Learn Amercian Accent

Do you want to improve your American English pronunciation and speaking skills but just don't how to go about it? Here are our “must do” tips to instantly improve your American English.

1. Always speak slowly.
One of the most common complaints from people is that they have a difficult time understanding someone who speaks too quickly. This applies to both native American speakers and speakers of English as a second language. The goal here, of course, is not to speak too slowly, but slowly enough so that you have more time for your lips and tongue to reach the correct placement for sounds. Speaking more slowly will instantly help make your accent less pronounced. If you speak too quickly, your accent will sound heavier and your speech more difficult to understand. This is because your lips and tongue do not have enough time to form sounds correctly. Use an appropriate speaking rate as your fundamental speaking skill. This is the skill upon which every other skill is based. Master this, and you will be doing great!

2. Pronounce all the sounds in words.
Pay special attention to pronouncing all the sounds in words when you speak. Right now, you may be omitting the final sound, the middle sound, or an unstressed syllable in a word. This can make your speech difficult to understand for your listener. Focusing on pronouncing all the sounds in words will instantly make your American English pronunciation better. It sounds easy, but it is actually difficult to do! Start learning when you omit sounds by practicing reading aloud slowly. Focus on each sound in every word as you speak, especially the final sounds of words. As it becomes easier, start incorporating this skill into your everyday speech. You will notice an instant change in your American English!

3. Stick to grammar you have mastered
American English, just like other languages, has a specific word order to follow, as well as ways to form types of words. If English is not your native language, then you are used to using a different grammar/word order system. What this means is that you will naturally make mistakes in American English grammar, even if you have studied grammar rules. Applying the rules can be difficult. Here is your grammar tip: when speaking to others, try to stick to using grammar structures you have mastered. If you have only mastered simple sentences, then you should use only simple sentences until you can use more advanced ones successfully. No one will think less of you for using simple structures. Believe it or not, they won’t even notice! What they will notice, however, is when you make a mistake. So, always follow this rule!

4. Record your speech often.
The best tool for helping you understand what your speech sounds like to others is to record your speech. Do this very often! Awareness of the changes you need to make is the first step to changing your speech. Listening to your speech will help in every area of American English: It will help you become aware of the mistakes in pronunciation, grammar, stressing, intonation patterns, pausing, word connections, etc.Most computers have a built-in sound recorder that you can use for recording. If yours doesn’t have one, any tape recorder or digital recorder will do. You may need to have a microphone in order to hear your voice, so test out your equipment ahead of time.Once you are all set to go, record your speech for 1-2 minutes as you talk about any topic you would like.
Now here is the hard part: go back and listen to your speech and analyze it.Try to be objective, and rate yourself according to how quickly you are speaking and how easy it is to understand your speech.Also, make a note of any words you hear that have sounds omitted. Remember, it is the final sound of words and sometimes the middle syllables that are most often omitted.A good habit to get into is to write down words you hear that are accented and practice them.

5. Speak loudly enough.
Speaking volume is a very important part of oral communication for every language. Whether you are speaking to one person or ten people, you must be able to speak loudly enough so that your audience hears you comfortably. How do you know if you are not speaking loudly enough? If you tend to speak too softly, you may notice people asking you to repeat, to speak more loudly, or to clarify what you say. Expressions on people’s faces can also let you know that something is wrong. If you see people leaning forward in their seats, frowning, or turning an ear toward you, these are clear signs that you are speaking too softly. How can you adjust your speaking volume? It is not enough just to speak more loudly. You will want to practice aiming your voice at different locations, starting at three feet away, then five feet away, then ten feet away, etc. Each time you practice, find an object at a specific distance away and talk to it. Look at the object and aim your voice at it. You can also practice with another person as your helper. Ask the person to stand in a specific place and say something to him/her. If he/she can hear you comfortably, increase the distance and do it again. Speaking at an appropriate loudness will make you sound confident and in control; in the business world, these two qualities are extremely important!

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Overcome the Challenges

English is often said to be one of the most difficult languages to learn. This is due to several reasons:
1)words in English are often pronounced differently than they are spelled,
2)even though there are rules for pronunciation, there are many exceptions to the rules
3) some types of words (irregular plurals, irregular verbs) change completely and do not follow grammar rules (ex: goose-geese, see-saw).
Because of the many exceptions to pronunciation and grammar rules, many words and grammatical forms must be memorized. This creates a language that can be very difficult to master!

The standard American English accent is considered the professional accent of the language and does not exist naturally in the United States. This is the accent that is taught to professional speakers, such as news broadcasters, public speakers, actors, etc. The region of the United States that comes closest to having the standard or “neutral” American English accent is considered to be the Midwest, around Michigan.

Not everyone who speaks English as a second language has an accent. Learning a new language comes easily to small children and children under the age of about 12 or 13 years old. This is because the part of the brain that is responsible for learning language is not fully developed until the early teen years. As we get older, it becomes more difficult to learn a new language. An adult learning English, therefore, will always have some accent. The amount of the accent will depend on several factors, such as: the age at which English was learned, the ease of learning new languages, and how much exposure the individual has with English.

We can often tell where a person is from by their accent. This is because each language has its own specific sound system and intonation patterns. When a person learns a new language, they naturally take their sound system and intonation patterns with them. They try to match the sounds from the new language with sounds from their native language. Because the new language naturally contains some sounds that are different than sounds in the native language, sounds cannot be matched exactly. This creates an accent and is why we can generally identify a person’s native language by their accent. For example, one can easily tell a Spanish accent from a Chinese accent because of the sound differences and intonation patterns.

There are certain sounds that tend to occur frequently in English and affect the American English accent more than others. The “r” sound is one of these, and is probably the most noticeable. It occurs in English as a consonant and vowel, and is also present in blends and diphthongs. It seems like the "r" is everywhere! The American English “r” sounds like “er” and is formed by rounding the lips and raising the middle of the tongue high in the back of the mouth. The tongue tip curls up, but does not touch the roof of the mouth. In many other languages, the “r” is formed by keeping the lips flat and placing the tip of the tongue just behind the upper front teeth, so that it sounds like a very quick “d” or several quick “d” sounds together. This is often called “rolling” or “trilling.” Because it sounds so different from the American English “r”, listeners often need more time to process and interpret this difference so that they can understand accents, such as Spanish, Russian, and Arabic, for example.

Other consonant sounds that can significantly impact an American English accent include differences in “t”, “d”, “th”, “w”, and “v”. Accented vowel sounds also affect American English, as heard in individuals from Africa and Jamaica, for example. These sounds also occur frequently in American English and can make a significant difference in speech intelligibility.

The goal of accent reduction isn’t necessarily to eliminate an accent, but to improve spoken English so that speech is clear and easy to understand. The bottom line is that an accent should not get in the way of communication, and the individual should feel confident when speaking in any situation.

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Indian Accent Reduction

Every language has its own sound system, grammar rules, and intonation patterns which makes it unique. Learning a new language means incorporating new sounds, new intonation patterns, grammar rules, as well as other skills, so that you can become an effective communicator.

Being from a Indian background, there are several differences between your how you currently speak English and what we call standard American English. Some of these differences will not significantly impact your ability to be understood by Americans, while others will make a tremendous difference in your speech.

The areas listed below are a few examples of general areas your accent reduction program may include. Other areas not included in this list may also be addressed, depending on your particular needs.

1. Indian languages are generally much faster than American English, so you are used to speaking quickly. Combine that with an accent, and it may be very difficult for Americans to understand your speech. Speaking Your Best will teach you how to reduce your speaking rate and show you how to maintain an appropriate rate when speaking English. This will be a very important part of your program.

2. There are several sounds in American English that you naturally have particular difficulty pronouncing. This is because you say them differently in your native language. In addition, you just don’t have some of these sounds in the Indian languages. For example, the "t" and "d" are two sounds that are most often pronounced too far back in the mouth. The "r" sound is also pronounced differently, and is the sound which will most likely affect your accent most. Speaking Your Best will work with you to improve the sounds you are having difficulty with, so that you speak clearly and confidently.

3. As an Indian speaker, you may notice that you tend to have a different “song” or melody when you speak American English. Your pitch tends to be flatter, and you tend to end words going up in pitch. Because your stressing and intonation patterns are so different, Americans may have difficulty understanding your speech. A very important part of your program may be learning how to make your pitch go up and down in the correct way so that you can “sing” in English.

4. Grammar may be an area of weakness for you if you began speaking English in your teens. Many Indians begin speaking English beginning in kindergarten and have few grammar errors by the time they are adults. Speaking Your Best will assess your grammar skills and work with you on the parts of speech that are difficult for you.

Accent reduction can help you become an effective communicator in all speaking situations.