Hi, Guys! How're you doing?

I need your suggestion how to improve american or british accent. I know it is 'enermous' dream for me. I mean, I am not using English as first language. But, I believe I can improve my accent like what native speakers do. So, please your suggestion or tips how to accomodate it....

Thanks

dear rocketzero..

so you wanna improve your accent huh?
1st time to do is move to where you wanna be your accent though..
IE.. if you wanna have American English accent with New York accent you have to live in New York.. not in Bombay..
or if you wanna have royal British accent you have to live in London..

you can't bargain that.. it's personal behavior from different culture..
you know it's really strange to hear Singaporean English because of their language is very funny (too much Malay words there)

I guess that's all.. hope can help you..

Regards

BF Crew

Thanks for your suggestion BF Crew. Yeah, I also realized it. If I wish to obtain american accent or british accent, I should live in where I want to get that English accent. But, In fact, I have a friend from Taiwan. Mostly, in Taiwan nobody can speak English because they proud of their own language. In this case, my friend can speak English like native speaker. You know, it is so awesome and I am eager to catch up in every 'fraction' of words from their mouth. I tried to imitate every words he says.
I ever asked him how he can improve English accent (american accent). Simply, he gave me solutions like: you have to watch english movies and try to imitate in every words they say. Afterwards, you have to try it and record you voice to enhance your accent. He said that if you have better pronounciation it doesn't mean you can get the accent. Yeah it is true, I have proved it. To be honest, I have a good pronounciation but untill now I can't get real american accent like my friend from Taiwan does. I am willing to get it whatever barriers come up....hehehehe
Now, I can say that I have 40% american accent. It is so poor, isn't it...hehe
But, later on I believe I can get it...... ^-^

no I guess it isn't poor..
you have done a good job really
I'm salute you.. even if I spoke English with my friend I don't know what accent I might have been have..
Really sounds funny.. indeed I'm not confidence with the way I speak English.. My English is sucks.. I never had a really good score with verbal lessons in college or in school... See.. I don't really have a good verbal ability..
and I realize I must live in somewhere else which English is a native language to improve my English..
I don't really care about accent.. but I realize that my accent will be better if I live in there 1 to 3 years there..

I always watch English movie.. but it never improve my accent actually.. maybe because I never practice it..

anyway.. where do you live actually bro? I saw your IP is pointed to Malaysia

Regards..

BF Crew

Actually, I was studying in Malaysia, you're right. I was living in here almost 6 years. It was because I broke it up my Senior High School in Indonesia and started to study in Malaysia. Previously, In Indonesia, I never used English as first language (you know dude, in Indonesia if you wished to speak English you have to dare to get embrassed because everybody will laugh on your face, won't you?...hehehe).
Conversely, in Malaysia, I always use English as my first language (but once again, I am not using it at home...hehehe). What I felt, really, I could improve my English significantly, either listening, speaking, and writing. Nevertheless, I was very concerned regarding my ability to trasform my accent like native speaker. Now, I am trying to get it. As I get notice from my friend from Taiwan, everybody are respecting on him and he looks smart because of his accent. Even native speaker from England, they asked my friend whether he ever been lived in America for long time to get american accent. It was so amazed me, how people around me give a respectful manner towards him.
Anyway, I am very surprising that we had a great forum like what you've bee done. It is so awesome and very ace forum. I can get huge information from this forum, I mean I love it very much......hehehehe (speechless)
Dude, are you still studying now? nice to talk with you

I have graduated from college taken financial management..
but yet it's hard to find a job in this country.. so I decided to go to US this year..

and yes.. I kinda embarrassed if I talk English in front of public.. cause nobody doing it.. I don't know whether Indonesian are really proud with their native language or because of they don't used to..

usually they think because they were colonized by the Dutch so they won't have to learn English.. different with our neighbor countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and Philippines (colonized by the US)

anyway.. thanks for your compliment to this forum.. nice to hear that you enjoying our board..

eiitttt....i,m wrong room,sorry sorry

@vince: what?

edit: Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines was colonized by the US?It was UK or GB actually, am I right?Or u just kidding me?

