Questions for Americans out there

I have lived in this country for four or five years now, I have adopted a lot of American things but I am having trouble developing an 'American' accent. I have tried to speak more English at home, but my parents insist I still speak Torne and we only speak English when company are over be cause otherwise I will 'forget where I have come from'.

Is there any tips on how to kick out my hard-to-understand accent in favour of a more 'local' accent? I have been trying for years but nothing seems to work!

Americans don't have an accent ;)

edit: Seriously though, watch movies, pick a couple people that you like to hear speak and copy them.

Hi Direwolf,

I've been an actor for almost 15 years now, and have had to adopt many accents.  There is a program called the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) that breaks down all sounds in all world languages into their basic parts and allows you to put them together in different ways to adopt certain accents or dialects.  That said, it takes a lot of training and is difficult to master.  For a much easier way, you can normally pick up accent/dialect tapes that essentially teach you an accent.  If you practice enough, you'll find that it becomes much more natural.  They come in a wide range of accents and dialects and i'm sure there are some out there for american accents (depending on what regional accent you're looking for).  Feel free to message me if you have any other questions.

-D

Aww, dire.  I say embrace your accent.  Most of us love to hear interesting accents.  I don't think I've ever heard Torne.  I think it would be interesting.

However, if you really wanna do this, I'd say follow iggy's suggestion.  Practice makes perfect  :)

I'm not an American, but I've lived here for 3 years and I still have my New Zealand accent. People sometimes have a hard time understanding what I'm saying. In my experience, the only way to fully lose your accent is though socializing with Americans - eventually your accent will start to become more 'American' - there are some words that I say that come out sounding American. The older you are though, the harder it is to lose and since you're not speaking English at home, it may take a bit longer. I agree with the others who said watch lots of American movies and try to imitate how the actors speak.

Find a way to record yourself, you can get a tape recorder, get a mike and use your computer, take your pick.  Record yourself saying a sentence or two.  Listen carefully to yourself.  You have been here long enough to have a good idea of how an American would sound.  Work on imitating that.  If you are not sure how it should sound, use dialogue from a movie.  Drepto's suggestion of using accent tapes would be good here too.  Learn what sounds you make differently and practice saying them like an American.  Also pay a lot of attention to the rhythm of your speech.  Don't focus on just how the sounds are made, but the speed in which it is spoken, where the voice rises and falls.  If you have ever seen My Fair Lady, you could get some ideas from the movie.

Different accents are what make america awesome, you should embrace this. =D  I love accents!

speech therapy.

I agree that watching movies & recording yourself will be the most helpful. Singing along to songs by American artists might help as long as the lyrics are clearly enunciated - your instinct will be to mimic the singer.

There is a method for developing the ability to interpret with fluency.  It's called "shadowing." 

I suggest when you listen to the radio or watch TV, repeat as much as you can of the dialogue.  You'll miss some or get behind, but it doesn't matter.  If you do this, over time, your accent will even out to be more understandable.  I live in Japan and used to do that when I first started living here.  Now, I tune into the radio station when I am driving and repeat whatever I here.  It's particularly good as there are often a wide style of speakers on radio.  Some are fast, some slow, some have different regional accents, some speak clearly, some speak less clearly.  The topics are wide-ranging too, so you can get some practice of speaking on a variety of topics. 

Using this method, I have refined my Japanese accent to the point that many people don't realize I am not Japanese when talking on the phone. 

I also have done recording my voice and listening to find my weak points. 

Good luck with your goal of reaching an American accent.

It is your heritage, so I don't encourage you to get rid of the accent, as it were.

Perhaps work on clarity and enunciation.

If you're dead set on sounding 'American,' take the suggestion about the movies and singing along with music.

A faint accent is interesting, kind of nice to have.  But the purpose of talking to people is to communicate and when you keep being asked to repeat what you said because your accent is strong, it is frustrating to to you and the people you are talking to and gets in the way of communication.  So you need to get to the point where other people understand you easily.  If you want to go past that and sound like an American, that is a matter of taste.

