I need some answeres to be fluent at British accent !

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Route21

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Oh, 5jj, was that Eton, or Harrow?

Based on a furrowed brow, it may well have been a harrowing experience wherever it was.

Regards
R21

PS: You don't get many brown cows in Thailand, so, if you do see one, you may well say "How now brown cow"! :lol:
 

Esredux

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...think of Pygmalion/My Fair Lady.
:up: The best-ever accent reduction course! There must have been a professional phonetician in the film crew - even though shown in fragments, the whole approach seems to cover the most crucial points in dealing with pronunciation.
There are many very successful English (I deliberately use that word rather than 'British') people who do not speak RP, and no serious linguist considers non-RP varieties in any way inferior. It is, however a fact (regrettable in my opinion) that for many years RP and similar southern British 'educated' varieties of English were, within England at least, considered to be a sign of intellectual superiority.
"I want to talk like a lady" (Pygmalion, Act II) ;-)
Linguists might think whatever they like but these "inferior-superior" matters, although stemming from the dim and distant past are still deeply rooted throughout the world. Sadly, the OP is not lonely in his desire to "talk like a lady".
While listening materials provided with most modern course books do use speakers of other varieties of English, they mostly avoid the 'stronger' dialects, and the bulk of the listening material is roughly 'educated' southern English. As a result, many learners believe that RP and similar varieties are 'standard' British English, and they have genuine difficulties in understanding speakers of other varieties.
Well, nowadays, the variety of accents in the listening part could be one of the strongest reasons for (or against) a particular course book, but definitely not the only one. While 'accent awareness' should be developed, the teacher, imo, has to be realistic about the outcomes, especially when even native speakers might have difficulties in understanding certain 'heavy' accents.
... /ŋ/ in 'bank' or 'in Cardiff' ... 'handbag' as /hæmbæg/...
I assume there are other examples of casual pronunciation and would be genuinely grateful for any references, links or whatever for my Dip course. :oops:

I have to admit that I am on one of my hobby-horses. I honestly don't care what method (grammar-translation, direct, audio-lingual, communicative, etc) a teacher uses, so long as the learner is enabled to communicate in English. I believe passionately that teachers, however they enable learning, must, in order to be able to do this, have a clear understanding themselves of the grammar of English and of the way in which native speakers actually produce the sounds of English.
:up: Absolutely! One cannot teach Maths without knowing the subject inside out, how could it be possible in terms of English?
Incidentally, the most compelling hobby-horse! :)
 

5jj

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I assume there are other examples of casual pronunciation and would be genuinely grateful for any references, links or whatever for my Dip course. :oops:
I'd regard them as natural features of normal conversation rather than examples of 'casual pronunciation'. Except in formal speech, deliberate attempts to avoid such features can sound very stilted.

See what you can find out about such Aspects of Connected Speech as assimilation, elision, liking and juncture juncture.

My trainees used to find Gerald Kelly (2000) How to to Teach Pronunciation (Longman, 2000) very useful. It's on the lists of books recommended by many DELTA and Dip TESOL course providers.
 

konungursvia

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Oh, right, I had forgotten about the meaning of 'prep' schools back in Blighty. Thanks, 5jj.
 

Esredux

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I'd regard them as natural features of normal conversation rather than examples of 'casual pronunciation'. Except in formal speech, deliberate attempts to avoid such features can sound very stilted.

See what you can find out about such Aspects of Connected Speech as assimilation, elision, liking and juncture juncture.

My trainees used to find Gerald Kelly (2000) How to to Teach Pronunciation (Longman, 2000) very useful. It's on the lists of books recommended by many DELTA and Dip TESOL course providers.
Thanks a lot. You are right, these books are on the core reading list (and my bedside table). Just with so much information available there's always a risk of missing something really important.

ps. It's an interesting question, what can be considered 'casual', 'normal' or 'formal. My belief is that in long monologues - presentations, explanations, narratives - people tend to articulate more carefully than in animated, two-way conversations, but of course it could be very personal.
 

emsr2d2

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[strike]dude[/strike] I am an Egyptian living in Egypt too. I got my British accent from movies and some British friend. [strike]and[/strike] Also check these links RP British Accent Training Part One - YouTube
British accent lesson (e-course) ? - YouTube
It will not take you too long if you already have an American accent.

Welcome to the forum A.jordan.

Please remember the rules of written English on this forum:

- Start every sentence with a capital letter.
- Always capitalise the word "I".
- Capitalise all proper nouns (Egypt, British, American, London, Cairo etc)
- End every sentence with a single punctuation mark.
- Don't use chatlish/textspeak. Use full English words (write "you", not "u").
 

konungursvia

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Welcome to the forum A.jordan.

Please remember the rules of written English on this forum:

- Start every sentence with a capital letter.
- Always capitalise the word "I".
- Capitalise all proper nouns (Egypt, British, American, London, Cairo etc)
- End every sentence with a single punctuation mark.
- Don't use chatlish/textspeak. Use full English words (write "you", not "u").

Perhaps we shall soon be able to have the server refuse to post any messages not respecting such basic rules....
 
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