Act the Accent
One of the first things I often share with my students is my concept of ‘acting the accent.’ If you’re an actor, your talent for portraying different characters and expressing a range of emotions is a tremendous asset when trying to learn a new accent. Take for example foreign-born actors looking to acquire an American accent. These students frequently approach the task expecting a long process of dissecting rules and studying textbooks, while forsaking the advantage they’re starting out with – the ability to act.
Some of the greatest breakthroughs in accent reduction can come from making fun of the accent you’re trying to assume. Try it sometime. Mimic a character from a film or TV show. Exaggerate the imitation. You may be surprised by the result.
You can apply the same concept to American actors learning foreign accents. I’ve been fortunate to play a bunch of different accented characters throughout my career. That doesn’t mean I had to permanently lose my American accent off-camera as well. I acted the accents, which is the perfect starting point whatever your accent needs may be.
The same holds true if you’re a non-actor looking to lose your foreign accent for business or social reasons. If you were over a certain age when you first moved from your native country, it’s unrealistic to expect to completely lose your foreign accent naturally. Your brain has already decided how your voice should sound, and your mouth and all its parts haven’t had a lifetime of experience forming the sounds of your newly desired accent. However, once you accept that the process is somewhat unnatural and requires some semblance of performance – it actually gets a lot easier.
Give yourself the freedom to play within your new accent. Worry less about rules and more about sound. That’s certainly the philosophy behind our method at The Accent Coach. Claudette Roche and I use creative techniques to get you to form the correct sounds within the sphere of real-world American speech.
If your goal is to regularly speak with your new accent, then over time, as you gradually reprogram your mind and mouth to default to your updated settings, you will find the acting part is no longer necessary.
As the saying goes, Fake it ’til you make it. But make sure you have fun faking it.
P.J. Ochlan
pj@theaccentcoach.com
