accent neutralisation melbourne
6 English Pronunciation Tips for Bulgarian Native Speakers
English pronunciation for a Bulgarian native speaker is no simple matter.
Not only is there a different alphabet to deal with, but the variation in the sounds required between the two languages is like the difference between Bulgarian and American Yoghurt!
As a Bulgarian native speaker you may have obtained a proficient command of English grammar and vocabulary. Perhaps your written English skills are great, but you feel very aware of your accented speech. It is normal for a Bulgarian native speaker to struggle to shift the weight of their accent to a purely English one. This is because English and Bulgarian operate under totally different speech sound systems.
Here are a few tips to consider in refining your English accent.
1. Listen for difference
The first step to adjusting your accent is to listen for the differences between Bulgarian and your target. Although Bulgarian and English have a similar number of consonant sounds, many really do not overlap. Be careful! Many sounds of Bulgarian are produced typically with more pressure and force than the sounds of English. For example, the Bulgarian t sound is registered very differently from the English t. In fact, the International Phonetic Alphabet transcribes the Bulgarian t with a completely different character from the English t. The same is true for many other consonant sounds.
THE FIX: Make sure the following sounds are distinct.
- t for two and d for do
- w for wait and v for van
- j for jaw and ch for chore
- ch for change and sh for shut
- th for though and d for dough
- th for birthday and s for bursar (N.B. Take care not to sing “birsssday” for “birthday”)
Don’t use the previous sounds interchangeably or it will impact on the meaning and intelligibility of your message. Record yourself saying words with sounds you know to be difficult. Listen and compare and smooth out any differences in your pronunciation production.
2. Rrrrrrrrrrrr to R
One of the major indicators of Bulgarian accented English is an extended r. This will break the flow and line of any English phrase as it makes the r sound continue for longer than required.
THE FIX: Try to reduce the pressure on the sound r. The English r is produced at lower pressure for a shorter time duration. Try to say the following words with less pressure and duration on the r;
- race
- right
- rich
- radiation
- Rosemary
- arrange
- carry
- rancid
3. Hhhhhhhh to H
The same can be said of the sound h. The English “h” is often referred to as a silent h. In contrast, the Bulgarian h is marked by higher amounts of air pressure and turbulence. It also is produced further back in the mouth.
THE FIX: Listen for how English native speakers produce various words starting with h. Place the sound h further to the front of your mouth, as though it comes from just behind your front teeth. Try to say the following words with less air pressure;
- have
- had
- hiccup
- horrible
- haven’t
- how
- Hastings
- Hydration
Record yourself and compare how you sound with a native speaker. Maybe you can ask a friend to read the words for you. Try to mimic their production and think about why you may sound different.
4. Drill those English Consonants
Ensure that you are producing these 5 English consonants accurately: TH, CH, H, R, W. You can easily access many YouTube pronunciation videos on how to do so! Try training yourself, step by step, starting with short words and moving into longer, more complex words and phrases.
5. Bulgarian Vowels
Bulgarian has a total of 8 vowels. Australian English, in comparison has up to 21 vowels. Do the maths! That is a total of at least 15 sounds that may not be present in your sound system! Bulgarian vowels are typically similar to some English short vowels so it is often easy to use your Bulgarian vowels where you need to apply a specific English vowel. This makes local listeners hear “bat” instead of “bait” or “sit” instead of “seat”.
THE FIX: Listen carefully to the vowels of native speakers. Record yourself reading short paragraphs from newspaper articles. Do you sound like a native? Listen for the vowels that need to be longer and try to stretch out your vowels and lengthen them where you need to.
6. Watch the Ends of Words
Take care that you do not turn your voice off for sounds that need it at the end of words.
Say these real and nonsense words out loud, making sure to articulate the final sounds clearly and correctly.
- had versus hat
- jade versus jate
- sound versus sount
- braided versus braidet
- nude versus nute
- opened versus opent
- patted versus patted
- bad versus bat
Accent neutralization takes considerable effort. Many non-native speakers may still retain a hefty accents even after years of expat life in an English speaking country. Sure, an accent is often a completely wonderful thing to have as it can set you apart and gives you that extra string in your bow since everyone can tell you are multi-lingual. However, at times, accent can hamper the effectiveness of your message. With time and careful practice however, you can neutralise your accent to smooth out it’s intensity and thus increase your speaking clarity. Don’t give up. Work on your weaknesses and practice daily to improve your English proficiency.
Some non-native speakers choose to consult a Speech Pathologist for accent reduction /modification therapy.
We treat from Melbourne to Berlin, Sofia, Saigon, London, New York, Tel Aviv… anywhere you are based. Sessions are available face-to-face in our Melbourne Clinic or if you are worldwide Skype based services also can be tailored according to the accent you require for your region, career or academic purpose.