@e-violet: dude.. I was spoken about the Philippines.. not Malaysia or/and Singapore (they were colonized by UK)
read my sentence will ya..

ups,,sorry bro BF Crew...
my mistake...

practice practice and practice..cause practice makes you better

anyhow...why did you really want to advance you accent

i think if you already have a great pronounciation, that would be enough ... cause every diferent people can't always change their accent as they want ...

i think most people trying another accent just for kidding ...
contohnya : niru2 aksen orang german yg ngomong inggris atau aksen orang inggris UK ... kan lucu gaya ngomong mereka
nah kalo masalah ngomongin cara ngomong orang inggris UK .. gw pikir lo mending tiru gaya ngomong mereka ... bukan aksesnnya..tapi cara ngomong mereka yg polite bngt..gaya2 orang kerajaan..sumpah gw kagum ama cara mereka berbahasa(kalo nonton pilem ingris UK)

lagian gw juga ga pinter2 amat ngomong inggris...pusing juga

Practice makes perfect,but as far as I know,nobody perfect in this world,so what is practicing for?

How to improve your accent?It's definitely hard,because we are Asian and our pronouncer can't be like British or American people,they speak fluently because English is their mother language.

My suggestion is :

• Don't follow Malaysia/Singapore English(Singlish),they speak in English but add "lar" as their accent.
• Read some English books or watch British/American films.
• Speak with several Caucasian,maybe it's better you go to British/United States of America.

Accent eh?
I don't think that really matters.
But if you want to improve it anyway, I suggest you take English courses where they have native speakers.
You have a lot to learn, really.
It's not easy to change your accent.
I guess the most effective way is to live in an English-speaking environment.

Listen to english songs, read the lyrics..follow the way the talk.

Watch English movies. Dont read the subtitle...

First of all, "accent" falls under the scope of "spoken form" of the English language. Obviously, you may be able to convey slang-like expressions, but not accent in written form of English language. And it is a relatively known observation that, especially in Asia, most people will have a higher probability to excel written form of English language. The reason behind the observation is not an alien one. Written form of the English language requires no contribution from a native speaker - and thus can be practiced at any phase of learning.

Spoken English, however, if to be done impeccably, demands contribution (initially, at least) from a native speaker. And the very reason why non-English speaker often fail to excel in spoken English is because the opportunity is not there - to practice, to communicate, to understand - in English.

Knowing that, if you wish to improve your accent, it is highly adviceable that you acquire a guidance froma native speaker. Some things cannot be learned by your self. I believe my observation comes from my own personal experience, having learned English in Indonesia, and having lived overseas, in an English-speaking country.

If you wanna improve your accent, try to watch British or American television. Besides that, practice it by speaking with people.

heh ?? why said about singapore was so many malay ? i dont think so almost of them is chinese in here ,because i stay in here.
yes maybe singapore got the bad english for the oral ,but as u know its more better than us..
dont u realized? actually i got a slang.....english almost of people when i talk english with them ,they always realized me from phils..lol
just 1 tell me im from california..lol
i just working every day and handle a US people so i got a little bit accent and slang english ..from them and now handle korean >_< my english become bad lol
anyway anybody from singapore,i good at oral but not good at written if i got some wrong typing,please forgive..lol

hi folks,
i like english, but i never take english course i learn it my self. i would to improve my english in speaking, lestening, or writing please give me some tips about that.

Sory i can help you

To speak English fluently, you may use your own English accent. But if you want to speak like a native or improve your accent to be more English, you have to reprogram your English speaking from the beginning.
Take these steps for further research:
1. Study Phonetics and practice it step by step. You can find English phonetics by searching it from Youtube.com video.
2. Practice your pronunciation. Study native speaker conversations from video/audio examples. You can find some examples of British conversations from www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish
3. Study these following subjects: Word stress, Assimilation, Word rhythm, Weak forms, Glottal Stop, and Blinding words.
4. Practice your English more intense. Find native speaker as a partner to practice your English is very recommended.

