Is This English? Common Pronunciation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Young professional Indian woman on stage with a microphone giving a corporate presentation on common English pronunciation mistakes

Learning to speak English fluently is no small feat, especially when pronunciation becomes a barrier to effective communication. Whether you’re delivering a presentation at work or simply engaging in small talk, mispronunciations can sometimes undermine your confidence.

However, pronunciation mistakes are common even among proficient English speakers and, more importantly, they can be overcome with the right techniques and mindset.

In this blog, we’ll delve into the most frequent English pronunciation mistakes, why they happen, and how to address them. We’ll also provide strategies for improving your pronunciation to ensure clear communication and greater confidence, both personally and professionally.

Why is Pronunciation So Challenging?

Before jumping into specific mistakes, it’s essential to understand why English pronunciation poses so many difficulties. English is a language that doesn’t always “play by the rules.” Words that look similar can be pronounced differently, and the same letter can have multiple sounds depending on context.

As Vinh Giang, a TEDx speaker who specializes in communication, explains in his talk on the art of communication, the way we articulate words has a significant impact on how others perceive us. Mispronouncing words can lead to misunderstandings and, in some cases, diminish your credibility in professional settings.

Non-native English speakers often struggle with sounds that don’t exist in their native languages or with the rhythm and stress patterns unique to English. This makes learning pronunciation not just about learning new words, but about reconfiguring how you use your mouth, tongue, and voice to produce sounds.

According to a study on pronunciation difficulties published on ResearchGate (PDF), non-native speakers face pronunciation difficulties for various reasons, including phonetic interference from their native language, anxiety, and the unpredictable nature of English spelling.

The good news? Pronunciation can be improved, just like any other skill, through practice, exposure, and feedback.

The V and W Confusion

One of the most common mistakes, especially among speakers of Asian and European languages, is mixing up the sounds for the letters “V” and “W.” These letters may seem simple, but mispronouncing them can lead to confusion. For example, pronouncing “wine” as “vine” can change the meaning entirely.

To fix this, practice distinguishing the two sounds by focusing on the positioning of your lips and teeth. The “V” sound is made by placing your top teeth on your bottom lip, while the “W” sound involves rounding your lips.

Solution: Practice minimal pairs like “wet/vet” or “west/vest” by saying them out loud repeatedly until you can clearly hear and feel the difference.

The Silent Letters Problem

English is notorious for silent letters that don’t sound the way they look. Words like “knight,” “honest,” and “receipt” are just a few examples where letters go unpronounced, leading to frequent mistakes among learners.

In her TED Talk on learning languages, Lydia Machová emphasizes the importance of embracing the irregularities of the language you’re learning. Understanding that silent letters are common in English will help you become more aware of them.

Solution: Familiarize yourself with silent letters through exposure. Reading extensively and listening to native speakers will help you notice which letters are often silent. For instance, you’ll notice that “kn-” in words like “knife” is silent, and once you’re aware of it, you’ll stop pronouncing the “k.”

Misplacing Stress in Words

Word stress is crucial in English pronunciation, and it can completely change the meaning of a word. For example, the word “record” can be a noun (RE-cord) or a verb (re-CORD) depending on where the stress falls.

Misplacing stress can make it difficult for listeners to understand what you’re trying to convey, which is especially problematic in work presentations.

According to Study Smarter, incorrect stress patterns can affect comprehension, especially in professional communication. Speakers may feel that they’re speaking correctly, but stress errors can lead to misunderstandings, especially when discussing technical subjects in corporate environments.

Solution: Learn the stress patterns for new words as you encounter them. Online dictionaries often provide audio examples that can help you practice. Additionally, working with a language coach from Fluency Corp can help you identify where you’re placing stress incorrectly and offer strategies to fix it.

Struggling with the “Th” Sound

For many non-native English speakers, the “th” sound is a major hurdle. It doesn’t exist in most languages, so learners often replace it with “d” or “t,” leading to words like “three” becoming “tree” or “this” becoming “dis.”

Mastering the “th” sound requires practice because it’s a unique combination of sticking your tongue between your teeth and exhaling. Though it may feel strange at first, it’s essential for clear and professional communication in English.

Solution: Break the sound down into steps. Stick your tongue slightly between your teeth, and blow air out while vibrating your vocal cords. Practice minimal pairs like “thin” and “tin” or “there” and “dare” to strengthen your pronunciation.

Working with a language coach at Fluency Corp’s corporate training programs in various cities like Houston can help accelerate your progress.

Overpronouncing Endings Like “ed”

Many learners over-pronounce the “ed” ending of words, making verbs sound unnatural. In English, the “ed” ending can be pronounced as /t/, /d/, or /ɪd/, depending on the verb. For instance, “walked” is pronounced with a /t/ sound, while “needed” uses the /ɪd/ sound.

Over-Pronouncing these endings can make you sound robotic and unnatural, drawing attention to your accent rather than your message.

Solution: Pay attention to the verbs you’re using and how native speakers pronounce them. Practicing with recordings or apps that focus on verb tenses can help you adjust your pronunciation.

You can also explore personalized coaching with Fluency Corp, which offers tailored lessons in cities like Chicago, where you’ll get real-time feedback on these nuances.

The Problem with Vowels

English has many vowel sounds that can easily confuse learners, especially those whose native languages don’t distinguish between them. A common mistake is confusing short and long vowels, like in the words “sit” and “seat.”

The difference between these two words may seem subtle, but it can drastically change the meaning of what you’re saying.

The vowel system in English is complex, and mastering it takes time and practice. Listening to native speakers and mimicking how they pronounce vowels can help you become more attuned to these differences.

Solution: Start by practicing minimal pairs like “ship” and “sheep” or “cat” and “cot.” Try recording yourself and comparing your pronunciation with that of native speakers.

Resources like Fluency Corp’s Austin language training programs can help you fine-tune your vowel sounds, making your speech clearer and more professional.

Intonation: Rising and Falling Tones

Intonation refers to the rise and fall of your voice when speaking. English relies heavily on intonation to convey meaning and emotion. For example, a rising tone at the end of a sentence often indicates a question, while a falling tone signals the end of a statement.

Incorrect intonation can make your speech sound flat or confusing, which may affect how your audience perceives your message.

In a work setting, mastering intonation can make your speech sound more dynamic and engaging. It can also help clarify meaning, especially when you’re delivering important information in a presentation or meeting.

Solution: Record yourself giving a presentation or reading aloud, then listen for areas where your intonation sounds unnatural. Compare your recording to native speakers and practice mimicking their intonation patterns.

A helpful tip is to watch English-language TED Talks, like those by Vinh Giang, who emphasizes the power of voice and intonation in communication.

Accent Interference: Can You Really Lose Your Accent?

While pronunciation can always be improved, it’s important to recognize that accents are a natural part of language. Many non-native speakers worry about completely losing their accent, but this shouldn’t be the goal. Instead, focus on clarity rather than perfection.

As discussed in Fluency Corp’s article on accents, accent reduction is about making yourself understood, not erasing your linguistic identity. There’s no need to strive for a “perfect” accent; clear communication is what matters most.

