Earlier
we said that the vowels are an important factor
in hearing a "foreign" accent. But it
is not only the vowels. The consonants also must
be mastered.
When
we say that English consonants are "explosives",
we mean that they are pronounced with a sudden release
of air. It is this characteristic that marks the
accent of an English speaker when they try to speak
your language. You should try to speak like an American
and you will be reaching for the American English
way of pronouncing the consonant. It is the characteristic
explosive nature of the English consonant that is
the basis of so many jokes about the pronunciation
of the English speaker who is learning other languages.
Pronounce
the following sentence with the most exaggerated
American accent that you can: "Peter, answer
me! Can you talk?"
Did
you exaggerate the words Peter, can you talk? If
you did, the sounds that sound bad in your language
are correct in English.
Most
of my students are shy and speak with a low voice
because they think that they do not pronounce correctly.
In this way, they will never pronounce correctly
because they do not exercise the pronunciation.
They do not hear their mistakes; they do not feel
the effort of reaching for the correct sounds, and
worse of all, they begin to say, "Well, they
understand me and that's what counts."
Don't
be afraid! You have to exaggerate the English sounds
now to be able to pronounce them normally later
on in your progress with the language.
What
are the sounds that give away the English speaker?
The explosives. And the mispronunciation of these
same sounds is what makes up the foreign accent.
When
you pronounce the words Peter, can you talk? in
your language you probably don't use as much force
as in English. For the "p" of the word
Pedro, Pierre, or Piotr, you close your lips and
then you open them for the sound to come out. It
is the same with the "t" of the work talk.
However,
in English you have to expel a little blast of air
to make the sound of the "p" and the "t";
that's why they call the sounds "explosive",
because they make a litlle "explosion"!
The
teachers of Spanish to English speakers have to
teach them to NOT expel the air for these sounds.
They often make them say words like "papá",
"Tomás" etc. with a lit match in front
of their mouth. The student has to pronounce the
Spanish correctly without blowing out the match.
Your
job is the opposite. You have to be able to blow
out the match (or feel the blast of air on the back
of your hand) when you pronounce the explosive English
sounds.
Listen
to these sounds!
To
hear the sound of the letter "p" http://www.bookslibros.com/sounds/p.wav
To
hear the sound of the letter "t" http://www.bookslibros.com/sounds/t.wav
About
the Author: Frank Gerace Ph.D has worked in
Latin America on UN and national Educational and
Communication Projects, and has taught in Bolivian
and Peruvian Universities. He currently teaches
English in New York City at La Guardia College/CUNY.
He provides resources on accent reduction and the
proper American English accent at http://www.GoodAccent.com
