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Foreign Accent

Question:

I’m originally from France and I’ve worked so hard to loose my French accent so it’s funny that I am now trying to gain an English accent. Fred, I’m wondering if you have some stories on how you lost your accent.

Are you able to switch back and forth now or is it gone for ever? I am having problems with my German accent and I am debating what, if

anything, I want to do about it. –Eberhard http://math.berkeley.edu/~scheiffe Eberhard Scheiffele, Ph.D.               Check out my new Web page: 505 23rd Street #4                       http://math.berkeley.edu/~scheiffe Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 444-4817 Quote of the month: The need for self-expression leads us to explode forth with the cry, "we

are human."  -Scott Mutter                                * * * * *      [To remove yourself from this list, send SIGNOFF ACTING-L to

well, i know this message wasn't directed to me but i think i may be able to help... my dad is having the same problem losing his serbian accent, but i've been helping him a bit with what i remember of how i learned english... one thing that i'd say is that, most likely, you are trying too hard... i'd assume you are having trouble with things like r's, th's, etc... don't sit there and try to emulate it, rather, find out how and why you make the sound, and then do it... my dad always has to say either 'da' (for the) or t-he... sounds very fake... what i told him to do is just whistle with his mouth open and his tongue OUT... look at how the mouth moves when someone is speaking... then just do the same thing... you are probably having more trouble with things like h's and th's and the main reason being (it happens my dad took 9 years of german [high school + college] ) that german is spoken ‘in your throat.’ you have to make the sound and then ’say’ it. in english you say the sound and that’s what makes it… i hope that made sense. the most important thing though, is this… remember that you need determination for the simple reason that if you (like i hope you do) tell all your friends and associates to correct you when you say something wrong and then get frustrated from saying so many things wrong, you’ll get mad at them and they’ll stop. what you need to do is before you get angry, remember why they’re doing this, and then just say "ok. i made a mistake. i’ll try again." eventually you’ll get it. (if that doesn’t work for you [and it will take a while] then you can always try to just WATCH other people talk rather than listen. it makes a big difference.) "If one would think himself wise, one would be wise to not think at all…"         -yours truly                                 * * * * * [This message was posted to the ACTING-L mailing list and relayed to this newsgroup.  You may followup to the newsgroup or, if you are a  member of ACTING-L,  reply  to  the  list.   For  more  information  send E-mail to

Response:

I’m originally from France and I’ve worked so hard to loose my French accent so it’s funny that I am now trying to gain an English accent.

Fred, I’m wondering if you have some stories on how you lost your accent. Are you able to switch back and forth now or is it gone for ever? I am having problems with my German accent and I am debating what, if anything, I want to do about it. –Eberhard http://math.berkeley.edu/~scheiffe Eberhard Scheiffele, Ph.D.               Check out my new Web page: 505 23rd Street #4                       http://math.berkeley.edu/~scheiffe Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 444-4817 Quote of the month: The need for self-expression leads us to explode forth with the cry, "we are human."  -Scott Mutter                                 * * * * * [This message was posted to the ACTING-L mailing list and relayed to this newsgroup.  You may followup to the newsgroup or, if you are a  member of ACTING-L,  reply  to  the  list.   For  more  information  send E-mail to

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