ELIMINATING ACCENT

Introduction
Congratulations! Youve just made a step in the right direction, toward your goal of eliminating your accent. Lets face it, it doesnt matter if you have a masters or bachelors degree, hether you are a doctor, a nurse, or a house mom! an accent ill create "re#udices hen you are meeting "eo"le$ %eo"le around you might not #udge you consciously, but its commonly &no n that the first im"ression is the most im"ortant one$ Consider ho you thin& about "eo"le that have an accent s"ea&ing your mother tongue$ 'ont you tend to thin& less of "eo"le ho have accents, &ind of labeling them as less smart and so"histicated( )hen it comes to languages, it really doesnt matter ho you are or hat &ind of career you "ursue, an accent ill ma&e things harder$

About This Book

What you are about to read is entirely based on my experience. Im not a teacher and not a professional writer, but the message and methods of this book are simple. If you are willing to get rid of your accent, this book should provide you with all the necessary techniques you need in order to achieve your goal. Follow the methods Im about to teach you, and I am sure you can eliminate your accent. *o ever, this is not a grammar boo& and Im not going to lecture you on hen to use ho or hom$ I dont &no your bac&ground, hether you have already lived in the +, for -uite some time, or you still live abroad$ Neither do I &no ho long youve been studying English grammar$ .ou dont need to have a huge vocabulary or a very dee" &no ledge of grammar to start ith, but the more you &no the easier it ill be$ I do recommend buying a grammar reference book, or if you have trouble with nglish grammar, a grammar book with exercises could already be a great help. !ou could, of course, take a few nglish lessons at a local community college provided that you have the time and money. "ut again, if you know the basic rules you should be fine for now. "esides that, using this book to work on your accent will also have positive effects on your vocabulary and deepen your grammar knowledge. Its really a two#way street$ study grammar and your speaking skills will get better% work on your speaking skills and you will become more familiar with the rules of nglish grammar. Im sure youve heard people talk about, and maybe already experienced, the difficulty of learning new things above a certain age. I, however, strongly believe that it does not matter how old you are, if you have the determination and ambition to learn something new you will achieve this and any other goal. &ranted getting rid of an accent may be a more challenging task the older you get, but do not limit yourself with this kind of thinking. 'rop the negative attitude and believe in yourself. Whenever you are working on eliminating your accent, the one thing you have to keep in mind is patience. (ounding entirely )merican will take time. It has taken me several years to come this far. !oull most likely notice some changes almost immediately after starting with the methods described in this book, but completely getting rid of your accent will take time. (o be patient and keep working.

)lso, people might not point out that your nglish is getting better right away because not everybody listens too carefully. *he changes will be so graduate that your family and friends might not even notice the transition. 'ont let this discourage you. !oull be surprised how people who havent spoken to you in a while will react when theyll hear you speak.

About This Author

For me this book is kind of a big deal. (ee I, myself, did not grow up speaking nglish. ven though I had dreamed of going to the +nited (tates for a long time, it wasnt until my early teen years that I started to teach myself nglish. I went all out and tried many different things. I found some good methods and some that didnt work at all. *he techniques in this book may not be methods that have been scientifically researched, but they worked for me, so they can work for you too. *oday, I am very proud of myself because Ive truly achieved my goal of not ,ust mastering the nglish language, but having an authentic )merican accent. I knew that I had reached my goal when people started asking me if I had lived in -alifornia my whole life. )long the way, teachers as well as my fellow foreign students have been ama.ed, asking me how Ive managed to have such an authentic accent. I shared my secrets and experiences with them and they were surprised how simple the things are I did to get rid of my accent. *hanks to all my experience with this topic, I think I know what works and what doesnt and with this book I would like to pass on this knowledge to as many people as possible. It doesnt matter where youre from, whether your native language is (panish, /ussian, -hinese, or French, if you are willing to invest your time and make a real effort, the methods and techniques will work for you too.

,te" / 0 ,elf0Confidence This, of course, is not a self0hel" boo& for "eo"le ith lo self0confidence so you might be sur"rised to find a cha"ter about self0confidence in this boo&$ 1irst of all, I ho"e that you are a ha""y and "ositive "erson, but hat you are going to need before you actually start to do further e2ercises is self0confidence$ The self0 confidence to ma&e mista&es, to feel comfortable learning ne things, and letting go of old things$ This might sound li&e an easy thing to do for some "eo"le, but3 3have you ever been ashamed to as& for hel" in a store because you didnt &no the right ord( 3have you ever felt embarrassed because you didnt &no you #ust nodded along( hat somebody #ust said, so

Certainly, you could go on living li&e this for the rest of your live, but that isnt going to be very comfortable or convenient, is it( )ouldnt you be ha""ier if you didnt have to orry about sounding stu"id or being #udged for your accent(

