How to Improve My English Accent

Record your own voice to see which words you mispronounce.

The Good Accent website points out that if you work and live among people whose first language is English, you should work to improve your English accent. Unfortunately people make assumptions about others who do not speak English perfectly and it may even stop you from making progress at work or being taken seriously when you interact with others in the public arena. The website says that the author Amy Tan was even ashamed of her own Chinese-born mother when she was growing up because of her imperfect accent. She said, "I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say."

Instructions

1. Buy books and cassettes which will help you with your grammar, accent and pronunciation. You can keep these in your car or desk at work to read at lunchtime or during breaks.

2. Learn correct pronunciation by taking online courses designed to help with your accent. You can listen to the spoken word on these courses and copy the accent until you get it right. You don't even need to pay for this type of resource.

3. Hang out with your native English-speaking friends or family. This is one of the easiest and most fun ways of improving your accent, as well as keeping up with your social duties!

4. Join a support group that will help you work on your accent and pronunciation. This is a good way to make friends and meet other professionals who are also improving their accents for work reasons. These groups have online discussion boards and meet in person to listen to presentations about improving spoken English.

5. Learn spoken English over the telephone with native English speakers. Courses start from around $100 for five lessons and you can receive a discount which increases if you book more lessons. Forty lessons can cost approximately $540, including discount. The price of the telephone call is included in the price of the course, and all teachers are qualified with degrees or are certified English teachers.

Tips & Warnings

• Record your voice and listen to discover where you are making pronunciation mistakes. You will probably be unaware of the accent errors you are making until you do this. When you feel you have improved, record your voice again and see where you have progressed and where you still need to make improvements.

References

• Good Accent: Improve Your Accent When You Speak American English
• To Unite America: American English Accent Reduction for People from All Countries
• Copy My Accent: Improve Your English Accent - It's Quick, Simple and Free
• Meet Up: Improve Your American English Accent and Pronunciation
• Phone English: Our Service - learn to speak English 1-1 by phone

Resources

• English Forums: Welcome to the World's Largest English Language Related Social Network