Good luck!

i agree with u bro.

i never change my javanis accent coz i like that, acctually i realy proude with my javling (javanis english)
my accent make other known from where i am,...

actually i did not like if indonesian poeple spekin english but did not like indonesian.
sorry bro no hard feeling,....
i just watch in a movie, a rusian is never lost the rusian accent.en that make me known from where that people.


yes u right, normally poeple laughing when they heard my accent coz they said "ndeso"

you know what i mean bro,....

right.. don't hide your heritage..
english with accents makes this world colorful

i think you've done well my bro ... like what crew said
just be yourself cause the person you talk to will know where you from ... n i hope you'll proude with that
as we all know ... there is American, British, Australian, Indian, Mexican, Russian ... you'll know where they from just only conversate with them

in our country (i mean Indonesia if there is maybe friend from abroad) we only ;earn n use it at the school or college
we never practice it out door ... that's why almost 60% of student in Indonesia (like me) think that English is suck

but now i realized that is very important to learn n practice it ... i only have a nice grade in writing n reading
but i am suck in strusture n conversation ... now everything has change

i live in town where there is so many foreign person and the only way to talk to understand each other is with english as the main language
so i ... starting two years ago ... begin to practice and increase my english (now i think it's not too bad at all)

so ... keep on practicing ... wether it's American or British ... the only different is how to pronounciate n the writing
i.e ... colour (British) >< color(American) ... etc

hope someday ... we can see each other at a gathering ... maybe English Talk Gathering that only use english as the main language to talk each other

wow in here every body is very well wrote english

i salute you guys. btw i just wanna tell ya, be proud of your self, what ever your accent what ever your race, always be your self. no copycat other, you will not make it. i mean not perfect. hehehe. be your self is the best way. happy learning english.

BTW, @rambo: you did very well in english, great great i though you just "GAM" member

Wow.....

This accent thing...

Well eniwei it's good for us.. if our accent is trully english...

It's the world main language.. it easy for us to understand them if they ( stranger ) speak english with accent that we can understand easily... so do we... if we talk english with the right accent.. they also will be easy to hear and understand us

So improve your accent but don't be like cinchau laura... that girl is rubbish..



NB : cinchau laura said : Chincau gonna go to australia to suck black man cock so that chinchau tounge can be straight enough to speak indonesian with the right spelling

Have to disagree on what both of you are saying.
IMHO, accent is important. My late mom used to say, If you want to learn a language, dont just learn about the grammar, learn about the culture and the accent as well. It's not that you're not keeping your own heritage, it's a matter of respecting the actual language owner.
Learning to have a good accent is actually not that hard. You can learn it by learning from movies and trying to say each word the right way. Another way of practicing your tongue is thru tounge twisters.
try to say the sentences below with a fast speed to practice

she sells seashells down by the seashores

how much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck would chuck wood

a tudor who tuted a flute tried to tutor two tooters to toot. said the two to their tutor, is it harder to toot or to tutor two tutors to toot

try practicing those sentences and many more that you can find on the net. it's useful. nothing wrong in having a good accent, right?

regards

-EmFeld-

Hi all.

Conversing in English with accents is perhaps due to geographical and social surroundings which somehow affects the speaker's peculiar pronunciation of words. To speak English with an American accent or British accent is not essential to communicate in that language. In fact, I can think of not less than 5 peculiar accents for American, and 3 for British. So, trying to emulate their accents may prove difficult and endless.

The eastern US accents is more English like (listen to Martha Stewart, a fine example), with the exception of New York (they speak with peculiar accent, listen to Rudolph Giulliani, or Bloomberg). The Midwest and West Coast of the US speaks with a very pronounced but deep "R" (listen to Brad Pitt or Ronald Reagan or Drew Barrymore or Emilio Estevez or Charlie Sheen or Larry King on CNN) . In Miami, the English spoken there is different (listen to Gloria Estefan, Richardo Montalban, Ricky Martin), and in the South (listen to George W. Bush, John Wayne, Jewel, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers etc.) Each part of the US has its own accent.

