Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[nawee]

Hello,

I wonder if anyone could recommend an effective accent reduction course.

I know that some English teachers are against the idea, but some sounds in English are physically challenging for some second language learners. I'm just thinking that muscle exercises that focus on the vocal organs might help. Am I right in believing that accent reduction courses provide such exercices?

I really would appreciate your comments and suggestions.

Nawee

[Lorikeet]

I am curious. Why would English teachers be against the idea of of accent reduction? Or is that not what you meant?

[nawee]

Well, Maybe "against the idea" is a bit too strong. They say that it is ok to speak English with your first language accent. They think it's unnecessary to try to imitate a particular accent. They see English as an international language and argue that even native speakers have different accents.

I think it is also because some English teachers do not actually have the "standard" accent. I know some schools still want to hire teachers with the "standard" accent. I remember an agency that deals with finding teaching jobs for university students in Europe for their gap year. The agency asked the co-ordinator of the programme if the students had "accents" and stressed that they did not want students with an "accent".

[CP]

It seems to me that everyone has an accent. Mine is a California accent, so I sound like what most American news broadcasters try to sound like. It's a pretty neutral American accent. I don't drawl like a Southerner, or leave off terminal rs and speak with flat as like a Bostonian, but still I have an accent. I sound like a native in Los Angeles and like a tourist in New York.

I, too, think it's OK to speak English with one's own first language accent, especially as it is nearly impossible to get rid of it. So if that accent is OK, what do the agencies mean when they say they don't want students with accents? We are in Exeter, so you must speak with an Exeter accent or go home? Is that the standard accent? Is mine the standard accent? Is Queen Elizabeth's the standard accent?

Anyway, if you stay in Exeter long enough, you will pick up an Exeter accent, solving the agency's problem naturally.
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb