How to Get Rid of a Regional Accent

America is blessed with a wide range of regional accents and dialects. Since we are such a transitory society, people from every region are living in every other region of the country. That produces some interesting mixing of regional accents. There is absolutely nothing wrong with any regional accent, but some people may want to minimize theirs while living around people who speak another way. Follow these steps to get rid of a regional accent.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Tape recorder

1. Acknowledge that you have a regional accent. Most people think they don't have any accent at all. They assume everyone else has one. There is no universally agreed upon way to speak English so everyone has one accent or another. Once you realize you are speaking with one you can work on non-regional diction.

2. Record yourself talking. Do this while you read something and when you are casually speaking to someone. A tape recording does not lie.

3. Listen to the recording of your voice and focus on your stresses. Where do you elongate or clip your vowels? Where are your consonant sounds different from the way they say them on Sesame Street? There are specific characteristics to every regional accent. Listen for your characteristics.

4. Slow down when you hit your stress points. The faster you talk the harder it is to control your regional accent. Be very deliberate speaking words you know are an issue for you. Once your tongue gets used to saying them it will get easier.

5. Be aware of the people you are speaking to. When you talk to others with your same regional accent, yours comes flying out. It is human nature to mimic those around you. Use this tendency to your advantage. When you are around people you strive to speak like, mimic their sounds. This is how children first learn to speak and why they sound like their parents.

6. Listen to the TV news. Many news anchors and reporters have regional accents but you would never know it from their voices on television. They have trained themselves to use non-regional diction. Repeat what they say in the way they say it.

7. Tape record yourself again. The only way you can judge progress is to compare recordings of your voice. Compare your most recent tape to your first one. Judge how much you have improved and identify your persistent problem points. Over time they will fade if you keep on listening and practicing.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have trouble figuring out how to change your regional accent, enlist some friends to help you. They should be friends who do not share your regional accent. Play them the recording of your voice. Beg them to be honest and point out exactly where they hear your regional accent. It may be in places you never suspected.
• Getting rid of a regional accent can take a long time. When you speak one way your entire life it is difficult to start talking another way. Again, there is absolutely nothing wrong with any regional accent. However, if you wish to soften yours you must be patient and realize that it could take a while.

Resources

• Television News Anchor
• Bellamax Media

[sassiek]

on 11/19/2008 Frequently listen to English spoken by native speakers and repeat them.
Watch English movies, listen to music, audio clips, BBC news and presentations.
Control your rate of speech to get the correct intonation and rhythm of English.
Use your dictionary.Familiarize yourself with the phonetic symbols used for different words in the dictionary and look up the correct pronunciation.This method helps in neutralizing an accent tremendously.
Make a list of commonly used words that are difficult to pronounce.
Record your own voice and listen for pronunciation mistakes.
Read English newspaper regularly.
Work on how to pronounce the vowel and consonant sounds.Mostly vowel sounds play vital role for accent variation.
Hence pronounce the vowels clearly.
Practice English sincerely. Don't feel shy to speak English as a beginner.

http://www.neutralaccent.com