In Great Britain, we have the Scottish accent spoken, especially in Glasgow, which I can't fairly describe here. You would be hard pressed to understand them. When I first spoke to someone from there, I honestly didn't realise he was actually speaking English to me. Then we have the Cockney, widely spoken in London (Robbie Williams, the Spice Girls etc), then the formal Queen's English, like spoken by (who else?) HM the Queen, Elton John, BBC News.

To me, I don't think accents are important. What is more important is for you to learn and speak the language fluently with correct pronunciations of the words used. Of course it sounds nice to be able to speak with an accent; but whats the point of speaking with an accent, be it British or American, if your mastery of the English Language is compromised by grammatical mistakes and incorrect usage of words?

It is true accents can only be picked up by contact with a native speaker or someone who speaks with that particular accent. Watching English programs and movies do help to a certain extend. However, what is more important is your command of the language. You must always practise by conversing in English with someone to improve your conversational skills. Don't be ashamed if your English is not fantastic but continue to converse and converse and you will see the improvement. Then, you can improve on your accent once you have mastered the language.

As for me, I speak the Queen's English and sometimes Eastern US when the need arises.

Well, sorry if I bore you guys with my yakking....but thats my two cents' worth.

Have a nice day...

Hi guy's... sorry to jump in conclusion. The fact is, if you want a fluent accent or what sort of accent you want is to practice everyday for the rest of your remainding life...

1. For ESL people... Try to communicate more with people that uses Bahasa Inggris(US or Britain or even maybe Aussies)

2. Writing and composing essays and reading them to your self will definitely help exercise your tounge to a fluent accent.

3. Read alot or even try to sing english song.

Well this is what i've done to get my english accent fluet and sharp

Not to brag but now i am working at a communication company that Interview people Internationaly, because the three steps above there helps me....

Glad i could help... Peace Out

sorry bro,..
i stil not diseagree

i know this natta fight club like at our neighbour. but i think deferences make us more colorful, right?

so,
english is a languange that come from the great britain country.
but now many country used this languange,in fact english is an international languange

but in every country that used this languange, born a new aksen due cultur, geographical ect
USA is ones of english user. they are a large country, had a hundred culture en had hundred accent in english
south accent, black accent, american accent ect.

if accen is importen,.... ,.. "pecah ndase" bro.,,.. what is "pecah ndase" in english
the question is what accen that u mean importen en why?

its similar with in indonesia. we speak in indonesia, but the man from papua carry their accent, the javan speakin indonesia "medhok", the batak's speak with their accent,... even in indonesia

that not bad, in fact very well.

if the accent is importen en learning accent not hard, why foreigner especially "bule" in indonesia, almost nating that speak with indonesian accent,..


coz they think accent is doesn't matter bro.

we indonesian, is find if they spekin indonesia with bule accent, so if we spekin english with indonesian accent a think they 'll gonna be fine

en for me javling or javanis english is the best


regard,



and why ma english is very bad,... ,... but its doesnt matter too

Hmm...so Let's hand with this.

How to improve english accent?
start with some little does, such as listenings some british singer with british accent indeed.like Lily allen (isn't it?), etc.
Insert some intonate on your comprehension.
When it printed "A" it sounds "aa"
like Dance which reads as "dans" <<english(wrote in Indonesian spells) not dens<<<<<<<<<american(wrote in indonesian also)
Ignore others in spoken. just follow the british accent as u led, it why some others even nibble speaks in not american, not british indeed. do it right!

