Accents are inevitable. There are accents on everyone. Even native English speakers from various states, regions, and nations have distinctive tones. The spoken language has an accent naturally. A communication dysfunction is not what it is. But communication may be challenging if you have a strong accent. It’s possible that you’d like to alter your accent in a variety of ways, including voice quality, projection, pronunciation, and style.
Accent reduction techniques help you speak more clearly to the people you engage with daily. Accent modulation is a technique used to improve understanding.
Why You Might Want An Accent Change
Our accents define who we are. They serve as markers for our society, ethnicity, region, and culture. Accents, however, can occasionally impede natural and spontaneous discourse interchange. For instance, you might enroll in an accent modification program to help you with accent reduction because:
- It’s difficult to understand you
- You should speak out loud a lot.
- Your accent frequently draws more attention from listeners than your message
- Your accent puts you at risk for prejudice or discrimination.
- You encounter obstacles in your social, academic, or professional environment.
A person’s education, career, self-esteem, personal relationships, social interactions, and daily activities may all be negatively impacted by negative communication experiences.
What then are the top expert tips for accent modification? Find out by reading on!
1. Only Communicate In English
You should speak English as much as you can if you wish to develop a regional accent as a non-native speaker. After your favorite TV shows, songs, and even commercials, repeat.
Particularly if you’re in an English-speaking nation, you could be concerned about how you sound. This worry, though, can prevent you from changing your accent.
2. Permit Others To Correct Your Errors
You will first make some pronunciation errors, and that’s okay! Even native English speakers occasionally make blunders.
Ask your dependable friends and/or coworkers to point out your errors anytime you make them. Feedback from native English speakers in a relaxed environment is very beneficial!
3. Spend Time With English-Speaking Natives
Spend time listening to and interacting with native English speakers if you want to learn how to talk with a British accent. Don’t decline the invitation to hang around after work or school.
You can join a social club at work, a book club, a gym, or a local sports team. These are locations where you can listen to fluent English speakers converse and participate.
4. Schedule Practice Time
We are aware of how busy your schedule must be. But practice is the only way to achieve perfection. Set aside 15 minutes each morning and evening to work on modifying your accent and pronunciation.
An SLP can demonstrate a variety of techniques and exercises you might use for self-practice. You might join a group with a similar interest or visit a speech therapist online for advice on practicing accent correction.
5. Make Realistic Goals
Both immediate and long-term goals must be established.
Your short-term objectives can include, for instance, “being understood by the person taking my drive-thru order.”
Your long-term objectives can include making a whole presentation and responding to follow-up inquiries devoid of any traces of a regional accent.
6. Practice Tongue Twisters
Tongue twisters are a common method for changing accents. They contain phrases that repeat repeatedly with similar sounds.
7. Reading Out Loud
You can change your accent by picking any section from a book or online article and reading it aloud. However, you must have a speech model or an SLP to correct your pronunciations for them to work.
8. Speech Recording
Make a speech recording when reading by yourself. Play it back later to hear how your accent compares to that of the native speakers. Examine your accent throughout your SLP session.