)hat To 'o .oure going to have times hen everything ill go incredibly ell and times hen you might -uestion if ma&ing the effort is even orth it$ *aving a healthy self0confidence in times li&e that is essential$ Tell yourself that you can and ill ma&e it ha""en$ As the first ste", to affirm you goal, I ant you to say to yourself three times a day4 I am a self0confident "erson and I s"ea& American English ithout an accent$ 'ont #ust say it thoughtlessly$ 5elieve it and visuali6e yourself having succeeded$ .ou might feel strange at first but trust me, &ee" re"eating it and your brain ill have no choice but to acce"t the statement above as the truth$ In case you are a religious "erson, you might ant to reaffirm the goal of losing your accent in your "rayers$ Assuming that you feel comfortable enough doing so$ Mista&es 'o *a""en ,ometimes e hesitate hen e are insecure about saying something and end u" not saying anything at all because somebody might thin& e are stu"id$ The do nside to this &ind of attitude is that you might #ust be missing a lesson$ .ou should never have to feel ashamed$ If you feel you &no something #ust come for ard and say it$ If you are being as&ed something and you do not &no the ans er #ust say that you dont &no $ %ractice this7 5ecome a are of hen you are fearful of ma&ing a mista&e$ 'ont let your negative thin&ing hold you bac&$ ,"ea& u"7 Most of the time youll be right any ay, "lus it ill reaffirm a ord or term youve been feeling insecure about$ Also, in case you are still doubtful of hether youve made a mista&e, have to confidence to as& your friends or colleagues 8'id I #ust say that right(9 or 8'id I use the right ord(9 %eo"le ill admire your effort and concern ith the language$ 1rom that "oint on, theyll "robably feel more comfortable "ointing out errors you might ma&e$ )orrying About :ther %eo"le )e tend to orry too much about hat other "eo"le might thin& about us$ Are you afraid that your family might ridicule you because you are ma&ing an effort to lose your accent( I understand the feeling$ .oure concerned about ho "eo"le might react to the ne you$ Its similar to having gotten your hair cut and ondering if "eo"le are going to li&e it$ )e have all been there$

The best and most valuable advice anybody can give you is4 Let go7 ,to" caring hat your "arents, neighbors, friends, or com"lete strangers thin& about you$ Let them tal& because you are doing a great thing$ .ouve recogin6ed that you have something to im"rove about yourself and arent afraid to do so$ 'o this for yourself and youll get a huge re ard$ *o This ,te" )ill 5enefit .ou If you ant to eliminate your accent youre going to have to let go of old habits and ste" out of the comfort 6one$ This can be hard and -uite difficult, after all, not everybody li&es changes$ Its "erfectly o&ay to even be afraid of changes, but in order to reach your goal youre going to have to #ust go ahead and ma&e things ha""en$ Many things in your life de"end on your attitude$ ,tart this ne accent0free cha"ter of your life feeling comfortable, secure, and ith an o"en mind$ ,elf0confidence may very ell be the &ey to your success$ Ma&ing these ad#ustments and learning that its "erfectly o&ay to ma&e mista&es ill hel" you greatly in reaching your goal$ Al ays try to ma&e this learning "rocess as "leasant and en#oyable as "ossible$ *ave fun doing hat you do and youll see that getting rid of your accent ill be easier than you could have ever imagined$ Additional *el" Give yourself enough time to develo" a healthy and confident attitude$ In case you feel that you need more advise on ho to let go of negative habits and overcoming fear, go to a boo&store and find a boo& or t o about this im"ortant to"ic$ There are great boo&s out there that can really hel" you$ In A""endi2 / youll find a fe titles I have read myself and that have been very beneficial to me$ Step 2 !hin" It No that youve got the right attitude lets stay inside the head a little bit longer$ :ne of my secrets thats "ainfully obvious once you thin& about it is4 In order to master a language you do not only have to s"ea& it but you need to thin& it too7 Thin& about it$ )hat se"arates you from all the American "eo"le out there communicating ithout accents( Thats right, all their thoughts are in English$ ,o if you ant to s"ea& as ell as native English s"ea&ers do, you need to co"y them$ ,tart thin&ing in English, ;IG*T N:)7 'ont ait a second longer and aste any more time$ No is the "erfect time to start$

)hat To 'o )hat sounds rather sim"le is more difficult than you might imagine$ It ill definitely ta&e some time to com"letely s itch your thoughts from one language to the other$ To begin ith, try thin&ing sim"le things in English$ Instead of thin&ing 8Im hungry9 in your language, do it in English$ If that doesnt or& or is too difficult you can al ays read this boo&$ )hen youre doing that you automatically thin& in English since you are reading along inside your head$ Even once youve gotten used to thin&ing in English youll notice that hen reacting to sudden or sur"rising situations, youll tend to fall bac& into your mother tongue$ Every time that ha""ens try to re"eat the same thing in English a fe times, engraving the ne e2"ression$ After having gotten used to thin&ing in English, start being a are of ho you 8"ronounce9 things inside your head$ Ma&e sure your thoughts dont have accents7 )hen youre alone at home or in your car try to thin& out loud henever you feel li&e it$ Instead of thin&ing4 8I have to "ic& u" my clothes at the dry cleaners,9 hy not #ust say it out loud$ Tal&ing to yourself hen youre alone might seem a bit eird and strange unless you already do it, but there really is no need to thin& it is odd because you are #ust voicing your thoughts$ ,o thin& of it as thin&ing out loud, rather than tal&ing to yourself$ This ste" might be more difficult if you havent s"o&en English for a very long time or if you s"ent most of your life s"ea&ing another language$ Nonetheless, you should be able to convert your thoughts into English by doing this ste"0by0ste", slo ly ma&ing room for the ne language$ Allo yourself the time to get accustomed to it$ *o This ,te" )ill 5enefit .ou .ou might as& yourself if thin&ing in English is absolutely necessary$ After all, you ant to learn ho to s"ea&, not ho to thin& ithout an accent$ The "oint of thin&ing in English is to se"arate it from any other language you may s"ea&$ Im sure bac& hen you started learning English you often based similar grammar rules and terms on your native language$ Although, this ma&es sense hen you are starting to learn a ne language, it is actually a reason hy "eo"le have accents$ Im sure that in your mother tongue many letters are "ronounced in a very different ay, so you are never going to get rid of your accent, unless you sto" basing one language on the other$ .ou have to com"letely acce"t English and let it sin& in$ This is a crucial "rocess if you ant to succeed$ Acce"t the ne language in your mind and ma&e English "art of you and not something alien$

