Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Accent Reduction in English: American English
Next month I will begin to teach an American English conversation course in a hospital in Indianapolis. This class is part of a program called American English for Internationals, which is designed to help international physicians, medical researchers, and other healthcare professionals to modify their accents in English to speak more like Americans. This will help them communicate more effectively with their colleagues and patients, and in social situations with neighbors and other Americans they associate with. Modifying your accent in a foreign language as an adult is not easy, but it can be done with practice and patience. Language habits, as with all habits, can be hard to change, but it's worth the effort. Your thoughts?
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My first language is Spanish and I wonder, could I talk one day like american people?. I want to be patient and put effort because I want to achieve it.
ReplyDeleteI think it varies from person to person. While working on our language site, one of our friends, who has never learned mandarin before, kept listening to audio segments and now actually speaks certain phrases with very little accent.
ReplyDeleteI've been told that my Chinese is pretty good -- especially for being born in the US.
It could have something to do with the fact that both of us have played a musical instrument for 20+ years and we can 'hear' when we are off in our speech.
I've always wondered if it was possible to go under intensive study to remove an accent -- I've tried with my mom, but alas, it is quite difficult.
That being said, it's definitely worth the effort. When I communicate with people who are clearly not native English speakers, I often feel that half my energy is spent ensuring that what I'm trying to say is what they are understanding (though in fairness, as an American, I've been spoiled by how accessible the world is to me).
Foreign people modify their accents in English is not easy .But when they are live in the US , it won't be difficult.
ReplyDeleteI find reducing my accent one of the hardest feats to hurdle
ReplyDelete@Joe Which language are you targeting?
ReplyDeleteI would imagine that someone who already speaks a language and lives among native speakers would benefit greater from an intensive class on accent reduction than the new learner perhaps would. For me, just learning Spanish, I have a hard enough time trying to make sure I have the right word, in the right tense, with the right ending for whom I'm speaking to/about, etc. As long as I can be understood, the accent is the least of my worries at this point. After I feel more comfortable with the language itself, it will be easier to focus on accent reduction when my brain isn't so busy going in so many different directions at once. But for now, I'll continue, for a little while at least, to feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.
ReplyDeleteI feel that a most patients come into a doctors office or hospital with the hope of connecting with their doctor. Both hospitals and doctors offices are very vulnerable and scary places for most people to be. Accent reduction may allow the patients to feel less intimidated or uncomfortable in such a vulnerable place, since communicating freely, without fear of misunderstanding the doctor, can occur.
ReplyDeleteModify our accent is really hard.When we already have learned a language you get adopted to that language and when you tried to learn another is hard but it is not impossible. You feel something "raro" in your mouth.This is my experience.
ReplyDeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteGreat comments. Joe is in my second semester Spanish class this summer, so he's talking about learning Spanish.
Your comments about the possible relationship between music and language are interesting. There are studies that suggest that people who are gifted at music also tend to be good language learners. Because tone differences are so important in Chinese, I can see how having a "musical ear" could be a real advantage in learning it.
Jeff
Yanuaria, Beth, Joe, Serena, Rebekah,and Rivera,
ReplyDeleteGreat comments and observations! Thank you all.
Jeff
Language habits are hard to change. I sometimes{to be honest-not always} try to change my English language habits to be more correct, concise and proper. I find myself doing this when I want to impress someone, in an academic setting, or in a foreign country. I once was trying to get dual-citizenship in Canada. I never thought that I had an accent. But, all said I did. I found myself trying to fit in and wondered how hard it must be for those here in the U.S.
ReplyDelete