What is the most efficient way to do it without living in a native speaking country? Watching a lot of movies has not given me impressive results. So I am not in the favor of watching something passively. Listening to a couple of lengthy audiobooks has not helped me much. I wonder If there are other techniques that I can adopt. I tried shadowing a narrator but I found repeating after the narrator very taxing and boring. This is a kind of excercise I can not do on a regular basis. I am wondering what else can benefit me a great deal in this regard. I really envy those people who can pick up an accent with ease. Any tips?
To imitate an American Accent
<<What is the most efficient way to do it without living in a native speaking country?>>
A tecnique called "shadowing".
A tecnique called "shadowing".
TommyHawk, Presuming you have had some exposure to Antimoon's software, unless you have access to a Speech Class, or a class dedicated to Accent Reduction, I have heard of no other way to do it except by shadowing. I know it's tedius, grueling work; keep in mind, however, that accent reduction classes, too, are torture.
-What is the most efficient way to do it without living in a native speaking country? -
Watch American movies on DVD, using pause button frequently and repeating after the actors.
Watch American movies on DVD, using pause button frequently and repeating after the actors.
Jasper: I tried Ann Cook's Accent Reduction book. It was not result-oriented atleast for me after doing all the excercises listed in the book.
Apart from that, I have watched 150 American movies so far. I believe they are not enough in numbers. I think I need to watch 500 movies then I might get something out of this most common suggestion advocated by many people on the internet.
I am a late starter when it comes to learning English language. I started learning the language when I was 19. I am 24 years old now. I wonder if I can mimic a foreign accent to its full perfection.
Why is learning a language so hard? I mean, you have to master each skill individually. That sounds like a life long journey.
Apart from that, I have watched 150 American movies so far. I believe they are not enough in numbers. I think I need to watch 500 movies then I might get something out of this most common suggestion advocated by many people on the internet.
I am a late starter when it comes to learning English language. I started learning the language when I was 19. I am 24 years old now. I wonder if I can mimic a foreign accent to its full perfection.
Why is learning a language so hard? I mean, you have to master each skill individually. That sounds like a life long journey.
TommyHawk, is it possible that the shadowing is being done incorrectly? Many shadowing methods involve taking too-large chunks of English at one time; here's how to do it correctly (go all the way to the bottom):
http://antimoon.com/forum/t11892-15.htm
No more than one sentence at a time should be attempted. With this caveat in mind, shadowing remains a boring, grueling technique--about as much fun and as much work as weightlifting--but I don't know of any other effective way to reduce an accent with homestudy.
http://antimoon.com/forum/t11892-15.htm
No more than one sentence at a time should be attempted. With this caveat in mind, shadowing remains a boring, grueling technique--about as much fun and as much work as weightlifting--but I don't know of any other effective way to reduce an accent with homestudy.
Seems like it would be more effective to wait until you're actually in America, and find someone willing to have you shadow them in person. Then there could actually be feedback.
Which American accent do you want to learn? Many accents, dialects, and sub-dialects exist in the United States. Are you changing your accent as an attempt to blend in or do you feel that your foreign accent will hinder your ability to find a job in the United States? Unless your command of the English language is incomprehensible, you should not worry about changing your accent unless you are trying to become an actor or news anchor. Many Americans, including myself, love to hear a wide variety of accents and dialects.
Honestly, I do not think you can get a good accent without being in a country where you can hear it a lot, and speak it as well. I could be wrong but, it's something you pick up on, not necessarily learn.
Do you know what an accent is? Even I probably can't describe it well , but it's many things. Main thing is pronounciation. The way I see it, different accents are basicaly different ways of pronouncing things WRONG lol. There's a specific way to pronounce words, and that's in your dictionary. Part of an accent is how you pronounce them differently, and this goes for any language.