Solution: Work with a language coach to focus on the specific sounds or patterns that interfere with clarity. Programs offered by Fluency Corp in cities like Seattle can provide the specialized guidance you need to improve clarity without losing your unique accent.

The “R” Sound in Different English Accents

English accents vary widely around the world, and one of the most noticeable differences is the pronunciation of the “R” sound. In American English, the “R” is pronounced strongly, while in British English, it’s often dropped, particularly at the end of words.

If you’re learning American English but have been exposed to other varieties, this can cause confusion. For example, words like “car” or “water” may be pronounced very differently depending on the dialect, which can lead to misunderstandings.

Solution: Focus on the type of English you want to master and stick to that accent for consistency. If you’re working in an American English-speaking environment, practicing with resources like Fluency Corp’s corporate training in Raleigh-Durham can help you fine-tune your pronunciation to match your professional needs.

Listening and Imitation: The Fast Track to Pronunciation Mastery

One of the most effective ways to improve your pronunciation is through active listening and imitation. Watching videos, listening to podcasts, or engaging in conversations with native speakers will expose you to the natural rhythm and flow of English.

Imitating what you hear can train your brain and muscles to produce sounds more accurately.

As ResearchGate highlights, immersion and imitation are powerful tools for language learning (PDF). By surrounding yourself with English speakers and mimicking their pronunciation, you’ll gradually develop more natural and accurate speech patterns.

Solution: Incorporate daily listening practice into your routine. Whether it’s through TED Talks, English-language podcasts, or language training apps, exposure to native speakers is key to mastering pronunciation.

Take the Leap to Master Clear Pronunciation

Pronunciation mistakes are a natural part of learning English, but they don’t have to be permanent. With the right strategies, practice, and feedback, you can overcome these common challenges and communicate with greater clarity and confidence.

By focusing on areas like vowel sounds, word stress, and intonation, you’ll be able to improve your spoken English, making your communication more effective both personally and professionally.

Ready to take your pronunciation to the next level? Explore Fluency Corp’s corporate language training programs to receive personalized guidance and targeted feedback that will help you master English pronunciation, no matter where you’re starting from.

Whether you’re in Dallas, Seattle, or any of the cities we serve, we’re here to support your journey toward fluent and confident communication.

By making small, consistent improvements, you’ll soon find that you can pronounce even the trickiest English words with ease. Keep practicing, stay motivated, and remember that clear communication is always within reach!

Types of Australian Accents

Cityscape image of Sydney, Australia with Harbour Bridge and Sydney skyline during sunset.

English is the official language of many countries. This means there are many different types of English, like the British, the American, and the Australian. All of which have their own idioms and vocabulary.

Now let’s add to that mix the fact that every country has different accents and dialects within it. Uff! Now everything got a little bit trickier, right? What if you wanted to travel to the land of kangaroos? Will you have to learn all their accents now?

Well, don’t worry. First off, English speakers can still understand each other, no matter where they’re from. After all, they speak one same language, even if with some differences. Second, is it your wish to surf in one of the beautiful Australian beaches, watch the kangaroos and koalas, and visit the Sydney Opera House?

Or do you want to live in Australia? Or just learn Australian English? We’re here to help!

Welcome to Fluency Corp’s types of Australian accents guide, where you’ll learn some of the different accents and dialects from this country. So you can fully understand Australians and pick the accent you’d like to speak with.

Accent or Dialect?

One language can have many different dialects. One dialect has specific attributes or characteristics regarding vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Accents are just the sounds when speaking a language; basically, the pronunciation. So, one dialect can have different accents.

In that sense, we can say Australian English is a dialect of the English language. And, at the same time, Australian English has different accents.

Australian Accents

Lucky for you, Australia doesn’t have tons of different regional accents, like other countries. So, you won’t get too confused. Nonetheless, they do have some differences in their accents, but they’re more associated with class than region.

Though there are different sounds and pronunciations, Australian accents are mainly classified as broad, general and cultivated accents.

Broad Australian Accent

This is the Australian accent that most foreigners know and perceive as the Australian English. Despite this, it’s not the most popular accent in Australia. It is linked to the working class.

This accent sounds more nasal than the others, its diphthongs are longer, and its speech pattern it’s slower. It’s also the strongest of these three accents.

A good example with words is the diphthong “ai” sounding more like “oi” in words like “wife” when spoken in a broad accent.

The famous Steve Irwin is a great example of a broad accent. So, if you want to learn this, you could check out some of his interviews or videos on YouTube.

General Australian Accent

This is like the middle ground between the broad and the cultivated accents. It’s very used in Australia’s media, as it’s the standard Australian accent for that business. And it’s the most popular and most spoken accent in Australia. So, if you learn this accent, you have more chances to understand and be understood all around Australia.

When speaking with this accent, you must consider that the letter “t” it’s pronounced more like a “d”, because its sound is soft. In terms of the letter “r”, if this one is positioned in the last syllable of a word, it’s usually not pronounced.

Hugh Jackman is a popular example of this accent. So if you want to acquire this accent naturally, you can watch the tons of interviews he’s given.

Cultivated Australian Accent

Beware of this accent, as it sounds a lot like the Received Pronunciation British accent. This accent is associated with prestige.

You’ll notice that in this accent the length of the vowels is shorter or tighter.

In a cultivated accent, the diphthong in words like “wife” is going to sound more like “ai”, which for some could sound clearer. This is the contrary case of the broad accent.

Now, when speaking with a cultivated Australian English, the “t” is pronounced stronger and sharper than in the general accent.

It’s also less nasal than compared, for example, to the broad accent.

Cate Blanchett is a good example of this accent. Check her interviews to try and learn a cultivated Australian pronunciation.

Choose Your Australian Accent

After giving it much thought, you’re sure you want to learn Australian English? Awesome! But now you might also want to think about the Australian accent you want to speak with.

You must know Australian accents are not very “strict” or rigid, the accent classification is more like a range. Think of a chromatic circle with all its tones, shades and nuances. You can casually pass from a dark green to a light green.

It’s like that with these accents. Australian English is one, but there are still nuances in the form of the accents we told you above. So, even if Australian English doesn’t sound too different in itself, you might still have some preferences for a type of Australian accent.

Here are some things you can take into account when choosing which accent you prefer to speak with:

Popularity

This is an important one. If you want to be understood in Australia in general and understand everyone or almost everyone, you might want to choose a popular accent. That would be the general accent, which is spoken by most Australians. Its popularity keeps increasing with time.

The biggest advantage of this is that you could travel to any region and speak to any person, and they’ll understand you. You’ll be able to have super fluent conversations with them. How cool!

Formality of your reasons to learn

If you’re learning Australian English for a specific formal reason, you can also base your decision on that. If your reason truly is something too formal, you might prefer a prestigious, formal accent, which people associate with high education. A good choice for this would be the cultivated accent.

If your reason is not that formal, you can just pick another one of the accents. For example, if your reason is to be understood by international media, you might want to learn the broad accent. Because it’s the one foreign people know as the Australian accent.

Whichever you like the most

Yes, it’s this simple. Maybe you don’t have a more important or stronger reason why you want to learn Australian English other than you like it. In that case, you can simply choose your accent based on which one you like the most. Let’s be honest, when speaking you’ll clearly prefer to sound like the accent you like the most.

