What Is Accent?
Accentis a combination of three main components: intonation (speech music),liaisons (word connections), and pronunciation(the spoken sounds of vowels, consonants, and combinations). Part of thedifference is that grammar and vocabulary are systematic and structured— the letterof the language. Accent, on the other hand, is free form, intuitive, andcreative— more the spirit of the language. So, thinking of music, feeling, andflow, let your mouth relax into the American accent.
Can I Learn a New Accent?
Can aperson actually learn a new accent? Many people feel that after a certain age,it's just not possible. Can classical musicians play jazz? If they practice, of course theycan! For your American accent, it's just a matter of learning andpracticing techniques. How well you do depends mainly on how open and willingyou are to sounding different from the way you have sounded all your life. Avery important thing you need to remember is that you can use your accent to say what youmean and how you mean it. Word stress conveys meaning through toneor feeling, which can be much more important than the actual words that you use.Native speakers may often tell people who are learning English to "slowdown" and to "speak clearly." This is meant with the best ofintentions, but it is exactly the opposite of what a student really needs todo. If you speak fairly quickly and with strong intonation, you will beunderstood more easily.
Accent versus Pronunciation
Manypeople equate accent with pronunciation. I don't feel this to be true at all.America is a big country, and while the pronunciation varies from the EastCoast to the West Coast, from the southern to the northern states, twocomponents that are uniquely American stay basically the same—the speech music,or intonation, and the word connections or liaisons.
Which Accent Is Correct?
AlthoughAmerica has many regional pronunciation differences, the accent you will learnis that of standard American English as spoken and understood by the majorityof educated native speakers in the United States. Don't worry that you willsound slangy or too casual because you most definitely won't. This is the way aprofessor lectures to a class, the way a national newscaster broadcasts, theway that is most comfortable and familiar to the majority of native speakers.
WhyIs My Accent So Bad?
Learnerscan be seriously hampered by a negative outlook, so I'll address this veryimportant point early. First, your accent is not bad; it is nonstandardto the American ear. There is a joke that goes: What do you call a person whocan speak three languages? Trilingual.What do you call a person who can speak two languages? Bilingual.What do you call a person who can only speak one language? American. Every language is equallyvalid or good, so every accent is good. The average American, however, trulydoes have a hard time understanding a nonstandard accent. George Bernard Shawsaid that the English and Americans are two people divided by the samelanguage! Some students learn to overpronounce English because they naturallywant to say the word as it is written. Too often an English teacher may allowthis, perhaps thinking that colloquial American English is unsophisticated, unrefined, or even incorrect. Notso at all! Just as you don't say the T in listen, the TT in better ispronounced D, bedder. Any other pronunciation will sound foreign, strange, wrong, or different to anative speaker.
Language Is Fluent and Fluid
Justlike your own language, conversational English has a very smooth, fluid sound.Imagine that you are walking along a dry riverbed with your eyes closed. Everytime you come to a rock, you trip over it, stop, continue, and trip over thenext rock. This is how the average foreigner speaks English. It is slow, awkward, and even painful. Now imagine that you are agreat river rushing through that same riverbed—rocks are no problem, are they? Youjust slide over and around them without ever breaking your smooth flow. It isthis feeling that I want you to capture in English. Changing your oldspeech habits is very similar to changing from a stick shift to anautomatic transmission. Yes, you continue to reach for the gearshift for awhile and your foot still tries to find the clutch pedal, but this soon phases itselfout. In the same way, you may still say "telephone call" (kohl)instead of (kahl) for a while, but this too will soon pass. You will also haveto think about your speech more than you do now. In the same way that you werevery aware and self-conscious when you first learned to drive, you willeventually relax and deal with the various components simultaneously. A new accent is an adventure. Be bold! Exaggerate wildly!You may worry that Americans will laugh at you for putting on an accent, but Iguarantee you, they won't even notice. They'll just think that you've finallylearned to "talk right." Good luck with your new accent!
