Native speakers, How can I get an American accent?

Ricardo   Friday, November 07, 2003, 18:40 GMT
Any suggestions at this topic?
Jamie On   Friday, November 07, 2003, 18:59 GMT
Don't bother.
Jaro   Friday, November 07, 2003, 19:03 GMT
The answer is simple, go to the USA and live 20 years there.
wingyellow   Saturday, November 08, 2003, 00:38 GMT
If you believe in the next life, kill yourself and get born in an American family.
Richard   Saturday, November 08, 2003, 01:07 GMT
Just live in America for twenty years and you should get an American Accent?
Tom   Saturday, November 08, 2003, 01:51 GMT
That's right. Just look at Arnold Schwarzenegger.
LA   Saturday, November 08, 2003, 03:37 GMT
Arnold Schwarzenegger with an american accent, you are being sarcastic right?
Jaro   Saturday, November 08, 2003, 09:54 GMT
Well, it depends on your age. But if you move there, work hard to change your accent and pay lot of money for tuition, they may theach you to speak nearly as an American. But you will never sound 100% like native AE speakers.

Arnold Schwarzengger is an exception. He was working out his body instead of his accent.

Another possibility could be hitting your head against something very hard, causing concussion and forgeting everything (including language). Then theoretically, you could learn to speak with american accent without killing yourself.
Jaro   Saturday, November 08, 2003, 09:58 GMT
correction : *teach you*
Tom   Saturday, November 08, 2003, 12:17 GMT
Jaro,
Thanks for your concussion tip. This has got to be the best piece of English learning advice ever published on Antimoon :-)
Tom   Saturday, November 08, 2003, 12:26 GMT
I'm glad you mentioned hard work. If you just live in the US without making a conscious effort to improve your accent, you will probably not speak like an American. I've talked to plenty of people (both online and offline) who have lived in the US for 10+ years and still speak with a strong foreign accent.
I wish people wouldn't perpetuate the myth that going to an English-speaking country is the magic solution that will give you native, or near-native, English skills.
Tremmert   Saturday, November 08, 2003, 13:47 GMT
On the other hand there are people from Britain and Australia who have been in America for many years and are very happy not to have developed an American accent ;)
Ryan   Saturday, November 08, 2003, 19:30 GMT
If you move to the US, you will pick up an American accent on your own... if you are 6-year old poster, maybe. The best way to learn an accent is to either hire a professional acting/speech coach or to go through some intensive recording/playback work of your voice trying to imitate American speakers. Studying all of the different "American sounds" would be a good start.
A.S.C.M.   Sunday, November 09, 2003, 01:04 GMT
I find it very amusing when my father (a German) says that Arnold Schwarzenegger, with his "linguistic talent", has picked up a "perfect American accent".
Adam   Sunday, November 09, 2003, 04:32 GMT
Firstly, what dry bean have you got inside you skull to even dare to learn american accent? Americans are so slow they change grammar in order to write a phrase more easily, for instance: gimme... I mean.. can't they just waste a little bit of time to write "give me"? or typical that they write "u" right instead of "you" .. hello? it's just two further letters!!!! is that going to hurt you? or to make you waste your entire life? absolutely not!! so write the way it has to be! don't be bloody arseholes.