Additional *el" In the beginning, if you constantly forget about thin&ing in English, theres an aid that might hel" you$ Try earing something that is al ays in your sight and ill remind you to thin& in English$ A bracelet or a ring ould be "erfect$ In case youre not a #e ellery "erson, you could also ear a s&in colored rubber band around your rist$ Its subtle but youll &no its there, hel"ing you to convert your thoughts$ .ou can also "ut little notes or smiley0faces in all the "laces you s"end a lot of time, li&e your office, your house, or your car$ ,te" < 0 )atch T= .es, Im serious$ T= has been a great hel" for me in getting rid of my accent$ It ont come as a sur"rise that in order to benefit from it youll have to atch T= in English$ %lus, #ust idly staring at the screen ont give you the best results$ Again, e are co"ying native English s"ea&ers ho naturally have no choice but to atch T= in English$ Maybe you have heard that , edish "eo"le s"ea& English -uite ell and ith only minor accents$ This is not only because there language has some similarities to English but its also because American T= sho s arent translated into , edish$ )hats great about this is that almost everybody has a T= and lets admit it, e all have our sho s that e love atching$ ,o rather that loo&ing at this e2ercise as or& you can loo& at it as something en#oyable$ Thus, youll be more eager to "ractice$

)hat To 'o )hile it ould already hel" you a great deal if you ould #ust atch American T= sho s, to ma2imi6e the "ositive effects e ant to ta&e it a ste" further$ 1or starters, "ic& a T= sho that you really li&e to atch$ %ersonally, I recommend sitcoms because there language is usually sim"ler and easier to understand$ It ould be best to buy some E"isodes of your favorite T= sho on '=', since youll be able to "ractice henever you li&e$ In A""endi2 >, youll find a selection of my favorite sho s that I have used ith success to get rid of my accent over the years$ :f course, atching or ta"ing a series ith your =C; hen it airs on T= is fine as ell$ After having selected the right sho , activate the subtitles or "rint out a transcri"t of the e"isode from the Internet$ They are available for almost every T= sho $ This is an im"ortant ste" as youll need to see the ords along ith hearing them$ There are a fe different methods you can do ith your T=$ In the beginning, I dont recommend that you re"eat everything theyre saying$ This is usually more difficult than you might imagine, es"ecially if the dialog is very fast0"aced$ In the end, youll "robably #ust hurriedly mumble the lines$

A better a""roach is to "ic& a fe sentences or scenes that seem most useful to you and or& ith those$ %lay those scenes and listen carefully$ 'ont loo& at the ords #ust yet, close your eyes and listen$ 1ree6e the '=' and re"eat out loud hat youve heard, still ithout loo&ing at the transcri"t$ ?ust imitate the sounds e2actly li&e hat you hear from the T=$ 'o this over and over again until it sounds right and you can re"eat the sentence or scene ithout an accent$ )hen youre sure you got it correct, loo& at the lines and read them out loud$ )atch your "ronunciation very carefully$ The "oint of not loo&ing at the lines first, is that it is easier to #ust imitate a sound$ 'oing this e2ercise, you learn ho to create the right sound first, ithout having the letters distract you$ .ou can re"eat this e2ercises as many times and on as many scenes as you ant$ It or&s ith every T= "rogram out there$ If you or& ith this method regularly, youll -uic&ly ma&e im"rovements$

*o This ,te" )ill 5enefit .ou .ou can see that doing something sim"le li&e re"eating lines from a T= sho can have tremendous "ositive effects$ Ne2t time youll try to say one of the ords you learned ith this e2ercise you ill remember the sound, thus s"ea&ing ithout an accent$ Not only is imitating and remembering the sound of a ord easier but it ill also "revent you from s"ea&ing ith an accent, because you learn the right "ronunciation ithout having the letters in front of you$ Most other methods or& the other ay around$ .ou loo& at a sentence or dialog and have to say it out loud$ This can be confusing, es"ecially if you are not yet familiar ith sounds "eculiar to English$ Most other similar boo&s ould "rovide you ith Audio C's ith sentences to re"eat$ I believe that you can do the same thing even better ith T=$ %lus, it offers some additional benefits4 The English s"o&en on T= is much more natural than that on some "re0recorded C' If you "ic& a movie or sho you ould atch any ay, youll find or&ing on eliminating your accent more en#oyable .ou can s"ecifically "ic& to"ics that ill be most beneficial to you$ 1or e2am"le if you are a nurse you could train ith a T= sho li&e Emergency ;oom$ There are T= sho s about almost every to"ic out there, so "ic& hat suits you and your needs best$