Maybe you love the strong sound of the broad accent. Or maybe you like how distinguished the cultivated accent is. There’s no wrong choice here. Accent likeability is very subjective, we all have our preferences, so it’s up to you and only you.

Practice Your Accent

Remember that no matter which Australian accent you speak, they’re all a good choice. That being said, you might want to speak a particular one, so here are some tips to practice your accent:

  • We just saw that vowels and diphthongs are super important for Australian accents. So, put especially emphasis in practicing how to pronounce the vowels and diphthongs based on your chosen accent. That might mean, you’ll need to learn different tips, like how to move your mouth when speaking.
  • We also read above that some letters are more pronounced in some accents than in others. So pay good attention to the way you say the letters based on your accent. You don’t want to overpronounce or under pronounce a letter and end up sounding different than how you wanted.
  • Watch your favorite Australian celebrities speak. We gave you some examples above of some celebrities that speak with your favorite accent. You can look for others. Watch their interviews over and over again and listen closely to them. If you find it difficult, you can even slow down the speed of the videos to understand and hear the details on their pronunciations. You can also watch Australian movies to acquire the accent and even some vocabulary.
  • Speak, speak, speak. At first you might feel like you’re not doing it right. That’s normal. Acquiring an accent is a process. Keep trying to speak as much as possible with your chosen accent. Practice makes perfect.

Choose Your Perfect Instructor to Sound Like a True Australian

Now you know Australian English is the type of English you want to learn. And you’ve finally decided on your accent.

Congrats! Now it’s time for the instructor. You need to choose a teacher that truly cares about your language needs, wishes and goals. Someone that is committed to your language learning journey. And someone that will speak to you in your target language, so you truly learn.

Good news! By choosing Fluency Corp as your school, you’ll be choosing that type of instructor. Because we care about you, our teachers are highly experienced and native speakers of your target language. So you’ll fully improve in all the areas of the language and will learn how natives truly speak.

Plus, this is the best news for your accent training, because by hearing a native speaker, you’ll learn the best pronunciation.

Our teachers will also create a plan based on your language needs, goals and even your job. So you can impress your fellow Australian coworkers or business partners.

Want more? Okay. Our classes aren’t just for you. If for some reason you have an employee or various employees that need corporate language classes, we’re here for all of you. By investing in your workers’ language skills, you’re also investing in your company’s growth.

Contact us for a free consultation now.

Hey, Y’all! A Tour of 7 Southern Accents and Dialects

Illustrated pictorial map of southern United States. Includes Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

People the world over have probably heard Southern accents and dialects in movies or TV shows. But did you know that there are actually several variations of English in the Southern U.S.? Even as regional accents and dialects fade away across the U.S., the richness and variety of how people speak around the South tells you a lot about their history and culture.

Whether you’re an expat seeking to better understand the people in your new home or you’re just fascinated by accents and dialects (like we are at Fluency Corp!), let’s go on a quick linguistic tour around the American South.

Accents vs. Dialect

Before we get started, we want to share a quick note about the terminology used in this article. What we typically think of as a regional accent is actually a blend of accent and dialect. An accent is how people in a particular region pronounce words. A region’s dialect includes its distinct accent, but also features like word choice and sentence structure.

Please remember that you’re likely to hear people with different accents or dialects within the same state or region. (For example, not all Texans say “howdy.”) In this article, we’re simply giving an overview of some of the best-known accents around the South.

Texas Accent/Dialect

We’ll start our tour here because Texas is the state where Fluency Corp is based. We have to confess to you, however, that some people don’t even consider Texas part of the South. What everyone agrees on, though, is that Texans have their own ways of speaking.

Sociolinguist Guy Bailey once said that Texans have a “Southern accent with a twist.” According to the University of Texas, you might hear Texans (and other Southerners) pronounce the word “pie” as “pah” and “night” as “naht.”

Texans are also known for colorful expressions and sayings, like “I wouldn’t trust him any farther than I could throw him.”

Louisiana Accent/Dialect

Next, let’s visit Texas’ neighbor to the east, Louisiana. This state’s speech style is also well known, thanks in part to the French influence on Louisiana. What most of us would identify as a Louisiana accent is actually the accent of the Southern part of the state, including New Orleans. People in this part of the state often identify as Cajuns or Creoles.

If you’ve ever heard New Orleans football fans chant “Who dat! Who dat! Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints!”, you have a head start on speaking Cajun English. Other familiar terms in this dialect include “gris-gris” (a Voodoo charm), “cher” (dear or darling) and, of course, a whole passel of culinary words like “gumbo” and “roux.”

North Florida Accent/Dialect

There’s an old saying that the farther north you go in Florida, the more Southern things feel. While Florida cities like St. Petersburg, Orlando and Miami are in the southern part of the U.S. geographically, they aren’t as closely connected to the traditional culture of the South as places like Tallahassee and the Florida Panhandle are.

Around those parts, you might hear a slow-paced Southern accent and the use of idioms like “fixin’ to.” (“I’m fixin’ to go to the store. Do y’all need anything?”)

Appalachian Accent/Dialect

Contrary to stereotypes, all of Appalachia isn’t the American South. The Appalachian Regional Commission defines Appalachia as all of West Virginia, plus parts of Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

But Appalachian English is most commonly associated with the southern and central parts of this region. The Scots-Irish influence on Appalachian English is strong and can be heard in words like “holler” and “ruckus.”

Arkansas Ozarks Accent/Dialect

This is another accent that has rich cultural ties. Like Appalachian English, Ozark English has ties to Scotch-Irish dialects. In isolated Ozark communities, researchers have even heard residents speak a dialect that has a lot in common with the English of Chaucer’s time.

One common colloquialism that characterizes Ozark English is using “done” to mean “already,” as in “I done told you.” Speakers of Ozark English also sometimes use “a-” as a verb prefix. For example: “He just kept a-goin’.”

Southern Coastal Accent/Dialect

Like the Appalachian accent, the Southern coastal accent can be heard in multiple states. Associated with parts of Georgia, South Carolina and Florida, the coastal accent is characterized more by drawl than twang. It’s also known for its slower pace and softening of consonants.

Many people have described this accent as sounding refined or genteel. In some areas, you’ll also hear the influence of the Gullah Geechee culture on the Southern coastal accent.

Mississippi Delta Accent/Dialect

And speaking of drawls, y’all, let’s discuss the Mississippi Delta accent. The Delta is a region that’s known for its (sometimes painful) history and that includes the northwest part of Mississippi and parts of Arkansas and Mississippi. In the Delta, you might hear people call crackers “nabs” and dive bars with good music “juke joints.”

Are You an Expat in the U.S. Looking to Sound More Like a Native Speaker?

If you’re an expat in the U.S. who wants to sound more like the native English speakers where you live, we’d love to tell you about our English classes at Fluency Corp. If you’d like to learn more about how our classes work, contact us now.

What Does Corporate Language Training Cost?
Let’s do the Math.

pile of hundred dollar bills used to symbolize the cost savings of corporate language training

As providers of corporate language training, we hear comments and questions like these all the time:

How will providing accent reduction classes to our employees help us make more money?

