Have you ever wondered whether you should reduce your accent?
English is spoken all around the world with different accents, for example, British, American and Australian.
So, having an accent need not be a problem. For example, someone from Spain will speak English with an accent and this can sound attractive. However, sometimes a native English speaker may not understand what a Spanish person is saying and ask the speaker to repeat the sentence.
There are situations where this is undesirable, such as in a business presentation or the IELTS Speaking Exam. In such situations it is important to be understood.
So here are three accent reduction tips to help you to reduce your accent:
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For Accent improvement listen to English content every day.
Babies learn the English language naturally by listening to it. You have some catching up to do! A convenient way to do so is to listen to podcasts. You can listen to them while doing other things. One of the best for learning British English is the BBC website which produces short weekly podcasts. These are usually in the format of two people talking so are great for learning conversational English .
For American English a good podcast is This American Life. Each episode includes a variety of true tales of everyday folk, which can be exciting, moving and funny.
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Create phrases of sounds that challenge you and practice them.
People from different countries face different challenges when trying to learn English. For example, a Spanish student might find it difficult to say the p, t and k sounds. Therefore, a good phrase to practice would be, “Park your car in town to day.”
The website, Pronunciation Studio lists the biggest challenges faced by students from many countries, including, Spain, Greece, Korea and several others. There are lots of short audio clips on the site that you can listen to for the correct pronunciation.
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3.Take an Accent Reduction Course
There are several good websites and videos where you can get help from an accent reduction specialist.
For British English one of the best websites is ETJ English For
American English Rachel’s English is very good, containing a huge resource of videos and courses.
Having online, one-to-one English lessons, with Skype, from a native English speaker will also help you to develop a British accent. One-to-one tutoring will enable you to practise English conversations, receive personalised attention and grow in confidence.
If you would like to learn conversational English, prepare for the IELTS exam or learn Business English To Fluent English offers one-to-one tutoring online with Skype to help you to become fluent in English quickly.
Click Here for a free trial lesson.