Hmm...I'm not saying that you have to have a good accent, all I'm saying is that it'll be better if you speak English with a good accent...if you cant, that's fine. But, dont let those excuses prevents your from trying to learn it...it never hurts to do something the right way, right?

regards

-EmFeld-

not because i can't bro,... but i don't want.

i think youre right when u said never hurt to do something the right way. but "right" for who, 4 me that's not the right way.
so i dont want.but monggo wae if u prefer used the british accent or black accent or something else, but for me that not right way bro

regard,

hey, VINCE watch ur back!...(I like ur style,Vin) ...mmmm, guys, guys! all of u. if u wanna ur English better I think u should be brave to "speak ur mind out no matter what". U can NOT copies someones else' accent perfectly in british or wheatever. Trust me that is impossible and absurd. Just be urself and open ur mouth to talk widely. Everyones-I believe-will forgive, cos they know u r NOT american or englishman. I-myself-have ever spoken with someone from India and his accent was strange to my ear, but that's ok. The most important of that moment was only I tried not to be misunderstanding. I actually not care-when I speak- about grammar, accent, emphasis or whatever..I just attempt to communicate and that's all. Linguistic is hard man and don't waste ur time. Let ur accent be with u

@atas

yup i dont want waste my time to bo an american, a britishman, blackman or sometink else.....
let me be the javanis

regard,

hi guys just want to share,, tobe honest w/u its nothin wrong w indonesia accent or what ever,so far i never seen that any indonesian could speak in us/brits accent good enough, so be proud w/our accent,believe me is distinguished as from pilipn,singpre or malay,,,,actually they like our exotic accent hehe.(no offense to senior)

About accent huh???
Well, I don't know a lot about this matter..
But learning the accent are good.. Coz they will easier to understand what we say to them.. (no offense bro)
For the tips matter..
I maybe tell the same thing with all of them..
What is, watch american movies a lot.. ( I did this )
Peace to all

just listen Chincha Laura in infotainment when shes talking,mimic her accent alot and your accent will improve like hell

Stop talking about improving your accent! Cause it involves an audio conversation not just text. Go find someone who wants to chat with you using messenger with audio. Thanks.

right,accent is not too important!!just be u`re self..be proud of u`re accent

and i think,indonesian accent is better than japanese or chinese accent!! no offense!

@virgin hunter
that was a brilliant idea

As far as i'm concern, the only way to improve our accent is to listen and to speak. Juz listen to the native' pronunciation and speak it.

However, it's not that easy to improve our accent, for our tongue is not "the same tongue" of the natives'. If i were you, i would rather create my own accent. Nowaday, when english is used globally by many people in the world (with different 'tongue') the accent itself is not that important though...

there are such easy ways... for that....
i mean to be alike native speaker of english...
if you want to be american one ,,itd better for you to analyze hollywood movie..
i meant how they speak,,, how their intonation,,just feel the grove....
and then practise it by your own tongue....u should be repeating one sentence until thousands times....
find the situation of which in your mouth like a river flows in articulating the sentence.

dealt with british one...you should seek harder for british movies..(have you ever wacthed Harry potter?,,it used british accent).
you analyze from what u seek before..


u got it???
bye,,
good luck..

Don't worry about your accent - I'm an English teacher and pronunciation is much better than cultivating a false accent. Be proud of your own accent. English is an international language and therefore has international accents.
Enjoy aja!

hmm im late in this thread but picking up a fake accent.. isn't that pretentious?

First, just simply communicate english in your own accent. TV programs, radio or even some english TV series might help to learn the new accent. As you get used to the english speaking, you will speak the new accent automatically. Dont try so hard to imitate the accent, it will sound so fake, let it come automatically. Suggesting the idea sounds so easy, practicing and implementing it will be very hard. Personnally, I myself is still learning and yet to be perfect. It takes quite some time to improve.

Keep speaking english, especially with the native speaker and listen to music and try to sing the song....

i think trying to fit in with an accent may make u sound less clear than what it actually is.

i think the key here is to sound as clear as possible. that means pronuciating properly, and not rushing through your words as you speak.

i think what's essential are the vowels and certain consonants. e.g. full vs fool (long uu sound) and the 'th' consonant.

It is more important to speak clearly and correctly than try to speak like an American or British person. Using slangs in their language will not help to make your English any better.

my father in law used to watch western movie everyday. He also works at the american oil company,which english is the only way to communicate. He love to surf the internet, and sending and receiving e-mails from and to his office in english. But guess what, he always talk with very deep,deep javanese english accent...