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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| administrator Hexaglot Forum Admin Switzerland FXcuisine.com Joined 7319 days ago 3094 posts - 2987 votes  12 sounds Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian Personal Language Map | Message 1 of 18 06 November 2007 at 5:50am | IP Logged | ||
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Last week I was interviewed live by BBC Three Counties in English. I just listened to it again and am quite disappointed at my accent! Using an American program for improving accent in American English, I exaggerated the stress on vowels and it sounds akward to me. The lady on the tape said that it is not possible to stress vowels too much in ENglish (stress on the EN), but I now feel I was too eager.
But in itself it certainly is a milestone of some kind to be able to respond with wit to an live interview. I did another 2 weeks ago but never listened to it - bad mistake, it would have helped improved this one. I'll see if I can post a small file with an extract of the worst parts for you to have a good laugh on the house! How could I find some really serious, professional English teacher to improve my accent in one-on-one lessons? 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| virgule Senior Member Antarctica Joined 6783 days ago 242 posts - 261 votes Studies: Korean | Message 2 of 18 06 November 2007 at 6:41am | IP Logged | ||
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If you mention the exact programme (title, date, time), it should be possible for everyone (at least those in the UK) to listen to your milestone...
BBC Radio 3 Listen Again. As for the teacher, find someone trained in phonetics, perhaps... you might have luck at the local university; or a voice coach (actors use these to get their accents right). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| administrator Hexaglot Forum Admin Switzerland FXcuisine.com Joined 7319 days ago 3094 posts - 2987 votes 12 sounds Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 18 06 November 2007 at 8:52am | IP Logged | ||
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Here is an extract - I am apalled by my terrible intonation. After all these years I still sound silly in English! But that's the life of the language learner and I'll work on improving my accent.
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| ChrisWebb Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6206 days ago 181 posts - 190 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean | Message 4 of 18 06 November 2007 at 8:59am | IP Logged | ||
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If you want to work on your accent you could try the book ( with 4 cds of audio ) "Ship or Sheep", this is basically an elocution course and is often used by actors and stage performers. My wife is using this to work on her accent and it does seem to make a difference.
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| administrator Hexaglot Forum Admin Switzerland FXcuisine.com Joined 7319 days ago 3094 posts - 2987 votes 12 sounds Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 18 06 November 2007 at 10:21am | IP Logged | ||
Thanks, I've ordered the book and see how I fare! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6837 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 6 of 18 06 November 2007 at 10:24am | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks for posting that Francois. It's a brave thing to do, especially as you are hanging it out for criticism as it were. And having a voice for the admin here feels a little like knowing you personally.
I wouldn't say your accent is bad at all there, you probably did much better than I would, but it all depends on what standards you set for yourself of course, and hearing one's own voice on a recording is always a strange experience for all of us. Another factor that plays a part is that you were being interviewed by professional radio people with extremely crisp and clearly articulated UK accents while trying to strive for a US accent yourself. Even native speakers can get their accent mixed up a little if the interlocutor speaks a different variant and a non-native speaker is even more vulnerable to this. I think I can hear elements of both US and UK in your speech there, with a slight French flavour floating somewhere in the background. It would be interesting to know if native speakers hear the same thing. Based on many of the discussions here in the forum it seems loads and loads of shadowing and chorusing is the way to go for accent improvement. I'm sure a personal tutor will help too. Thanks again. EDIT - to ChrisWebb: BTW is that "Ship or Sheep" program for a US or UK accent? I might be interested too. Edited by Hencke on 06 November 2007 at 10:32am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Darobat Diglot Senior Member Joined 7131 days ago 754 posts - 770 votes Speaks: English*, Russian Studies: Latin | Message 7 of 18 06 November 2007 at 11:51am | IP Logged | ||
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Well done! I too noticed that you tend to have elements of both American and British English in your speech. For example, you use both the British and American pronunciations of "er"; you need to pick one. You're close though! A bit more practice and some one-on-one tutoring would definitely help! You're not that far off. It seems to be the same mistakes that you repeat over and over, so fixing them would probably go a long way to improving your accent. Edited by Darobat on 06 November 2007 at 1:30pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ChrisWebb Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6206 days ago 181 posts - 190 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Korean | Message 8 of 18 06 November 2007 at 12:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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Ship or Sheep is for a British Accent.
I hope its helpful Francois. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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