Another advantage, and -uite a big one too, is that by eliminating your accent through T=, youll learn all the common slang e2"ressions that you normally ouldnt learn from a regular e2ercise or a grammar boo&$ In order to sound American it is crucial that you are familiar ith slang ith its idiomatic e2"ressions$ Im fairly certain that in American English slang is more commonly used than in any other language, es"ecially in everyday conversations$ Additional *el" I can imagine that most "eo"le ould feel more comfortable doing this ste" by themselves ithout anybody listening or #udging them! ho ever, you still need to have control over hat needs to be im"roved in your s"eech$ The best tool in order to do that ould be a little ta"e recorder$ .oull be able to ta"e yourself hile "racticing and then analy6e here you need to or& on yourself$ Additionally, a ta"e recorder ill be useful in other e2ercises from this boo&$ If you dont ant to buy one, you can also #ust have a friend hel"ing you or be your o n #udge and listen very carefully to your o n "ronunciation$ In case you "ersonally do not li&e T=, this ste" or&s ith other media too$ Most similar to T= ould be "erforming the e2act same e2ercise ith movies$ Listening to and re"eating the lines from radio tal& sho s is another o"tion$ This is es"ecially useful if you have a long commute$ .ou could #ust re"eat hat the voices on air are saying$ *o ever, you ont be able to have a transcri"t in front of you$ 1or very lo 0tech "eo"le, you might ant to consider having a native English s"ea&er reading lines from a boo& for you$ ,te" @ 0 Create ,ituations ,tudying at home to im"rove your English may be the first ste", but the real challenge lies in s"ea&ing ithout an accent in every thin&able situation that you could encounter throughout any day$ As soon as you have made some "rogress or&ing on your accent ith the "revious ste"s, it is time to create and "ractice ith some fictional everyday situations to incor"orate the &no ledge youve gained into your daily life$ This is an im"ortant ste" bet een "re"aring and rehearsing at home and s"ea&ing an accent free English in everyday situations$

)hat To 'o 5asically, this e2ercise is very sim"le4 %retend you are in a s"ecific real0life situation$

.ou might have heard of "re"aration courses for "ossible emergencies, li&e earth-ua&es or hurricanes$ In this ste", youll essentially do the same thing, #ust not for emergency situations and, naturally, the focus lies on hat you say, not hat you do$ A "ossible scenario could be that you need to buy a ne "air of shoes at a de"artment store, or having an a""ointment at the dentist$ .ou can either do this alone and #ust imagine hat the other "erson, in the e2am"le above the sales "erson or dentist, ould say$ This re-uires -uite a bit of imagination and you also may feel eird having a fictional conversation ith yourself$ If thats the case, or if you are #ust not a very imaginative "erson, it ould be best to as& a friend to do this e2ercise ith you$ I recommend choosing somebody ho is close to you and is comfortable ith having to "oint out ords or terms you might mis"ronounce$ This is an advantage of doing this e2ercise ith a friend, you have somebody to tell you hat doesnt sound right$ 1or those doing this ste" ithout the hel" of a friend, ta"ing everything ith a small ta"e recorder ill definitely hel"$ If you dont have a ta"e recorder and dont ant to ma&e the investment, try to listen very carefully to hat you are saying$ Try to #udge hether or not your "ronunciation is clear and correct$ To be clear, I dont ant you to rite do n a bunch of lines that you memori6e and then say out loud over and over again$ )hat I ant you to do is imagine a scenario, act li&e you are right in that situation, and ma&e u" all the lines s"ontaneously$ Its li&e acting in a "lay, but instead of reciting lines, you are im"rovising$ To demonstrate ho doing this might loo& li&e you can find an e2am"le belo $ ,cenario4 .ou ant to buy a ne "air of shoes at a local de"artment store$ A "ossible conversation could loo& something li&e this4 ,%4 ,ales %erson A.our 1riendB ,%4 .ou4 Can I hel" you( .es, Im loo&ing for a "air of snea&ers$ 'o you have the latest ones from adidas(

,%4 ,orry, e dont sell adidas, but e have #ust gotten the ne collection from %uma$ They are really nice$ If you come ith me, I can sho them to you$ .ou4 ,%4 That ould be great than&s *ere you go$

.ou4 I see, theyre very nice but I dont really li&e the color$ 'o you have the same ones in blue(

,%4

Let me chec&$ )hat si6e are you(

.ou4 /C ,%4 :&ay, #ust a second$ 3 )e dont have them in blue$ The colors e have are orange, blue, red, and blac&$ .ou4 ,%4 Ill try the blac& ones then$ :&ay, here you go$

