Need help with American accent correction

nnthuy154 wrote:

Hello there...!

I am Thuy, a Vietnamese lady. I need help from someone who is a native teacher can help me improve my American accents and help me how to speak English naturally because I am ready for IELTS test...

I hope someone can help me.!!!!

Thank you...

Speaking naturally requires an American accent??? Sorry, but with an American teacher you'll most likely end up sounding like a Filipino instead. ( as all VN's I know who had American teachers, I've even mistaken a few for Filipino's. ).

Please don't call it "speaking English naturally" - because English and American are in fact two different languages.

Don't be put off by the nit pickers here - if you can speak any either American or British English you will be understood in the United States, Canada, UK. Australia, New Zealand and by a large percentage of those in European countries.
As was gruffly pointed out, speaking with English with one of the many American accents does not mean you are speaking perfect English ( if there even is such a thing), Speaking Cockney English or Australian English does not mean you are speaking perfect English either. Since you are learning the language Folks ought to cut you a bit of slack and understand what you mean as opposed to what you wrote,

For my two cents worth I think that the most sensible accent to cultivate is one of the more neutral ones such as is spoken in central California. If you get someone from the deep south you will find yourself saying things like "you all" or  "carry me home" and if you get stuck with a New England accent you will get a lot of broad "A"s and sound like you are speaking with a stuffy nose.

Don't be discouraged, someone here will volunteer to help I am sure.

I agree with #4, that you should try and speak with a more neutral accent, so that you will be understood where ever you go in the English speaking world. A Vietnamese friend who lived for over 30 years in California speaks excellent English with a neutral accent and I have no trouble understanding him. Please don't try and copy American accents with a very strong "R',  like 'faRmeR', for example. And (unlike some reporters on CNN) remember to use word stress and sentence stress to help your listeners understand you.  Good luck

Hi.
We are from the USA & Canada. We can help you with your American accent without any problems. We are tutoring kids from International Schools and we are also tutoring adults with the business communication. Thanks.

Best Regards

that would be a difficult thing to do. They might be able to help you with pronunciation but unless you grew up in the U.S or wherever you will have an accent that is evident to any native speaker. I immigrated to the U.S when I was 11 and to this date I still have a slight accent, however, my English is as fluent as anyone else who is natural born. For what it's worth, having an accent is a great thing. It tells people that you are unique. Just look at the Brits. Everyone in the U.S. thinks their accent is to die for.

bluenz wrote:

nnthuy154 wrote:

Hello there...!

I am Thuy, a Vietnamese lady. I need help from someone who is a native teacher can help me improve my American accents and help me how to speak English naturally because I am ready for IELTS test...

I hope someone can help me.!!!!

Thank you...

Speaking naturally requires an American accent??? Sorry, but with an American teacher you'll most likely end up sounding like a Filipino instead. ( as all VN's I know who had American teachers, I've even mistaken a few for Filipino's. ).

Where I teach, a scottish teacher with a very strong accent was sacked because he refused to 'modify' his accent despite the students complaining that they simply could not understand what he was saying. I do not think it was much to ask but, well, he refused and paid the price!

selfishlyingexpat wrote:

bluenz wrote:

nnthuy154 wrote:

Hello there...!

I am Thuy, a Vietnamese lady. I need help from someone who is a native teacher can help me improve my American accents and help me how to speak English naturally because I am ready for IELTS test...

I hope someone can help me.!!!!

Thank you...

Speaking naturally requires an American accent??? Sorry, but with an American teacher you'll most likely end up sounding like a Filipino instead. ( as all VN's I know who had American teachers, I've even mistaken a few for Filipino's. ).

Where I teach, a scottish teacher with a very strong accent was sacked because he refused to 'modify' his accent despite the students complaining that they simply could not understand what he was saying. I do not think it was much to ask but, well, he refused and paid the price!

Did you say 'Scotch' ? I'd like a bottle please!

selfishlyingexpat wrote:

bluenz wrote:

nnthuy154 wrote:

Hello there...!

I am Thuy, a Vietnamese lady. I need help from someone who is a native teacher can help me improve my American accents and help me how to speak English naturally because I am ready for IELTS test...

I hope someone can help me.!!!!

Thank you...

Speaking naturally requires an American accent??? Sorry, but with an American teacher you'll most likely end up sounding like a Filipino instead. ( as all VN's I know who had American teachers, I've even mistaken a few for Filipino's. ).

Where I teach, a scottish teacher with a very strong accent was sacked because he refused to 'modify' his accent despite the students complaining that they simply could not understand what he was saying. I do not think it was much to ask but, well, he refused and paid the price!

I have Uni students I help who can't understand the Aussie " teacher " at their Uni here, but he's not actually an Aussie, ( although having lived there for 30 or so years, his British accent is as strong as ever ), it doesn't help when there is a class of nearly 50, and they only have him for 45 minutes a WEEK . ( and he's known for his " quick  temper, and rudeness ",  and this was coming from several VN students??? ).

Gravitas wrote:

Please don't call it "speaking English naturally" - because English and American are in fact two different languages.

They are the same language. Just ask the Queen of England. We used to pay taxes to the Crown back in the days. How do you suppose they communicate back then?

Cloud9 wrote:

Gravitas wrote:

Please don't call it "speaking English naturally" - because English and American are in fact two different languages.

They are the same language. Just ask the Queen of England. We used to pay taxes to the Crown back in the days. How do you suppose they communicate back then?

This is part (if not most) of the problem - while technically English is a single language there are dozens of variations which can make the spoken language between different groups difficult to understand. Australians speak an English variant as do Americans and New Zealanders and of course the English. Worse still is the fact that within each of these countries there are many variations of how the words are used and pronounced. An Oxford Don might well say that a cockney person is not speaking English at all, or that a Scotsman is unintelligible. 

Its worse in the US where not only are many common words spelled differently, and they are used differently. Americans rent a car, Brits hire a car etc. Don't even get me started on the many variation of American accents and usage. The first time I went to Florida a little gal agreed to go out with me on the condition that I would agree to "carry her home" She wasn't all that heavy but still how was I to know she meant "take her home". If you think all English is the same go down to New Awlins and try to find your ma cher amio.

But the OP wants to get help overcoming her American accent ( there are at least four major American accents all the way from Boston where you should really hold your nose to speak slowly and properly, to New York where the faster you speak the the better, down to Dallas  where Y'all will be welcome as long as you bring a paper poke containing a bottle....)

So the real question here is what does the OP think Proper English should sound like?

Perhaps like Eliza in My Fair Lady where The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain?