Accent Reduction for Chinese Speakers of English: Why Communicating is Hard and What to Do About It
Posted: Friday, July 31, 2009
by Lisa Scott
Accentuate Communication
If you were born in China but now live in the United States, you are part of a large and wonderful group of people. According to the latest census information, there are over 1.6 million Chinese immigrants in the United States. Of these, two-thirds are of adult working age and two in five have a college degree or higher; however, two-thirds have limited English proficiency.
ESL classes are a wonderful place to start and they do a terrific job of teaching the basics of English vocabulary and grammar. I highly recommend them!
The problem comes for many people who have learned to speak and write English but find that they still cannot communicate with native English-speaking Americans. Have you experienced this? Have you had someone ask you to repeat yourself when you thought you had been perfectly clear? It can be frustrating and disheartening, especially for someone who has worked so hard, to find that it is not a lack of education or effort that is holding them back, but the difficulty in being understood.
So, if you have taken ESL classes and you speak English every day, what can you do to be understood more easily? One of the best things you can do is to focus on reducing your accent. You can ask American friends to gently correct you when you mispronounce a word. Write down words you have trouble saying correctly and practice them at home.
Every language has rules to its pronunciation, and understanding those rules is vital to reducing an accent. There are some rules in English that are very different from the Chinese rules,so they can be quite confusing to Chinese speakers of English. Some of these include:
distinguishing between the r and l sounds
distinguishing between the n and ng sounds
knowing when to pronounce final consonants
understanding the difference between voiced and unvoiced consonants, such as k and g, p and b, and t and d
You will probably experience the most rapid results by working with an accent reduction specialist, either locally or over the internet through webcam classes. Webcam classes typically provide the most private, flexible, and cost-effective option. Accent reduction specialists with a background in speech pathology have been specially trained to teach people how to hear the subtle differences between sounds and how to position their lips and tongue to produce certain sounds. They can recognize where you are having difficulty and teach you new speech patterns that will make speaking English much less frustrating.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Great article. Well done.A good idea is learn the language before you come and practice the “nitty gritty” when you are there.
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