: https://soundpractice.org/ It's not as hard as you think. What I like to do is mimic accents from other Americans to learn what sets their accent apart from mine as well as the standard American accent. Here's an interesting video on the topic: https://youtu.be/ketrhWr58wA
There are plenty YouTube videos on phonetics, search for those on the English language
And lots of good old books - I remember finding a really helpful diagram explaining English vowels - front, middle, back sounds; how much the mouth is open, position of the tongue and lips. This helped me a lot. Then I found out I was making some wrong assumptions like thinking there's a long i in words like "beer". (my native tongue doesn't have short and long i, this was another area of struggle). I was saying it like beeer, which I guess sounded really off. But you just don't understand the difference unless you can discriminate the sounds yourself.
Don’t adopt a new accent. You just have to speak clearly and frequently slower. Other languages also have certain intonations and speed that you need to be mindful of. The Japanese language is a good example. Speaking English with the intonation in Japanese (or some other language) is how ppl mimic “foreign” languages, hopefully sometimes in good fun. Indian language (and probably Italian as well) also has strong emphasis on certain letters like R, and lack of emphasis on the H in the TH. Most of us would say that “3” as “TREE” instead of “THHHREE” I also realized that my Asian accent comes on full blast when I get excited. I think my brain just switched to and starts to think in my native language and my mouth is just running off English. I think the previous comment on recording yourself speak is a really good idea. I think Satya’s accent is a good example of clear speech but still with a slight hint of Indian accent. Jack Ma is another clear English speaker. Late Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore as well.
I agree. Sometimes I find myself talking very fast. Not sure if I make sense in the end. This happens mostly if I am excited or upset. :/ how do you keep reminding yourself to talk slow?
When I do catch myself, I pause and acknowledge it to my listeners with something like “You know I am really excited about this because my accent is coming out!” Then, you sort of put a mental check in place as you repeat what you are saying. Think of the words you are about to construct and say, instead of babbling off directly from the brain. Some of us talk fast too because we are afraid of being cut off, or someone else is speaking fast and we want to match the pace, or we think we have to compact a lot of words in a short time. Most of the time I think good and normal listeners are patient enough let you talk.
Nice to hear someone wanting to adopt an aspect of american culture. When i immigrated watching american shows and conversing with native speakers assisted me
You should do toastmasters. Do public speaking. Best way to get rid of that accent. I’m white but grew up with an accent. Now I have more of a west coast accent that’s more acceptable in tech.
Any good accent coach will tell you that it’s not about getting rid of the accent (it’s unlikely if you moved as an adult) but rather speaking clearly, with a good speed, and pronouncing sounds. There is not such a thing as an American accent - it varies by region and at certain degree social class.
Standard American English is a thing
I'm a native American English speaker and to me there is no "standard" American accent, although there is a set of accents that I'm very used to hearing and can easily understand even at a fast pace. That includes Canadian accents except Quebecois, and even some accents derived from other languages (e.g. there is a particular twang to the Chinese-American communities I grew up in.)
Please don't.. I am an Indian and I hate other indians for faking American accent Be yourself
Too bad nobody cares what you think
It's not faking. It's learning how to properly speak another language.