Do you know what an accent is?
It’s how people from different places speak in a different way. It’s how their English sounds different. For example, a person from the US will have a different English accent to a person from Australia. There is no correct or incorrect accent.
People can also have accents when learning languages. For example, a Japanese person can speak English with a Japanese accent. A person from India can speak English with an Indian accent.
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Some people learning English don’t like their English accent. They want to sound exactly like someone from the US or UK. But it’s difficult to completely change your accent. It’s more important that listeners from different places can understand you. It’s more important to focus on specific pronunciation problems you have.
And remember, having an accent is not a bad thing. Enjoy your accent! Having an accent is part of your identity. It tells people who you are. It tells people where you come from.
It’s also good to understand and enjoy different accents. Practice listening to people from different countries. Listen to their different accents. It can be fun to guess where they are from.
Related links
Speech quality tip 8: Enjoy accents (10min video)
