Proven ways to get a native-like accent

[reineke]

hmmm ... why though?

As a native English speaker in California, I hear non-native speakers all the time. There are different levels of accent:

1. horrible, incomprehensible accent -- what are you even saying, I can't figure it out.
2. heavy, unpleasant accent -- I can understand what you're saying but I don't want to listen
3. light to medium accent -- no problem.
4. nearly invisible accent -- typically people who learned English between ages of 10 to 15. This tends to just be a bit of a lilt. I typically have to listen for a minute or two to be sure it's not native.
5. native

I've only run into one case of #5 in my life, and he claimed he did it by watching TV and singing along with rock songs. I doubt it, but that's what he claimed.

I definitely understand the benefit of moving from #1 to #3, but what's the benefit of moving from #3 to #5? To ... fool people? As Benny Lewis said, most people who are learning languages aren't learning them to be spies ...

Your reaction to no.1 and 2 pretty much sums up why people who need to earn a living sometimes obsess about their accents which in turn just makes things worse for them. No.3 often turns into a problem. No 5 - I've soaked lots of TV in foreign languages as a child, teenager, young adult and not-so-young-adult with little to no speaking and I still have mixed feelings about it myself.

[Tomás]

hmmm ... why though?

As a native English speaker in California, I hear non-native speakers all the time. There are different levels of accent:

1. horrible, incomprehensible accent -- what are you even saying, I can't figure it out.
2. heavy, unpleasant accent -- I can understand what you're saying but I don't want to listen
3. light to medium accent -- no problem.
4. nearly invisible accent -- typically people who learned English between ages of 10 to 15. This tends to just be a bit of a lilt. I typically have to listen for a minute or two to be sure it's not native.
5. native

I've only run into one case of #5 in my life, and he claimed he did it by watching TV and singing along with rock songs. I doubt it, but that's what he claimed.

I definitely understand the benefit of moving from #1 to #3, but what's the benefit of moving from #3 to #5? To ... fool people? As Benny Lewis said, most people who are learning languages aren't learning them to be spies ...

There may even be disadvantages of moving from 3 to 5. I would venture that there are languages/locations where speaking the local tongue with an English accent is prestigious/cute/sexy.

[tomgosse]

There may even be disadvantages of moving from 3 to 5. I would venture that there are languages/locations where speaking the local tongue with an English accent is prestigious/cute/sexy.

And speaking English with a French accent is quite sexy.

[tarvos]

There may even be disadvantages of moving from 3 to 5. I would venture that there are languages/locations where speaking the local tongue with an English accent is prestigious/cute/sexy.

And speaking English with a French accent is quite sexy.

That's the exact accent that really drives me up the wall...

[Speakeasy]

As Benny Lewis said, most people who are learning languages aren't learning them to be spies ...

Many years ago, whilst working for an international company which had installations in the Québec hinterland, with a view to preparing myself for a career change from the Finance department to the Production department, I requested permission to perform all of the regular production tasks. My request was accepted and, I.S.O. Quality Manual in hand, I worked 16-hour shifts, 6 days-a-week, for 8 months straight, at every one of the five major production stations. Near the beginning of my training, a burly unionized worker approached me asked, "are you a management spy?" My response, in fluent, but heavily-accented French, was "Okay, let's look at this closely. I am a non-unionized Anglo living in Québec. I have an accent so thick that you can cut it with a knife ... even I can hear it! I have volunteered to spy on unionized Francophone employees on behalf of management ... and I also have a death-wish." My interlocutor pondered my response a moment and rejoined, "okay, that makes sense, let's go have a coffee." By the way, even after 29 years, I have never lost my English accent.

I would venture that there are languages/locations where speaking the local tongue with an English accent is prestigious/cute/sexy.

... or a German accent ... Ahnold (Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger).

[tastyonions]

Besides, even with a perfect accent you can only fool people while remaining honest until the subject of your origins comes up. :-)

Anglophone accents just sound bad to me in any language where I have heard them, so I try to minimize mine as much as possible. It's certainly still there to some extent, though.

