[General] Accent check: Z

[holdenenglish]

Dear teachers

After some more practice, I've done a new recording of me speaking English. Could you please tell me if the recording is better, and how much is it from a native level?

Regards

Holden

 

[probus]

After listening to it many times, I have been unable to make out the words that immediately follow "Hi, today ...". Apart from that, it is very fluent but would not likely convince a native speaker that you are a native speaker. Don't feel bad about that. It is an extremely difficult feat to convince a native speaker of any language that you are a native speaker if you are not. Very few people ever achieve it.

 

[Roman55]

I hear, 'Hi, today a student of mine asked me a very basic, yet very important question, which is…'

I think the accent is very good, and I know some native speakers of BrE who sound just like that.

The vowel sounds are certainly BrE, and with there being so many regional accents, I think you could convince natives that you were an educated native speaker from a part of the country that they can't quite put their finger on.

 

[holdenenglish]

Dear probus and Roman55

Thanks very much. A follow-up question. Is it possible to share with me me which areas I should improve? Look forward to hearing from you.

Regards

Holden

 

[Roman55]

Hello Holden.

I hear a slight slur in the 's', 'sh', and 'j' sounds that you might want to clean up a bit.
e.g. 'student', 'just', 'most', and to a lesser extent 'British English'.

That might have nothing to do with your English, though. It could be a question of dentition, in which case don't change anything (if you are trying for an English English accent, that is).