global english pronunciation

alex   Mon Mar 20, 2006 11:31 am GMT
hi


I have been attempting to improve my pronunciation of English by listening to online streams of broadcasters. What is the best, standard English, BBC or NPR out of Washington?
Guest   Mon Mar 20, 2006 4:39 pm GMT
Ed   Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:47 pm GMT
Please forgive me for stating the obvious, but it depends on what sort of English you attempting. If you want to learn British/International English then listen to the BBC, if you want American English listen to something American.
Jim   Wed Mar 22, 2006 12:34 am GMT
Here's my tupence-worth.

Listen not only to both but as wide a variety of different English dialects as you can. Of course, if you want to attempt a specific dialect then that's a different story but why? You might intend to visit or migrate to a particular country, then by all means focus on their dialect ... but even still I wouldn't ignore other dialects.

Keep in mind that a non-native speaker will rarely ever come to sound native ... it's not impossible but I wouldn't make it a priority to adopt some accent or other. The first thing you should be trying to do is to get yourself sounding intelligible. Being familiar with as wide a variety of English accents as you can will help.

Just as an example, the words "god" and "guard" pose a potential problem. Canadians and Americans pronounce "god" in somewhat a similar way to how Australians, English, etc. pronounce "guard". We don't have trouble understanding each other because we have become used to each other's accents but a non-native speaker will not generally have one of these native accents so there is lacking that contextual cue.

Were the non-native speaker aware of this type of potential problem he could take steps to avoid it. Listening to a wide variety of English will make you aware of this and taking these steps should come to be something you end up doing without even thinking.

There ... I reckon that that's more like sixpence-worth. You can send me a cheque ... or a check if you must ... in the mail ... or the post if you will.
Sho   Wed Mar 22, 2006 1:29 am GMT
Jim,

Don't you think having an ESL student listen to various native English accent at an earlier stage of learning lead to confusion?
Guest   Wed Mar 22, 2006 2:44 am GMT
>>Here's my tupence-worth.<<

Do they still use pence in Australia? What happened to the dollars and cents?
Jim   Wed Mar 22, 2006 2:45 am GMT
Sho,

No.

Guest,

No.
Guest   Wed Mar 22, 2006 2:48 am GMT
>>Just as an example, the words "god" and "guard" pose a potential problem. Canadians and Americans pronounce "god" in somewhat a similar way to how Australians, English, etc. pronounce "guard". <<

The English have the Irish pronunciation of "god" (or "gahd") to contend with.
lu   Wed Mar 22, 2006 4:37 am GMT
god and guard are very different in American English
I think guard is pronouced like [ga:rd]
Jim   Wed Mar 22, 2006 4:42 am GMT
Very different in all dialects but my "guard" sounds like a North American's or Irishman's "god". I once met a Kiwi in Canada who'd had arroused a few chuckles when he told people he was going to the party.
lu   Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:15 am GMT
<<had arroused a few chuckles when he told people he was going to the party>>

what's funny about that??
Jim   Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:48 am GMT
The NZ English pronunciation of "party" sounds somewhat similar to the Canadian pronunciation of "potty".
Rick Johnson   Wed Mar 22, 2006 11:55 am GMT
I would listen to both, there's not a great deal of difference. There are greater differences between BBC english and english in Newcastle and NPR english and english in Georgia than there are between NPR and BBC english.
Ann   Mon Mar 12, 2007 5:20 pm GMT
Why are the words ''realise'' and ''promise'' pronounced differently ? The first one is pronounced ''Z'' and the second is pronounced ''s''. Thanks !
Kendra   Mon Mar 12, 2007 6:23 pm GMT
British pronunciation of LAST sounds like WestUS/Canadian pronunciation of LOST [lAst]

Australian pronunciation of ''every buddy'' sounds like American ''every body''