Speak Using Your American Accent With Confidence: Tips for the Native Chinese Speaker
Top 6 strategies to speak with more confidence - For native Chinese speakers.
Many foreign students are very effective using written English, but struggle using the correct pronunciation verbally. Speaking American English more confidently is a goal of many. When you are a more confident speaker, this can result in optimizing personal and business communications with less confusion.
Native Chinese speakers are usually taught American English by Native Chinese teachers. There are many schools where the Chinese learn English. When many of these native Chinese speakers initially arrive to the United States to start their new life, they report great difficulty in understanding the American accent. There are a number of strategies that can help with the transition and help reduce anxiety and frustration.
1. First, you must realize that changing some of your old habits takes time. American English has a very smooth and fluid sound. You will want to practice speaking English for at least 30 minutes every day. Look for opportunities to practice, such as ordering your takeout food or when speaking on the telephone.
2. Find a local speech professional that specializes in American accent training to improve English accent. The speech professional will initially perform a speech analysis to identify which error patterns you are making that contribute to your accent.
3.Try to observe the mouth movements of those who speak English well and imitate them. Many students have reported that they watch the news nightly repeating the newscaster’s English pronunciation.
4. Keep a pocket Chinese to English pocket dictionary handy to look up words that you do not know well.
5. It’s important to read English aloud every day. You can use a newspaper or magazine. You can also record yourself reading short articles and have a friend who speaks good English for feedback.
6. You can barter language lessons with a friend. Find a person who speaks English very well and offer to teach the friend Mandarin lessons in exchange for English lessons. This way you will have a language partner who can help you learn American accent.
If you chose to hire a speech professional who specializes in American accent training, take the time to meet with the instructor to learn about the program. Make sure the program is flexible and can meet your goals. Try to arrange one class with the instructor to see if you are comfortable with the process before you make a large financial commitment.
By Tracey Ingram
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