5 Ways To Get Rid of a Thick Accent

English is an international language and there is no one correct way of speaking English.  So having an accent is not something to be ashamed or embarrassed of. However, if your accent makes you hard to understand, it could make it challenging for you to communicate effectively with native English speakers.

For example, let’s say you are an international student studying in the US looking for an internship opportunity or a job. Your prospective employer will give you a phone interview first and only bring you in for an in-person interview if you get through the phone interview. Chances are that if you have a thick accent in this situation , the recruiter might find it hard to understand you over the phone, without any body language cues. This becomes even more challenging if the interview involves technical questions and the recruiter comes from a non technical background.  Having a clear accent is specially important in situations like phone interviews where the two parties involved are not in the same room.

So how can you get rid of a think accent and speak more clearly? Do you want to get rid of those awkward “R” sounds? There are a five things you can do to make you accent sound more native:

You don’t need an Accent Reduction Specialist to get rid of your thick accent

A lot of accent reduction courses talk about fancy concepts such as identifying where in your mouth English vowels are pronounced,  fossilization, phonetic spellings, homophones etc etc. While it is cool to have an understanding of these concepts, most of these are of zero value for student trying to get rid of a thick accent. No body really knows how to control the parts of your mouth where vowels or consonants are pronounced!

Rather than wasting time mastering accent reduction concepts, start practicing English speaking with a native teacher 2-3 times a week. This will help you adjust and improve your pronunciation through real conversations.

Learn the rhythm of speaking English

Every language has a rhythm or a sound unique to it; The DNA of speech. This is what makes language learning so beautiful. There is an fascinating study done on the pace at which different languages (English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish and Vietnamese) are spoken done by the Université de Lyon. Here’s a link to the Times article on this study.

So if your native language is Spanish or Tamil or Urdu, you might speak English too fast. If you are a native French or Chinese speaker, you might English too slow. The speed in which you speak English has a direct impact on how your accent is heard. In most cases, if you speak English too fast, your accent sounds more thick or heavy.

The only way to understand the rhythm of English is by immersing yourself in English. Your Spoken English is a reflection of the English you interact with. If you want to get rid of your thick accent and improve your pronunciation to a native level proficiency, spend more time practicing with native English speakers.