.ou4 :h, yeah, theyre very comfortable$ Let me have a loo& in the mirror$ Cool, Ill ta&e them$ ,%4 .ou4 Great$ )ould you li&e to loo& around a bit more( No, than&s thats it$

If you can hel" it try not to rite anything do n because as soon as you do it ill sound stilted and unnatural$ )hen doing this e2ercise, it is really im"ortant to #ust go by heart and let the ords come to you$ Ne2t time youll be buying shoes, you ont have notes ith you either, so act along as if it ere really ha""ening$ .ou can even "ractice for s"ecific u"coming events or a""ointments$ If you &no youll be at a "arty soon, hy not "re"are hat you ill be saying$

*o This ,te" )ill 5enefit .ou The "oint of this e2ercise is to "re"are yourself for all the situations that you might encounter tomorro $ Ive s"o&en ith many English students from different countries around the orld$ )hat I heard over and over again as that almost all of them &ne English grammar really ell, but as soon as they ere confronted ith daily situations their mind ent blan&$ They hardly managed to cough u" a fe incoherent sentences$ This is e2actly hat you are trying to "revent ith this ste"$ :f course, the situations you "ractice ill most li&ely differ from hat you are going to e2"erience in real life$ After all, you never &no ho "eo"le ill ans er, but still I believe that "re"aring li&e this ill hel" you greatly$ Ne2t time you encounter a situation similar to one youve studied before, youll be "re"ared, &no ing ho to ans er correctly and most im"ortantly D ithout an accent$

Additional *el" Ive created -uite a fe situations and scenarios over the years$ .ou can find a selection in A""endi2 <, but do not limit yourself to those e2am"le scenarios$ +se your imagination and rite your o n uni-ue situations that ill be most beneficial to you$ To &ee" it s"ontaneous, you can do hat I did hen I came u" ith this e2ercise$ )rite do n all the scenarios that you thin& ill be most hel"ful to you on a little "iece of "a"er$ Then thro them into a bag and "ic& one of the "ieces ithout loo&ing$ The scenario you "ic& is the one youll have to do$ .ou ont be able to "re"are yourself or thin& about it too long, so it ill be more realistic and im"ulsive$ ?ust li&e in the cha"ter before, having a friend or a ta"e recorder really hel"s and can be an aid in forming conclusions on hat you need to or& on$ ,te" E 0 +se Everyday ,ituations Assuming you live in the +,, thin& about ho every time you tal& to a native s"ea&er ho you can benefit and "ractice your English$ .ou might be "art of a community or neighborhood here everybody s"ea&s the same language you s"o&e in your home country$ 5asically, you dont need English around your home$ That is, naturally, very convenient hen buying groceries or ma&ing friends, but hen you are trying to eliminate your accent it can actually be counter"roductive$ 'ont get me rong, Im not going to as& you to give u" your friends and com"letely abandon your neighborhood, nevertheless if you are serious about losing your accent you need to ste" out of the comfort 6one and ta&e advantage of all the o""ortunities around you$

)hat To 'o There are do6ens of o""ortunities every day to have a tal& ith native English s"ea&ers$ +" until a short time ago, youve "robably avoided these conversations because you felt uncomfortable s"ea&ing English$ No that you feel more comfortable doing so, its time to ta&e advantage of these occasions and start using you ne found &no ledge$ Lets have a loo& at all the "laces you might ant to start u" a conversation in order to im"rove your English$ )or& )or& is a great "lace to "ractice your English s&ills$ There is al ays something to tal& about4 ne "eo"le, the latest gossi" and obviously the or& itself$ Im sure there are

many "eo"le around you ho ould be ha""y to get to &no you better$ ?ust be o"en and start a conversation ith a co0 or&er$ ,chool ,chool is also a very good "lace to get to &no the "eo"le around you and converse ith them, since, similar to or&, theres al ays something to tal& about$ Ma&e some friends, hang out ith them and observe ho they tal&$ .ou "robably have to or& for school too, but try to ma&e the best out of it by doing "resentations and grou"ing u" ith your friends to do home or& or or& on "ro#ects$ 5efore you even reali6e it, youll lose your accent and tal& #ust li&e them$ ,ho""ing F ;estaurants +sually, theres not a lot of conversation hen youre sho""ing or eating some here, but theres a "otential for ma&ing conversation$ ?ust as& the sales "erson here you can find something or hat "roducts they can recommend you$ ,ome de"artment stores offer free sho""ing assistants hich is also a good idea to "ractice your s&ills$ The "ossibilities are endless$ MeetingsGClubs 'o you have a s"ecial &ind of interest( 'o you li&e gardening or reading( There are discussion grou"s and fan clubs for virtually any to"ic or hobby out there$ Its a great ay to observe other "eo"les English and to "ractice your o n s&ills$ %lus, youll meet do6ens of "eo"le ith the same interests$ A great "lace to ma&e ne friends$ The Gym Going to a gym isnt only great for your health, but its also one of the best "laces to meet "eo"le$ ?ust be outgoing, leave the M"< %layer at home, and start tal&ing to the "erson on the treadmill ne2t to you$ *ave to courage to tal& to "eo"le$ Al ays observe yourself hile you are s"ea&ing and memori6e hat needs to be done better in the ne2t chat you are going to have$

