Improving my accent?

Originally Posted by X Mode

I see what you mean. I think most people would agree on what a neutral North American accent is by listening to different examples. Those that might not agree would be people that have very pronounced regional accents. - Maybe

Precisely, and the whole reason that they even bother diagramming and dichotomizing languages and accents to begin with is merely to trace back their relative history to each other. English is complex, and even moreso because it's spoken by so many people across the globe. But when you're looking at English in a macroscopic perspective, for instance, how it evolved from German or what influence it picked up from Latin, it helps to lump all of the accents spoken across the US into one tiny bubble so that you can look at the bigger picture over time.

There are courses and whole books dedicated to nothing else but American English, to say it's vast and varied is an understatement.

If you want an example of what I mean, however, check out this book sometime. It's fascinating.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...books&n=507846

A whole dictionary dedicated to nothing else but "proper" pronunciation of American English. :) It seems silly at first but sometimes it really takes things and puts them into perspective, you can really gauge how much English changes on an almost daily basis... ahh the beauty of language :)

-Nah-

[Steven D]

I didn't mean that about all midwestern accents, just some.

Whenever I run into someone from another state or another part of the country, I can't say there's typically any sort of notable accent. I think there is more neutrality in the American English accent than is recognized at times.

I recently spotted something that sounded very New York in the speaking of a couple ESL students. I asked them if their friends or coworkers are from N.Y. Sure enough, that was the case. So, there are accents sometimes. Accents from the N.Y. area tend to stand out. It was kind of interesting to hear how it was rubbing off on a couple people whose second language is English. It was how they pronounced short "o" type sounds that gave it away.

dog, talk, bought, etc...

Are you a native of the country? If so it's quite possible that you simply don't hear accents. You hear them in movies a lot, like you said the NY accent is quite noticeable, yet to someone from NYC, they could tell you if someone was from Queens, Brooklyn or New Jersey. Apparantely it's that different. Someone from Boston sounds nothing like someone from NYC even tho they are only hours apart. As a Los Angeles native I swore I didn't have an accent until I came to San Francisco only to immediately pick up on the NCal accent and of course, they picked up on my SCal. Part of it is where you're from, part of it is whether or not you make it a point to pick out the subtleties in dialects. I do it out of a weird obsession I picked up with it from studying linguistics, but it's not something normal people do

-Nah-

[Steven D]

Originally Posted by Nahualli

Are you a native of the country? If so it's quite possible that you simply don't hear accents. You hear them in movies a lot, like you said the NY accent is quite noticeable, yet to someone from NYC, they could tell you if someone was from Queens, Brooklyn or New Jersey. Apparantely it's that different. Someone from Boston sounds nothing like someone from NYC even tho they are only hours apart. As a Los Angeles native I swore I didn't have an accent until I came to San Francisco only to immediately pick up on the NCal accent and of course, they picked up on my SCal. Part of it is where you're from, part of it is whether or not you make it a point to pick out the subtleties in dialects. I do it out of a weird obsession I picked up with it from studying linguistics, but it's not something normal people do

-Nah-

Yes, I'm from Massachusetts.

I hear accents, but I just think there is a certain amount of overall neutrality across the country that might not be recognized. There are subtleties to be sure, but maybe what is subtle to one is very noticeable to another.

I've been told that I don't sound like I'm from Massachusetts.

Anyway, if we listen to anyone from any part of the country, I think we can easily classify someone's accent as being "general and neutral" or obviously regional. Then there's everything in between of course.

Hi everybody,
Thank you for the helpful advise on my accent! I am now working on it using a book and CD-ROM that my English teacher recomended. It is called "Lose your Accent in 28 Days" by Judy Ravin. I got my copy through Amazon marketplace. It is helpful because you watch the instructor's mouth as she says all the sounds. Then you have to repeat them and you can watch again and again.

I wish everybody a very happy holiday, Merry Christmas, New Year, and happy 2005!

[turkishcobra]

try to listen news channels to get used to accent.
you can try listening BBC if you speak with Britain accent or try CNN if you speak with American accent...just a small advice, i tried it and it did :)