Hi I'm Joel and I'm Lia and today we have got an English accent lesson.
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So why is English accent training so important?
Firstly, wherever you go in life, the first thing anybody will take from you, or absorb
from you is the way you speak.
It's your first impression really, or second impression, first is what you look like, but
then second impression is what you sound like.
And often people will be quick to judge you, before they get to know you.
So in my experience, out of all the English accents, whether that's American English,
Australian English, or Northern or Southern English, the Southern English accent, so a
Neutral or Standard English accent is seen as the most prestigious, the most reliable,
the most educated...
just well-respected accent to have.
Mainstream media used to be populated entirely by this accent.
Which is why it's known in some circles as 'BBC English accent' because the BBC (British
Broadcasting Company) in the UK, only used to hire people with our sorts of accents.
Now that's not the case, they hire people with all sorts of accents, but back in the
day, they only hired 'us' (people like us) because our accent was seen as the most educated
and the right way to speak.
Following that, it would be unusual if you were learning English in anything other than
this accent.
I would find it quite unusual if I spoke to someone who had English as their second language,
but they spoken with a regional accent.
Yeah, I've never seen anyone learn English in a Liverpudlian accent.
Or in a Bristol accent.
Like, it just doesn't happen.
It would be bizarre.
It would be really weird.
I think it's either American English, isn't it?
Or just British English, but by 'British English' meaning Southern British English.
Essentially, the easiest way to sound more British is to consume as much British content
as possible.
When you're learning a new language they say the best thing to do is to move to that place
and absorb yourself in that environment, and I think that applies to accents as well.
Absorb yourself with that accent, listen to as many British English people as you can.
Don't listen to people with loads of different regional accents, listen to one type of accent.
So, Southern British accents, Southern English accents, RP, Standard English, they all mean
the same thing.
And I think we get a lot of people messaging us saying "how can I improve my English I
really want to be better" and the simple answer is: you just have to absolutely commit to
this and commit and make a decision that you are only going to speak English, you know,
if you're coming here, I'm only going to speak English, I'm only going to be around English
speaking natives.
And as soon as you make that promise to yourself, your English will improve, 100%.
But if you're just going to be.... it's never going to happen.
Half-hearted.
You can't half-heartedly try to do anything.
Because you won't see the results.
But I get people messaging me on Instagram saying "I've learnt so much from your channel,
you've really helped me improve my English, how can I be even better?".
No course that you enrol on is going to do it for you.
You just have to do it for yourself.
And you're in the best place possible to do that...
Joel & Lia's YouTube Channel!
But I mean, as well as us, you're living in the age of the internet, where you can watch
as much content as you want as possible, for free!
No longer do you have to go and pay £100 an hour to go and see an accent coach, or
and English teacher, you've got all the lessons for free on the internet.
So you're welcome!
You're welcome!
Kidding!
When you're in the UK go and watch theatre, don't sit at home watching too many films,
because everything you're hearing is American English.
If you're getting confused and you can't really tell the difference between what you're hearing
in Hollywood films and the way that Joel and I are speaking then you really need to listen
closely and just watch British people if you want to improve your British English.
Exactly, if you want to learn American English, absolutely fine, go ahead and do that.
But I think that's really confusing for people learning an English (British) accent, is when
you're confusing it with an American accent.
For example, the 'r' sound, the rhotic 'r', so in words like 'car', in British English
we don't say the 'r' at the end, it's just open 'cah'.
But in America they say it like "carrrr", so they've got an 'r' at the end of the word,
and just little things like that, British people will pick up on it and go "oh, you're
not from here" because they've heard you say "carrr" instead of "cah".
Yeah, 'that's a really nice carrr'.
It's not right.
Well it's not incorrect, it's just not British.
Another thing that you said "example", we've covered this in other videos, it's just these
small little signs, you know 'example' is really American.
And also Northern.
I would say 'for example', but that's not the be-all-and-end-all.
No, no one's gunna not understand you, it's just that if you want to be really specific,
then you need to listen out for these tiny little differences.
Sounding more 'British' gives you more social capital.
It's not just a dated idea, it's not just the BBC English that Joel was talking about,
it's true.
If you're coming here and having job interviews, for instance.
Language is your biggest tool and your strongest weapon.
It's a sad reality, that if you come over and have a job interview, and you're against
a British English person and you speak English perfectly well, you're just as intelligent,
maybe more intelligent, but you don't quite sound the same, people will judge you on that
and you most likely won't get the job because they want to go with someone who - well people
are shallow and they'll go with someone that sounds like them.
Exactly, I think that's why as well, we've tried to create this channel which is just
about British culture because you could speak perfectly, your pronunciation and everything
about your English could be perfect.
But an employer might be looking for you to just have a sense of humour that is similar
to theirs or just be on that level with somebody where they feel like they can go to the pub
with you, that they can have a drink with you, that they can have banter.
And I feel like what we're trying to give you, is British-ness in one.
Do you know what I mean?
Yeah, because socialising is a huge part of British culture even in the workplace.
Yeah, for sure.
If I met somebody and I had a job, I know I would go for personality as well as if they
were qualified for the job, because imagine having someone who's personality shines through
the phone and you're talking to clients and so on.
You just need that personable thing, going on for you.
And you can't only get that from speaking the language that comes with living here,
having British friends, making that commitment to yourself that you're gunna dive into British
culture and really go for it.
Yep, definitely.
There's a lady at work who's absolutely lovely, she speaks English as a second language and
speaks English perfectly, absolutely perfectly, and I overheard a conversation with her colleague
and she was saying that during her appraisal, her boss had come to her and said "there's
no issue with what you're saying or what you're doing, like you're really great at this, but
you're just a bit cold and abrupt with customers" and she'd said it was because English was
her second language so whilst the issue isn't with her speaking, it's about her mannerisms,
her attitude, and things like that, so when you'r learning English as well, don't just
learn the sounds, try and learn about the culture and the mannerisms and the etiquette
of British English people.
it goes the same the other way, like I'm really interest in Japan and I really want to go
there.
And I would love to learn Japanese, but imagine that I was perfect at Japanese, imagine, but
I knew nothing about eating the Japanese way and how to 'be' at the dinner table.
I could come across so rude without knowing.
You know, it's just the same you've just gotta really absorb it.
Definitely.
So I hope that's helped those of you that are learning a British English accent.
Those are just a few little tips and bits of advice for learning an English accent and
culture.
We'd love to open up this conversation in the discussion, in the comments section, AS
a discussion!
So please leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts.
These are just our opinions but obviously we're open to hear the opposite.
We're open to be wrong!
Thank you so much guys, we'll be back next week with another video, don't forget to subscribe.
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Bye!