*o This ,te" )ill 5enefit .ou In the beginning, you might be a bit disa""ointed that you are still ma&ing mista&es after all that studying$ This is "erfectly normal because you are still in the learning "rocess$ ?ust &ee" going, learn from your mista&es, and before you &no it, youll tal& freely ithout an accent and not ma&ing any errors$ *o ever, you are not going to get to that "oint by #ust staying home7 Go out there and meet "eo"le, use your s&ills but also listen carefully, so you can learn ne things from them$

The most im"ortant thing to learn from this ste" is to tal& to "eo"le and ma&e friends$ Even if youll never see the "eo"le you meet in these situations again, it is orth tal&ing to them #ust for the sa&e of training your English s&ills$ The first ste" in eliminating your accent may be re"eating the lines from T= sho s and learning ho to "ronounce things in the "rivacy of your home, but this is all in vain unless you go out there and use all the &no ledge youve gained$

Additional *el" There are "eo"le ho are naturally shy and not very outgoing$ If you are one of those "eo"le, you might thin& going out and tal&ing to com"lete strangers is very difficult$ +nfortunately, theres no getting around it$ In order to lose your accent, you have to go out there and tal& ith "eo"le$ .ou might find it hel"ful to go out ith a friend hos very o"en, outgoing, and tal&ative$ ?ust get your friend to initiate conversations ith "eo"le and start tal&ing ith them as soon as you feel comfortable$ .oull see that its #ust a matter of getting used to a""roaching strangers and having conversations ith them$ ,te" H 0 ;ead :ut Loud ;emember hen you ent to school, that one of the things hated by almost everyone as reading out loud ith the hole class listening$ Most "eo"le are "robably than&ful that doing this is not re-uired in most #obs$ I ho"e youve overcome that fear because this is hat I ant you to do$ ;eading out loud is a great e2ercise if you try to get rid of your accent$ I, "ersonally, still dont li&e doing it very much, but since theres no need to do it in front of t enty "eo"le the benefits far out eigh the dis"leasure$ )hat To 'o 1irst go to the ebsite of a local ne s"a"er and find an article thats interesting$ %rint it out$ ;ead through it and loo& u" ords you dont understand$ Then read the article out loud ith either a friend listening, or ta"ing it$ If a friend is hel"ing you, ma&e sure he or she is highlighting all the ords you mis"ronounce hile you are reading the article out loud$ If you choose to do it alone, ta"e hat you are saying$ Then listen to the recordings and mar& all the ords you didnt get right$ Immediately after doing this, re"eat the ords you didnt get right, again ith your friend listening or recording it on ta"e$ ;e"eat until you are sure you got the "ronunciation right$ .ou could also do this e2ercise ithout the hel" of a friend or a ta"e recorder, but it is relatively difficult to analy6e hat you are saying all by yourself$ There are al ays terms that are hard to "ronounce, so if you feel that you might mis"ronounce a s"ecific ord again, start ma&ing a list ith all those ords$ *ave a loo& at this list every other ee& and &ee" re"eating it until you can say the ords correctly$

After a month or t o, it might also be hel"ful to re"eat an article you already "racticed ith to see hat im"rovements youve made$ Loo& out for the ords you highlighted before, as those are the terms you mis"ronounced last time, and chec& if you get them right this time$ 'ont "ressure yourself hen you are "racticing your reading s&ills ith this e2ercise$ This ste" can be -uite difficult, so its "erfectly o&ay to read slo ly and carefully in the beginning$ If you arent any e2"erienced reader yet, its more im"ortant to say the lines clearly and "ronounce them correctly$ .oull see that the more you "ractice the more accurate and faster youll be able to read the articles$ +ntil no youve or&ed on eliminating your accent ithout the hel" of long articles, thus reading something is still ne , so dont orry about having a more noticeable accent hen youre reading out loud$ This e2ercise ill not only hel" you im"rove your reading s&ills, but is also a great hel" in losing your accent since you ta&e a closer loo& at every ord you are saying than in any other ste"$ *o This ,te" )ill 5enefit .ou )hen youve reached a certain "oint in eliminating your accent and already feel more confident s"ea&ing, its crucial to start or&ing on your reading s&ills$ 5elieve me, if you can read out loud ithout an accent, s"ea&ing freely ill seem li&e a "iece of ca&e$ .oull notice the first time you are doing this e2ercise that reading an article is sur"risingly difficult$ )hen you see the ords on a "age, you tend to fall bac& into old "atterns even though your s"ea&ing s&ills may have im"roved greatly$ Through this ste", youll become more sensitive to the ay you s"ea& and youll have a higher a areness of your o n "ronunciation$ This ill hel" you reali6e hen you mis"ronounce a ord that you might have been saying rong for a long time$ Those are mostly the ones that are the hardest to correct$ This &ind of a areness also allo s you to recogni6e other "eo"les mista&es hich ill "revent your from ada"ting their faulty "ronunciation$ In the long run, its very im"ortant that you gain this "erce"tion because at one "oint you ant to &no American English so ell that you ont need to rely on others to &no right from rong$ The reason I recommend using ne s"a"er articles for this e2ercise is that they are actually more difficult to read than most boo&s out there$ ,o hen youll read the article, it ill be a real challenge$ %lus, youll e2"and your vocabulary noticeably$ Additional *el" Naturally, if youre having a hard time doing this e2ercise you can read something else than a ne s"a"er article$ .ou could, for e2am"le, read from a novel or a maga6ine$ ?ust ma&e sure the te2t is interesting and its a to"ic that you li&e reading about$

