Accent Reduction: Tips To Improve
1. Until you learn the correct intonation and rhythm of English, speak slower. If you speak too quickly with the wrong intonation and rhythm, native speakers will have a hard time understanding you. Don’t worry about your listener getting impatient with your slow speech – it is more important that everything you say be understood.
5. Don’t use the music of your native language when you are speaking English. Each language has its own way of “singing”. 6. Use your dictionary. Merriam-Webster
Online has audio files. Become familiar
with the phonetic symbols of the dictionary
you use and look up the correct pronunciation of words
that are hard for you to say. 7. Make a list of frequently used words that are difficult for you to pronounce and ask a native speaker to pronounce them for you.
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8. Buy books on tape. Listen to them and practice saying what you hear.
Listen and read at the same time. 9. Record yourself reading some sections of the book. Compare the sound
of your English with that of the speaker from the book on tape. 10. Record your own voice and listen for pronunciation mistakes. Many
people hate to hear the sound of their voice and avoid having to listen
to themselves speaking. However, this is a very important exercise because
doing it will help you become conscious of the mistakes that you are
making. 11. Pronounce the ending of each word. 12. Pay special attention to “s” and “ed” endings.
This will help you strengthen the mouth muscles that you
use when you speak English. 13. Read aloud in English for fifteen to twenty minutes each day. 14. Be patient. You can change the way you speak but it won’t
happen overnight. People often expect instant results and give up
too soon.
You can change the way you sound if you are willing to put
some effort into it. Research
has shown that it takes about three months of daily
practice to
develop strong mouth muscles for speaking a new language. |
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