Guide to Accent Learning
How do you learn an accent anyway? Do you have to be naturally talented with language to learn or change an accent? No, you do not. All it takes is an effective plan, patience, and a commitment to improve. Whether you are an actor wanting to pick up a new accent or a non-native speaker of English wanting to improve pronunciation, these 4 steps detail what it takes to learn new speech patterns.
1. Consonants and Vowels: Identify how the speech sounds differ between your accent and the target accent (such as General American English). Make a plan of what sounds to change, remove, or add, depending on your unique needs.
If you are new to this kind of analysis, start by making a list of all the vowels and all the consonants in the target accent. You can usually find this information on the internet (search something like “American English phonology”). Next, go through each sound and find word examples. How do you say that word? Is it different from the target accent? If it is different, put that sound in your training list. For a list of all the sounds in General American English with word examples, follow this link: Sarah’s Sound Guide: General American English
Why is it useful to hire an accent instructor for this step? Without training in phonetics, it can be difficult to know what to listen for. Even if you have studied phonetics, it can be hard to hear your own speech patterns because of bias.
This is the most important step in the accent modification process. If you get this step wrong, you could spend months working on the wrong things. This is why you must be careful when hiring an accent instructor. Make sure you research their credentials and determine that 1) they have training in phonetics/phonology and 2) they have a tried-and-true method of teaching.
Go through each sound and make sure you can hear it.
It is impossible to learn a new speech sound if you can’t hear it. This is especially true for vowels. English uses a lot of vowels that differ subtly (example: “sheet” vs “sh*t”; You want to get these two right!). You can either have an accent instructor test and train your perception, or you can use an online dictionary with recordings to test your listening. Using a dictionary has limitations because, obviously, you know what word you’re clicking on. Also, online dictionaries with audio recordings may not exist for lesser studied dialects like American Southern (especially local varieties like Kentucky vs. South Carolina).
Go through each sound and make sure you can say it.
Look up videos and watch how speakers pronounce certain sounds. This can be useful for sounds where the most important mouth movements are visible from the outside, like the /TH/ sound (as in “this”).
For other, more difficult sounds like vowels or deeper consonants, it is most effective for an accent teacher to guide you through how to move your mouth to make each sound. Another option is to experiment with your own mouth movements until the vowel or consonant “sounds right”. While this method is possible, it can be challenging and takes longer. This method is prone to error if your perception of the sounds is not accurate.
You can know everything there is to know about your target accent, but if you don’t practice, practice, practice, these sounds won’t become a part of your behavior.
In order for a behavior to become a habit, you need to develop new neural pathways in your brain. For those pathways to form and stay, you need repetition of those behaviors. Practice often. It is more effective to practice 2 minutes every day day than 2 hours once a week.
Imitate speakers of the target language. Play recordings of them over and over, imitating how they speak. Make note of the sounds they make that are unique to the target accent. Practice these sounds in words and sentences over and over again.
Become a conscientious speaker. You are your own best listener. As the new sound patterns you are learning begin to show up in your everyday speech (or for an actor, in your recitation of a script), listen to your own speech and provide feedback.
A great way to do this is to record yourself and listen to it. Stop the recording when you hear yourself say something that is not like the target accent and say it again. Be kind to yourself when you do this. Few people like the sound of their own voice in recordings. Provide yourself constructive feedback.
It can be useful to hire an accent instructor to listen for sounds you might miss and provide regular feedback.
2. Learn the Rhythm and Intonation of the target accent
Rhythm and intonation are the melody of a language or dialect. This is the most challenging, yet a crucial step in accent and pronunciation training. The #1 reason why many non-native speakers of English are misunderstood is because of rhythm and intonation. This is because listeners have expectations about the melody of speech and when a speaker doesn’t use the expected rhythmic patterns, the listener may misinterpret the speech. Research has shown that listeners use the rhythm and intonation in speech to break apart words in a sentence and identify words spoken quickly. Every English word has a particular rhythm or stress pattern that must be memorized. And at the sentence level, not every word is produced with equal stress or energy. These patterns are not as strict as the rules of a tonal language like Mandarin Chinese, but not getting them right can have a large impact on how well you are understood. Listeners expect these patterns in order to analyze a sentence efficiently.
When it comes to word rhythm, while much of it must be memorized, there are many general rules that can be learned to assist you in mastering English rhythm. In the coming weeks (as of this writing, 4/1/2021), I will publish a lesson that addresses this topic in more detail. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you’d like to talk about strategies for learning rhythm and intonation in American English. You can contact me on the About me page above or a book an assessment or session with me on the Services page.
3. Learn the Word-Linking rules of the language
This is another advanced topic in accent and pronunciation training. When we speak, we do. not. separate. every. word. in. a. sentence. Rather, we flow from one word to the next without breaking them up. Yunowadaimean? (translation: You know what I mean?)
There are many word linking rules in American pronunciation that an accent teacher can guide you through with explicit instruction. In this video, I introduce the first word linking rule that I teach my private clients.
4. Learn new Idioms and Vocabulary
The best way to expand your vocabulary is to read! You can keep a journal of interesting new words your encounter. For an accelerated method to learn lots of new fancy words, I recommend the Wizard of Oz Vocabulary Builder by Mark Phillips.
Learn new idioms. English speakers use a lot of idioms in their speech. Even if you understand the individual words of an idiom, you can miss out on the overall meaning. I recommend getting an idiom dictionary or a book like: Speak Business English Like an American by Amy Gillett.