Another a""roach could be "rinting out a scri"t for a T= sho hich you have been "racticing ith in ,te" <$ ?ust read the scri"t ithout having the T= sho "lay$ A further advantage of or&ing ith a T= scri"t is that if you are uncertain about the "ronunciation of s"ecific ords you can "lay the '=' and double chec& it$ Step # $%pand Your &oca'ulary This ste", on the surface, may a""ear not to have any effects on eliminating your accent$ Im sure that through the time you have invested so far in getting rid of your accent, you have learned a lot of ne terms and your vocabulary has gro n significantly$ E2"anding your vocabulary even further is a crucial ste" if you ant to ma&e sure you al ays understand hat "eo"le are saying$ After all, you need to be able to do this in order to ans er them correctly$ )hat To 'o There are several ays you can broaden your &no ledge, ithout having to do boring e2ercises$ Lets have a loo& at < methods that I have or&ed ith$ Loo& +" )ords )henever you study English, hether you are or&ing on eliminating your accent or doing grammar e2ercises, it is im"ortant that you al ays have a dictionary ith you$ This enables you to loo& u" all the ords you dont understand$ Throughout any day, you come across ords or terms in "laces you might e2"ect them but also in une2"ected ones$ 1or e2am"le, on billboards or on a menu$ In these &inds of situations youre unli&ely to have a dictionary ith you$ In a case li&e that, its tem"ting to #ust shrug and ignore the un&no n ord$ Even if you say to yourself that youll loo& it u" later, youre li&ely to forget$ As a solution to this annoyance, try saving those terms as te2t messages on your cell "hone$ .ou can -uic&ly do that in virtually every thin&able "lace and e all carry our cell "hones on us almost all the time$ 'oing that ill give you the chance to loo& u" the ords later$ An even easier ay ould be to as& somebody hos ith you for a definition or translation$ ;ead 5oo&s Not everybody li&es to read boo&s$ Even if youve never been an avid reader, give it a try for the sa&e of eliminating your accent$ ?ust go to a boo&store and "ic& a boo& that immediately s"ar&s your interest$ It doesnt have to be a novel or a boo& everybody says is good, #ust follo your instincts and buy hatever feels right$ The advantage of reading a boo&, rather than #ust loo&ing u" ords you come across, is that in some cases you ont even need to loo& u" a ord because the meaning of it is a""arent from the conte2t$

)or& )ith =ocabulary 5oo&s If you neither li&e fiction boo&s, nor non0fiction boo&s, but ould still li&e to or& on your vocabulary, vocabulary boo&s might be the right thing for you$ There are many different &inds of vocabulary boo&s out there$ ,ome teach you ne ords ith little stories, others or& ith sim"le translations, but basically they all "rovide you ith e2ercises to broaden your vocabulary$ These boo&s can be very useful! ho ever, they tend to be &ind of dry$ It might be harder to memori6e the ne terms because in most boo&s they arent really "art of a bigger conte2t$ I, "ersonally, "refer reading novels, as vocabulary boo&s can be some hat boring to or& ith$ *o ever, it should be said that these boo&s might be a bit more effective, since you can s"ecifically chose the ords you ant to study$ .ou can find a list of recommended boo&s in A""endi2 @$ *o This ,te" )ill 5enefit .ou All the "revious ste"s ere more focused on s"ea&ing "ro"erly, but li&e Ive stated before, this ste" is very im"ortant, because in order to s"ea& a language ithout an accent, it is necessary for you to understand hat "eo"le around you are saying$ Through reading boo&s, loo&ing u" ords andGor or&ing ith vocabulary boo&s, you can gain additional &no ledge$ Actively or&ing ith these methods is very effective and ill ma&e your vocabulary gro faster than aiting to come across ne ords$ .oull also notice changes hen youre having conversations$ .our s"eech ill gro more colorful and youll be able to e2"ress yourself clearer and more detailed$ 5esides that, youll also strengthen your grammar &no ledge ithout having to study the rules$ Additional *el" In case youd li&e to ta&e it a ste" further, subscribing to an American ne s"a"er ill notably e2"and your vocabulary$ If you dont ant to s"end your money on a ne s"a"er subscri"tion, you could #ust read the articles online$ 5esides being a great aid in e2"anding your vocabulary, a ne s"a"er also gives you information on local ne s and events hich is al ays great material to start conversations ith, and hel"ful hen tal&ing to natives$ If you decide to read boo&s, there ill "robably be a lot of ords you dont understand, es"ecially in the beginning$ It is o&ay not to loo& u" every single ord you dont &no , but if you decide to loo& one u", do it immediately after having read it$ 5y doing that, youll have the ord in the conte2t of a sentence or story and are more li&ely to memori6e it$ Try to avoid ma&ing a list ith ords that you didnt understand to loo& u" their meaning later$ This ont be as effective as loo&ing u" ords right a ay$