For further information on accent modification and reduction programs please do not hesitate to contact Sarah Geiger Speech Pathology.
Words: Sarah Lobegeiger (MA Speech Pathology, MA Opera, pending, BMus, BAEng, TESOL cert IV)
To Russia with Love: 4 Tips to Switch your accent from Russian to English
Mastering English as a Russian native speaker is no small task. Not only is there a different alphabet to deal with, but the variation in the sounds required between two languages is like the difference between a tea bag and samovar.
As a Russian native speaker you may have obtained a proficient command of English grammar and vocabulary. Perhaps your written English skills are great, but you feel very aware of your accented speech. It is normal for a Russian native speaker to struggle to shift the weight of their accent to a purely English one. This is because English and Russian operate under completely different sound systems.
Here are a few tips to consider in refining your English accent.
1. Listen for difference
The first step to adjusting your accent is to listen for the differences between Russian and your target language. Although Russian and English have a similar number of consonant sounds, they do not really overlap. Be careful! Many sounds of Russian are produced typically with more pressure and force than the sounds of English. For example, the Russian r sound is registered very differently from the English r. In fact, the International Phonetic Alphabet transcribes the Russian r with a completely different character from the English r. The same is true for many other consonant sounds.
THE FIX: Make sure the following sounds are distinct.
- t for two and d for do
- w for wait and v for van
- j for jaw and ch for chore
- ch for change and sh for shut
- th for though and d for dough
- th for birthday and s for bursar (N.B. Take care not to sing “birsssday” for “birthday”)
Don’t use the previous sounds interchangeably or it will impact on the meaning and intelligibility of your message. Record yourself saying words with sounds you know to be difficult. Listen and compare and smooth out any differences in your pronunciation production.
2. Rrrrrrrrrrrr to R
One of the major indicators of Russian accented English is an extended r. This will break the flow and line of any English phrase as it makes the r sound continue for longer than required.
THE FIX: Try to reduce the pressure on the sound r. The English r is produced at lower pressure for a shorter time duration. Try to say the following words with less pressure and duration on the r;
- race
- right
- rich
- radiation
- Rosemary
- arrange
- carry
- rancid
3. Hhhhhhhh to H
The same can be said of the sound h. The English “h” is often referred to as a silent h. In contrast, the Russian h is marked by higher amounts of air pressure and turbulence. It also is produced further back in the mouth.
THE FIX: Listen for how English native speakers produce various words starting with h. Place the sound h further to the front of your mouth, as though it comes from just behind your front teeth. Try to say the following words with less air pressure;
- have
- had
- hiccup
- horrible
- haven’t
- how
- Hastings
- Hydration
Record yourself and compare how you sound with a native speaker. Maybe you can ask a friend to read the words for you. Try to mimic their production and think about why you may sound different.
4. Drill those English Consonants
Ensure that you are producing these 5 English consonants accurately: TH, CH, DZ, R, W, ZH, NG. You can easily access many YouTube pronunciation videos on how to do so! Try training yourself, step by step, starting with short words and moving into longer, more complex words and phrases.
5. Russian Vowels
Russian has a total of 6 vowels. Australian English, in comparison has up to 21 vowels. Do the maths! That is a total of at least 15 sounds that may not be present in your sound system! Russian vowels are typically similar to some English short vowels so it is often easy to use your Russian vowels where you need to apply a specific English vowel. This makes local listeners hear “bat” instead of “bait” or “sit” instead of “seat”.
THE FIX: Listen carefully to the vowels of native speakers. Record yourself reading short paragraphs from newspaper articles. Do you sound like a native? Listen for the vowels that need to be longer and try to stretch out your vowels and lengthen them where you need to.
Accent neutralization takes considerable effort. Many non-native speakers may still retain a hefty accent even after years of expat life in an English speaking country. Sure, an accent is often a completely wonderful thing to have as it can set you apart and gives you that extra string in your bow since everyone can tell you are multi-lingual. However, at times, accent can hamper the effectiveness of your message. With time and careful practice however, you can neutralise your accent to smooth out its intensity and thus increase your speaking clarity. Don’t give up. Work on your weaknesses and practice daily to improve your English proficiency.
Some non-native speakers choose to consult a Speech Pathologist for accent reduction /modification therapy.
We treat from Melbourne to Berlin, Capetown, Saigon, London, New York, Tel Aviv… anywhere you are based. Sessions are available face-to-face in our Melbourne Clinic or if you are worldwide Skype based services also can be tailored according to the accent you require for your region, career or academic purpose.
