Need help with my accent

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Plato90

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[FONT=&quot]Hello everyone! Do check out my accent and give me some tips to improve. I am particularly interested in knowing the following-[/FONT]

  • Am I easy to understand? Or would a native speaker have to strain themselves to figure out what I am saying?
  • Is my accent extremely thick? Is it a typical Indian accent?
  • Rather than developing a particular accent, I am want to iron out any characteristics that would stand in the way of others understanding me, or make me stand out in a room of native speakers. Any tips for this? I guess I mean that rather than developing an American/British accent, I want a neutral accent that can be understood by everyone and doesn't stand out like a sore thumb.
  • I am particularly concerned that when I speak, I use a lot of s sounds, almost like a hiss. Is there someway to get over this?
  • Is there anything wrong with the t, d and r sounds?
[FONT=&quot]Any other tips?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]These are two recordings of the same passage being read by me-[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]https://voca.ro/16Qa0hba6Er9[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]https://voca.ro/1aS83jj6c1ry[/FONT]
 

tzfujimino

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I'd like to hear you introducing yourself instead of reading text.
(I have no difficulty understanding you, by the way. I personally like your pronunciation of "here".)
:)

Not a native speaker of English
 
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emsr2d2

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I was able to listen to about 30 seconds' of the recording before leaving for work this morning. It was clear and easy to understand with an obvious non-native accent but not one that impedes understanding at all.

However, like tzfujimino, I would to hear you speaking spontaneously, rather than from a prepared text. Imagine you're just chatting with a native English speaker and they've asked you to tell them a few things about the place you grew up in. Record yourself doing that, but without preparing anything in advance. Make it up as you go along, speak at the same speed and volume as you would if you were just chatting to someone. It will give us a better indication of how your accent and pronunciation are in a real-life situation. Let's face it, if you get chatting to someone in a bar somewhere, they're not going to ask you to read aloud from a book but to chat normally with them!
 

Charlie Bernstein

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Hello everyone! Do check out my accent and give me some tips to improve. I am particularly interested in knowing the following:

Am I easy to understand?

Yes. Very.


Or would [STRIKE]a[/STRIKE] native speakers
have to strain themselves to figure out what I am saying?

There are always a few people who can't follow unfamiliar accents. But most people would have no trouble.



Is my accent extremely thick?

It's clearly an Indian accent.


Is it a typical Indian accent?

Yes.



Rather than developing a particular accent, I am want to iron out any characteristics that would stand in the way of others understanding me, or make me stand out in a room of native speakers. Any tips for this?

There's no such thing as speaking English without an accent. It's not possible. And there's nothing wrong with speaking English with an Indian accent.


I guess I mean that rather than developing an American/British accent, I want a neutral accent

Again, there's no such thing as a "neutral" accent. If it's an accent, it's not neutral.


that can be understood by everyone and doesn't stand out like a sore thumb.

Every accent annoys somebody. It's a fact of life.



I am particularly concerned that when I speak, I use a lot of s sounds, almost like a hiss. Is there someway to get over this?

I didn't hear any hiss. Your S's sound fine.



Is there anything wrong with the t, d and r sounds?

They sound fine to me. Your T's and R's are more British than American. Again, there's nothing wrong with that.



Any other tips?

Your English is good. Just keep listening to people and imitating their phrases. Watching movies is a painless way to soak up the language. Talking with English-speaking friends is good.


These are two recordings of the same passage being read by me-
https://voca.ro/16Qa0hba6Er9
https://voca.ro/1aS83jj6c1ry
Once more: We all have accents. Either keep your Indian accent or choose another to emulate. There is no "neutral" accent.
 

jadeJ

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You do not have a typical Indian accent. However, some sounds stand out as being Indian English.
I would pay attention to the word 'children' which sounds like 'chuldren' /ʌ/ instead of having an /ɪ/ vowel.
I think the main area for improvement could be voice placement. It sounds like you are directing your voice from the back of the throat, which a relatively closed mouth. You can achieve much better projection by speaking more forward in the mask area of the face. This will make your English sound more confident.
 
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