There's also things like the speed of your words, how it flows. For example, although again, this does not make up an accent entirely, let's take the phrase "hey ya'll." I'll try to use capitals as a guide for intonation, comma for pause. If one person says "HEY, yal" or "HEHyal," but another person says "HEEEeeeyyyyyyyyyaaAAL," you can tell the different accents; they grew up learning to say "hey ya'll" a bit differently. Either two separate distinct words with distinct accent/intonations, or sounding as one word with a smooth transition through the differences in intonation. I could speak of at least one much better example of this, but they're not like official accents of ourse, not a regional thing at all nor are they based on upbringing, and since Americans (or maybe humans in general?) can be quite sensitive, better not to go there. :)
Another example of southern accents is single syllabic words sounded as two syllables, or various, such saying "walk" as "WOAH-auk" or "woahk" or "wo-uk." Don't try to learn that; just be able to understand it, maybe .:P
However, it's not just pronounciation of vowel sounds, but certain combinations with consonants, like the word "situation." One of my current business instructurs actually pointed this out to me. I ocassionaly make the mistake of saying "si-tu-AY-shun," but of course, it should be "si-tchu-AY-shun." And, well, that's a spanish accent; tending to pronounce words as written. I don't always do that though, since I am of course, surrounded by English all the time so I pick up when I hear it pronounced the right way.
Finally, last thing I can think of, is that it can be specific words like youse, or ya'll. I wouldn't say it's the words themselves, but they tend to have some specific pronounciations, so people use "youse" and say that word ...however they say it, and may use that sound in other words with similar letters. However, these words would mostly be like a marker, indicator, or a hint of where the person is from, or what accent it is you're listening to.
In French, as you learn and learn, let's say through high school, you'll learn things like "Je ne sais pas" or the word "maintenant," and even with your BEST pronounciation, if you went to a native French speaker and showed off your newly learned words, they'd immdiately say... non-native accent. Why? Because you pronounced it wrong. You don't say "Je ne seh pah," but instead you say "Jen seh pas." You don't say "man-teh-nah," but instead you say "mant-nah." You would have never learned that those are deliberately pronoucned in those ways, unless you either 1, picked it up from listening french (as was my case with maintenant), or 2, someone told you or you FINALLY learned it from some book (which was my case for "Je ne sais pas"; the rule for when that E is silent showed up in French III, in college, but never in my past 4 years of french.)
so there's a lot of things. Of course, I don't think it's a big deal, not something to worry about, though i'm sure you want to remove enough of your accent so that you can be more easily understood. Once you realize that people are always understanding you well, then it's not a big deal, but your accent will blend in only once you're hearing Englsih all the time and speaking it as well. That's just my opinion though, no data or studies to back that up.
and from a quick search on youtube for a refresher... Edward Norton doesn't sound like a bad reference; I approve. Sounds like proper american english to me.
Do you know what an accent is? Even I probably can't describe it well , but it's many things. Main thing is pronounciation. The way I see it, different accents are basicaly different ways of pronouncing things WRONG lol. There's a specific way to pronounce words, and that's in your dictionary. Part of an accent is how you pronounce them differently, and this goes for any language.
There's also things like the speed of your words, how it flows. For example, although again, this does not make up an accent entirely, let's take the phrase "hey ya'll." I'll try to use capitals as a guide for intonation, comma for pause. If one person says "HEY, yal" or "HEHyal," but another person says "HEEEeeeyyyyyyyyyaaAAL," you can tell the different accents; they grew up learning to say "hey ya'll" a bit differently. Either two separate distinct words with distinct accent/intonations, or sounding as one word with a smooth transition through the differences in intonation. I could speak of at least one much better example of this, but they're not like official accents of ourse, not a regional thing at all nor are they based on upbringing, and since Americans (or maybe humans in general?) can be quite sensitive, better not to go there. :)
Another example of southern accents is single syllabic words sounded as two syllables, or various, such saying "walk" as "WOAH-auk" or "woahk" or "wo-uk." Don't try to learn that; just be able to understand it, maybe .:P
However, it's not just pronounciation of vowel sounds, but certain combinations with consonants, like the word "situation." One of my current business instructurs actually pointed this out to me. I ocassionaly make the mistake of saying "si-tu-AY-shun," but of course, it should be "si-tchu-AY-shun." And, well, that's a spanish accent; tending to pronounce words as written. I don't always do that though, since I am of course, surrounded by English all the time so I pick up when I hear it pronounced the right way.
Finally, last thing I can think of, is that it can be specific words like youse, or ya'll. I wouldn't say it's the words themselves, but they tend to have some specific pronounciations, so people use "youse" and say that word ...however they say it, and may use that sound in other words with similar letters. However, these words would mostly be like a marker, indicator, or a hint of where the person is from, or what accent it is you're listening to.
In French, as you learn and learn, let's say through high school, you'll learn things like "Je ne sais pas" or the word "maintenant," and even with your BEST pronounciation, if you went to a native French speaker and showed off your newly learned words, they'd immdiately say... non-native accent. Why? Because you pronounced it wrong. You don't say "Je ne seh pah," but instead you say "Jen seh pas." You don't say "man-teh-nah," but instead you say "mant-nah." You would have never learned that those are deliberately pronoucned in those ways, unless you either 1, picked it up from listening french (as was my case with maintenant), or 2, someone told you or you FINALLY learned it from some book (which was my case for "Je ne sais pas"; the rule for when that E is silent showed up in French III, in college, but never in my past 4 years of french.)
so there's a lot of things. Of course, I don't think it's a big deal, not something to worry about, though i'm sure you want to remove enough of your accent so that you can be more easily understood. Once you realize that people are always understanding you well, then it's not a big deal, but your accent will blend in only once you're hearing Englsih all the time and speaking it as well. That's just my opinion though, no data or studies to back that up.
and from a quick search on youtube for a refresher... Edward Norton doesn't sound like a bad reference; I approve. Sounds like proper american english to me.
''I wonder if I can mimic a foreign accent to its full perfection. ''
Which accent, there are many accents in the US.
Pick only one and stick to it.
I can tell an actor's origin, from his/her accent.
In ''Married with Children'' all actors were Californian (except from Al Bundy who is from c-c merged Eastern Ohio), but the sitcom was set in cc-unmerged Chicago, what a nonsense. It was so funny to hear L.A.'s Christina Applegate using the word POP and pronouncing it as [pAp] or [pQp] instead of [pap] or [p{p].
Which accent, there are many accents in the US.
Pick only one and stick to it.
I can tell an actor's origin, from his/her accent.
In ''Married with Children'' all actors were Californian (except from Al Bundy who is from c-c merged Eastern Ohio), but the sitcom was set in cc-unmerged Chicago, what a nonsense. It was so funny to hear L.A.'s Christina Applegate using the word POP and pronouncing it as [pAp] or [pQp] instead of [pap] or [p{p].
❝I can tell an actor's origin, from his/her accent.❞
Me, too, to a large extent.
I've been noticing lately that regional accents are written into the script more often. For example, when Dennis Farina joined the cast of Law & Order, his character was introduced as a detective from Chicago. Since Farina has a Chicago accent so thick you can cut it with a knife, this ploy made sense...
Me, too, to a large extent.
I've been noticing lately that regional accents are written into the script more often. For example, when Dennis Farina joined the cast of Law & Order, his character was introduced as a detective from Chicago. Since Farina has a Chicago accent so thick you can cut it with a knife, this ploy made sense...
Another example of southern accents is single syllabic words sounded as two syllables, or various, such saying "walk" as "WOAH-auk" or "woahk" or "wo-uk." Don't try to learn that; just be able to understand it, maybe .:P
____________________________________________________
Not to be overly technical or anything but I am from the American south and we all pronounce the L in walk (and talk and stalk and chalk, you get the idea) so it would sound more like wahulk :)
____________________________________________________
Not to be overly technical or anything but I am from the American south and we all pronounce the L in walk (and talk and stalk and chalk, you get the idea) so it would sound more like wahulk :)