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| Thread ID: 110425 | 2010-06-16 21:55:00 | How do I get rid of my accent? | Renmoo (66) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 1110817 | 2010-06-16 23:43:00 | How long have you been here? My accent is worst when I'm really tired or don't really want to talk/bored. But when I want to talk/feel chatty many NZers are surprised at how I have nearly no discernible accent. I think I have a schizophrenic accent. Six long years, and yet the thick accent still persists up to now. |
Renmoo (66) | ||
| 1110818 | 2010-06-16 23:45:00 | We hosted a Chinese student when we lived in Auckland many years ago. He spoke English around the house but his mates were all Chinese students. He did not mix with other Kiwis. So naturally he spoke more Chinese than English. Dumb. To speak KIWI you have to associate with Kiwis & copy the way of speaking.It will come. PJ Yeah, I have been distancing myself from my fellow mates these days as they tend to speak English using a similarly thick Malaysian accent. Sad truth, but I think I need to sacrifice something in return for a better outcome. |
Renmoo (66) | ||
| 1110819 | 2010-06-16 23:46:00 | Be yourself and dont worry about an accent. Sigh. I wish I can just "be myself", but in order to practice as a pharmacist in the future, I need to be able to converse with another colleague / customer without being prompted to repeat myself too frequently. In other words, the current accent is getting into my way. |
Renmoo (66) | ||
| 1110820 | 2010-06-16 23:53:00 | Pretend you are an actor playing the part of a Kiwi, exaggerate the Kiwi accent and see how it goes. Don't take it too seriously, as if you try too hard it will become more difficult. As others have said, socializing with Kiwis may help, as may voice coaching. The fact you are aware of the issue and trying to address it is a good start. Best of luck. |
KarameaDave (15222) | ||
| 1110821 | 2010-06-16 23:54:00 | After listening to the chatter of the girls on my school run, some of the NZ accents are different to others. You would not want to talk like these NZ born and bred Kiwis!!! Ken :thumbs: |
kenj (9738) | ||
| 1110822 | 2010-06-16 23:56:00 | Jamuz, I came to NZ aged 8 with a Lancashire accent (Coronation Street?) but within a few months the pressure of being an object of interest meant that I unconsciously developed an almost undetectable NZ accent. (Prefect would pick it if we met.) But you're not under that same social pressure as being the only 8 year old kid in the class who "talks funny"! If you feel it is likely to hold you back, then the suggestions about listening and talking with regular NZers are good, also watch (listen to) radio & television news and documentaries - even local drama & soaps if you can bear it. Invite some of your NZ friends to correct your speech. Most people wouldn't dream of correcting you for fear of seeming rude, so invite your courteous and considerate friends to give you little hints now and then if they notice faults in your speech. That will help if you are willing to take 'criticism' which hopefully comes across more as 'help'. P.S. I haven't heard you speak but I suspect that in your work it may help to slow down your speech just a little. |
coldot (6847) | ||
| 1110823 | 2010-06-17 00:32:00 | Sigh. I wish I can just "be myself", but in order to practice as a pharmacist in the future, I need to be able to converse with another colleague / customer without being prompted to repeat myself too frequently. In other words, the current accent is getting into my way. How do you sound when you try talk like an NZer? For example I think speaking like an American is easy because its all I see on tv. I also like to dork lick im fr-dom sith afde-ca |
utopian201 (6245) | ||
| 1110824 | 2010-06-17 00:57:00 | When I was travelling in the States years ago, I found I had to repeat myself a lot and realised that the Kiwi accent in the USA is unusual (or was). It seems they were listening to how I was speaking rather than what I was saying - so I consciously changed it to be more American (while I was there), and had very few problems thereafter.... You don't have to be born in NZ to get a Kiwi accent (many of which are horrible) - my sister had a Chinese student (from Hong Kong) staying with her for a number of years. I bumped into her the other day and her Chinese accent is just about undetectable. She has a Kiwi boyfriend - so that may have helped. So, as mentioned above, conscious practice and time will achieve it. It still looked a bit odd - Chinese features pronouncing words that are uniquely Kiwi... But the same sort of thing happened when I arrived in the UK after travelling through the States and hearing black people speaking 'brummie' or rhyming slang, or with an Irish or Scottish accent, when I had become used to hearing an American accent from black people in the States. This was in the 80's - a lot of TV since then has evened out the perceptions of 'rightness' of race/colour and 'appropriate' accent... |
johcar (6283) | ||
| 1110825 | 2010-06-17 00:58:00 | Elocution shock therapy | shermo (12739) | ||
| 1110826 | 2010-06-17 01:10:00 | Forget it. My father came here in the seventies and he still has the thick asian accent. Lussel Clowe. :p |
bob_doe_nz (92) | ||
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