Hi guys!
I'm a German native who has been speaking English for many many years. Although I've never taken a certificate beyond a university entrance exam (which didn't test further than B2), I do consider myself fluent both in writing and speech.
However I still see lots and lots of room for improvement, especially in the pronounciation area, which I'd like to shift from a heavy American to an RP accent. The second area is simply learning more words, more structural sentence components, simply to sound more fluent and work towards the goal of trying to become indistinguishable from a native speaker (I understand that that is basically impossible, but a goal's a goal! )
Hence my question, what kind of free resources can your recommend to further advance my English skills? I do not have the money to pay for a C2 course priced at well over 100€, nor do I believe that it is neccessary. I simply struggle to find a good source of information, that I can then learn by myself.
Thanks for any answers in advance
Julian
Advanced Studying
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Re: Advanced Studying
https://www.br.de/mediathek/video/engli ... 00180ccc1e
This is not a C2 course, but here you can listen to how RP sounds.
This is not a C2 course, but here you can listen to how RP sounds.
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Re: Advanced Studying
So far as I understand, if you want to change your accent, you need to listen to the desired accent as much as possible. Your written English is excellent.
Some people to listen to, whose talks, etc, are on YouTube:
You could watch old BBC shows. News recordings, old lectures, documentaries, etc. RP is sometimes used interchangeably with 'BBC accent'. Although in recent times, the BBC tries to include more 'regional accents'. (These are still a minority unless the program is about coal mining, farming, other blue collar work, or 'the North' (roughly referring to the region between Sheffield and the Shetland Islands).)
I find it a bit dull to listen to materials just for the accent. I need something in the content to hook me. One thing which could make the process more enjoyable is to ask yourself a tight research question. Then you can watch several videos on that topic. If you ask an 'academic' question, you will find talks on YouTube (and recorded as podcasts) delivered by lecturers and professors or authors (check book publishing YouTube channels for interviews, etc). These speakers often speak in RP or at least in a neutral English accent. Then you can shadow your favourite talks and speakers.
EDIT: Typos/grammar
Some people to listen to, whose talks, etc, are on YouTube:
- Stuart Hall was very well spoken and some of his lectures and documentaries are on YouTube. Priyamvada Gopal is also worth listening to. The writer, Will Self. The critic, Christopher Hitchens. The biologist, Richard Dawkins. The presenter/journalist, Krishnan Guru-Murthy. These all speak in RP. There's also an anthropologist, Professor Alan Macfarlane, who has loads of fascinating videos, lectures, etc, (he goes by @Ayabara on YT, but since the Wheel of Time adaptation came out, if you search for his handle you will get lots of unrelated search returns).
You could watch old BBC shows. News recordings, old lectures, documentaries, etc. RP is sometimes used interchangeably with 'BBC accent'. Although in recent times, the BBC tries to include more 'regional accents'. (These are still a minority unless the program is about coal mining, farming, other blue collar work, or 'the North' (roughly referring to the region between Sheffield and the Shetland Islands).)
I find it a bit dull to listen to materials just for the accent. I need something in the content to hook me. One thing which could make the process more enjoyable is to ask yourself a tight research question. Then you can watch several videos on that topic. If you ask an 'academic' question, you will find talks on YouTube (and recorded as podcasts) delivered by lecturers and professors or authors (check book publishing YouTube channels for interviews, etc). These speakers often speak in RP or at least in a neutral English accent. Then you can shadow your favourite talks and speakers.
EDIT: Typos/grammar
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Re: Advanced Studying
I've seen books and youtube videos on acquiring a british accent, particularly there are materials for actors that might be helpful. I haven't tried any of them; I'm curious but it would just be a party trick That would give you the specific sounds that are most important, and then when you are listening to RP materials you'll be more aware of the sounds. I think recording yourself and analyzing the specific changes are would also be helpful.
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Re: Advanced Studying
Crojo wrote:'the North' (roughly referring to the region between Sheffield and the Shetland Islands).)
Where I live, "the North" is defined as anything north of Watford and the M25.
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Re: Advanced Studying
rdearman wrote:Crojo wrote:'the North' (roughly referring to the region between Sheffield and the Shetland Islands).)
Where I live, "the North" is defined as anything north of Watford and the M25.
