How does my English accent sound?

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Chicken Sandwich

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Joined
Jun 20, 2010
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Interested in Language
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Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Netherlands
Hi,

I've recorded myself reading the folowing text from Harry Potter and the Philisopher's Stone:

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings, which made drills. He was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

The Dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.

Can anyone comment on my English accent? Is it good or bad? What things should I improve?

Here's the mp3 clip: tinyurl dot com slash 35dbarf (I'm sorry for the awkward link, but somehow I can't post links?)

Thanks a lot.
 

englishhobby

Key Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Russian Federation
Hi,


Can anyone comment on my English accent? Is it good or bad? What things should I improve?

Here's the mp3 clip: tinyurl dot com slash 35dbarf (I'm sorry for the awkward link, but somehow I can't post links?)

Thanks a lot.
I have listened to your recording (I used this link: tinyurl.com/35dbarf/ with h ttp://www. at the beginning). I am not a native speaker of English, but judging by my experience as a student and a teacher of English I can say the following:
You pronounce All the words correctly and the intonation sounds very "English" to me (natives please correct me if I am wrong;-)).
You often "swallow" the word "had" in Past Perfect and some other words, but it may be OK from the point of view of native speakers.
You speak English too gently, in my opinion :), trying to avoid intense articulation (as a speaker of Russian, you know what I mean - nemnozhko skvoz zuby) as if you were afraid to speak or not willing to, though it might be just a characteristic of your personality.
Sorry, if my comment is not to the point :oops:
 

Chicken Sandwich

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Russian
Home Country
Russian Federation
Current Location
Netherlands
Thank you for your comment.

Indeed I should have spoken more up, it sounds a little bit reserved. I guess I don't feel very proficient enough to speak up more.

Anyone else care to comment (preferably native speakers)?
 

Raymott

VIP Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2008
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
English
Home Country
Australia
Current Location
Australia
Thank you for your comment.

Indeed I should have spoken more up, it sounds a little bit reserved. I guess I don't feel very proficient enough to speak up more.

Anyone else care to comment (preferably native speakers)?
It's good, quite British to my ears. I agree that you could articulate more to give more definition to some words - but you're definitely on the right track.
 

johnmattrick

Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2010
Member Type
Student or Learner
Hi Chicken Sandwich,
I would say that your pronunciation is very very good. It sounds British. I see that you pay pretty close attention to pronunciation, which is a good thing. Don't worry much about accent. Who doesn't have accent in this world? :)

One thing I recommend you is to pronounce more CLEARLY. Believe me, that's my painful experience. Saying words clearly, even though incorrectly sometimes, will make people understand you much much more.

Hope you advance quickly on your English studying road.
 
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