Will I really help the company’s bottom line by learning Spanish?

We just don’t have time for language training.

This accountant already speaks English well enough. I don’t understand why he wants private lessons. That couldn’t possibly have any impact, right?

Basically, you can boil them all down to one key question:

Will the money we spend on corporate language training deliver a return on our investment?

We are passionate proponents of language training, but we totally understand where companies that ask this question are coming from. Their money and time are finite, their needs are many, and they have to spend wisely.

It is perfectly reasonable to ask the question: “What does corproate language training cost?” But there’s more than ample evidence that the cost of language training is worth it; an investment that pays off many times over.

Lack of Fluency Hurts the Bottom Line

We recently had a meeting with the head of HR for a multinational company that sends Japanese expats to the U.S. to work for two to four years.

We asked her how much time each employee was losing each each week due to communications breakdowns, and expected her to say two hours or so. That’s based on what our clients tell us about how much time an employee saves per week after a few months of language training.

Instead, her answer was shocking: Five hours. Five! A lack of language fluency was costing each of their employees more than a half day per week.

It’s mystifying that a company can say it doesn’t have time for language training even as it knows employees are wasting time because they don’t have the language skills they need.

To make this all a little easier to understand, we’ll consider a hypothetical situation: Let’s say your company has relocated an international employee to the U.S. The employee makes $100,000 a year. And he’s losing five hours a week due to his lack of language fluency.

When you factor in vacation, holidays and a couple of sick days per year, his hourly rate is about $58. So the price tag for those five lost hours per week is about $290.

And then there’s the time the employee’s colleagues are losing because of his communication problems. It’s likely that $290 per week is multiplied by at least 2.

Without training, the employee is likely to make some language progress, but to still have problems over the years. Here’s how that could break down:

YEAR 1
The employee loses five hours per week. If he works 48 weeks per year (after vacation, holidays, etc.), that’s $13,920, based on the hourly rate we cited above. Assuming that his communication difficulties cost other employees time as well, we can safely double that number to $27,840.

YEAR 2
The employee is now losing 3 hours per week, making the annual cost of his lack of fluency $8,352. Again, we have to figure that other employees are affected. So the total lost for year two is $16,704.

YEARs 3, 4 & 5
The employee is gaining some language skills but still has trouble connecting with and being understood by others. For these years, let’s figure a loss of 1.5 hours per week. That’s an annual cost of $4,176 for him, and $8,352 if you consider his effect on other employees. That gives us a three-year total of $25,056.

Conservatively, that Employee’s Lack of Fluency Will Cost the Company $69,600 Over Five Years!

There are also other ways your company could take a financial hit from not providing this employee language training. Without language skills, it’s harder for the employee to make meaningful contributions at work. You’re missing out on the value of his feedback, ideas and full input.

It’s also harder for the employee to feel at home in a new country and to connect with others. All of this makes it more likely that the employee’s relocation will fail and that he will move back home. Since relocation costs typically range from $72,000 to $1 million, this is a costly failure for your company.

There has to be a better way, right?

Corporate Language Training Pays Off Quickly

At Fluency Corp, we believe that a better way is to invest early in language training. Back to your original question: “What is the cost of language training?” Our classes start at $110 per week for the minimum number of hours to make steady progress. That’s $5,280 for 48 weeks of lessons per year.

The goal is that halfway through this year, your employee will be exponentially better at communicating and wasting far less time. After a year of two hours of language training per week, your employee is close to working at 100 percent (if you hired them at a B2 level, which is normal).

So let’s try that yearly breakdown again:

YEAR 1
Here are the first-year costs we’re looking at under this new scenario:

  • $5,280 for a year’s worth of language instruction with a native speaker.
  • $5,568 (2 hours a week x 48 weeks x the hourly rate of $58) for time “lost” to language instruction — although one could argue this isn’t really a loss.
  • An average of 3 hours lost per week, plus the same amount of time lost for the employees who collaborate with him: $16,704.

That brings the Year 1 total to $27,552. We’re already saving a little money. But things are about to get even better! Not to mention, between Year 1 and Year 2 is when most relocations fail – if we add in the success of the relocation, add anywhere from $75,000 to $1 million dollars of savings.

YEAR 2
The $5,280 and $5,568 numbers stay the same. But now the employee is losing only 90 minutes per week, tops, due to language issues. We’ll continue to assume that his colleagues are losing a comparable amount of time. So the total there is $8,352. We’ve cut your company’s Year 2 losses in half compared with the other scenario.

YEAR 3
We’re still looking at $5,280 for training each year and $5,568 for the time the employee spends on the training. As he polishes his accent and further hones his ability to express ideas clearly, he’s wasting (and costing his colleagues) little to no time. Our new Year 3 total is $10,848.

YEARS 4 & 5
The employee now has strong communication skills. No more language training is needed, and no time is being wasted. Your corporate language training cost for these years? Zero.

With Language Training, our new Five-Year Total is $46,752! That compares with $69,600 in the scenario where the employee didn’t get language training, and it’s a 33 percent savings.

In other words, if you had decided that you couldn’t afford language training for the employee, you would be costing your company almost $23,000.

That’s not even taking into the account the cost of a potential failed relocation and of all the employee’s contributions that you’d be missing out on due to his lack of fluency. Language training builds collaboration, productivity and trust.

And that is simply priceless.

 

What Makes Corporate Language Training Affordable?

The way we keep costs down for language training is in our method. We are aiming to get employees and executives fluent as efficiently as possible. No wasted time learning irrelevant vocabulary or working with flashcards. We customize each lesson so your employees are learning what they need to be productive on the job. Emails, presentations, speaking with customers — whatever skills they need to be successful are the things we work on. Visit our FAQ’s page for more details on how language training classes work with Fluency Corp.

We offer corporate language training in cities across the globe. Cities in the U.S. like Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, and Washington D.C. have a number of international business hubs.

Choose from language classes on-site at your offices or online over Skype for employees. Spanish, English, Japanese, Mandarin, and many more languages are available. Contact us for a consultation today at getfluent@fluencycorp.com.

 

 

10 Secrets to Managing your Multilingual Global Workforce

How to Talk with your Employee about Their Accent

How to Talk with your Employee about Their Accent

nnAs a language training company, we get this question constantly: “How do I approach my employee about their accent? It seems as though everyone has a hard time understanding him/her because of his/her heavy accent.“nnIn fact, I got a call like this just the other day from a CEO.nn“We have two new interns this year, and we would like to hire both of them when they are finished with their internships,” the CEO told me. “They are incredible. But we’re having a hard time understanding one of them. Her work is great, but at meetings, we’re not sure what she’s saying sometimes due to her strong accent.”