It's funny, I don't find the accents of speakers of any of my TLs to be very attractive in English. My favorite non-native accent in English is definitely German, which I would describe as more "charming" than sexy.

[Speakeasy]

I think that deliberately keeping a bad accent is kind of implying that you do not care. Kind of like "I know that I can improve, but if I can hold the line since most people seem to understand me, no use in trying to better my pronunciation even though I well could."

I am filled with joy that you to have the ability to lose your accent so easily. To be equally blunt, I find that you are making the unfounded assumption that anyone who has been unable lose their native accent is doing so out of laziness, disrespect for the community into which they have immigrated, or out of sheer mendacity. I can assure you that, when it comes to mimicking a native accent, as for everything else in life, we are not all born with the same inherent abilities. I have been "living" in French for the past 29 years and, during the entire time, I have spoken virtually no English. My wife is a Francophone Québécoise. All of our friends are Francophone Québécois. I have immersed myself in the language and the culture. You have absolutely no idea of the linguistic tensions that exist in Québec. The social pressure to lose one's English accent and become "audibly invisible" is palpable! And you intimate that my failure to lose my accent is out of disrespect. You've got a lot to learn!

[Speakeasy]

... just does not care ...

I still find that you are being unnecessarily judgmental of others, particularly as you seem to imply that an unhealthy insouciance is the underlying reason for anyone having attained a self-established goal that is somewhat beneath his/her full potential. Has it ever occurred to you that some people might have priorities that do not reflect your own? To wit, having achieved a functional level in a second language, people who "could" lose their accent, but who choose "not" to deploy the additional effort to do so, may have decided to devote their energies to goals that they value to a much higher degree. A lack of concern for perfection in any particular area of one's life is not necessarily a sign of willful substandard performance, it just might be a sign of a balanced outlook on life!

[Bluepaint]

Can we not get too far off-topic please? We're looking for ways to attain a native-sounding accent, it's not about different people's aims and ideals

[PeterMollenburg]

For me personally, I really relish in doing the best I can to eliminate all traces of my origins and sound like a 'standard local' (ie Parisian French) as much as I possibly can.

I do agree with 1e4e6 that many people just simply don't want to eliminate their accent. Some because it requires a lot more time and patience and don't want to do so, some because they might be lazy or impatient in fact. However as Speakeasy points out, perhaps some of us take this for granted or are even ignorant and intentionally or unintentially offend those that struggle with eliminating accent. I also thought it was a matter of work (and in many cases being lazy, but in many others simply not choosing to work on accent production). Perhaps 1e4e6 like me didn't mean any offense by the comments and assumed.

To add to this, I don't particularly believe I have a good 'ear' in general. I really struggle often to hear what people are saying in their own language to me and do have some hearing damage and struggle with certain kinds of music that grate on my ears while others relish in the tunes. But since I'm a perfectionist at those things I want to be good at (languages) I very much slow things down, rework things, ALWAYS work on my production of French words and phrases, have intently focused on French phonetics, bla bla bla and I feel I have a good accent. I did not realise that some people despite their decent efforts could not get rid of their accent.

Speakeasy I feel for you and apologise even though I had not offended you. I would have perhaps done so had you not responded.

For what it's worth I really enjoy a French, Spanish, German or Dutch accent in English, but I have heard many (particularly Asian) accents in English that down right annoy me and I think it's simply because their accent is atrocious to the point it hinders communication.

One reason I like to eliminate accent is because I like to eliminate the possibility of interlocuters switching to English when they possibly hear traces of my origins. BUT it's definitely NOT the only reason. By sounding like a local as best I can I feel like I increase my chances of integration- Speakeasy perhaps illustrates how locals can look down on accent and maybe even not be as open with them/willing to socialize as much. I don't want this (i'm sure Speakeasy doesn't either). Add to that atrocious accents as I already have mentioned do NOT make me want to hang out with such people- it's just too much damn hard work despite my interest in other cultures. One of the main ones perhaps is I love the sound of these langauges that I've studied, so I want to sound like them!

EDIT:
Nowadays I actually don't mind what other people intend to do in terms of accent or try to do. At the end of the day if effecitve communication can occur it doesn't matter. Since I do like foreign accents in English.