So T, can you share your accent? Maybe I can get some ideas on how I should improve my intonation. So am I really that far from an American?
My accent
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By saying stressing content words...what if you have a series of content words in a cluster? like from the passage :
"storm system characterized..."
"storm system characterized..."
Well, there are actually a couple of different levels of stress here. The most important words in a sentence (one or two typically) are usually stressed with either volume or pitch or both. This kind of stress is almost never used for several words in a row (usually there is at least one word in between that is stressed less). Which words in a sentence receive this stress can be a conscious choice and will color the meaning of the sentence. As in: Did _you_ do that? vs Did you _do_ that?
Other content words are pronounced fully and clearly, but without a particular stress on them. These you don't have much of a choice about - you can't just decide to mumble them (not true strictly speaking, but "mumbling properly" is quite an advanced native level skill, and you can sound perfectly native - and more educated - without it.)
And then there are the connections like 'because', 'of', 'to' etc which can transform according to specific rules when not stressed.
I'll post a sample of my own accent later today or tomorrow when I have a mike.
Other content words are pronounced fully and clearly, but without a particular stress on them. These you don't have much of a choice about - you can't just decide to mumble them (not true strictly speaking, but "mumbling properly" is quite an advanced native level skill, and you can sound perfectly native - and more educated - without it.)
And then there are the connections like 'because', 'of', 'to' etc which can transform according to specific rules when not stressed.
I'll post a sample of my own accent later today or tomorrow when I have a mike.
Of course it's not "completely off". You can't look at accent in black and white terms. All I can say is that you will improve if you work on what's discussed above.
I know it's tempting to think in terms of "I'm perfect" vs "I'm totally off", but that's not how this works. It takes a long time and a lot of work to get to anything even resembling perfection, and there are many, many stages in between where your accent will sound good but not native.
I know it's tempting to think in terms of "I'm perfect" vs "I'm totally off", but that's not how this works. It takes a long time and a lot of work to get to anything even resembling perfection, and there are many, many stages in between where your accent will sound good but not native.
Why? A monotone won't sound all that more natural. It might make more sense to try recording something where you:
1) don't rush over words unless they're "connections" like to, because, etc, and not unless you understand how to do it properly
2) change up your intonation significantly (rising voice, more volume) for one or two key words in each sentence. You can keep it fairly level other than that.
3) Maybe you even want to listen to a news anchor read a news story and then try reading the same story and matching the intonation, rhythm, etc.
1) don't rush over words unless they're "connections" like to, because, etc, and not unless you understand how to do it properly
2) change up your intonation significantly (rising voice, more volume) for one or two key words in each sentence. You can keep it fairly level other than that.
3) Maybe you even want to listen to a news anchor read a news story and then try reading the same story and matching the intonation, rhythm, etc.
You can move your voice around more than that. But slow down the words even more. And strech out your vowels. Linger on the content words - and the way to linger on words in AmE is to stretch out the vowels.
More than anything else, though, you have to accept that there is no easy fix. You can't just expect to make a few changes and get there. This forum alone won't get you there. You need to work on it day in and day out. If you don't have a coach available, repeat after podcasts, audiobooks, movies, tv shows, etc - keeping what we've discussed above in mind.
More than anything else, though, you have to accept that there is no easy fix. You can't just expect to make a few changes and get there. This forum alone won't get you there. You need to work on it day in and day out. If you don't have a coach available, repeat after podcasts, audiobooks, movies, tv shows, etc - keeping what we've discussed above in mind.
For the requested sample of my accent, check the thread entitled 'The Wire review'.
For your other questions, as I said, there's just too much ground to cover - I can't spend more time on this. Maybe someone else can come forward to keep working with you. In the end, though, you may need to hire someone to work with you in person.
For your other questions, as I said, there's just too much ground to cover - I can't spend more time on this. Maybe someone else can come forward to keep working with you. In the end, though, you may need to hire someone to work with you in person.
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