British accent course

[Over the top]

Hi
Does anyone know any good British accent training that helped them change accent or sound more like English?
I googled for online training courses and found this one Learn to speak with a British accent FAST!
Can anyone tell me if this site is a scam? No contact information there

[5jj]

I don't know, but the points he makes in his videos are known to any competent language teacher, so they are hardly dazzling discoveries. The accent he teaches is common in England today, but some people would prefer a slightly more upmarket variety. Perhaps I am just a little old-fashioned, though.

I find his claims for the short amount of time it takes to become taken for a native speaker hard to believe. An American actor might manage it, but no speaker of a foreign language that I have ever known could do it that quickly.

[Over the top]

Are you English, 5jj?

[david11]

Are you English, 5jj?

Hi Over the top,

The member's info is just a click away. Please click member info under his name and you can find it for yourself.

[Chicken Sandwich]

Hi
Does anyone know any good British accent training that helped them change accent or sound more like English?
I googled for online training courses and found this one Learn to speak with a British accent FAST!
Can anyone tell me if this site is a scam? No contact information there

No. I would not buy into his claims. As pointed out by 5jj, it's very unlikely that a non-English speaker can learn any accent "quickly".

English is the third language I learnt. Before that, I was a native speaker of Dutch and Russian. It took me some before I was able to distinguish between all the different accents (generally speaking, BrE, AmE, Irish, Australian and so on). So even though I was able to produce "decent" sounds within months, it took me a couple of years before I could sound like a native speaker from England. Prior to that, my accent was a mess. Some parts sounded Irish, some parts American, some parts English and so on. However, after many years of listening, I have finally succeeded. Several teachers on this forum have confirmed that I do sound like a native speaker (here's a sample Download Unscripted Recording.mp3 | Kiwi6.com).

There is no magic "pill" that you can take, and in my opinion, such programmes make inaccurate claims. They certainly can be helpful, but it's possible to achieve similar results on your own, in my opinion.

Once you have a handle on one particular accent, others will follow more easily. That is why American actors, generally succeed in learning an accent pretty quickly, although most of them don't achieve perfect results. I have certainly experienced the same. I can't do a perfect American accent, but I can produce something that sounds remotely similar.

[Over the top]

Have you ever been in England? You speak very well but there is a slight accent

[Chicken Sandwich]

Have you ever been in England? You speak very well but there is a slight accent

No, I haven't.

Everyone has an "accent", although some people have a native accent, some have a foreign accent. So therefore you cannot have "no accent". Tdol and 5jj, who are from the UK, said in that thread that I sounded like a native speaker ( http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/pr...tml#post884825 and http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/pr...tml#post885003). I trust their opinion. Now I don't mean to say that my command of English equals that of native speaker of my age. Certainly not, other aspects are lagging behind.

[BobK]

Hi Over the top,

The member's info is just a click away. Please click member info under his name and you can find it for yourself.

Unless, of course, he's a fraud...

b

[BobK]

No. I would not buy into his claims...

But he's not looking for people to bank-roll his scheme. Maybe you just don't buy them.

b

[Tdol]

And whatever you do, do not use this idiot's course: How to Speak With a British Accent: Video Series | eHow.com

It's the worst I have ever seen.