Help me cover up accent
Wow, Japanese? .. jeje
Not wishing to sound rude, there are roughly 8,800 miles between Japan and my home city ;-) ... maybe that way you can guess where am I from. I don't even have neither Japanese nor Asian ascendants.
Do I really sound Japanese?? ... wow! that really shakes me up, because from all accents I could think I had, never thought about having an Asian's accent.
The budd who said I come from a country not especially exposed to english is partially right: nobody here talks english natively and he was right in the fact I'm a white too (ethnically speaking).
I'm not faking my accent...I just wanted to sound more friendly toward native-english speaking people, but seems I just messed the things up.
Hence, concluding, may I pass for a Japanese???
Thank you in advance.
Greetings!!
Hmmm. Did you say "verings" for "bearings"?
>> Wow, Japanese? .. jeje
Not wishing to sound rude, there are roughly 8,800 miles between Japan and my home city ;-) ... maybe that way you can guess where am I from. <<
I can guess from "jeje". Obviously you are either a Hispanophone or Portuguese.
>> I just wanted to sound more friendly toward native-english speaking people, but seems I just messed the things up. <<
I could not understand all the words, but I tried to copy your accent as closely as possible.
http://ax6.org/freeupload/47e5
Yes, you got it. I'm Hispanophone.
For K.T., I said "bearing" in the record file.
But somehow it's weird I don't have a Hispanic accent when I should. What should I do in order to improve my pronunciation??
Thanks!!
Oswaldo
For Oswaldo:
I knew the word was "bearing" or "bearings", but it came off with a mixed b/v for me. If you are "hispanophone", I can understand this blended sound. I always say this: I'm not a linguist, but I do speak a few languages and I've taught people how to speak English based on my experiences learning other languages.
In another thread I suggested (and Jasper agreed) listening to recordings in English and imitating the speaker. Listen especially for intonation and how words are blended. You could also use a video or DVD in English you like and pause the first time to repeat. The second time say the phrase at the SAME TIME as the native speaker to get the rhythm. This helps even difficult words to fall into place correctly.
It works with other languages too.
<<You could also use a video or DVD in English you like and pause the first time to repeat. The second time say the phrase at the SAME TIME as the native speaker to get the rhythm. This helps even difficult words to fall into place correctly..>>
I agree, again. I really want to stress this.
Speak ALONG with the speaker--you'll be surprised how obvious those intonations--and other inaccuracies-- will become.
Our brains detect a "mismatch" and will attempt to correct them.
Oswaldo, I can use myself as an example. I have a mixed Southern/Western accent.
I didn't realize just how bad it was until I took a tape of a General American speaker and spoke along with the speaker.
Yay, yay, yay!! What a surprise it was.
Oswaldo doesn't sound like Japanese at all. Whoever said he sounds Japanese certainly never heard of how the Japanese speak English.
By "Japanese", I mean typical native Japanese.
"I didn't realize just how bad it was until I took a tape of a General American speaker and spoke along with the speaker.'
Your natural accent probably isn't "bad"; however, some people find that changing their accent changes their life.