How Bad is My Accent?

[camellina]

Hi everyone!


This is a video of me reading a paragraph. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXtAdARX6lc&t=8s


Please help me listen to it and let me know how much you can understand my reading and how bad my accent is. Can you understand it without trying hard to focus on my speaking?


From a scale from 1-100 where 100 is native speaker and 1 means 'I don't understand what the heck she is saying', where do you think I am at right now?


I love English and I really want to speak English fluently, and I also want to get rid of my accent. So I really want to know what people think about my English speaking skill right now and whether or not people can understand everything I say. My goal is to eventually become a pharmacist so I really want to speak great English


Any advises on how to further improve my speaking skill, pronunciation and eliminating accent is greatly appreciated!!:lol:

 

[Tdol]

The opening slipped by me and I couldn't get a few phrases, but that might have been nerves and speaking too fast on your part. After that I was able to follow you relatively easily. You don't cut too many final letters, but you do need to work on intonation- the way you speak sounds a bit flat and staccato to me, but then I am currently trying to learn a tonal language and imagine that native speakers could make similar criticisms as I blast through with my toneless insensitivity.

 

[camellina]

Thank you for the advise. I will definitely take note!

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you for the advice. I will definitely take note!

See above. "Advice" is the noun. "Advise" is the verb.

 

[DavidTan]

I give you 85 out of 100. Your pronunciation of words are very clear.

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Not a teacher

 

[teechar]

Your pronunciation of individual words [STRIKE]are[/STRIKE] is very clear.

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Not a teacher

If you reply to questions on the forum, please indicate in your posts that you're not a teacher.

 

[Skrej]

The single biggest issue I noticed was the intonation, but I also wondered how much of that was because you were reading the text. Reading fluency could be hindering your spoken intonation somewhat. I could tell you were reading.

A clip of you doing some extemporaneous speaking, where you're speaking without reading, might offer some more insight.

Summarize a favorite book or movie, talk about a hobby, music, sports, etc. Talk about your family, tell a story, tell us about yourself, or even record a conversation with a friend. The idea is to keep it simple enough you can speak freely without having to pause to gather your thoughts.

It's okay to jot down some notes if you need prompts to keep talking, but the idea is to focus on extemporaneous speaking. This also has the advantage of offering some insight into your grammar as well as your accent. It's also good speaking practice.

 

[Tdol]

Reading a text does lead to unnatural intonation.

 

[andrewg927]

I used to volunteer to help English learners speak more fluently and I can tell you that you speak quite well. You do have a thick accent but I wonder if it could just be your intonation. My pharmacy technician is also from Vietnam and you speak much clearer than her. I would say if you want to be a pharmacist, make sure you speak slowly and clearly. Articulate if you have to. I also noticed a few mispronunciations. Here are a few examples (this is not an exhaustive list):

- it is that time of the year when we ask (I think you said where)
- from my lifestyle changes (you didn't pronounce lifestyle correctly)
- we get so busy (you said beezy)
- take care of ourselves (not ourself)
- we live in a society (you said leave)

Make sure to look these up and learn how to pronounce them accurately. It is very important for a pharmacist to pronounce correctly. Otherwise, people would just gape at what you say.

 

[andrewg927]

The opening slipped by me and I couldn't get a few phrases, but that might have been nerves and speaking too fast on your part. After that I was able to follow you relatively easily. You don't cut too many final letters, but you do need to work on intonation- the way you speak sounds a bit flat and staccato to me, but then I am currently trying to learn a tonal language and imagine that native speakers could make similar criticisms as I blast through with my toneless insensitivity.

I have been told the way I say "no problemo," "muchas gracias," "hasta la vista" (few out of my tiny Spanish lexicon) is way too American. But I swear I say them just like a Spanish person. So I'm sure the feeling is mutual.

 

[GoesStation]

That's no problema. Putting an O at the end is a dead giveaway.