Why is it that some English accents are more valued than others?
Back in the 1950s, the only accent you would hear on the TV or
radio in the UK would be a clipped 'BBC English' voice. It wasn't
even received pronunciation, it was more like the Queen's English
- regional or national accents were not considered acceptable for
national broadcast.
Thankfully this is no longer the case - all English accents are
considered acceptable these days, and we hear a wide variety of
regional accents on a daily basis.
Something of the past remains, though. Rightly or wrongly, people
STILL draw conclusions about you from your voice, making
assumptions about where you come from, the level of your
education and even how wealthy you are and what your potential in
life might be.
It many not be fair, but as SOON as you start to speak, you are
saying a great deal about yourself....and not just in the content
of your speech. Your tone of voice and your accent - the very WAY
in which you speak - is creating an impression with the listener.
On one hand, this might not be a problem: once you get to know
someone you will have the opportunity to express yourself and
demonstrate who you really are. You would hope that most people
are open minded enough to listen to you and to begin to
understand who you really are.
On the other hand, though, there are times when you simply do not
get a second chance to make a first impression. An interview, for
example, or a spoken English exam; a telephone sales
conversation, where all you have is your voice to work with: in
situations like these it is VITAL that you create a strong first
impression with a good voice and a clear accent. If the listener
has to make too much effort to understand you, they will simply
stop listening.
LEARNING AN ENGLISH ACCENT
But, I hear you ask there are so many English accents - which one
should I try to learn?
When learning any language, I'd recommend learning the 'neutral'
accent of the capital city. In the UK, that would be a neutral
British accent, or received pronunciation.
Why? First, because it is the most easily understood English
accent outside the UK.
Secondly, a regional UK accent mixed with a non-English accent
can be very difficult to understand.
So how DO you learn a neutral British English accent? The key
thing is, of course, to listen to native speakers.
There is, though, another important factor which most teachers of
English either don't, can't or won't tell you. Changing your
accent needs MORE than listening. It needs observation too. Why?
Because sometimes you need to look closely at what the mouth of a
native speaker is doing before you can fully understand HOW to
produce an English vowel or and English consonant sound in the
correct, neutral English way.
Most non-native speakers of English can HEAR that there is a
difference between their own accent when speaking English, and a
native English accent. What they don't know is how to change the
way they speak to produce 'English' sounds.
This takes careful observation and a little concentration, BUT,
by focusing on the way individual sounds are produced, even
strong accents can be reduced.
Consider the 'f' sound. Many Indian English speakers find this difficult,
and will either make a soft blowing sound, or will make a 'p'
sound instead, so that 'fast friend' becomes 'past prend'.
Listening to a native speaker might tell them that this isn't
quite right...but watching carefully will show them how to make
that sound (Bite your lower lip lightly with your top teeth, and
blow out. There it is! Put some sound into it, and it becomes the
voiced V sound, which many Indians pronounce as a 'w').
ALL English consonant and vowel sounds can be explained in this
way...meaning that ANYONE can choose the accent they learn, and
can speak English confidently and clearly.
Article by Annabelle Beckwith info@coachmeconfident.com
Annabelle is the author of "Confident English - improve your
spoken English ...today!" at coachmeconfident.com
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