The ultimate pinnacle of someone speaking a foreign language is to be mistaken for a native speaker.  If you can do that, you know you are good.  I will never forget how I felt when someone told me I spoke Spanish like I was from Mexico City, instead of a gringo. Spoken language is like a song.  It is not enough to get the words right.  You have to get the beat and sing the right notes.  That is why it is important to record and play back what you are saying.  Listen to the pronunciation and the song.

I was going to suggest something like what kyashiis said, watching tv and repeating what people say in their voices. It seems much less expensive than buying a program. Then if you're having trouble, tape yourself, but tape it so you can hear the both tv and what you say, so you can hear what the differences are.

I agree with the watching TV/taping ideas.

If you're willing to try something a little crazier:

My friend Isabelle has a really heavy French accent, until she mocks Americans.  Then she takes on a touch of a Southern accent, but it's otherwise perfect.  So I'd say to just constantly mock us.  :-)

The thing is...everyone has a slighty different way of talking. They just think it's normal and that everyone does it. Until someone points it out to them.

Like me, I'm from Massachusetts, near Boston..so I have a muddled "back woods" Boston accent I didn't even know I did, Until I met my best friend who is from illinois. (sp?) and he pointed out how I always drop my R's. I didn't even notice I did it..but I do!

For example...his name is Taylor..but I pronounce it "Tayla" and the word Car is pronounced "Caaaa"

LOL

thankfully he thinks it's cute and sometimes calls me just to hear me talk like that, so I say, embrace your accent! Everyone has one..some are just more "exotic" than others. :)

sara

We all sound so different there's no real "American" accent.  For example I'm from New Jersey and to everyone outside of the area I live in they say I sound like I'm from New York (but I don't if you talk to someone from New York).  People in Wisconsin and Minnesota have the BEST accents and then the people in the south have another accent.  There's tons, I say keep the one you have because you might think you're fitting in but really no one fits in.

It will just take time, i've completely lost my  canadian accent now but it took years for it to happen

Original Post by j9gwen:

We all sound so different there's no real "American" accent.  For example I'm from New Jersey and to everyone outside of the area I live in they say I sound like I'm from New York (but I don't if you talk to someone from New York). 

I got that when I moved from Jersey to Florida as a kid and thought, "But people from NYC talk with an accent."   

Since your issue is a "hard-to-understand accent" and there are tons of them (NYC alone has different accents for different boroughs), I agree working on enunciating clearly would be the easiest route and allow yourself to develop your own version of an 'American' accent. 

Because youre trying to communicate more clearly in in English, pay attention to which words tend not to be understood to pinpoint the sound in the them thats the issue and you can focus on it.

Original Post by fender1:

It will just take time, i've completely lost my canadian accent now but it took years for it to happen

What Canadian accent? :D (are you a Maritimer?)

So I looked up Torne, and it is a Finnish dialect with a bit of Swedish? I've spent a total of 6 months in Finland and I never had a problem understanding anyone's English (maybe a couple words they had trouble pronouncing, like Mediterranean)...have people actually told you you are hard to understand? I think it's just a matter of time really :)

haha I've heard plenty of Cannucks with accents, vice. And most of them weren't from the Martimes.

I think I have a harder time understand a really thick Southern (US) accent than any accent from foreigners.

Original Post by vicereine:

Original Post by fender1:

It will just take time, i've completely lost my canadian accent now but it took years for it to happen

What Canadian accent? :D (are you a Maritimer?)

 

So I looked up Torne, and it is a Finnish dialect with a bit of Swedish? I've spent a total of 6 months in Finland and I never had a problem understanding anyone's English (maybe a couple words they had trouble pronouncing, like Mediterranean)...have people actually told you you are hard to understand? I think it's just a matter of time really :)

 It's is Northern Sami, and my family is from the population that live(s) in the far north of Norway :). But yes, people often tell me that at times it is very hard to understand me, though my friends do not complain too much about it any more. It just get's very bad after vacations or spending time exclusivley with my family for long periods of time, but it seems unavoidable, haha.

I thank everyone for their advice, and have been trying to pick up some form of 'American' Accent that is local here, and when I try it out with my friends, they either look at me funny or just start laughing. I am thinking about just giving up trying to force myself to have one, but I'm working on pronunciation of harder-to-say words.

Thank you all again :)