My american accent

[Iohanan Carvalho]

Hi, I'm from Brazil, and I'm working hard on my accent, so I want to speak as close as possible to the american accent.
youtube.com/watch?v=UfD5p7HOXOY&feature=channel_video_title

that's my last video speaking english.
Please, send me the tips, so I will keep working and post new videos.
Thanks, God Bless America!

 

[bagzi94]

I think it's good.

 

[riquecohen]

You say that you want to "speak as close as possible to the american accent." Let me first say that there is no single American accent. The US, like Brazil, is a very large country and, like Brazil, has many different regional accents. Why are you so concerned about speaking like an American? It is much more important that you have good grammar and vocabulary; these will enable you to communicate well. From your brief video, I would say that you have already reached a good level of English. Keep working on it and don't worry too much about your accent.

Note that in English we capitalize names of languages, nationalities,etc. (English language, American accent.) Also, use an adverb to modify a verb ("speak as closely as possible...")

 

[cemelie]

Hi, I'm from Brazil, and I'm working hard on my accent, so I want to speak as close as possible to the american accent.
youtube.com/watch?v=UfD5p7HOXOY&feature=channel_video_title

that's my last video speaking english.
Please, send me the tips, so I will keep working and post new videos.
Thanks, God Bless America!

I am usually a silent forum goer. This time round, i feel the need to voice out.
I find it weird that so many people wants to learn the american accent, even to the extend of mimicking the exact american pronunciation and faking it when speaking the language. Wonder if it's because of the hollywood media effects? :shock:

 

[Tdol]

Why not? People have to acquire some sort of accent. If the learner successfully speaks like that, it's not so much a case of faking it as the opposite. You don't have to go for a single variant- plenty go for a less regionally marked international English, but I can't see anything wrong in aspiring to speak with an AmE accent or any other if the person wants to. They can equally keep an accent influenced by their first language- comprehensibility is the primary goal.

 

[lucaskent]

Nice accent. I listened to your video and it sounds really good. Im also like you. Im from India and im also very particular about my accent. I also want my english to sound like americans so that if someone hears me talking they wont be able to figure out whether im an american or from other country. I have been practicing at Englishyappr to learn and improve my skills helped a lot. Now came here to practice and learn some more.

 

[birdeen's call]

Iohanan, you palatalize your tees where most Americans don't. "To" is pronounced [tu], not [tʃu].

 

[thatone]

I am usually a silent forum goer. This time round, i feel the need to voice out.
I find it weird that so many people wants to learn the american accent, even to the extend of mimicking the exact american pronunciation and faking it when speaking the language. Wonder if it's because of the hollywood media effects? :shock:

What accent should they learn then?

 

[Raymott]

What accent should they learn then?

I think that cemelie, given that s/he's living in Australia, is possibly referring to Asian students, or others, in Australia trying to speak American. I have also noticed this, and think that it's not only weird, but also harder to understand. I imagine it would sound strange for an Asian student to cultivate an Australian accent while living in the US.

Naturally, someone learning English in Brazil doesn't have this problem, and should practice whatever accent is most useful to them - just as, say, a North American learning Spanish would in most cases adopt a Mexican, rather than an Argentinian accent.

 

[pizza]

Iohanan, you palatalize your tees where most Americans don't. "To" is pronounced [tu], not [tʃu].

This is an interesting point. Can anybody provide some examples contrasting palatalized vs plain T's?

What about aspiration?, such as in [p] at the beginning of a word like pin. Is the [t] in "To" aspirated?.

 

[birdeen's call]

This is an interesting point. Can anybody provide some examples contrasting palatalized vs plain T's?

[ˈkwɛsʧən]
[ˈkwɛstjən]

What about aspiration?, such as in [p] at the beginning of a word like pin. Is the [t] in "To" aspirated?.

Yes.

 

[lingokid]

Not bad at all.....I love to listen to the accent my Texan colleague at work has!!!!!....they call it the Southern U.S. "twang"