Help me with my American Accent
-
Hey big brothers and sisters (preferably Americans), could you help me in evaluating my American accent (not that I'm assuming I have one)? I'm trying to train myself to sound one so I could be a call center agent. So here it is. By the way, the script is from the American Accent Training book by Ann Cook. Thank you. :)
Mawi
Hi Mawi, The thing that made it hardest to understand was the microphone. Your english sounds good, but a bit nasally. It's especially noticeable with words like "too". Where are you from? It is easy to tell that you practice since your accent is hard to place. The general way that you use intonation is good, although it doesn't always follow the sentences. "Hi my name is Mawi, and I am taking accent training". Even this sounds a little awkward. It's hard to describe in text, and there is no single correct way to say it, but certain things just stick out, "TRAINing" for example. You're right -- just listen to a ton of American news (preferably (I know it's painful)) if you want to get it right. News casters generally have very neutral accents. Overall, you are easy to understand, but you definitely don't sound like a native speaker. Don't be discouraged, though, since I know people who have lived in America for 20+ years who sound a lot worse! -Mark
-
Keep in mind that many Americans are hard of hearing. Too much rock & roll (ha ha ha). Your accent sounded fine to me. But it was difficult to really focus on your accent because it sounded as if you made this recording while your baby was sleeping and you feared waking her. Many people speaking English as a 2nd language make this mistake. They are shy and embarrased they might say the wrong thing or have a "funny accent". So they talk very quietly. Often times when an American asks you "what?" - it's not because they couldn't understand you - it's simply that they did not hear you. My daughter is Chinese and this is her problem also. Her English is pretty good (BTW - I can tell you that your accent is MUCH better than hers). But she talks so quietly, I am constantly asking her to repeat herself. My advice - rather than become stressed out over achieving the perfect American accent (there is no such thing - even among Americans) - be confident and just speak naturally. From what I've heard, Americans will have no difficulty in understanding you.
Thanks :) This may be too late but I really appreciate your evaluation and I think you're right, I'm not that confident in speaking in American accent that's why I sound shy. I'll try harder and remember your advice :)
mawi_ram
-
I don't know what your accent training says, but here's four things that would help you IMHO: (native of Florida) 1. Confidence. Many Americans have a bad habit of saying whatever we want whenever we want. If you want to have a convincing American accent, you must not be hesitant or reserved in your speech; even shy or soft spoken people have a certain tone of confidence in their speech compared to people from other countries. 2. Watch the vowels. I don't know about your native language, but vowels in an American accent do not often change tone over the course of their pronunciation. In other words, vowels do not generally have a rising or falling inflection. It's a very subtle detail, but can be rather annoying to a frustrated American with broken electronics. (you seem to be doing well in this area) 3. Informalness. American English is not very trim and proper. Use contractions (can't, don't, shouldn't, etc) a fair amount, not that you shouldn't ever say "should not". Be kinda lazy with you speech, only half pronouncing certain ending "g's" almost like "endin'" but not totally leaving off the "g". Learn a few word pairs that are often sorta joined together like "sort of -> sorta", "a lot -> alot" ("UHlot" instead of "ay-lot"). These are really cultural things more than accentual, but it goes a long way into tricking someone into thinking you are American. 4. Slang. Learn what common phases Americans use to say things. This is 60% of the difference between British English and American English. For example, we say "hold on" to mean "wait for a short period, but don't go away", and "chill out" to mean "calm yourself". Sporadic use of common slang makes you sound warmer and more friendly. My recommendation: watch American news broadcasts, and lots of it. It may turn your brain to mush, but you will learn to speak American in no time. :-D
I have nothing against VB or .NET; all Turing-complete languages are respectable. It just seems that some languages attract one echelon of programmers, and other languages attract an entirely different echelon of programmers. :P
Thank you very much for this one. You're an informative adviser and I really appreciate it :-D
mawi_ram
-
You seem to be doing quite well with your accent. You need to remember that from teh American point of view there is no such thing as an "American accent". Just like in other countries the US has a large number of regional accents. In the US it's often hard for a native of NY, NY to speak with a native from Atlanta, GA. Your recording could be improved by using a pop filter (you can make one with a scrap of nylon hose and a loop). Your volume is low and it gives the effect of making you sound as if you are trying to hold your breath. Try to speak up (project), bringing the words from your chest rather than your throat (deep breath, relax the throat, and allow the breath to naturally flow as you speak), this will give you a more relaxed and casual sound. You might wish to listen to things like www.AmericanaPhonic.com and www.podiobooks.com. However, if you really want to impress Americans, then you should develop a posh British accent ;-)
Cool. ;) Thanks for the advice.
mawi_ram
modified on Sunday, November 2, 2008 9:10 PM
-
Hi Mawi, I listened to your recording. Overall it is really good. A little quiet and, as previously stated, the 't' or 'd' sounds are too soft. Consequently, if flows a little too well which makes individual words harder to pick out. Also, and this is fairly typical of "Asian English", some words are clipped. That said, you are totally understandable in the recording. Not sure how that would translate to a bad phone line though. My main advice is to speak up! ;) P.S. Don't worry about the negative comments. Some people don't actually like it when the world practices what America preaches and we end up with a global market where you pick the best value for money.