Being Fluent Doesn’t Mean your Accent is Gone

This employee is far from alone. With multilingual teams and global relocations on the rise, more employees are being asked to do business in their second language. But even if an employee has achieved fluency in a second language, a strong accent can be still an issue.nnI even spoke with a British woman who is having a hard time adjusting her communication now that she works in the U.S. And she is a native English speaker!nnEuropeans typically learn British English, so relocating to New York City, Dallas or anywhere else in the U.S. is a shock to their ears. Mobile, privacy and schedule are just a few of the words pronounced differently in British English vs. American English.nnMany global teams also include members from India. Although English is commonly used in higher education and business in India — it’s even been called the “de facto national language” there — some Americans find English spoken by natives of India hard to understand.nnAn accent has a very real effect on how other team members perceive an employee. According to researchers Kristin J. Van Engen and Jonathan E. Peelle, if you’re listening to someone with an unfamiliar accent, you’ll have trouble understanding and processing what they’re saying.nn(By the way, that’s true regardless of whether the speaker’s accent is from a foreign country or simply a different region of your own country.)

How to Talk About Accent Reduction Training

So what can you do as a leader when a valued employee’s strong accent is keeping him from reaching his potential? I totally get that this can be an awkward subject to bring up with a team member, but it’s too important not to talk about.nnYou can have a successful, nonconfrontational conversation with anybody at your company about accents and how they impact communication. Here’s the game plan that Fluency Corp recommends, complete with a script you can use when talking to the employee.

  1. Schedule a one-on-one meeting with the employee to discuss his progress with his work. It doesn’t have to be formal. Don’t put this off!
  2. Here’s your opening line: “We are really impressed with (name a few ways this employee makes a difference and adds value). We think you are a vital part of the team, and we would like to invest in you even further. We want to ensure that you are 100 percent confident as you do this job. Is there anything we can do to support your growth?”
  3. Listen to the employee’s aspirations and desires around development and training. We’re betting that he’s going to bring up accent reduction training before you even mention it.
  4. As many calls as we get from employers about how to approach their team members about accents, we get twice as many calls from employees themselves. They want to know how they can master the local dialect and improve their communication and understanding with co-workers.
  5. It’s very likely that your employee has long wanted to pursue training to reduce his accent but hasn’t been sure how to bring it up with you. By initiating this conversation, you’re giving him an opening.
  6. What if the topic of accent reduction doesn’t come up right away? You can gently raise the subject by saying something like this: “How is communication going with your co-workers? We know working in a new country/region is challenging, and the local accent here is different from what you’re used to, so is there anything we can do to help you?”
  7. Once you and the employee agree on the need for accent reduction, offer language training: “Would you be interested in some private, one-on-one accent lessons to help you better understand our crazy dialect? We can enroll you in corporate English lessons that focus on developing and understanding the U.S. accent and covering the phrases you use in your daily work interactions.”

10 Secrets to Managing your Multilingual Global Workforce

3 Ways To Improve Your Heavy Accent

If your employee does want to work on their accent, remind them that the goal is not to erase all evidence of their accent, it’s simply to help them get their message across more clearly. There are simple ways to help them speak clearly even with a strong accent. Try these tips, even before formal language classes start:

  1. Make lists of the words that rhyme or have the same sounds – English has a lot of different spellings for the same sounds: burn, earn, bird, word. Each one has a different spelling, yet all of the sounds are the same. Use Forvo.com to check out a native speaker pronouncing each word if you’re unsure, or ask your English tutor.
  2. Google ‘English liaisons”. In English we connect words that start with a vowel. For example: I liked it. This is pronounced: I lik-tit.
  3. Use American Accent Training book to learn about new sounds that form between two letters from different words. For example: T + Y = CH. Don’t you = don-chew. This book will also open up your ears to the true sound of the language, and stop you from reading what you think the word sounds like based on the spelling.

One more thing? It’s okay to take time and be patient. Speak slowly when communicating to colleagues at work, and encourage your employee to keep working on reducing their accent independently and with language training.nn

Offering Language Classes Yields Powerful Payoffs

Language training that helps your employee reduce a strong accent will have powerful payoffs. If your company relocated this employee to your office, language classes will help him assimilate and decrease the chances that the relocation won’t take.nnThe employee will feel more competent and confident — and, thus, more likely to share his great ideas. (Isn’t that why you hired him in the first place?)nnYou’ll improve collaborations on your team by easing communication. And you’ll be showing your employee that you truly care about his wellbeing and success, which inspires deep loyalty.nnLike I said earlier, don’t put off this conversation with your employee. To learn more about how Fluency Corp can help you with accent reduction training, contact us for a free consultation.nn

English Accent Tips for Indian Speakers

English Accent Tips for Indian Speakers

A lot of Indian speakers want to polish their English accent. First of all, we need to tell you that having an accent is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, it’s pretty common.

We even believe accents are beautiful, as they are proof of the many awesome cultures that exist in the world. But as a language school, we also understand that polishing your accent is necessary to be understood.

That’s the problem a lot of Indians face in the English-speaking scenery. We know that English is very popular in India, because there’s a lot of history there with the British. History that goes back to the 1800s and made English an important language in India ever since.

Nonetheless, we know that not everyone there speaks English. And the ones that do, have an Indian English accent. This makes people from other English-speaking countries not understand Indians very well. That’s a problem, especially in the working field. You need others to understand you to communicate properly and not leave space for misinterpretations.

Not everything is lost, though! Here at Fluency Corp, we have some great English accent tips & tricks for Indians to improve their English-speaking skills.

“R” pronunciation

Many Indian speakers don’t pronounce the “r” when this letter is in the middle or at the end of words. The same happens in the British English pronunciation, take for example the words “better”, “water” or “work”. This makes sense if we think that the English they learned was mainly influenced by the British. This characteristic is called a non-rhotic accent.

To sound more like the American English accent, you should strive for a rhotic accent. This means to pronounce the “r”. If you have trouble with that, just curl up the tip of your tongue a little bit.

But don’t touch your palate and don’t throw your tongue way too behind; there needs to be space for some air flow. It’s just a very small curl up the tip of the tongue. You can also think of your tongue moving up and down. Oh, and your lips need to be slightly open, but don’t round them too much.

The first few tries you might hear the sounds coming up way too strong, don’t get discouraged. It’s just a matter of practice and positioning your tongue correctly.

Retroflex sound

An Indian English speaker tends to curl up and back the tip of their tongue. That is a retroflex sound. The pronunciations end up being stronger and different than in the American English accent. It almost sounds like the letters are locked up and can’t get out.

We’re not saying that in American English, people don’t ever use retroflex sounds. But the tip of their tongues doesn’t go as back as in India.

That’s why many Indian English speakers make the “t” in words sound like a “d”. Or their “d” sounds are stronger. To change it to a more Americanized accent, just put the tip of your tongue in the ridge behind your top teeth. Don’t curl it to the back.

Now try to pronounce the ‘t’ and ‘d’ sounds. You’ll notice a huge difference. The sounds might not be as strong as before, but they’re still there.

The sound of “p”

Indian speakers tend to inhale the letter “p” when speaking. This makes it an unaspirated sound, which means that not a lot of air comes out when you say the letter out loud. For many people, the Indian “p” sounds more like a “b”. That could create some confusion when talking to English native speakers.

To achieve an American accent, you need to do all the contrary with the “p” sound. So, try to exhale more air when enunciating the “p”, make sure the sound comes from the diaphragm. Once again, the tongue plays a huge role in this, don’t curl it back.

