Hey, everyone. This is Alex from engVid. Should you worry about accent reduction?
This is a question I want to help you answer today, and a conversation I want
to begin with you. So, before I start, I want to make it clear: Accents are a
regular part of language; not just English — any language. But within
English itself, there is, you know... a Canadian accent, an American accent, a
Scottish accent, an Australian accent. In countries where English is an
official language, you still have accent variety in those countries. In addition
to that, we also have German English, or French English, or Indian English, for
example, depending on where you travel in the world. And an accent gives your
English a particular sound; a particular flavour. And accent is about the
intonation and the rhythm of your speech, and sometimes the tone of your
speech as well. Now, where some students get confused is they confuse: "accent"
with "pronunciation". So, let me be clear: Focus on your pronunciation.
Always try to improve your pronunciation — 100%. So, for example, if you are
saying the word: "down", you know... the direction "down", and you're pronouncing
it as: "dawn" — that's a big problem, because those are two different words.
So, make sure that you are always working on your pronunciation; while
your accent is something that you will probably acquire naturally anyway,
depending on where you're from, and you know... how long you've been learning
the language.
So, there are three things you need to consider. Number one: Where do you live?
Number two: What do you do? And number three: What level of discomfort are you
comfortable with? So, number one: Where do you live? If you live in a country
where people have the same accent as you do when they speak English, you probably
don't need accent-reduction classes, because you already fit into the
community; it's totally fine. Number two — this can be linked with number one,
but: What do you do? Now, if you have a job, for example, in Canada or the
United States, where the clients that are gonna be calling you — if you work
in emergency services, for example, and you take emergency phone calls — they
need to be able to understand you. And maybe they are familiar with a standard
American-English accent or a standard Canadian-English accent — whatever that
means. It's usually, you know... the... the English that you hear in government
commercials. Okay? So, that's the standard American or standard Canadian.
In those cases, you might want to consider accent-reduction courses
because if a person's life is on the line... I know it's a very extreme
example. But in some jobs, it's important for your clients to be able to
understand you. So, know who you're working with; and if they have, you
know... a prejudice, or maybe a lack of familiarity with your particular accent
— it could be difficult, it could create a conflict in the conversation. And
number three — this relates to what I just said — what level of discomfort are
you comfortable with? So, depending on where you live, people sometimes are not
nice. Okay? So, some people, they don't have a tolerance for anything that
sounds — quote, unquote — foreign. And, in those cases, you need to make a
choice. You need to say: "You know what? I can understand what I'm saying. Most
people can understand what I'm saying, but this jerk over here — he is trying
to make a big deal out of it, or he's trying to make me feel like I don't fit
into the community." Forget him. They're probably not important. And the other
thing in that case: If you do feel self-conscious... like, I feel
self-conscious when I, you know... go to a grocery store in Montreal, or you
know... where I live in Quebec, and they don't understand me 100%. Or they
understand me, but they can tell that I have, like, an English-French accent.
So, if I say, for example: "Un sac s'il vous plait", okay? Like, that means: "A
bag, please". And it should be, like: "Un sac s'il vous plait". Okay? Like, it
should be similar to that accent. They can tell that, you know... I'm not
originally grown up and speaking French, but it's okay. I have, like, you know...
an English-French, French-English accent when I speak French, and I'm okay with
it. I'm fine with the level of discomfort when I visit a public place.
And you need to make a similar decision if you are considering accent-reduction
classes.
So, just to recap: Definitely always focus on your pronunciation. Don't worry
about your accent too much because it adds flair; it adds flavour to the
language that you are speaking. When I grew up, I heard Portuguese English,
Italian English, Indian English. I understood everybody as a kid. Okay? I
still understand everybody. Because if you have... the pronunciation is
accurate, the accent just adds a different rhythm, a different intonation
to the language. So, let me give you an example. Like, if I say: "Where is the
park?" Okay? So, this is, like... I'm speaking right now in my standard
Canadian-English accent. Versus if I'm speaking like Italian-English, the
intonation would be different. So, it would be like: "Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm,
hmm". Right? Because you bring your own intonation to the language you're
learning. And learning a language — you have to relearn a melody. It's like
learning a different song. It's like going from hip hop to rock music, or to
something else like that. Okay? So, you have to think of your accent as: "You
know what? I'm not speaking hip hop, but I'm speaking rock." You get the analogy,
right? It's kind of like that. You can still understand what someone is saying
in a rap song versus a rock song, but the rhythm is different, the intonation
is different, the accent is different. So, I hope that I have, you know... put
your fears at ease a little bit in this video. Keep practicing your
pronunciation. Think about accent reduction if you are going to be working
in an important job where it is essential that your clients, you know...
understand you 100%. And that is also related to where you live. Okay? So, if
your clients also have your regional accent — don't worry about it. Okay?
That's it. That's all I have to say for today, guys. So, if you enjoyed this
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