Hi everyone! I'm Abbe from MosaLingua.
Today, let's talk about speaking and in particular your accent.
In today's video, you'll discover the truth about your
English accent and pronunciation. Watch this video until the end because
I'll give you some keys for quickly improving your spoken English.
When it comes to accents, there are two main attitudes among English learners.
First you have those who say:
"but if I have a cute foreign accent
native speakers might find me attractive or be more forgiving of my mistakes".
These people also might be convinced that maybe their accent isn't so bad after all;
Then you have those who refuse to speak at all because they think that
their accent is so bad that people will not understand them or that they will
look ridiculous for even trying. Take it from me: both extremes are wrong.
It's perfectly okay to have a bit of a foreign accent when speaking English.
The majority of English learners do keep their accent and it's true that a little
bit of an accent can be quite charming. But I really do mean a "light accent".
Many people out there unfortunately have a very strong accent that makes it
difficult for native speakers to understand them.
I myself have learned French and at the beginning I had a lot of difficulty
improving my accent so I know how you feel. But going back to English let me
explain why you really should work on your accent and pronunciation.
First and most importantly: if you want to be understood, it's important to have a good accent
it can be uncomfortable for both people in a conversation when the
message just isn't getting through. You may have already experienced this, either
as the person who doesn't understand or as the person who is being misunderstood.
So even if you have a limited vocabulary and are unable to rephrase something
if you learn how to pronounce a few things perfectly, there won't be any
miscommunication. Again, having a slight foreign accent can be cute or exotic but
only to a certain degree and only as long as it does not interfere with communication.
Bad pronunciation can also lead to some embarrassing mistakes.
I can't tell you how many times my foreign students have accidentally said "turd"
(which is a way to say poop in English) instead of "third". Other common mistakes
in English pronunciation that can sometimes be very embarrassing include
the words: Beach, focus, sheet, sock and us. And I'll let you guess what those words
sounded like. Those are a few English examples but these types of
pronunciation mistakes can happen in any language. Next, working on a really good
accent is the easiest way to appear more fluent than you actually are.
Again you might not have a very big vocabulary or only know very basic
grammar rules but if you can pronounce a few very simple sentences very well you
will make a positive impression on the person you are speaking to. You will also
see more fluent than someone who has tons of vocabulary words and knows very
complex sentence structures but pronounces them with a terrible accent.
Let me stress this because it's very important: working on your pronunciation
is the fastest way to improve your spoken English. The targeted work on some
of the most commonly mispronounced sounds can make a huge difference.
Let me add one more reason: not only will a good accent impact the way other people view you,
it can also positively influence your perception of language learning.
If people don't understand you because of your pronunciation,
even if you are saying a perfectly correct sentence, you might get
discouraged or even start to resent the language. This is of course bad for
motivation. If you're proud of your accent though, you'll be more confident.
If you're more confident, you'll be more likely to practice speaking the language.
The more you practice, the better you'll be,
and the more progress you're able to see the prouder you'll be. See how this can
turn into a positive cycle? So to sum up, improving your accent and pronunciation
is very important for four main reasons: 1. to be understood more easily by native speakers
2. to avoid embarrassing mistakes 3. to make a positive impression when you
speak English and 4. to improve your self-confidence and motivation and be
proud when you speak. I hope that's enough to convince you of the importance
of working on your accent and improving your pronunciation. Now you might be
thinking "okay this is all really nice but how can I actually improve my accent
and pronunciation?" First of all, when you learn a new word, make sure you pay
attention to how a native speaker pronounces it and try to reproduce that
same pronunciation. This is why when you learn a new word or sentence using your
MosaLingua app, the first step is all about listening to a native speaker
pronounce the word or sentence and repeating after them to try to get the
correct pronunciation. This way you can compare your recording to the teachers
recording. Don't be afraid to keep recording until you get it right!
This way you'll learn the correct pronunciation from the very beginning
and you won't need to worry about correcting bad habits that you've picked
up later on. Another way to drastically improve your pronunciation is to focus
on the sounds that are most commonly mispronounced by speakers of your native
language. For example, Spanish and Japanese speakers don't always struggle
with the same English sounds because some of them are more
familiar to them than others. Believe me, a targeted work on a small group of
sounds can result in amazing improvement. So how can you do it? Click the link
below to start improving your accent and pronunciation right now. And before you
go, don't forget to like this video and subscribe to our channel for more
language advice. See you next time!