Thanks. You're very kind ;-) That gave me a boost of confidence. :rose:
mawi_ram
-
Hi Mawi, The thing that made it hardest to understand was the microphone. Your english sounds good, but a bit nasally. It's especially noticeable with words like "too". Where are you from? It is easy to tell that you practice since your accent is hard to place. The general way that you use intonation is good, although it doesn't always follow the sentences. "Hi my name is Mawi, and I am taking accent training". Even this sounds a little awkward. It's hard to describe in text, and there is no single correct way to say it, but certain things just stick out, "TRAINing" for example. You're right -- just listen to a ton of American news (preferably (I know it's painful)) if you want to get it right. News casters generally have very neutral accents. Overall, you are easy to understand, but you definitely don't sound like a native speaker. Don't be discouraged, though, since I know people who have lived in America for 20+ years who sound a lot worse! -Mark
Thanks :) I'd definitely work on those parts.
mawi_ram
-
Mawi, Clearly you are getting less help than you hoped for. I suspect you would get more assistance from a site focused on language & translation. This is a site I might suggest as a starting point. http://forum.wordreference.com/index.php[^] Also you might find Rosetta Stone software useful if it is available to you. When you speak phrases, it shows you the correct wave form and allows you to practice until yours matches. You should look into finding some of the Americans living in the Philippines. I am sure they would be delighted in helping you improve your language skills and nothing works better than actually using a language. Good Luck PS for those of you upset about exporting jobs - get used to it. My company is one of those that has moved its work outside of the US. We had absolutely no choice. We still buy most material in the US, but even that has become too expensive. On a recent bid, the Chinese bid delivered to the customer was less than our cost of just the materials. The cost of doing business in the US has gotten out of control largely due to the welfare mentality combined with a general feeling of entitlement for the good things, i.e. SUV's instead of sedan, the latest electronics toys, oversize houses, etc. We give free medical care and full benefits to not only to millions that don't want to work; we give it to millions of illegal "immigrants". And who can blame them for coming to the US for a free ride? I would do it if I was in their place. Then we encourage people to buy houses and cars they can't afford with government mandated "affordable" housing loans. And guess who is going to pay for those loans when they turn out not to be so affordable? In the mean time those that do work and their employers are taxed to death and our products become too costly to compete. So instead to venting our anger at Mawi, I suggest we vent it at our politicians that seem to think the way to office is to promise more giveaways to the "poor" and taxes to the "rich". And for the record I don't think either candidate for president "gets it". OK, I will get off the soapbox now....
modified on Friday, October 31, 2008 1:26 PM
Thanks for the link :)
mawi_ram
-
Mawi, very good accent. Practice so it sounds more natural, but it is good. There are many different accents in the US and Canada so don't stress over this too much. WHATEVER YOU DO DON'T PICK UP A SOUTHERN US TWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!!!!! IT'S SOOOOOOO ANNOYING (especially when badly done)! ha ha I prefer to deal with companies that don't offshore their work but that's not your problem. Also, if you have the opportunity, let your employer know what it is dishonest and VERY ANNOYING when obviously foreign call centers assign western sounding names to people that are obviously not western. Sorry, Babasweet, but you don't sound like a "Patrick Johnson" or "John Smith".
:laugh: I'd tell my boss about that but to tell you the truth, a lot of Filipinos really do have western-sounding names and I think 'Mawi' is one of them ;)
mawi_ram
-
mawi_ram wrote:
Hey big brothers and sisters (preferably Americans), could you help me in evaluating my American accent (not that I'm assuming I have one)? I'm trying to train myself to sound one so I could be a call center agent. So here it is. By the way, the script is from the American Accent Training book by Ann Cook. Thank you. Mawi
Political discussions aside, Mawi, your pronunciation and inflection are quite good - it is detectable that you are not a native English speaker, but I had no trouble understanding you. Your voice (as someone else noted) is a bit husky and low-volume - this occasionally led to very slight slurring (sliding from one letter to the next), but you kept that mostly under control. You have a slight tendency to pronounce the long "A" as a short "E" - I believe this is common among non-native English speakers, and can be very difficult to control - and it doesn't make you difficult to understand: practice will fix that in time. Keep up the good work, and best wishes for your "gainful employment". Grady
Thanks. I'd remember that though I'm not yet sure on what 'inflection' means. I'd have to google that one first. ;)
mawi_ram
-
I understand that, but when someone who has much less training that you gets your job for a fraction of the salary, you will understand my position.
