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Speak American English - Several Points You Need For A Better American Accent
American English Accent is not just about saying every sound perfectly Well, in a sense it is, but you probably don't really understand the whole picture, if you think like this. We all know how English is taught in countries that don't have it as their official language - you are taught printed English first and foremost. You've probably have been taught how to pronounce every sound in the alphabet and that's it - everything else is left to your ability to imitate the English you hear in your classes, maybe sometimes teachers correct your word pronunciation and the lessons of pronunciation are pretty much it at that point. Well, those who put a lot of effort into these classes do improve a lot, but the slight accent is still there. Well, those who don't put as much effort have it worse. The thing is babies don't learn language in written form fist - they hear the words and learn how to think in this language from the very early age - thus gaining unconscious habits that non-natives do not possess. Well, not for you, because you have already become interested in learning this topic better. So what is an Accent? What does it constitute of? A spoken American accent is a combination of these three - 1)Intonation 2)Word connection 3)Pronunciation Let's begin with Intonation. Intonation American natives if you listen to them carefully tend to have a higher intonation at the beginning of the sentence and then their pitch goes down, with occasional rises in the middle/end of the sentence. The reason why they do this is because it is accepted in the language - first, and that English is just a very intonation-dependent language in the first place. Try to say "I didn't steal the car" and "I didn't steal the car" and you have two completely different sentences, with the first one emphasizing that it wasn't HIM who stole the car, while the latter that He didn't Steal the car (and probably did something else to it, but definitely not stealing) In Holywood movies the intonation is harder to catch, but it is still there. Just remember that you probably should start using a more extreme intonation in your speech and record yourself - you will probably learn that if you do it right you will sound much fluent, confident and more American. Word Connections How do you say "What do you want to do?". You've probably heard of the slangy phrases like "whatchawannado". Well, in my opinion, they are not really slangs it is just that as the phrase became more and more common in everyday American speech, people got lazier to pronounce every single word in their entirety and started blending the sounds together to make it into one single sound group. That's the essence behind the word connection principle. There are specific rules that tell you how to connect the words when one ends with a vowel and another starts with a vowel, or one ends with a consonant and another starts with another consonant. For now, you just need to know that these connections should be made. You should never say the words one by one - it makes you sound choppy and incongruent to an American native. Pronunciation So this is the last one - the pronunciation. What pronunciation is about is it is about saying every sound in phonetics alphabet correctly. There are general rules (mouth, lips, jaw movements) that you should follow when you try to say a specific sound. Moreover, various linguists have devised categories of sounds and applied general rules to these categories , so that you have an easier time figuring out how to say the sounds correctly. How hard is it to learn a new accent? This probably should also be adressed, because this is quite a common question. Many people think that the task is either too hard or they are too old to learn a new language. Well, the thing is learning an accent is not harder than learning any other skill - you just need consistant hard work and be willing to fix your mistakes (in other words adapt). Use a recorder, practice talking and you will get better with time. People say that children have it easier when it comes to learning a new language, but I think it is just a myth. It is well known that there are teachers in this world that have devised methods that teaches Adults how to learn the basics of a language in 3 days. So overall don't be discouraged - you can and you will improve your accent. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Duy Anh runs an English Speaking Tips website that gives you general tips on How To Improve English Speaking as well as running a Spoken English Tutorial |
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