One of the most common requests from my ESL clients is “I want to improve my English pronunciation.  I want my accent to sound more (in this case) American.”  There are practices I recommend to my ESL clients who wish to modify their English accent to sound more like a native-English-speaker. And they can improve their English pronunciation online!  By themselves! (This blog was originally published on January 4, 2022.  It was updated November 1, 2024.)

First of all, please remember that whatever accent you have is all right.  Working on your accent to sound more like a native English speaker in the U.S. is simply an option if you feel this would benefit you in some way.  That’s all.  It has nothing to do with how good your English is.  Please remember this fact as you read through the blog.

Imitate someone with the accent you like

Sir Sidney Poitier, known for his role in the movie To Sir with Love and many other movies, faced a similar issue early in his acting career.  He wanted to be rid of his Bahamian accent in order to succeed in his acting career (it was a time when diverse accents were less well received.)  To do this, he bought a radio, chose a program he liked, and imitated the accent of the host.  He did this for 6 months, then auditioned for a part.  That’s how he got started in the movie industry.

What can we learn from Sidney Poitier?  He chose someone who has clear pronunciation.  The host was on a live radio show.  There was no “take 2.”  He had to speak clearly!

Then Sidney imitated the host.  Inflection, clarity, everything.  He kept at this until the new speaking style became a part of him.

So, choosing someone with the kind of clear pronunciation and accent you want to imitate is one way to get started on your accent work.

Listen to the inflection and rhythm of a language

Listening for the inflection and rhythm of a language is in some ways similar to listening to music.  Except in this case, it’s music of a language.  You have listened to people speaking English with a British, Australian, Hawaiian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish accent, right?  Why is it easier to understand some and not others?

Have you ever listened to a familiar song played by a different artist, with a different arrangement, and you couldn’t recognize the song until half a minute later?  This is similar to the music of a language.  Someone speaks in an accent unfamiliar to you, and it takes you a few seconds to recognize the words they had just spoken.  Different music.  That’s all.

Some languages are spoken with more staccato.  Some sound more melodic.  Some put the inflection at the end of a sentence, some elsewhere in the sentence.

So when you start imitating someone whose accent and pronunciation you like, observe the length of the syllables, where is the inflection placed, when does the voice go up, and when does it come down.  When you begin, just listen.  When you have become accustomed to the music of this person, then start imitating.

Once you have mastered the imitation, you can find another person to imitate so you expose yourself to different styles.  When you feel ready, you will come up with your own style that is both clear and that feels right to you.

Experiment with the methods.  Don’t worry about being correct.

Have fun with this.  Just play with sounds.  Don’t make it about correctness.  Afterall, language is about communicating your ideas, so you can make more friends and work more efficiently with others.

Please share the results of your experiment with me.  You can email me at estrellachan@gmail.com

If you find this blog helpful, you might also enjoy reading some advanced techniques to improve inflection in your spoken English.

If you wish to schedule a free demo lesson about improving specific aspects of American English, please email estrellachan@gmail.com