For further information on accent modification and reduction programs please do not hesitate to contact Sarah Geiger Speech Pathology.
Words: Sarah Lobegeiger (MA Speech Pathology, MA Opera, BMus, BAEng, TESOL cert IV)
Mandarin to English: Achieving Perfect Pronunciation
Getting perfect English pronunciation as a Mandarin native speaker may seem like a lot of hard work. You would know by now that the 2 languages are so distinct from each other, it may feel like comparing apples to oranges! Despite how hard some English words may seem to pronounce, don’t despair. If you follow a regular practice schedule, focusing on some targets that you know need improvement, your English pronunciation can improve!
N.B. If you are a Cantonese Speaker, be sure to check out this article tailored for your needs here: CANTONESE SPEAKERS
1. Drill those English Consonants!
Think back to English class. Did any one teacher, instruct you on how to produce those difficult consonants? If not, it’s time to get to work…
Mandarin has a total of approximately 22 consonants. Australian English, in comparison has up to 24. Many of the consonants needed for English are not found in Mandarin. If you are trying to perfect your English accent make sure you have worked on these sounds specific to English in particular. Speaking of English consonants alone there are at least 12 consonant sounds which can not be found in Standard Chinese. You may have already managed to produce a few of them correctly, in some words. Some other sounds may be much harder to get your tongue around. Take care that the following sounds are clear and accurate if you are aiming for a great English accent:
- b (as in ball),
- d (as in doll),
- g (as in girl),
- j (as in judge),
- v (as in video)
- th (as in the)
- th (as in three)- this is different from the “th” in “the”
- z (as in zoo)
- sh (as in she)
- zh (as in measure)
- h (as in hat)
- w (as in window)
- ch (as in chocolate)
THE FIX:
This is going to take some time to get right, so prepare to work hard! Start practicing each sound just by itself, one at a time. Make up some flashcards, or seek out an iPad app to drill your target sounds. Try saying the sounds first on their own, then add some vowels. Search for words that have the sounds you know you struggle with. Make a list of practice words and say each word slowly, taking care on the difficult sounds. Listen out for your focus sounds in the speech of native speakers. Compare their “ch” sound to your “ch” sound and try to adjust your speech accordingly.
It takes ongoing, daily practice to correct sounds and get closer to the local accent.
2. Consonant Clusters
Unlike Mandarin, the English sound system features consonants that are joined together without a vowel. You can think of this as a bit like a sound sandwich. Thus we have words like smoke. In this word, the first two sounds “s” and “m” need to be joined together expertly to be intelligible. We can call this a consonant cluster where two or more consonants are joined together. There are many more consonant clusters. How you master them, will predict your intelligibility.
THE FIX:
Take care to pronounce consonant clusters clearly and articulately. Be careful with the extra hard ones! High frequency clusters to work on include: “thr”, “dr”, “cr”, “shr”, “pl”, “fl”, “st”
3. Speech Intonation
What is intonation? In a nutshell, this refers to the music of your speech. Every accent and dialect follows parameters of rhythm, tone and pitch that match expression. When we learn a new language, we are all inclined to apply the intonation of our mother tongue to our target language. In Mandarin, the tone of the word will shape the meaning of the word. In English, this is not the case. In English, changes in pitch, stress and timing effect the overall meaning and expression.
THE FIX:
Try to slow down and link your words together smoothly instead of rushing to sound more fluent. If you speak at a slower rate, listeners will understand you better and you may also feel more calm and confident while speaking. Use pauses to collect your thoughts and don’t be afraid to take more time when you need it. Try to mimic the nuances and phrases of local speakers. Repeat back comments from newsreaders when you watch the news. Try to follow the rise and fall of English exactly.
Accent neutralization takes a lot of time. Many non-native speakers may still have strong accents even after decades of being immersed in an English speaking country. Sure, an accent is exotic and often very charming! With time and careful practice however, you can reduce it’s intensity and increase your speaking command and clarity while still retaining that element of difference, if you wish! Don’t give up. Work on your weaknesses and practice daily to improve your English proficiency.
Some non-native speakers choose to consult a Speech Pathologist for accent reduction /modification therapy.
We treat from Melbourne to Bogota, Hong Kong, Saigon, London, New York, Tel Aviv… anywhere you are based. Sessions are available face-to-face in our Melbourne Clinic or if you are worldwide Skype based services also can be tailored according to the accent you require for your region, career or academic purpose.
For further information on accent modification and reduction programs please do not hesitate to contact Sarah Geiger Speech Pathology.
Words: Sarah Lobegeiger (MA Speech Pathology, MA Opera, pending, BMus, BAEng, TESOL cert IV)
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