How to Reduce Your Foreign Accent and Speak with a General or Standard American English Accent

Have you ever struggled with communication at work due to your lingering accent? Or are you looking to fit in with your new American friends? Here are some tips for how to begin speaking English with an American accent.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Motivation
• Determination to succeed
• Time to practice and study
• Supportive friends, family, and/or coworkers
• Optional: Accent modification software, audio-visual guides, and/or an accent coach (such as a licensed speech-language pathologist)

1. Determine your motivation for learning to speak English with an American accent. Do you want to communicate better at work? Impress a prospective employer during an interview? Fit in with new friends? Or simply neutralize your accent for everyday communication, such as talking over the phone or stating your needs at the store?

2. Conduct a self-assessment. What are you communication strengths and weaknesses? Do you struggle with pronouncing certain sounds in American English? Are certain words difficult for you to say? Do you have trouble with certain intonation patterns? Is grammar your greatest struggle?

3. Observe American English in action. Watch a television program, listen to the radio, watch the news, and listen to people's conversations to pick up on the various sounds and intonation patterns that are used in running speech. This will help you even more with your self-assessment.
   
   Note: Just like any other country, there are many dialects of American English. You will find the "General American English" or "Standard American English" most likely spoken by anchors on large news networks.

4. Familiarize yourself with your articulatory anatomy. This includes your lips, tongue, teeth, gums, soft palate, hard palate, nasal cavity, and vocal cords. (See references for more information)

5. Familiarize yourself with all the different phonemes in American English. Phonemes are the units of sound produced when a person talks. There are 24 consonant phonemes in American English and 15 vowel sounds. Additionally, there are three diphthongs, each of which are a combination of two vowel sounds. (See references for more information)

6. Determine what your goals are, and write them down. You may begin practicing certain sounds at home (with help from internet resources), or choose to find a friend or colleague to help you achieve your goals.

7. If you are very determined to change your speech, consider hiring an accent coach or speech-language pathologist. These trained professionals will be able to "diagnose" the differences in your speech and determine a "treatment plan." Often times they will be able to analyze your speech in one to two sessions, and will offer eight to ten sessions for treatment purposes.

8. Don't give up! Just like learning a new sport or hobby, learning to speak English with an American accent takes dedication, practice, and most of all, patience.

Tips & Warnings

• Make use of free audio-visual resources, especially on the internet
• Consider posting an ad in the classifieds to find a native English conversation partner with whom to practice
• Learning a new language and correcting your pronunciation is always a difficult task. Don't look down on others who may not be as motivated as you or as skilled as you when trying to speak with an American accent.
• Everyone makes mistakes, and so if you find yourself having several slips, let it go and keep trying!
• Be wary of online programs or "accent neutralization/reduction" products that promise results in a short amount of time
• Finding a friend or colleague who is an English-language learner to analyze or correct your pronunciation of American English may be risky. They may end up providing you with wrong information and reinforcing incorrect pronunciations, grammar, or intonations.
• When seeking professional services, make sure to check the person's credentials. Don't be afraid to ask them about their experience and possibly obtaining contact information from one of their previous clients.

[Myshashi]

on 6/21/2009 It depends on which language influences your accent and which accent you wish to acquire. You need to find a specialist. Someone who knows why you speak the way you do, and how to speak the way you want to.
Book: http://www.neutralaccent.com