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rainbrings
Joined: 12 Apr 2011
Location: GB
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 Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2011 1:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks again all the information is great. |
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JD_Tiberius
Joined: 16 Nov 2009
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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| drydell wrote: |
Yeah - you might find yourself having to turn some t's into d's (little - liddle and water to wadder) and the short o's into long a's (bob - baarb, hot - haart) to prevent some looks of utter bewilderment from Koreans...
It's an amazing failure of ESL teaching in Korea when Koreans completely struggle to understand even a (non-heavy regional) English English accent due to over focus on N American. They can produce students who can parrot a US accent so accurately they you wouldn't think they were Korean but cannot even understand clear spoken UK English..
In short OP do not mimic a north American accent - it aint helping the students become better at international English communication one iota..but do tone down a strong regional accent and think very carefully about all your slang English that you use with other UK English speakers that won't make sense to a learner (EG "hows it going?" (=hi!) - what the heck does that mean?) |
well given many americans stuggle to understand anything other than an american accent.......the joys of learning a very insular dialect of English!
To the OP. You will find you will lose it naturally in korea so dont worry. I left the uk with a very thick glaswegian accent and now have a mild scottish accent that sounds part english and part austalian |
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Isehtis
Joined: 07 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 10:49 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm Northern. *really* Northern. A small minority of students (adults) have complained/asked me to speak slower, most of the others though seem to love my accent, and ask me to teach them how to emulate it. |
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Skill
Joined: 06 Jul 2011
Location: London
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:23 pm Post subject: |
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As much I love Geordie Accent, I can see where it can be difficult to be understood especially if you speak at your normal speed.
My advice is to slow it down a notch.
I am a Londoner and we drop our T for the glottal stop. If you remember to slow it down most of the problem in being understood dissapears.
If you tried emulating the American accent you would sound even more funny. |
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FMPJ
Joined: 03 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 3:56 am Post subject: |
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| shifty wrote: |
| a Korean's inborn English accent corresponds most closely with it. |
Guh? "Inborn English accent"?! |
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Ribena
Joined: 07 Apr 2011
Location: UK
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 4:01 am Post subject: |
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| NYC_Gal 2.0 wrote: |
Try to sound like you work as a BBC anchor for your phone interview. Other than that, you're fine as long as you speak clearly and slowly. You'd do that anyway for the students, so fear not. Best of luck!
EDIT for typo. |
You've clearly not heard of Huw Edwards.  |
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big_fella1
Joined: 08 Dec 2005
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 4:42 am Post subject: |
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Do not change your accent. I made this mistake and sometimes now pronounce the r's in words which is clearly horrendous.
Many Koreans can't speak English due to spending a lot of time being taught how to answer multiple choice grammar questions correctly and a lot of time studying speaking in the library (WTH???)
Some will try to blame your accent for their inability to listen. Do not change, it won't help, some will still complain they can't understand you because you're British even if you spoke GenAm.
With over a billion people, I am guessing Indian English will be considered correct in 50 years. |
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gingseng
Joined: 05 Sep 2011
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| Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 9:35 pm Post subject: Re: Accents... Should i lose mine (UK) |
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| rainbrings wrote: |
I'm running in to problems because i was brought up in a multicultural environment, meaning I have a bizarre accent (a mixture of Geordie, Icelandic and general northern)
From what i have been told South Korean is enamored with the American accent so i guess the question I must ask how many people are out there with their own slightly different accent?
Would it be best if i to try and find someone willing to try to train my voice or should I try to develop an American accent? |
Why? You're a wizard! |
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Privateer
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Easy Street.
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| Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2011 9:43 pm Post subject: |
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| big_fella1 wrote: |
Do not change your accent. I made this mistake and sometimes now pronounce the r's in words which is clearly horrendous.
Many Koreans can't speak English due to spending a lot of time being taught how to answer multiple choice grammar questions correctly and a lot of time studying speaking in the library (WTH???)
Some will try to blame your accent for their inability to listen. Do not change, it won't help, some will still complain they can't understand you because you're British even if you spoke GenAm.
With over a billion people, I am guessing Indian English will be considered correct in 50 years. |
It's already considered correct, but if India gets to a position where it's setting cultural standards for the rest of us then won't we all be learning Hindi/Urdu? |
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jeremysums
Joined: 08 Apr 2011
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| Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 1:26 pm Post subject: Re: Accents... Should i lose mine (UK) |
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You are who you are, why would you want to change. Unless you really need to pay bills.
| rainbrings wrote: |
I'm running in to problems because i was brought up in a multicultural environment, meaning I have a bizarre accent (a mixture of Geordie, Icelandic and general northern)
From what i have been told South Korean is enamored with the American accent so i guess the question I must ask how many people are out there with their own slightly different accent?
Would it be best if i to try and find someone willing to try to train my voice or should I try to develop an American accent? |
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morningsoju
Joined: 20 Aug 2011
Location: Seoul, Korea
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| Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:55 am Post subject: |
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| i've seen many job postings that specifically look for teachers with british accents. you should target those schools. |
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PastorYoon
Joined: 25 Jun 2010
Location: Sea of Japan
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| Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 3:24 am Post subject: |
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| Most bosses aren't concerned with your accent (or even your teaching ability) as much as they care about your looks. It seems as if they only care about appearance here. |
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