Much of our focus when changing our speech is on pronunciation, or how we say the sounds in words. This is important for being understood, but it is not the only element of an accent. It might not even be the most important element when trying to make yourself understood in English. The musical patterns of our speech, or intonation, might just be more important than how we say the words. Intonation is complex and conveys meaning. There are some rules and distinct American patterns. For an entertaining look at how much we use intonation to convey meaning, check out this video. If you can't understand quite what they are saying, it's probably because they aren't actually speaking English. But despite this, you can almost get the message.
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Your native language background will affect your American English in terms of pronunciation, intonation, grammar and vocabulary. Whether you first spoke Hindi, Gujarati, Telugu, Bengali, Tamil, Punjabi or another language, what you heard and learned first shapes your phonological development (your sound system for listening and speaking). Indian English is a dialect of English and it might have been the first English you heard and spoke. The patterns of Indian English will also affect your American English pronunciation and intonation. Here are some things you might expect if you are a speaker of Indian English: Pronunciation: You may have difficulty with the w and v sounds. Your "th" sounds may sound like t or d. You may have trouble with the sounds at the ends of words, especially b, d, g, ng, and z. Your r sounds might be rolled at the beginnings of words and might sound like "uh" in the middle and at the ends of words. You might use pure vowels "ah, o, oo, ay and ee" and have trouble with American short vowels and diphthongs (gliding from one vowel to another). Intonation: While you are likely able to understand American Intonation and how different patterns change the meaning of a sentence, you might speak with intonation that is difficult for the American listener to understand. This could include stressing the incorrect word in a sentence or syllable in a word. Rate: You might feel that speaking quickly is a more American style, or that you will be perceived as more intelligent if you speak faster. In reality, speaking too quickly can lead to more pronunciation and intonation errors. More important than a fast rate is using appropriate suprasegmentals, such as linking, blending and liaisons between words. Understanding what your accent is comprised of is the first step in making changes to increase how well you are understood when speaking American English. Take a free screening for information about your accent here. Not only does signing your favorite American song help you make subtle changes in your American Accent (see this post for details), but you might do well with remembering new words by singing them. We all have pop songs, advertising jingles and tv theme songs from our childhood taking up valuable memory space in our brains, but perhaps we can harness our ability to remember words set to music to our own advantage. Researchers in Scotland set up an experiment which involved teaching groups of people words in Hungarian. Those who were taught using a method of signing the words had the best results when asked to remember them later. You can read more details here. When you come across a new word you'd like to remember or a word for which you need to change your pronunciation, if you can find a song with the correct rhythm, you can sing the word to store it for later. For example, let's say you need to learn the stress pattern for the word technology. This word has the stress on the second syllable, technology. Take the song Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and change the words to "Now I sing technology, now I sing technology." Tying the correct word stress and pronunciation to a tune might help build pathways in your brain to correctly pronouncing this word in running speech. And it might also be fun.
In a recent study at Charles University in Prague, researchers examined how accents can affect listener perception. Among their findings was the fact that when intonation differs from standard, such as shorter or longer vowels on stressed words, listeners rate speakers as more "nervous-sounding." Even if you are confident during your presentation, interview, or conversation at work, your listeners might think you are nervous based on hearing your accent. Learning to use American intonation, specifically stress patterns and correct vowel length, will help you come across as the knowledgeable and confident speaker you are.
Read an interview with the researcher Jan Volín here. Chances are, if you are not a native speaker of English, you have some words you are uncertain about pronouncing. You might even avoid using them, even though you know what they mean, because you don’t want to say them incorrectly. One excellent resource for checking your pronunciation is using online dictionaries. They have the advantage of recordings to play back, to hear a native speaker say the word. This is preferable to a digitized recording (computer generated), because the stress and intonation will be natural sounding and correct. If you are also working on acquiring new vocabulary, you may like the simplified definitions and examples you will find in Merriam Webster’s Learner's Dictionary. When trying new words, record yourself and compare your pronunciation to what you hear on the website. You may notice differences in the recording that you cannot hear when you are speaking. Did you know? Many native speakers of American English mispronounce the word "probably." You might have learned an incorrect pronunciation from people around you. Check out the correct pronunciation here.
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