Accent improvement (moved, quiet, about)

[masterchef1]

look up accent reduction on youtube, or internet, it will be free.

[Wotnext]

Thanks a lot everyone who provided valuable suggestions.

Here is the background why I was seeking suggestions.

Since communication is key in our daily interaction it becomes even more important in a professional setup to be effective at communicating your ideas and opinions. Though diversity is celebrated, a persons ability to express clearly in a native tone gets the message across instantly facilitating easier exchange.

In my personal and professional experience I have noticed that accent does act as a barrier during group meetings/discussions where the audience will spend less time digesting the information only because they were unable to fully comprehend the words while the discussion is moving at a brisk pace. One can make out from the facial expressions that people are trying hard to understand what is being said. I don't hold it against them because as others have pointed out its impossible to get rid of an accent past a certain age but I think the onus is on me to soften my accent to the best possible level.

Once again folks at CD never fail

[rent.in.nyc]

Originally Posted by HudsonCoNJ

U wot m8?

Haha^^^^ Are asking "You what mate?"

[rent.in.nyc]

Originally Posted by lancers

Keep practicing. The likelihood of you getting rid of your accent is next to impossible if you came to this country after the age of 13.

Yeeeesssss, so true ^^^^^!

It depends also what your native language is.

Germans hardly can get rid of their accent, no matter how long they are in a foreign country. German is a hard and not smooth, melodic language.

Same with French, Italian, and, sorry, also Americans keep their American accent.

Asians, I think, are best in getting rid of their native accent.

[hackwriter]

I'm not sure you should want to trade in your native accent, whatever it is, for a "Jersey accent." I recently moved to North Carolina after being in NJ since 1957. Everyone knows I'm from NJ, and when I asked one southerner how long it would take me to get rid of mine, he said "Oh, honey, you ain't NEVAH gonna be able to lose THAT one!"

[swilliamsny]

Some change happens subconsciously - at least English to English. I remember when my relatives from Utah, where I grew up, started teasing me about pronouncing 'dog' (daahg in the west), 'dawg'.

[cw30000]

I improved my accent by recording myself reading and listen to it. At first, I couldn't even understand myself. Slowly, I was able to understand myself and able to hear my own accent. I don't think I have an accent now. I do have a deep monotone like a lot of men do.

My sister got rid of her accent by going to a speech therapist when she was in HS.

[Wotnext]

Originally Posted by cw30000

I improved my accent by recording myself reading and listen to it. At first, I couldn't even understand myself. Slowly, I was able to understand myself and able to hear my own accent. I don't think I have an accent now. I do have a deep monotone like a lot of men do.

My sister got rid of her accent by going to a speech therapist when she was in HS.

Thank you

[Wotnext]

Don't know if its ok to put these links here. I searched for 'pronunciation software' and found the following links. Haven't had a chance to try any of these as yet but surely plan to use them over the next couple of days.

How Do You Say That? The 10 Coolest Pronunciation Tools for ESL Students

Learn English | Pronunciation Power Software

How it works | FluentIQ

https://www.englishcentral.com/cart/...premium#/plans - leaning towards this one though the cost is $89/month!

Will update as I make progress

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by ansky

What about people that move here from down South? Do they lose their southern drawl? I always wondered about that. I know people that moved from the North to the South and when they are down south they have the drawl, but they are able to turn it off when they come back up North. It's pretty interesting. The way people talk down South is basically a foreign language.

There are always hints. For some reason it drives me nuts that southerners don't say the short e and instead say it the same as a short i. So they say both pin and pen like pin.

I think that must be hard to lose because I hear newscasters say "Tin o'clock" and the voice on my work phone says "Inter your passcode".