How to Best Learn an American Accent

The American accent sounds different compared with English accents in other regions.

Each language has its own sounds and intonations that can get in the way when you are trying to communicate in a new language. Learning the American accent will help you communicate more effectively with American speakers and it will improve your employment prospects in the United States.

Instructions

1. Listen to American speakers. Listen to Americans speaking on movies, lectures, music, podcasts and anything else that lets you hear American English. Don't look at the subtitles when you watch American movies, only looking at them when you cannot understand the actors. Strike up conversations with American speakers so you can hear how they say different words, paying attention to such things as tempo, rhythm and pronunciation.

2. Practice correct pronunciation. Pay attention to the American English sounds that cause the most problems for foreign learners. Two sounds that tend to be difficult to learn are "R" and "Th." The letter R is a consonant in American English but it feels more like a vowel because the tongue does not touch any area of the mouth to make the sound. "Th" is an important sound in American English because it is used in the most common word in the language, "the," and also in other common words such as "this" and "that" (see Reference 1).

3. Learn the proper intonation of American words. Language is more than words; it represents meaning, which includes emotional meaning as well as definitional meaning. Intonation is more important in the English language than most other languages because it has a fixed word order. In the Romance languages, such as French, you can change the word order to emphasize the most important words by using them first. To emphasize the importance and emotions of words in English you must change your pitch to fit the mood you want to convey (see Reference 2).

4. Connect words together. Native speakers of English do not speak word by word, but instead connect multiple words without isolating each word. Listen to American speakers to learn specific connections. This will not only increase your talking speed but also will improve your American accent.

5. Ask for feedback from native American speakers. American English speakers are your best source for finding out whether you are pronouncing words correctly and whether you are conveying proper emotions with your pitch. Ask them if you are delivering your message in the best way possible with an American accent. If they tell you they do not understand your meaning or that you can do a better job, ask them for specific instruction about how to improve.

References

• American Accent Training: Pronunciation
• American Accent Training: Intonation
• Learn An American Accent HQ: How to Learn an American Accent Quickly