“W” vs “V”

While English native speakers differentiate between the “w” sound and the “v” sound, Indian English speakers don’t. They use the “v” sound for both letters. So, simple words like “what”, “watermelon”, “want” and “wand” sound very different, as if they had a “v”.

That could be confusing, especially with orthographic neighbors. That is with words whose writing and meaning change only by one letter. Like “wet” and “vet”, or “wow” and “vow”, or “west” and “vest”.

When making the “v” sound, you’ll notice that your teeth touch the lips. That should not happen for the “w” sound. To make the “w” sound, just open your lips slightly and push them forward. They’ll look almost in a small “o” shape.

Now try to say the “w” sound or a word with it. You might find it easier if you look at yourself in the mirror while doing that. Because you’ll make sure your lips are moving correctly.

This is a very tricky sound, so do not despair. It takes practice. But if it helps you more, check this video by Gabriel Burrafato, a voice and speech coach. There, he gives an amazing tip to achieve the “w” sound.

First, say “oooooh”. Now, you just have to shorten the “oooooh” to something like “ooh” and immediately enunciate the next letter sound. Finally, say the complete word.

For example, take the word “what”: “oooooh” – “oooooh-at” – “ooh-at”.

English Accent Training for Indian Call Centers Employees

Did you know that there’s a huge amount of call centers outsourced to India? For one side, this is a great business decision, because of the many people in India that speak English fluently.

But on the other hand, Indian English is not easy to understand for other English-speaking people. So, Indian call center employees must put extra effort to change their English accent.

If you work in a call center, you should start training your ear, and putting into practice all the pronunciation tips we just gave you. That will make people understand you better, which will ultimately make you better at your job.

Ear training

Training your ear will make you pick up the sounds almost without noticing it. If you think about it, it’s how babies learn their native language, they listen and their ears start to pick up the sounds. Overtime they emulate them. So, you must practice your listening.

Listen to songs in English or maybe some English podcasts. If you’re more of a visual person, watch a movie in English. After a while, try to repeat some of the words they say that you find complicated. That way, you listen first and try to emulate the sound.

There’s a LinkedIn article that says that call center accent training should involve accustoming your ear to different accents. We couldn’t agree more.

After all, you’ll speak with customers from different English countries, like Australia, the UK, and the U.S.A. To do that, just listen to videos of people from different English-speaking countries.

Script practice

That same LinkedIn article says that some call centers make their employees practice situations they might encounter during the customer calls. This in order to know the best answers. So, they give them a script to practice with.

If this is your case, this method could also help your accent. Make sure to practice the sounds of your words when you play pretend with these scripted customer encounters and ways to answer.

Practice your pronunciation

To put into practice the tips we gave you before, make a list of the most complicated words and phrases you use at your job. It can also be a list of words you notice customers usually don’t understand when you say them.

Then, repeat one by one, but make sure the position of your tongue is correct and use everything we told you above. For example, let’s say you have trouble with the word “work”, and you notice that it has a “w”.

Then, apply our tips for the correct enunciation of the “w” sound.

These are tips for call center employees, because they’re one of the groups of people in India that need to improve their English the most. But all tips work just as well for any Indian speaker.

What Can I Do to Improve My Indian Employees’ English Skills?

Many companies are constantly looking for people with bilingual skills. Usually, they ask them to have a good English level. This is because it’s a common language and it’s well known that you’ll find many people that know English around the world.

So, it becomes necessary for companies. Since many Indians know English very well, it’s not surprising that they land great bilingual jobs.

But what is a blessing for them, could also be a double-edged sword if they have an Indian English accent. Again, it’s nothing to be ashamed of, but maybe not everyone understands them. If you have one or more employees that need to improve their accents, Fluency Corp is here for you.

We’re a corporate language school. Our native teachers customize every program and lesson to your needs and the job. So, if what you want is accent training, be sure you’ll get that.

Though we also teach useful vocabulary and grammar skills, our focus is language fluency. So there will always be time for speaking. Nothing prepares you better for a bilingual meeting than that.

It doesn’t matter if these classes are for you or your employees, we’re here to help. Oh, and don’t worry, neither of you will feel ashamed of your accent or English skills. We’re a safe place to study and make mistakes.

After all, we learn from them.

If you want to discuss more about your language goals, set up a free consultation with Fluency Corp by contacting us at getfluent@fluencycorp.com or (800) 401-3159.

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Can You Ever Really Lose Your Accent? (And Do You Need To?)

Can You Ever Really Lose Your Accent? (And Do You Need To?)

At Fluency Corp, we don’t just help clients who need to learn a second language. We also offer classes that focus specifically on accent reduction for clients who are already fluent in that language. Because we’ve worked with so many people who want to reduce a heavy accent, there’s a question we’ve heard a lot: Is it possible to totally get rid of your accent when speaking your second language? In this article, we want to address that question, plus some others that it brings up.

Why Do We Have Accents Anyway?

Even when you know how a word in your second language should be pronounced, you can still find it next to impossible to pronounce it that way yourself. So why is that? Well, it goes back to the fact that different languages don’t just have different words; they also have different sounds. For example, the language of Spanish has rolled r’s, but the language of English doesn’t. If you’re an English speaker who’s learning Spanish, you might have trouble reproducing that rolled r sound because your ear just isn’t used to it.

Is It Possible to Learn a Second Language and Not Have an Accent?

There’s good news and bad news here. First, the good news: Yes, it is. And now the bad news: You have to be really young to do so.

According to the book “Neuroscience. 2nd Edition,” when we’re very young babies, we can discriminate between all the sounds used in different languages. But by the time we’re 6 months old, we are paying more attention to the sounds in the language that the people around us speak. We can still learn a second language without an accent and with native proficiency until about age 8. But, after that, it gets a lot harder. We lose a lot of our aptitude in perceiving and reproducing sounds from other languages that don’t exist in our own language.

Why Do People Want to Lose Their Accents?

If you’ve never had to conduct your work or personal life exclusively in your second language, you might be wondering about this question. Accents are beautiful and intriguing, right? We don’t have to all sound the same, do we?

Those statements are both true. But they don’t represent the full truth about accents. An accent that native speakers have trouble understanding can hold you back from so much — including success at work and connection with others. I (Micah, Fluency Corp’s founder) can tell you that both from experiences at our company and in my personal life.

I remember well a call that Fluency Corp once got from a CEO.

“We have two new interns this year, and we would like to hire both of them when they are finished with their internships,” the CEO told me. “They are incredible. But we’re having a hard time understanding one of them. Her work is great, but at meetings, we’re not sure what she’s saying sometimes due to her strong accent.”

Rebecca Zhuo, who specializes in helping engineers speak English with an American accent, observed something similar as a project manager in Silicon Valley. She noticed that the non-native English speakers were lively and engaged on Slack, but hesitated to speak up in person. She found out that this was because they felt self-conscious about their accents.

But a strong accent doesn’t just hold you back at work. I used to live in Mexico. Now, keep in mind that I had already studied Spanish extensively. But, because of my accent, waiters in Mexico always still had to ask me to repeat my orders. That was embarrassing and frustrating. And it didn’t exactly help me feel at home in Mexico.

