Hi, I'm Helen. Do you ever want to sound more native? I do. To be specific, maybe RP. I'm watching two TV series these days, Skins and Lark Rise to Candleford to improve my spoken English. I think imitation surely works. But quite slow. Any suggestion? Thanks!
Hi Helen, there is no need to try for RP accent- most people don't speak that way. I think it is fine to imitate TV shows, but if you try different characters in different shows, you will not be consistent.It is best to just have a neutral accent (I mean not Scottish, Manchester etc ) so that you will be clear and everyone will understand you.But don't worry too much about accent, just aim to pronounce correctly and clearly. That's my advice.
Hi Peachy. Yeah..feedback is important. To be honest, trying a teacher here will be my last way. It's a bit expensive for me to do so.
Ruthi, glad to see you again! Most people don't speak RP! Huh. But it's still necessary for me to learn intonation, liaison, reduction and something like that. Right? Thanks for you advice! Pronouncing correctly and clearly is enough.Thanks!
Hi Andrew. I'm going to try changing the way I pronounce. But imitating by hearing only won't help. Some say you need to know where your tongue lay. Anyway, I suppose that's tedious but helpful.
The first step is knowing how the British accent sounds, in all its quirks and nuances. Once you understand how it sounds, you need to understand how you sound yourself. What are the differences? Take it step by step. Work on changing the way you pronounce different letters one by one, until each becomes natural to you. I've found this is the best way to develop an accent, personally(albeit for French), so see how it works for you :)
Yeah. Using resources well helps.
