Want to sound like a native speaker in a foreign language? The true test is your accent. While the early days are usually about vocabulary and grammar, it’s good to figure out ways to improve your accent early on before you build bad habits. And you don’t need to be a master polyglot with years of experience to sound convincing.
If you think the accent of another language is impossible to get right, you might just be using the wrong method. We admit that they are tricky — but not impossible! Here are some practical tips to improve your accent in any new language.
1. Learn The Phonetic Alphabet
Just because a language uses the Latin alphabet doesn’t mean each letter makes the same sound as it does in English. Getting familiar with the phonetic alphabet will help you identify new sounds and provide you with some markers to navigate the new words you’re learning to say. Familiarity with a language’s phonemes helps you recognize sounds that your ear isn’t “tuned to” natively. Once you can recognize these sounds, you’ll start noticing them way more often when speaking and listening in your new language.
By becoming aware of the range of sounds that exist in the language you’re learning, you’ll learn how to differentiate sounds that seem similar to the untrained ear, and it will make spelling easier. This can be especially helpful if you are learning primarily by reading and writing.
2. Get Familiar With The Spoken Language
Switch from theory to practice: Expose yourself as much as possible to your new language. Of course it’s easier said than done, but try to talk as often as you can with native speakers (go online if you have to!). If you have trouble pronouncing a particular word, ask people to repeat it or even record it on your phone. You can then replay it and train your pronunciation as often as you wish. You can also listen to the correct pronunciation via online dictionaries — and then you also get in the habit of learning in your target language.
Up your game by listening to podcasts or watching TV shows in the language. If you can, tailor your audio to the dialect you’re learning. An English learner trained on USA media may develop an American accent and one trained on UK media may develop an English accent. Even if you can’t understand everything, put it on in the background when you’re doing your chores so you get used to the particular melodies and unfamiliar sounds. You’ll see your understanding naturally increase, and you may start to subconsciously sound like the speech you’ve listened to!
Illustration by Ginnie Hsu.
3. Identify What’s ‘Weird’ To Pronounce
With this exposure, you’ll quickly notice that your new language has many sounds in common with your native tongue (even if those sounds are written differently). With the similarities identified, you can focus on the sounds that don’t exist in your native tongue, for example, Spanish rolled Rs and the English “th” sound are unique to their respective languages. Resist the temptation to simply compare these unfamiliar sounds with similar ones from your native language. This might seem like a useful shortcut, but it will make your pronunciation even harder to correct in the long run.
Ignoring the peculiar sounds of your new language will, at best, make you sound silly and, at worst, result in you actually saying the wrong words! The difference between the Spanish pero and perro is a rolled R, and this difference in pronunciation equals a difference in meaning.
If you have trouble with one particular sound, use notecards. Write it down along with other similar-but-different phonemes. Repeat them aloud several times, paying attention to your lips, teeth, and tongue placement. This will help you to recognize nuances and master those small differences.
4. Listen To Native Speakers’ Accents
As mentioned in point two, the internet gives you access to plenty of audio material that can help you improve your pronunciation. Listen as much and as regularly as possible! Instead of always focusing on grammar and vocabulary, dedicate some time to the phonetic aspects of the language. Listen to short audio tracks — podcasts, for example — and pay attention to rhythm, breaks, and intonation. Try to understand what gives the sentence its fluidity and try to imitate it. If you watch a movie in your learning language, turn off the subtitles and keep your eyes on the actors’ mouths.
If you find it too hard, slow down the speed of the video or audio that you’re watching (most digital media players allow you to do this — you can even slow down YouTube videos). This can help you identify and separate each syllable. If, on the other hand, your comprehension level is already quite good, you can challenge yourself by accelerating the speed. This level of concentration is good training for all those fast-talking native speakers!
5. Practice Makes Perfect
Training your accent requires some skill and patience, so don’t get demotivated if you make a lot of mistakes at first. To study effectively, your accent training sessions should be frequent. Collect newspaper articles, movie scripts and lyrics, and record yourself while reading them aloud. Then listen and analyze: What are your strengths and weaknesses? What native language habits are you carrying over? You can also ask native speakers for input. For example, you could upload your recordings to online communities like Reddit’s Judge My Accent. Babbel also has AI-powered speech recognition, plus words and phrases voice by native speakers, which can help you quite a bit.
Accents can be tricky, but don’t lose hope! The more you speak and the more feedback get, the more you’ll improve your accent.