American Accent

American Accent

Mastering spoken English and being able to speak English with a native accent are always a nice dream that many students have yet very few could make it a reality. Many students are struggling with the fact that while written English is not so hard to follow, spoken English is rather complicated and confusing as they started to learn to speak English. There are just so many ?oaccents? such as British accent, American accent, Australian accent, etc. and they not easy for students to know which one to go and how to follow it. On this topic-American Accent- I would like to discuss about what accent means and why American accent might be a good choice for students who are currently learning to speak English in Vietnam.

Definition of Accent: If you look up for the general definition of accent in some dictionary, you?Tll find it rather lengthy and difficult to understand. We might find one easy way to understand what accent is by talking to some foreigner whô?Ts learning Vietnamese. After talking to him/her for a few minutes, you will find it rather interesting because he or she speaks Vietnamese with a foreign accent. The same way with Vietnamese students who are learning English. When they speak English, they often speak English with a Vietnamese accent. Another interesting way to understand how to tell an accent is listening to non-native speakers speaking in English. ?oFor example, if you hear a Japanese person speaking English? will sound somewhat like ?oFoa egzampuru, eefu you hea ah Jahpaneezu pahsohn speakingu Ingurishu?. Try to read that sentence out loud with a Japanese way; you?Tll probably have a clearer picture of what accent might be.

Next time, I?Tll discuss about American accent and 3 components of American accent and why learning to speak standard American English is not so difficult to master even in Vietnam.

Longarm



Have a nice day!

Wondering if this nick is one of those that Chicken Feather is using these days.
Regarding the American accent, I just want to mention that if you let your voice flow naturally, using correct pronunciation without adding or omitting any sound, very soon you'll be speaking in perfect American accent.
Đem đại nghĩa để thắng hung tàn - Lấy chí nhân để thay cường bạo

American Accent - I guess it should a be useful topic as recently I've found many students in Vietnam prefer American Accent to any other accent spoken by English learners and speakers.
Well, Despi, your formula for a standard American Accent, ie. "let your voice flow naturally, using correct pronunciation" is technically correct. However, that is if you're speaking English in an English speaking environment, where other people are using standard American accent as well. (you know, language learning process has so much to do with imitation first). Since most of us are in Vietnam, which means a perfect environment is hard to be found, unless you know the correct way to create it yourself, without proper methods, such as what is considered "natural" or "correct pronunciation" in standard American accent., you will find it hard to obtain the goal of speaking standard American English. And these proper methods that I just mentioned are supposed to be discussed here. So Longarm, hope that you will come back soon with your American accent.
Best,

Just a heartbeat away

éu?c wolfy s?a ch?a / chuy?n vo 15:10 ngy 02/07/2003

Thank you Wolfy and depsi for joining American Accent ! I'm a bit busy today and will get back to you soon with my upcoming articles on the topic. In the meantime, please go ahead and post your articles here to share with other members your knowledge and experience. Thanks and have a nice day
Longarm

Above is Scorps' question and I think it's more suitable to discuss it here.
You can take this for reference, Scorps.
+ Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture.
The standard accent used in US radio and television news broadcasts is based on accents from the Midwest.
+ What is the definition of the "American Standard Accent"?And this is the answer from Steven Schaufele, Ph.D., Asst. Prof. of Linguistics, English Department:
Standard American English, accent & all, is the dialect native to the north-central region of the U.S., roughly from the Ohio River valley westwards to roughly Nebraska and reaching as far south as Kansas. This is the dialect that has been identified as most acceptable to the majority of Americans. And therefore it's the dialect you're most apt to hear coming out of the mouths of radio, TV, and movie personalities who are supposed to represent American ideals. Johnny Carson, Harrison Ford, William Shatner all speak this dialect natively.
Best, Steven --
+ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
General American is the supposed standard system of American English pronunciation. The idea of a uniform media American accent has declined in popularity since the late 1960s.
Like the British Received Pronunciation, General American was never the accent of the entire nation. Rather, it was derived from a generalized Midwestern accent and is spoken particularly by many newscasters.
Sebastian - Every day I learn

American Accent
What is American accent? Thanks to Sebastian, we already had some reliable resources for the definition of standard American accent. If youõ?Tve been listening to native speakers speaking English for a while, youõ?Tll probably see how American English differs from other English dialects.
Technically speaking, accent is a combination of three main components: Intonation (speech music), linkages (word connections) and pronunciation (the spoken sounds of vowels, consonants, and combinations). In order to master spoken American English, itõ?Ts very important for you to learn all those three parts and form language habits as you practice using English as a second language in any possible opportunities you might have. More information on American accent can be found at www.americanaccent.com or check out õ?oGuide to pronunciationõ? õ?" the topic which is recently posted by Britneybritney.
Many people equate accent with pronunciation. This probably is not 100% true. America is a big country, and while the pronunciation varies from the East Coast to the West Coast, from the southern to the northern states, two components that are uniquely American stay basically the same õ?" the speech music, or intonation, and the word connection or linkage. After reading my article, do spend some time listening to some different TV programs on CNN or watch a couple of movies on HBO, Cinamax or StarMovies and you will understand how important intonation and word connection are in spoken American English.
To be continuedõ?Ư
Have a nice day!

