Recently a reader of this blog asked for some advice on improving his accent when speaking English. So, today I have a few tips on this topic for everyone! If you ever have a topic you would also like to see discussed on this blog feel free to leave a comment below and tell me what it is. Now, here are some tips for working on improving your English accent!

First, you have to pick an English accent!

There are many English accents out there. The two major ones are the American and the British accents, but even within these big two, there are many different sub-accents (i.e. people from the south of the USA or people from London, England vs. other cities). People in Australia, New Zealand, the British Isles, Canada and other English speaking countries also have different accents and vocabulary too! Luckily, today most English language learning materials are created with one of the two major English accents, either a standard British accent or a standard American accent. As you are learning English you should focus on only one of these two accents. You will be understood by people with either accent so don’t worry  which you select to be your accent.

Here is a little video that shows how different English words sound in a few different English accents. See if you can hear the differences. Differences between British and American English are often most evident in how the vowels are pronounced – so listen for this. Here is another mini-tip: Really listening carefully to spoken English is a great way to work on improving your accent too!

Second, when you learn a new word, learn how to pronounce it correctly from the start.

If you start saying a word in English incorrectly, you will learn that way of pronouncing it and it will be harder to unlearn the incorrect pronunciation later on. So, when you learn a new word in class use your teacher as a resource to really work out the correct pronunciation, have him/her listen to you and correct you on your pronunciation as many times as necessary. If you are reading and come across a new word, look up how to pronounce that word through an online dictionary.

When you look up a word through an online dictionary there is almost always a little speaker icon next to the word. If you click on that icon you will hear the word spoken. Click on the icon! Listen to the word multiple times and practice saying it multiple times.

Here are a few links for online dictionaries. These are great recourse for working on the pronunciation of individual words.

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/dictionary/american/accent

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/accent?s=t

Third, record yourself speaking English and listen to your recordings!

If you want to improve your accent, you have to listen to how your accent sounds to others. The only way to do this is to listen from outside. I think we have all had the experience where we have heard our recorded voice and thought, is that really what I sound like?! We all sound different when we listen to ourselves as an outsider rather than an insider. To improve the way your accent in English sounds you need to hear your accent in English to help yourself find the areas you most need to work on. It helps to have a native speaker also listen to your recording and give you some tips, but this is not absolutely necessary. You will hear areas for improvement yourself, I promise.

Here is a great recorded-activity to do to improve your accent: Listen to a native English speaker say a sentence from a podcast, YouTube video, or movie. Then record yourself saying the same sentence and compare the two.

Here is an online audio recorder you can use if you do not have a voice recorder device or software for this installed on your computer already.

http://vocaroo.com/

Lastly, practice, practice, practice – with a purpose.

The truth is, the best way to work on improving your English accent is to practice speaking, but not just speaking, speaking with the purpose of improving! Practicing your spoken English everyday for 15-30 minutes will make a huge difference in how comfortable you feel speaking and in how your accent sounds when doing so.

When you practice you want to work on the big and small. Practice pronouncing individual letters and words, but also speaking full sentences or paragraphs.

Reading out loud is a good way to do this. Also combing a listening exercise with a speaking exercise is fun. Fore example, listen to a short podcast, of video and then talk about what you just listened to (and learned) to yourself – it is okay if you are just talking to yourself!

We have a saying in English, “Practice makes perfect.” You definitely don’t have to speak perfectly, but the more you practice speaking out loud, and practicing with a purpose, the more you will improve your accent.

Lastly, you may want to take an online pronunciation quiz or assessment.

There are a number of online resources that will assess your English accent for you – I have listed a few below. These are resources that will help you understand your accent better and help you think about what you, individually, need to work on more.

http://www.antimoon.com/how/test-pronunciation/test.php

http://pronuncian.com/assess.aspx

Good luck and keep talking!