What Should People with Strong Accents Do?

If you’ve been worried about your strong accent, you might think it’s a no-win situation: You can’t get rid of your accent, but it’s holding you back from the connections and success that you want. But we can tell you from our work with clients that there’s a very happy medium to be reached.

Instead of trying to lose your accent, focus instead on improving your accent. At the end of the day, it isn’t really that important if someone thinks you were born in Cleveland instead of Kolkata when they hear you speak English. Instead, what really matters is that you can do the tasks that are important to you and communicate with the people who are important to you. And all of that is very possible while still having an accent.

What’s the Best Way to Reduce a Strong Accent?

The people I’ve encountered who come closest to sounding like a native in their second language all seem to have one thing in common: They learned their second language mostly by speaking it. The takeaway here is that if you want to reduce your accent, look for training classes that will give you lots of practice conversing with native speakers.

Accent Reduction Training from Fluency Corp

At Fluency Corp, we have lots of experience helping employees with heavy accents be understood better by native speakers. Not only that, we give them the confidence they need to speak up at meetings and give presentations. We emphasize relevant conversational practice that’s all too often missing in the classroom. Whether they’re taking classes in person or online with a live instructor, all Fluency Corp clients study with experienced, native-speaker instructors. These instructors take the time to get to know students and their specific challenges so that they can offer valuable, personalized feedback.

Whether you want to improve your own accent or help an employee with a heavy accent, set up a free consultation with Fluency Corp by contacting us at getfluent@fluencycorp.com or (800) 401-3159.

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Do you Speak with an Accent?

Do you Speak with an Accent

Huh? The what factor
Do you speak with an accent?

What we believe: accents are beautiful, quirky, tell a story and endear us to people.

What we also believe: difficult-to-understand accents can detract from what we’re trying to convey. Accents can also hold us back in our careers if it is hard for people to communicate with us or understand us. And they can make us feel self-conscious to the point that we do not say as much as we want to say.

Skills You Need states that, “[Accents] may…, however, in some situations, create potential barriers to communication. For example, if you have a very strong accent, people from another area or country may find it harder to understand what you are saying. You may therefore need to slow down your speech to ensure that they have time to process what you are saying.”

 

Accents Impact Your Communication

We know that our clients can be more successful in their careers and in their personal lives if people can understand them more easily. We also know from personal experience, work experience and hearing from other professionals in multilingual regions like Silicon Valley, that ‘accents were dramatically influencing the quality of interaction for foreign-born team members.”Now, our business is to equip our clients with effective communication in their non-native languages, but it’s also our business to help people who do speak with an accent develop the ability to communicate clearly.

This doesn’t mean that we want everyone to sound like an American, rather, we want others to understand you well and we want you to succeed in all things you want to be successful in. There are specific accent reduction tricks you can learn that will make your speech understood better by an American ear.

You Can Be Fluent and Have a Strong Accent

I remember when I lived in Mexico, and every time I ordered, the waiter said politely, “Excuse me, but what did you say?” I was embarrassed and frustrated. To make matters worse, I was completely fluent in Spanish.

Accents are more than just pronouncing words. It’s the rhythm, the cadence, the tone, the linking of the words (depending on the language), as opposed to saying. Each. Word. In. di. vi. dually. Native speakers don’t do this in English. You probably don’t do this in your first language either.

When you’re fluent, but you have an accent, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to improve it so that you can work more effectively, or, make your coworkers feel more confident about working with you.

Are People Struggling to Understand You?

I have a client who has a strong accent and is in charge of selling his company’s product – he’s the spokesperson at conferences. I’ve seen him give presentations, and I’ve seen the crowd lean toward him and focus intently – trying to understand him. Now, you might say, “That’s great! He’s getting their attention!” But not in a good way.

We want them to be able to relax, sit back, and listen to his important message, not crane their necks and scrunch their foreheads trying to understand. The audience should be able to focus on the content of what he’s saying, not trying to figure out the words and their meanings.

Dianne Markley, a professor at the University of North Texas at Denton (UNT) whose graduate research focused on how accents affect the hiring process, says, unfortunately, “sometimes an accent leads to the perception that that person can’t perform this job,” she adds. “In fact, it is legal to not hire someone whose accent materially affects his ability to perform key aspects of a job.”

Point is: if people are asking you ‘what?’ on the phone or in person, if you can see some confusion on their face or struggle to understand you, you might want to consider accent reduction lessons. It won’t take away from the unique way that you speak, and most likely everyone will still know where you come from, but there will be clarity to your speech, which will only benefit you, your confidence, career, and personal relationships.

I reduced my accent in Spanish, and now I can order in a restaurant without the ‘What?’ questions.
If you would like a free consultation about your accent, please email getfluent@fluencycorp.com.

Tips to Improve Any Accent

How to Improve Your Accent

You Speak a Second Language with an Accent. So What?

My Spanish-speaking client arrived for her in-office Corporate English Training lesson and flopped into her chair, clearly exasperated about something.

“Why can’t I order a regular coffee like everyone else at Starbucks without confusing the cashier?” she fumed. “I say the same thing as everyone else does!”

I knew where she was coming from. When I lived in Mexico, I often had to repeat my order to waiters several times. It left me feeling embarrassed and dumb — and it left me avoiding coffee shops altogether.

Now, after dedicating a decade of researching accents and accent training (English accent, Spanish accent, French accent, and Japanese accents for foreigners), I have come to understand quite a few things that I never learned in my traditional, formal, foreign language classes.

Let’s get real about accents.

Here are a couple of hard truths about building language proficiency: You can spend endless hours poring over textbooks, memorizing vocabulary lists, and even practicing in the classroom, but you still won’t sound like a native speaker. Native speakers might have trouble understanding you because of your “foreign accent,” but you can improve on that.

Today, I’m sharing some tips about how to improve your accent so you can feel more comfortable in your second language, sound more like a native, and communicate more easily with others.

Why Do We Have Accents Anyway?

First, though, let’s talk about what accents are and why we have them when we speak in another language. The Linguistic Society of America does a great job of breaking down this topic. As the LSA explains, when you were born, you had the capability to learn the sounds of any language. You could have effortlessly picked up the tricky German Z or mastered rolling your R’s like a native Spanish speaker.

But as you started to become more aware of the world around you, you also became aware of the language or languages people around you were speaking. You were really, really good at figuring out which sounds were important in the language you were hearing and which ones you didn’t have to worry about. You became “wired” for your native language.

Fast-forward to today. You’re working to learn a new language that uses some sounds your native language doesn’t. You could have learned those sounds in a flash as a kid, but now your ear has trouble hearing them and your mouth has trouble forming them. So you swap in a similar sound from your own language — for example, the English R for a Spanish R. It sounds pretty close to you. But it sounds way off to native speakers: aka, an accent.

What we think of as a foreign accent goes beyond how words are pronounced, though, as the LSA points out. Different languages use different sound patterns, rhythms, stresses and structure sentences differently.

All of this can add up to frustration as we try to be understood in our non-native language.