American accent sounds more natural than English accent (notice that when English singers sing, they use American accent).
However, it is not really a good idea to learn and imitate American accent (or any other). Just try to speak as natural as possible, no need to rush, make sure every word is spoken cleary and emphasized correctly. Finally, add some general intonations such as raising your voice in a question etc.
I''ve heard many people using "American accent" and they sounded ridiculous, even their mouths moved unaturally.
But if you have a chance to study and live in America, then after a few years, you will find that you are speaking American english just like native speakes.(no need to learn, it comes naturally)
Nếu thế giới này là một thế giới hoàn hảo thì con nguời tồn tại làm gì?

Hi Nathan,
I guess we have a common thing that we both prefer American Accent to British accent. But I donâ?Tt think you have a fair idea of learning American Accent.
Itâ?Ts true that trying to imitate American Accent is not good, if not to say funny. Sadly, thatâ?Ts what lots of Vietnamese folks do both in Vietnam and in America. They try to pick up the American intonation, pronounce like what they hear but how can they do it â?ocorrectlyâ? if they donâ?Tt learn what are the right intonations, when to connect words and how to move their lips and tongue to produce what is called â?othe right pronuncationâ? of some certain word?
You can see a lot of teens coming back from US still keep their Vietnamese accent when speaking English, not to say adults who can hardly learn spoken American English when their tongue is no more flexible. Those teens, after taking part in some exchange program or living in US for a couple of years while their parents work there, are very confident. Because they have a large â?ocoolâ? vocabulary - spoken phrases that Americans use all the time and even slangs. Because they are trying to speak fast to sound fluent and cool! They, actually, only sound American to Vietnamese ears (I indicate those who donâ?Tt know how to speak with a native accent), but funny or , as you said, â?oridiculousâ? to people who learn American Accent and know what speaking English like a native really means.
In fact, the more funny and â?oridiculousâ? those folks are, the more people, especially teens, should realize how important learning American Accent is.
You are right, let American Accent â?ocome naturallyâ? and maybe you can sound American and keep thinking that people can never speak like a native. On the other hand, if we learn it and desire to speak English as a second language (ESL), not as a foreign language (EFL), we know itâ?Ts not a â?onice dreamâ?. (You can see the difference between ESL and EFL at can-do attitude. Itâ?Ts a very helpful topic.)
I like this topic very much and would love to discuss it with more people. You might agree or disagree with me, it doesnâ?Tt matter. Just tell me what you think and we can have an open discussion.
Catch ya later!

I see your points.
What I''''''''m trying to say is don''''''''t force yourself to do what is not natural to you.
You see, I''''''''ve lived for quite a long time in America and I use American accent. But now I''''''''m studying in the UK. After one year, my accent is still American (though there are certain words that I pronouce differently). I myself have tried to speak like an English, but I failed. So to me, it is really hard to speak a language differently when you have spoken it in one accent for a long time.
And I dont think you shoud be shy or embarass when you cant speak like an American as long as you speak clearly, correct pronunciation and correct grammar.
Let me tell you a story that my father had once told me while we''''''''re discussing a similar topic.
An English ambassador came to visit India and he met Mr. Ghandi ( I cant spell his first name). After speaking to Mr Ghandi and other Indian officials, the ambassador laughed and teased at their funny accent. Mr Ghandi smiled and said with a clear voice:
"You may laugh at our English, but remember your English is born English, our English is learned English"
Many foreigners when speaking to Vietnamese in English wont care much if we make a few mistakes. They are born with it but we''''''''re not. We spend years learning to speak English and they value our work and achievements. So I think that you should be confident in yourself, speak it out, and dont worry. An old adage says "Hát hay không bằng hay hát" and so we can say "Nói hay không bằng hay nói" (sorry for the Vietnamese coz I want to keep the meaning.)
Nếu thế giới này là một thế giới hoàn hảo thì con nguời tồn tại làm gì?
Được Nathan sửa chữa / chuyển vào 02:09 ngày 27/07/2003
Được Nathan sửa chữa / chuyển vào 02:09 ngày 27/07/2003

Hix, most of you guys are talking about the American accent picked up during years of study in the very American land! Why not discuss how to sound American in one''''s pronunciation/intonation... in a disabling study environment like Vietnam? I''''m sure if I were given just 2 months in American I would be able to mock everthing American as far as learning American English is concerned. Talking like you is much the same as advising each and everyone to go to the USA so as to pick up American accent. If that were the case in reality, i.e everybody could go anywhere he likes to learn English and, in this case, to mold your accent into true American, it would be totally irrelevant. Not everybody can go and study in the USA as some of you guys! You can''''t recognize this fact, can you?
Được captor_of_sin sửa chữa / chuyển vào 16:44 ngày 27/07/2003