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Getting rid of my accent | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center |  | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4819 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes  Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 1 of 84 15 August 2012 at 8:04pm | IP Logged |
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Despite having started learning French at the age of 9, I have a clearly hearable
accent. It doesn't make people not understand me, I have spoken for several hours during last few days without any trouble. But it drives away some people just at the beginning of conversationg and it is something I would like to improve. I don't know whether I can get rid of it completely, after all everyone has an accent including the native speakers. So, how to go about it? Just speaking a lot doesn't help, even hundreds of hours could just make me great in all the other parts of speaking but with my accent getting stone solid. Shadowing? I have a good pronunciation, which is one of the primary uses of Shadowing but will it help with the accent? This leads to the question: Is there any way how to "analyse" my accent and find out what am I doing wrong? Just hearing "you have an accent but not so horrible" doesn't tell me much. Do you think a private teacher would help? And native or non-native? Would the native be able to tell what am I doing wrong and would the non-native be enough without accent him/herself? Edited by Cavesa on 15 August 2012 at 8:05pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Majka Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic kofoholici.wordpress Joined 4467 days ago 307 posts - 755 votes Speaks: Czech*, German, English Studies: French Studies: Russian | Message 2 of 84 15 August 2012 at 9:27pm | IP Logged |
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We would need a recording:)
An accent can mean very different problems - pronunciation alone, intonation, stressing wrong syllables... If you can eliminate obviously wrong pronunciation - or that you are unable to produce certain sounds (think Czech "ř"), I suspect either intonation or the stress patterns come across as foreign. You can try to ask native speaker but you will have probably better luck with somebody with education as language teacher. The problem is not to notice the accent but to know how to describe the problem with it. With French, I had lot of luck with shadowing (and FSI drills). The Introduction to French Phonology is pretty boring but very helpful. Edited by Majka on 15 August 2012 at 10:20pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| vermillon Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4488 days ago 602 posts - 1042 votes Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, German | Message 3 of 84 15 August 2012 at 10:07pm | IP Logged |
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Recording! Perhaps you could post some recording here, if you're not shy, and we could see what needs improvement in your speech.. that could help.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
 Mae Trilingual Octoglot Pro Member Germany Joined 4801 days ago 299 posts - 499 votes Speaks: German*, SpanishC2*, Swiss-German*, FrenchC2, EnglishC2, ItalianB2, Dutch, Portuguese Studies: Russian, Swedish Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 84 16 August 2012 at 12:03am | IP Logged |
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Sometimes the difficulty is not to get rid of the accent, but to discover why there is
one and how to avoid it. Have you tried to listen to yourself like singers do? Open your hand, close your fingers and put your fingertips on the upper border of your ear. Use your palm to reflect your voice towards your ear. Listen to a French audio/video file and, first, just repeat the sound. Then, repeat what the native speaker said. Have you figured out where/when your pronunciation differs from the native one? Have you paid enough attention to your intonation while speaking? Try to imitate the native speaker in your audio/video file. Don't mind to exaggerate! Try to figure out how you create your sound. This works best in front of a mirror. Don't worry about making a fool of yourself. Nobody will watch! This is what I did to get rid of my Spanish accent while speaking French. I hope this will help you too! Good luck! Edited by Mae on 16 August 2012 at 12:06am 7 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4819 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 5 of 84 16 August 2012 at 10:45pm | IP Logged |
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Exactly, finding The Source is the trouble.
I dare say I do not have any major pronunciation trouble. I wouldn't have been speaking for several hours with anyone without troubles. And had my pronunciation been bad I would have been corrected years ago by the great teacher I happened to have at highschool. However, there may be some smaller bugs, which I am unable to catch. Intonation may be the reason/one of the reasons. I do not focus 150% on everything while defending a political view in a discussion, I focus more on the content and that is sometimes demanding enough (yes,my vocab is still in the development. especially when it comes to topics like "differences between Sarkozy and Hollande from the point of view of a foreigner living in a country with a bit different historical experience"). Stress may be a source too, it is possible. Figuring out how do I create the sound. I have tried and got only limited results. It is the same like trying to find out how do I create sounds in Czech. It's been too many years since I learnt the pronunciation. The advice about listening to myself is a good one but it doesn't help now, I guess my way of speach is so grown under my skin, that anyone else will find much more than I could. So, the recording. I have audacity, recording myself should be no trouble. But the question is: What to record? I feel a bit as in the situation: "You speak French?! Say something!" Preparing something beforehand, practicing and than recording would lack authenticity. Of course I must speak a bit differently when I focus a lot and when I just speak (and not all the changes must be to the better). Perhaps reading an article or a piece of a novel? Or answering a few questions? Any other idea? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| vermillon Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4488 days ago 602 posts - 1042 votes Speaks: French*, EnglishC2, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, German | Message 6 of 84 17 August 2012 at 12:41am | IP Logged |
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Do you have something like an Assimil book (or "get" it if you don't) and read the dialogs? They're quite natural, so it won't sound as contrived as reading novels aloud, and that should be good to evaluate your speech, I guess.
I know that I would have to read articles or novels aloud, that clearly require too much preparation to get the tone right. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4819 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 7 of 84 17 August 2012 at 12:43am | IP Logged |
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Good idea, thanks. I'll get to it tommorrow, or at most on Saturday :-)
2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4819 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 8 of 84 20 August 2012 at 6:37pm | IP Logged |
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So, it took two more days but I learnt basics of using audacity and got a calm moment to
create the sample. Now I just need to find the way to post it here. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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