How to Improve Your Accent

When we’re kids, there’s a “critical period” where our brains really go all out to help us learn language. Unfortunately, it’s never that easy again. If you’re learning a second language, you’re not going to intuitively pick things up the way you did when you were little.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t take steps to sound more like a native speaker, improve your accent — and be more easily understood by native speakers. Here are a few tips that helped me when I was in Mexico and that all Fluency Corp instructors use with our clients.

Practice Under Pressure. Remember how I said in an earlier blog that I didn’t like ordering in restaurants when I worked in Mexico? I always tried to get my friends to order for me. But they did something very wise and kind: they refused to. They knew they wouldn’t always be there and that I had to figure out why waiters didn’t understand me. When someone asks you to repeat yourself, make a mental note that you’re obviously saying something differently, and ask the native speaker to say the sentence so you can hear how they would say it. Take notes or even record them saying it on your phone. Don’t be embarrassed! People typically love helping out, and it’s a way to make a new friend!

Study Native Speakers. You’ll learn more interacting with native speakers than you ever did in a language classroom. As I was trying to improve my ordering skills in Spanish, I paid close attention to how my native-speaking friends ordered, including the specific phrases they used. I tried to stress the syllables they stressed; speaking more slowly so I could really nail the double R’s and soft T’s and D’s, V’s and B’s. I tried to mimic the rhythm they used – like a song, with a beat and a tone.

Get Feedback. Is there a specific word that people consistently don’t understand when you say it? Ask a native speaker to review your pronunciation and give you some pointers. For my client who was getting tripped up at Starbucks, the problem word was “milk.” She had to say the word three times before pointing at some milk to make herself understood. Her pronunciation was “meh-elk,” which we worked on together. Be sure to check out www.forvo.com, where you can find any word pronounced in English (or any language). You can even choose an American accent or British one, so you can find the pronunciation of the exact people around you – wherever you live and work. It’s fantastic!

Crank Up Some Tunes. I also started getting into music when I was learning French. I noticed how singers connected the end of one word to the beginning of another word (it didn’t sound like how it looked!), how they cut off the endings of some words and blended them with the next ones. Mimicking them really made me sound more like a native speaker with a native rhythm of speaking – and it was fun! Not to mention at parties or with my new friends, I could join in when everyone belted out the songs!

You Don’t Have to Speak Perfectly

Finally, I want to reassure you that you can still work successfully and form meaningful connections with others in your non-native language even if you never quite “lose your accent.” Researchers are coming around to the idea that the “intelligibility principle” is the most effective way to learn a language. Here’s how Time magazine described the intelligibility principle:

“Pronunciation can be learned—but it should be learned with the goal of communicating easily with others, not with achieving a textbook-perfect accent.

Learners guided by the intelligibility principle focus less attention on individual vowels and consonants, and more attention to the “macro” aspects of language, such as general speaking habits, volume, stress, and rhythm.

The intelligibility principle may be behind the acknowledged effectiveness of immersion-learning programs: when we immerse ourselves in a foreign language, particularly as spoken by natives, we’re picking up more than specific vocabulary words: we’re getting the gist of how the language is spoken, and our own attempts reflect this expansive awareness.”

That description tracks really closely with what worked for me as I learned Spanish in Mexico. And it aligns with our approach to language training at Fluency Corp. Language learners who study with us get plenty of speaking experience they can use in real-world scenarios both at work and when socializing. To learn more, contact us now for a free consultation. While Fluency Corp specializes in helping multilingual workforce and global institutions if you need one-on-one language lessons be sure to visit TruFluency for individual classes starting at just $54 an hour.

Do You Speak with a Foreign Accent?

Accents

When I first moved to Mexico, I made my friends order for me at restaurants.

Why would I do this when I spoke Spanish?

It’s simple. I had an English accent, and speaking with an accent made it hard for native Spanish speakers to understand what I was saying.

Every time I ordered, the waiter would say, “Excuse me?” and look at me as if I had horns coming out of my forehead or as if I had asked to eat boogers for dinner.

What is it like to speak with an accent?

What is an accent? It’s basically the way your voice sounds when you speak. The Linguistics Society of America defines a foreign accent as the way you sound “when a person speaks one language using some of the rules or sounds of another one.” Who wants to say the same thing again and again if the way of pronouncing it isn’t going to get any better?!

It made me feel, well, stupid. Speaking with an accent often means repeating yourself again and again, hoping to be understood.

Even though I knew that I personally wasn’t stupid, I knew that my lips and tongue couldn’t form the sounds needed in order to get them to bring me a salad, and I was frustrated and annoyed!

It’s Scary to Try to Speak in Another Language as an Adult.

When we were 3 years old, learning our first language, we didn’t know that we were saying things incorrectly (nor did we care), but as adults, we know enough to feel insecure and self-conscious. Therefore, we don’t want to do it. We ask others to order for us or talk for us. We don’t want to feel dumb.

My grandpa came to this country when he was 25, which is generally too old to have a native English-speaker accent. To this day (he’s 86 now) he refuses to put a message on the answering machine because he doesn’t like to hear his Spanish accent when speaking in English. He feels ashamed. Even though he shouldn’t.

People with Foreign Accents are Brave, Incredible People.

They’ve left everything they know behind (whether to move to another country, or even just to go on vacation!) and come to discover something foreign, awkward, opposite of what they know, strange, bizarre, ridiculous, and even plain horrible.

People with accents have decided to throw caution to the wind and have said, “I don’t care if I look stupid. I want to see Peru, and I want to try to speak to Peruvians, and I want to talk with them while I’m eating Alpaca and cuy, and I don’t want to speak in my language while I do it!”

Or, even scarier, they have said, “We need to move because the schools in France are better, and I want my children to have more than what I had. We need to learn this new language in order to get jobs and support ourselves in this new country that we want to live in.”

I got to Experience this Feeling of Stupidity Again Last Week in Peru.

99% of the time they understood me, but every so often, when I was extra tired and my tongue was lazy and not pronouncing the RRs or not making the ‘o’ as in oh and not as in ah…, someone would ask me to repeat myself.

And there was the feeling again: ugh, I’m just not good at this language! (I’m a Spanish teacher, mind you.)

But now I don’t let that feeling sit with me for more than a second.

Because I’m brave!

I’m in Peru!

I’m eating Alpaca! (Don’t judge me, I didn’t eat the cuy… what’s cuy? Go look it up! (says the teacher : )).

I’m Speaking the Language!

So what if I have to repeat myself from time to time!

When salespeople tried to switch to English after hearing my accent, I would confidently answer them in Spanish:

“I speak Spanish, so let’s please use it. I’m in your country. It’s the least I can do.” Speaking with an accent is ok.

Accents are Beautiful, but We also Want to be Understood When Speaking a Foreign Language.

When you can reduce your accent, it is easier to speak on the phone and it makes it easier for others to understand you. We’ve got four ways to improve a strong accent if you’re looking to make a difference. If you’re an HR professional or working with someone who is difficult to understand because of their foreign accent, here’s our guide to asking for accent training.

Learning how to reduce your accent when speaking a foreign language can lead to more business, better relationships, more clients, and a better work environment.

Do you speak with an accent? If you want a free consultation, email getfluent@fluencycorp.com or call (800) 401-3159.