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How to Speak Like a Native | ||
Tags: Non-native Speakers | Accent | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| cpnlsn88 Triglot Groupie United Kingdom Joined 5040 days ago 63 posts - 112 votes  Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Spanish, Esperanto, Latin | Message 33 of 63 23 July 2012 at 11:21am | IP Logged | ||
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If achievable how exactly to achieve it. I'm guessing that
large amounts of input and conversation opportunities are a starting point. Other ideas in my head include having a native speaker with a strict as opposed to a tolerant approach to pronunciation; listen and repeat phrases; record yourself speaking. Other ideas I have include picking a regional accent that youlike and 'adopt it' and also changing your pronunciation in your native language and imitating regional accents that aren't yours (this is v hard) as well as speaking in accents that are yours but not spoken by you (easier). Of course non native speakers give themselves away in a number of ways (grammar and vocab) as well as accent. But although pronunciation is stressed in language learning it seems there is a general defeatism about developing a near native accent and speaking style with this being potentially an under developed area of research about language learning. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| pesahson Diglot Senior Member Poland Joined 5731 days ago 448 posts - 840 votes Speaks: Polish*, English Studies: French, Portuguese, Norwegian | Message 34 of 63 23 July 2012 at 1:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think it is possible to have a perfect native accent. I don't think it would come
easily, you would have to work hard for it. Isn't it what actors do? Learn to speak with a different accent? Why a fluent speaker wouldn't be able to do it? If someone has gone so far as having great grammar and good pronunciation, they should be able to break that last barrier. Anecdotal evidence doesn't always count in making general assumptions but Andrzej Seweryn is an example of that. He knew some French before the imposing of the martial law made him stay in France for longer than he planned. He was in his thirties. Eventually, he played Don Juan in Comedie Fransaise (among other things of course)and you have to have a perfect accent to do that. Edited by pesahson on 23 July 2012 at 1:12pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| maydayayday Pentaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5222 days ago 564 posts - 839 votes Speaks: English*, German, Italian, SpanishB2, FrenchB2 Studies: Arabic (Egyptian), Russian, Swedish, Turkish, Polish, Persian, Vietnamese Studies: Urdu | Message 35 of 63 23 July 2012 at 1:43pm | IP Logged | ||
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It is perfectly possible to learn to speak with another accent in your own language but from experience I'd say it is almost as difficult as learning a new language: some people have a decent talent for this type of short term mimicry.
When I went to University in London I had to rapidly change from the South Lancashire Vowels to more of an RP set. I had great fun in Freshers week trying to order a rum: they kept trying to find me a place to stay - "room". 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Edudg Pentaglot Newbie Brazil Joined 4674 days ago 16 posts - 28 votes Speaks: Portuguese*, Italian, English, French, Spanish Studies: Mandarin, Swedish | Message 36 of 63 23 July 2012 at 4:38pm | IP Logged | ||
That's a very interesting theory.. and I agree with it ! I've been living in Italy for 6 years and it happens all the time that people think I'm Italian. I live in Milan and milanese people ask me where are you from? (expecting me to answer that I'm from somewhere in the north of Italy) People from the south of Italy though usually ask me "are you from Milan?" I think I hadn't thought about it before! At work many customers discovered that I was not Italian after a long time... even after more than a year. Having said that, I don't claim to sound exactly like a native (getting all the double consonants right is a difficult task, I just speak naturally, as it comes), and I know I make mistakes sometimes. I know as well that when the conversation gets serious and I need to develop arguments it's most probable that I'll stumble, make mistakes and that it will be easy to detect I'm a foreigner.... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Medulin Tetraglot Senior Member Croatia Joined 4671 days ago 1199 posts - 2192 votes Speaks: Croatian*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Hindi, Nepali | Message 37 of 63 24 July 2012 at 12:56am | IP Logged | ||
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How to speak like an Indian:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5n4X7NUoZc If Kiwi accent is fine, why couldn't the Indian accent be acceptable? I adore the Indian accent, it sounds so exotic ;) Edited by Medulin on 24 July 2012 at 12:58am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Mae Trilingual Octoglot Pro Member Germany Joined 4994 days ago 299 posts - 499 votes Speaks: German*, SpanishC2*, Swiss-German*, FrenchC2, EnglishC2, ItalianB2, Dutch, Portuguese Studies: Russian, Swedish Personal Language Map | Message 38 of 63 24 July 2012 at 3:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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Learning languages is not a question of talent, sounding like a native is.
I actually learned to speak French so well, that I never got to answer the question whether if I was originary from a francophone region or not. Even when I was living in Italy (when I thought that my French sounded a bit rusty), native French speakers asked me if I was "French too"... :-) But to come so far, it is necessary to have a good command of the language, to have a good contact with native speakers (to learn "slang"), and to have an idea about the local culture. It's like becoming a chameleon! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Марк Senior Member Russian Federation Joined 5059 days ago 2096 posts - 2972 votes Speaks: Russian* | Message 39 of 63 24 July 2012 at 4:43pm | IP Logged | ||
To sound like a native you have to work hard on your pronunciation, to work with a teacher or to take special classes. Everyone is able to do that. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hertz Pro Member United States Joined 4516 days ago 47 posts - 63 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 40 of 63 24 July 2012 at 6:45pm | IP Logged | ||
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The comparison between a language student learning to sound like a native, and an actor imitating an accent, is apposite. I am a hobbyist actor -- an unpaid amateur, alas! -- but I have noticed that not all actors have equal facility with accents. I have worked with actors whose accents are simply atrocious, and others who had great natural skill. Some actors take instruction well, if given a good example, and others seem unable to hear the difference.
I'm convinced there is a difference in brain pathways, giving some people this ability. I imagine it as a channel for "hearing + speaking," or an enhanced ability to hear what's coming out of your mouth as you say it and to make adjustments. It feels to me as if I have a "mental sound map" for the target accent (or language) and I'm actively substituting sounds that are out of its scope. I also use the trick of learning the accent, then applying it to my target language. It seems to produce decent results. I wonder if there's any way to discover what the common factor is among people who are good at this trick, or if there are exercises one can do to improve it. Perhaps a poll could be devised? 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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