Need help improving my British accent

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bobbricks
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Need help improving my British accent

Post by bobbricks »

Hi,
I was born and raised in the UK (south east), but have parents from South Asia. I've been told that apparently I have a slight accent so it doesn't sound like an RP accent. Can you tell me whether this is true and how I could improve it? This was improvised and I just started talking about tv shows/unis etc .

Sound clip: https://soundcloud.com/abd-20/accent/s-nqHat
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reindeer
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Re: Need help improving my British accent

Post by reindeer »

Hi Bob,

in my opinion, you speak nice and clear English. You have probably no any accent at all, but your speech lacks of that inborn peculiarity which is inherent to speech of native British.
Maybe it's a low tone of your voice, that doesn't match the tone of speech of a typical Englishman - I don't know. I think that living in UK, being permanently among native English speakers, you will sooner or later (only time will tell when) start speaking like them. Or at least your kids will!
Best regards,
Andrew
bobbricks
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Re: Need help improving my British accent

Post by bobbricks »

reindeer wrote:Hi Bob,

in my opinion, you speak nice and clear English. You have probably no any accent at all, but your speech lacks of that inborn peculiarity which is inherent to speech of native British.
Maybe it's a low tone of your voice, that doesn't match the tone of speech of a typical Englishman - I don't know. I think that living in UK, being permanently among native English speakers, you will sooner or later (only time will tell when) start speaking like them. Or at least your kids will!
Best regards,
Andrew
Hi, thanks for that! Do you know if there's anything more active which I could do to sound more "native" and what could be the reason of me not having this inborn peculiarity despite living here since birth?
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reindeer
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Re: Need help improving my British accent

Post by reindeer »

bobbricks wrote: Do you know if there's anything more active which I could do to sound more "native" and what could be the reason of me not having this inborn peculiarity despite living here since birth?

{-:

Remember king George the VI! He had to learn speaking his native language because of being a stammer. Your problem is different: your parents and grandparents obviously didn't speak this language well, so you're the one who's supposed to complete this task.

I can hardly advise you - I learn English as a second language, and I definitely can't speak it easily and fluently. If you really intend to develop RP accent, you have to find your own way to the goal. I believe, a good accent coach will be in handy. By the way, you can find at least one of them here, in this very forum!
Have a nice day,
Andrew
bobbricks
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Re: Need help improving my British accent

Post by bobbricks »

reindeer wrote:
bobbricks wrote: Do you know if there's anything more active which I could do to sound more "native" and what could be the reason of me not having this inborn peculiarity despite living here since birth?

{-:

Remember king George the VI! He had to learn speaking his native language because of being a stammer. Your problem is different: your parents and grandparents obviously didn't speak this language well, so you're the one who's supposed to complete this task.

I can hardly advise you - I learn English as a second language, and I definitely can't speak it easily and fluently. If you really intend to develop RP accent, you have to find your own way to the goal. I believe, a good accent coach will be in handy. By the way, you can find at least one of them here, in this very forum!
Have a nice day,
Andrew
Thanks again! :) If you don't mind me asking, have you lived in the UK before as you seem familiar with RP ?
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reindeer
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Re: Need help improving my British accent

Post by reindeer »

Nope. I have never been to UK, though this country is exactly a place I'd like to visit the most. As to RP, I am not sure that I'm able either identify accents or understand live speech properly, doesn't matter who speaks. I'm kinda writing guy:)
Best wishes,
Andrew
p.s. talk to Michael Andrews (you can find him here) - he proves to be a dialect coach!
bobbricks
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Re: Need help improving my British accent

Post by bobbricks »

reindeer wrote:Nope. I have never been to UK, though this country is exactly a place I'd like to visit the most. As to RP, I am not sure that I'm able either identify accents or understand live speech properly, doesn't matter who speaks. I'm kinda writing guy:)
Best wishes,
Andrew
p.s. talk to Michael Andrews (you can find him here) - he proves to be a dialect coach!
Thanks for all the help- good luck with learning english as a second language :)
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reindeer
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Re: Need help improving my British accent

Post by reindeer »

You are welcome, Bob, and thank you too. I just hoped that you would ask me :roll: [mumbling] to read you...er...some of my stories :oops: You see, those British pop round here so rarely!
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mandrews
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Re: Need help improving my British accent

Post by mandrews »

Hi bobbricks,

This is Michael Andrews, the dialect coach (thank you Reindeer for mentioning me).

Yes, a dialect coach can very drastically improve the accent of anyone who wishes to learn. I have personally coached many people form all over the world and have helped them lose their accents when speaking English.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

Kind regards
Michael Andrews -- I Help People Lose Their Accent --
Dialect Coach and Author of
’Learn the BRITISH ACCENT- FAST!’ and ’Learn the AMERICAN ACCENT- FAST!’
Click on my profile for more details and website address
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