How can I reduce my accent?

Answer 1

I recommend you practice singing to the lyrics of songs.

In fact I teach a small course on this sometimes.

You'll need help to get started choosing songs and practicing but once you get going, you'll see it can give you a good sense of how to speak the words by copying the singer and your teacher. Its fun and very productive!

Answer 2

Everyone on the planet has an accent. At the same time, I understand the desire to be understood in the second, third and fourth languages you speak. I struggled to be understood when I started to speak Arabic. At present, I am finding that my mouth and voice can make new sounds as I navigate French. Here are a few tips I have for the person who wants to speak English to be better understood by native English-speakers:

1. Listen to and copy the native English-speakers around you now.
2. Listen to and copy to singers who sing in the accent you wish to copy.
3. If you become one of my students, we will complete voice exercises as well as repeat certain positions of the mouth. This combination will get you to feeling more comfortable with consonants and vowels you may not be used to using in your native language. Toward this end, I invite you to a trial lesson with me.

Answer 3

To reduce an accent, the speaker needs a multi-faceted approach. Accents are subjective, so it will depend on the speaker's individual goals. Goals are typically influenced by context, as well as field of study and geographical region. A licensed pronunciation teacher is only 1-part of a varied curriculum to modify an accent.

Answer 4

Take lessons from me.

But even if you take lessons from me, you will also need to do shadowing. "Shadowing" means to listen to the speech of native speakers, and copy what you hear. Use a movie, t.v. show, podcast, or audio-book that you like, and listen carefully. Repeat what you hear as closely as possible. Listen for the differences between how you sound and how the native speakers sound. You will get better at shadowing over time; you'll be training your mouth, and your ears. Don't worry about the words, just copy the sounds. Play back some phrases multiple times to focus on them.

Get used to connecting words; don't put breaks between words unless the native speaker puts a break between them.

Use resources like Forvo to hear multiple native speakers saying words that you're curious about.

Don't try to talk as fast as native speakers, there's no need to do that. Practice sounds, words, and phrases very slowly.

It's important to understand that most of the sounds of English are held sounds; put your mouth into the position of the sound, hold the sound for a moment, then move on to the next sound. For example in the word "only" there are four sounds, and you have to completely make each of the four sounds. Don't skip the N. If you practice saying "only" slowly many times, it will start to get easier, and eventually you'll be able to say it smoothly and correctly like a native speaker.

Answer 5

It can be frustrating when a listener is focused on how you sound rather than what you have to say. And if you feel your accent is preventing you from achieving your goals, then it might be time to work with an accent reduction or modification coach. As a speech-language pathologist who is skilled in modifying speech, I would recomment you have someone evaluate the particular sounds in English that are different from the sounds of your native language. For example, English has 14 distinct vowel sounds and Spanish has only 5 vowels sounds. If you are trying to say a sound that has never been in your ears or your mouth before, it takes some pretty sophisticated training to acquire that new sound. It takes some time and dedicated practice, but if you are motivated to do so, you can reduce your accent, but I think having a coach to support you along the way is paramount to success.