Thursday, February 19, 2004, 11:52 GMT
I really need an American accent (if I have to specify, I'll just a normal "Michigan" accent) for my job. I do fairly suck at it, which is definitely a problem. Now a girl I work with has told me that I should put on a voice to sound American - she means talk in a voice that's faster and higher pitched than usual (and try to use American pronunciation on some vowels or sounds like "r"). That can't be right, can it? I've got a horrible feeling that if I do this in public, I'll get my ass kicked in about three seconds.
However - I'm having great difficulties, currently, at getting a US accent because though I've learnt the American way of pronuncing vowels etc (e.g. tongue back and low in mouth for "oh" sound, lips rounded) it just doesn't come together and I have to mentally think about how to say the words with an accent before I say them, and even then they don't come out right.
Normally I wouldn't care, but I **really** need to get an American accent for my job - so what do you think? Should I try my friend's method?
However - I'm having great difficulties, currently, at getting a US accent because though I've learnt the American way of pronuncing vowels etc (e.g. tongue back and low in mouth for "oh" sound, lips rounded) it just doesn't come together and I have to mentally think about how to say the words with an accent before I say them, and even then they don't come out right.
Normally I wouldn't care, but I **really** need to get an American accent for my job - so what do you think? Should I try my friend's method?