The term 'accent' describes the combination of pitch, stresses and rhythm of someone's speech, as well as how they pronounce all their vowels and consonants. Everyone has an accent. Even if you speak like all the people around you, even if you speak modern (or traditional) Received Pronunciation, you speak with an accent.
An accent is the way you speak.An accent can often reveal a person's cultural background and should be considered only as a difference in how one pronounces words within a shared community's language and not as a disorder.
An accent is a way of pronouncing a language. It is therefore impossible to speak without an accent. Your accent results from how, where, and when you learned the language you are speaking and it gives impressions about you to other people. We can control the way we speak, and do, both consciously and unconsciously. Most people vary their accent depending on who they are speaking with. We change our accents, often without noticing, as we have new life experiences.
Linguists don't like to think of any accent as being 'good' or 'bad' - they're all different, but equally valid. It's perfectly normal, however, for people to identify their favorite accents and the ones that set their teeth on edge. I don't believe accents should be a verified strata for judging people.Language changes over time. We get new words, there are grammatical changes, and accents change over time.
The best way to develop a regional accent is to spend time in that region.You can't learn an accent, you absorb it. Accent Modification is a method used to change an accent in order to improve overall communication.
Apparently, the 'American' accent is the neutral pronunciations, meaning the easiest way to pronounce the words with the mouth. There is actually a neutral accent spoken in much of the middle, Midwest and western United States. The neutral accent in any language is the pronunciations that are easiest formed with the mouth and vocal chords. The neutral accent developed in America during the western expansion because people were then worried more about survival, the language naturally become pronounced in whatever way was easiest.
'The' American speech is very relaxed when talking, so just let your mouth flow.
Pick any accent and it is American. (Because somewhere in America, someone is using it) However, to me, an American accent is slight New Yorker with a mix of Boston and a few others...
The most 'normal' sounding Americans are those that speak like them folks on The Simpsons. Seems quite straight forward. Pronouncing T's as D's. Using A as "aarr" instead of "ah", e.g "at all - ad arrl". "Adlaanic Ocean". Roll them a's and r's. Also, when using words that begin with TU, example, tube, you would say toob rather than choobe, and toosday rather than choosday. American accents are very easy to do if you just learn the rules of their tongue. You could use a kind of lazy tone in your voice, but that seems more of an American thing.
Most Americans speak dreadful English as well, but, it was mostly considered neutral. There were some lovely accents spoken in places like Tidewater Virginia and Charleston. I also like 'Boston Brahman'. Like any other American, it depends on what part of the country they are from and what their upbringing was like. Bill Clinton is from Arkansas and speaks with an accent typical of that area. George W. Bush is from Texas and speaks with a typical Texas-southern accent. Condi Rice, Obama, and Hillary all speak without any pronounced regional accents in my opinion.
Your accent might be one that is associated with people from a particular place (for example, with being from New York, London, or Delhi).Your accent might give the impression that you spoke some other language before the one you are speaking at the moment (you might speak French with an English accent, or English with a Korean accent). It's impossible to speak without conveying some information through your accent.
Differences between British English and American English
The most noticeable differences between AmE and BrE are at the levels of pronunciation and vocabulary.
American English and British English (BrE) differ at the levels of phonology, phonetics, vocabulary, and, to a lesser extent, grammar and orthography.
Differences in grammar are relatively minor, and normally do not affect mutual intelligibility; these include, but are not limited to: different use of some verbal auxiliaries; formal (rather than notional) agreement with collective nouns; different preferences for the past forms of a few verbs (e.g. learn, burn, sneak, dive, get); different prepositions and adverbs in certain contexts (e.g. AmE in school, BrE at school); and whether or not a definite article is used in a few cases (AmE to the hospital, BrE to hospital). Often, these differences are a matter of relative preferences rather than absolute rules; and most are not stable, since the two varieties are constantly influencing each other.[20]
Anyone who lives in Britain or even visits Britain ever so often knows there isn't a typical 'British' accent. The differences between accents in England, Wales and Scotland vary immensely. These accents also vary greatly within each home-nation. I was often puzzled when people refer to a 'British' accent. This is only spoken by a tiny minority of British people yet it has earned this title, which is quite interesting.
An 'English' accent would be more accurate but still off the mark in a sense. Now, I know I would find it extremely difficult to distinguish between a New York accent and a Texas accent. For this reason I think Brits who know there really isn't a 'British' accent should give some slack to those who don't realize or recognize this.
I suppose that most Americans would say that there isn't an American accent because their accent depends upon which part of the United States they originate from and so they have a Boston accent, a New York accent, a southern accent, etc. In the same way there isn't a British accent, just a variety of regional accents.
However, most people from the south of England couldn't differentiate between a Lancashire and a Yorkshire accent, so they're both just a 'northern' accent to them. In the same way British don't recognize a lot of the regional variations between Americans and so call their accent American and Americans don't recognize brit’s regional variations and so call our accent British.
Trying to speak in a British accent is not really easy. Along with the accent are mannerisms that go along with the English themselves. There are many different accents, depending on the area of England that one lives, which makes it even harder to pick up their accent.
"American listeners, who do not recognize a Birmingham accent when they hear one, who know nothing about Birmingham and who probably don't even know where it is, do not find the Birmingham accent unpleasant at all. And everything they know about London leads them to find London accents highly attractive."
English is an international language so it acts as a communicative medium for people of different nations. A common mode or tongue in which one can communicate.A person with a poor english is often characterised as an illiterate man.
English language is our window to the world.
A language is a systematic means of communication by the use of sounds or conventional symbols. A language is the written and spoken methods of combining words to create meaning used by a particular group of people.
English is the language of the latest business management in the world. English is a means not only for international commerce; it has become increasingly essential for inter-state commerce and communication.
A language attracts people because of the wealth of literature and knowledge enshrined in it. We must make the best use of English to develop ourselves culturally and materially so that we can compete with the best in the world of mind and matter.
English language is one tool to establish our viewpoint. We can learn from others experience. We can check the theories of foreigners against our experience. We can also propagate our theories among the international audience and readers.
We can make use of English to promote our worldview and spiritual heritage throughout the globe. English has thus become an effective means of promoting our view of life, and strengthening our cultural identity in the world.
Generally, Standard English today does not depend on accent but rather on shared educational experience, mainly of the printed language. It is the official language of air transport and shipping; the leading language of science, technology, computers, and commerce; and a major medium of education, publishing, and international negotiation.
BPO workers need to strengthen their knowledge of English to be globally competitive. A majority of the organizations in the outsourcing industry interact directly with customers the world over and depend solely on English as a medium of communication.
People may read and write good English but spoken English needs improvement. People dealing with international clients need to speak better English. Working for an English speaking country, it is important to have at least a neutral accent.
"If youngsters can improve their spoken English capability then their employability chances (in any part of the world) would be high," .Similarly, people working in multinational companies, banks and software firms need to improve their English-speaking knack."
I want to say that there is no point talking about a country. Individuals need to improve for bettering their chances in a global market place,".The vast majority of adult learners of English as a Second Language never achieve a "pure British" or a "pure American" accent. Pronunciation usually remains influenced by the native language to one degree or another. In my opinion, this is absolutely OK. The main focus should be on clarity of pronunciation rather than on "purity".