Blog link to be reinstated at a later date.
leckey wrote:
I understand that, but when someone who has much less training that you gets your job for a fraction of the salary, you will understand my position.
leckey, i would so like to say something nasty to you. But I guess i'll just follow everyone else around here and be CIVIL.. i don't know how you could think of yourself as better trained when you can't even manage to be polite. What makes you assume right away that you have more training anyway?
-
Maybe it's just the recording, but your speaking volume is fading in and out. When you're loud, you're pretty easy to understand (with a few exceptions, see below), but the first few seconds of the speech is difficult to hear, though that would be the case even with a native American speaker (not to be confused with Native American speaker :P You get the point.) That said, though most of it is easy to understand, it feels like you're making a considerable effort to do so. Don't get me wrong; I'd much rather hear a customer service rep actively trying to be understandable than not, but it doesn't feel natural. Again though, it could be because you're reading from a script. I think we'd get a better sample if you took away the script and gave us a short bio about yourself or something else that flows naturally (e.g., "Hello my name is Omegatron, I'm several hundred years old and my hobbies include being a sentient robot, doing acts of evil, and trying to take over the world.") Work on enunciating your "r"s a little more. It was fine in the words "staircase" and "easier", but in most other areas it was weak. Also, your long vowels (e.g., "on and on") are a little off. I would suggest opening your jaw a little more to practice the "proper" sound, but at this point I'm just being picky and judging based on my local speak (Washington State). All in all, I'd rate you 7.5/10 for a convincing accent. At worst, I'd suspect you were an easterner who grew up in the U.S. but whose parents spoke with heavy accents and thus you picked part of it up during your formative years.
You're right, I was reading from a script. Thanks for the review and the rating. I'd surely take note everything you've said ;)
mawi_ram
-
leckey wrote:
I understand that, but when someone who has much less training that you gets your job for a fraction of the salary, you will understand my position.
leckey, i would so like to say something nasty to you. But I guess i'll just follow everyone else around here and be CIVIL.. i don't know how you could think of yourself as better trained when you can't even manage to be polite. What makes you assume right away that you have more training anyway?
Naluoy nako ni leckey.. siya na lang usa.. ayaw ninyo tabangi ui..
-
Thanks. You're very kind ;-) That gave me a boost of confidence. :rose:
mawi_ram
Omigosh.. She just gave you a rose! Im jealoous
-
You seem to be doing quite well with your accent. You need to remember that from teh American point of view there is no such thing as an "American accent". Just like in other countries the US has a large number of regional accents. In the US it's often hard for a native of NY, NY to speak with a native from Atlanta, GA. Your recording could be improved by using a pop filter (you can make one with a scrap of nylon hose and a loop). Your volume is low and it gives the effect of making you sound as if you are trying to hold your breath. Try to speak up (project), bringing the words from your chest rather than your throat (deep breath, relax the throat, and allow the breath to naturally flow as you speak), this will give you a more relaxed and casual sound. You might wish to listen to things like www.AmericanaPhonic.com and www.podiobooks.com. However, if you really want to impress Americans, then you should develop a posh British accent ;-)
grgran wrote:
You need to remember that from teh American point of view there is no such thing as an "American accent". Just like in other countries the US has a large number of regional accents. In the US it's often hard for a native of NY, NY to speak with a native from Atlanta, GA.
Noh? I thought americans sound all the same. I never thought it that way til you mentioned it, and I found this informative (besides the evaluations). Thanks PS, just like Mawi, Im from the Philippines, too.
-
:laugh: I'd tell my boss about that but to tell you the truth, a lot of Filipinos really do have western-sounding names and I think 'Mawi' is one of them ;)
mawi_ram
You mean, Mawi Ram? :)
-
Your accent is coming along just fine (according to a Canadian), but I think you need a little more confidence. For a call centre you will need to speak with a little more volume or your work on improving your accent will never be heard.
Thanks :)
mawi_ram
-
Omigosh.. She just gave you a rose! Im jealoous
Mawi must have sensed my natural English charm :-\
-
:laugh: I'd tell my boss about that but to tell you the truth, a lot of Filipinos really do have western-sounding names and I think 'Mawi' is one of them ;)
mawi_ram
-
Oh I see. I thought it sounds like Maui as in Maui and Sons. Thanks for the info though :)
mawi_ram
-
If you can speak english with a spanish accent then I think you would just about have it.
MrPlankton
(bad guy)"Fear is a hammer, and when the people are beaten finally to the conviction that their existence hangs by a frayed thread, they will be led where they need to go."
(good guy)"Which is where?"
(bad guy)"To a responsible future in a properly managed world."
Dean Koontz, The Good GuyReally?