Well, Watford is still about halfway up the kingdom for those who haven't yet come to terms with the outcome of the hundred years' war.
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Re: Advanced Studying
That is insufficient.Crojo wrote:So far as I understand, if you want to change your accent, you need to listen to the desired accent as much as possible.
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Re: Advanced Studying
azeq5 wrote:Hi guys!
I'm a German native who has been speaking English for many many years. Although I've never taken a certificate beyond a university entrance exam (which didn't test further than B2), I do consider myself fluent both in writing and speech.
However I still see lots and lots of room for improvement, especially in the pronounciation area, which I'd like to shift from a heavy American to an RP accent. The second area is simply learning more words, more structural sentence components, simply to sound more fluent and work towards the goal of trying to become indistinguishable from a native speaker (I understand that that is basically impossible, but a goal's a goal! )
Hence my question, what kind of free resources can your recommend to further advance my English skills? I do not have the money to pay for a C2 course priced at well over 100€, nor do I believe that it is neccessary. I simply struggle to find a good source of information, that I can then learn by myself.
Thanks for any answers in advance
Julian
I like what someone said. Listen to a lot of RP. I tend to find that BBC Radio 4 does the job for me. If you are based in Germany; you could use VPN and access it from the BBC Sounds website. If you use a dictionary, the Cambridge Audio English Dictionary online (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/) uses the RP accent.
From Youtube:
LetThem TalkTV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0qShxkuS7Q&t=38s
Molly Parker Voice and Accent Coach: PERFECT YOUR RP ACCENT | Southern ENGLISH Accent Coach
ETJ English: How to speak with a British RP Accent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LXqZ3fOlBA (ETJ English Pronunciation Course-https://www.etjenglish.com/collections)
English with Lucy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BU_u8_blss&t=30s
Love English with Leila and Sabrah: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GUUNulCras
Dr Izzy Sealey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LJtRKQCzrg
Pronunciation with Emma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcpvpj_fIZA
Eat Sleep Dream English with Gemma Chan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcpvpj_fIZA
MODERN RP ACCENT feat. English with Lucy // TUTORIAL: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... l+and+Lisa
Naomi Wimbourne-Idrissi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2pWVam6Hs0
****Personally, I think Gemma Chan`s accent is glorious. I also like Naomi Wimbourne Idrissi`s accent. Adam Henson off of the BBC (Has presented "Countryfile", "Farming Today" as well as "Lambing Live with Kate Humble) is quite a good Southern England standard accent (which is probably easier and more believable for myself to mimic considering the work that I do). The ETJ fella sells a £500 course which includes WhatsApp access and weekly consultations. Might well be a worthy investment.
Another guy that has a good accent that I enjoy is Alex Payne. He is a rugby journalist. He hosts a podcast called, "The Good, The Bad and the Rugby" alongside Mike Tindall and James Haskell. This podcast is available on Youtube freely.
I personally want to upgrade my accent (very strong Zimbabwean accent) and would probably get an Audio book and physical book of the the person`s accent that I would like to model myself after. If you personally are on a budget, there`s tonnes of stuff on the BBC that you can access via VPN that you could choose to model your accent after (Including the creators on Youtube who you can shadow their videos after if you are on a budget)
Hope this helps?
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Re: Advanced Studying
rdearman wrote:Crojo wrote:'the North' (roughly referring to the region between Sheffield and the Shetland Islands).)
Where I live, "the North" is defined as anything north of Watford and the M25.
What is considered "Up North"?
This area consists of the ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, County Durham, East Riding of Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Northumberland, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear and West Yorkshire, plus the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire.
***I think anything north of Watford Junction traditionally has been treated as "up north" not from a geographical standpoint but from people feeling the politicians in Westminster tend to ignore anything north of the Watford Junction services but really the sentence above from a geographical standpoint really defines what should be considered up north.
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Re: Advanced Studying
For the words-and-structure part, I heartily recommend Garner's Modern English Usage. I have spent hours engrossed in this book. It's a treasure trove. It began as Modern American Usage, but now covers both British and American usage and thus also highlights the differences, where usage varies. I have the third and fourth editions; I see that a new, fifth edition just came out last year (...my fingers are itching...). I was only able to find a reasonable preview at Amazon.
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