How to Soften an American Northeast Accent
Regardless of if a person comes from the deep south or the plains of the midwest, everyone speaks with an accent. A person's accent reflects how, where and when she learned the language, and it gives others a glimpse into a person's background. The northeastern United States has several distinct accents. Long histories of communities in Boston, New York and Philadelphia have given each city enough time to develop a slightly different accent from its neighbors, according to the University of Arizona's Language Samples Project. Learning how to change or soften your northeastern accent requires learning a different accent.
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Instructions
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Determine what part of your northeastern accent you want to change. General characteristics of a northeastern accent include the dropping of the r sound from words, and a merging of vowels in such words as caught into cot, according to the Language Samples Project. Knowing what you need to work on will allow you focus on those aspects of your accent when learning a new one.
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Select the accent that will allow you to speak in the manner you desire. While no neutral American accent exists, the midwestern accent is the most commonly taught American accent, according to LinguistList.org. If you have relocated to a new part of the country and want to speak like your neighbors, determine what type of accent is associated with the region in which you now live.
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Expose yourself to the new accent as much as possible. Listening to CDs and watching videos of people speaking with the accent you want to learn will help your brain pick up on the nuances of that accent. Listen to as many different people speak with the accent to learn different ways of pronouncing familiar words.
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Practice speaking with your new accent as often as possible. Enlist friends to have conversations with you during which you use your new accent. The more you practice your new accent the better it will become, and the more confidence you will have using the accent.
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Record yourself speaking with your new accent, and determine what you need to work on to strengthen your accent. Listening to yourself speaking with your new accent will give you chance to hear what words you may be tripping over, and how much of your northeastern accent still comes through.
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References
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