In addition, I advise you to loo& u" definitions in an English dictionary, rather than loo&ing u" translations in a bilingual dictionary$ ,ince you are already thin&ing in English, it ma&es more sense to research the definitions in English as ell, rather than #ust loo&ing at the translation$ This is again co"ying the native s"ea&ers ho have no choice but to loo& u" the ords in a dictionary$ ,te" I 0 1urther ,te"s 5y no , you have all the tools you need to eliminate your accent$ .ou have done the e2act same e2ercises that I did, and I lost my accent$ ,o no that youre reading this, I sure ho"e youve had success ith all the "revious methods, #ust li&e I did$ This last ste" isnt absolutely necessary, but I ould li&e to "rovide you ith t o further "ossible e2ercises that you can try soon as you thin& you are ready$ ;ead through them and if you thin& these ill hel" you, do them$ If you feel li&e you need to "ractice more, continue or&ing on your accent and try them later$ Analy6e the Language ?ust li&e every language has grammar rules, there are certain rules of "ronunciation$ *o ever, in English, these rules are in no ay as e2tensive and reliable as in many other languages$ Even ithin the +, you may find different rules de"ending on here you live$ )hat To 'o *ave you ever noticed that hen ords end on a silent 8e9, they are "ronounced differently than ithout it( A good e2am"le is bath and bathe$ Then there are also ords that are ritten entirely different from hat they sound li&e, as in colonel hich sounds more li&e 8&urnel9$ Thats hat this ste" is all about, trying to e2"lore these rules and e2ce"tions$ There are no sim"le e2ercises that ill teach you ho to do that, so you #ust have to start some here and have a closer loo& at the English language$ +nfortunately, doing this can be -uite tric&y because its hard to #ust sit do n and start analy6ing ords as ell as "ronunciation "atterns$ Its "robably best to do this henever you s"ot a rule by coincidence and then thin& of e2am"les that follo the rule, as ell as e2ce"tions that come to mind$ .oull "robably notice soon after youve started to that there are very fe hard rules in American English "ronunciation$ There are "atterns, but most of them have numerous e2ce"tions$ This is one of the reasons hy this ste" has only a limited effect on eliminating your accent$ The rules of "ronunciation can also differ greatly de"ending on hether you live on the )est or East Coast, in the ,outh, or the Mid est$ In addition, the rules are so la2 that natives tend not to follo them very strictly$ Naturally, this gives the "atterns even less im"ortance$

*o This ,te" )ill 5enefit .ou :bviously, this ste" is not an essential one! ho ever, it can give you an insight into the language$ 1urthermore, you might be able to use the "atterns in determining ho to "ronounce ords you dont &no $ In the end, you should be able to get rid of your accent ithout giving too much thought to this ste", but it ont hurt to &no a little bit more about these &inds of rules$ 5esides that, you might find it fascinating to read boo&s about this to"ic and learn more about American English "ronunciation$

'o ,ome )riting ,"ea&ing ithout an accent and riting arent as closely related as one might thin&$ 5eing a great riter doesnt mean you dont have an accent, and s"ea&ing ithout an accent doesnt ma&e you a great riter$ In addition, the use of slang is so ides"read and acce"table in America that grammar rules arent al ays follo ed$ Jno ing all the rules ont ma&e you sound li&e an American$ ,till, after having eliminated most of your accent, I advise you to do some riting, hich ill ma&e you feel more confident ith the languages formal side$ )hat To 'o .ou "robably have some e2"erience in riting sim"le, short things, li&e emails or memos$ As a first e2ercise, it is best to rite something that ont over helm you, so youll be less li&ely to give u"$ )hy dont you rite a long letter to a friend about hats going on in your life$ .ou dont even have to send the letter, #ust rite it for the sa&e of "racticing your English$ If riting a letter is no "roblem, the ne2t ste" on the ladder ould be riting a short essay on a current to"ic$ %ic& any to"ic that you ould li&e to learn more about$ Ta&e the essay seriously, go to the library or the Internet to gather information$ After having finished, give it to a friend, ideally a teacher, to loo& over it and have him or her tell you hat mista&es youve made$ Another o"tion ould be to rite a short fictional story if the thought of riting an essay doesnt a""eal to you$ 1or the most ambitious, you could try to rite a boo&$ Maybe you have e2"erienced something in your life that you ould li&e to tell others$ :r, li&e me, youve had success in achieving a goal and believe that many "eo"le ould li&e to &no more about it$

*o This ,te" )ill 5enefit .ou )riting letters, essays, or short stories ill "robably only have subtle effects on your s"eech$ Mainly, this ste" ill hel" you e2"and your vocabulary and ma&e you ta&e a closer loo& at English grammar$ 5oth of these benefits can be earned in different ays, but it must be said that if you en#oy riting, this ste" ill be a "leasure and not #ust another e2ercise$ 5esides, e all need to &no ho to rite, be it to fill out an a""lication or rite emails to a friend$ )or&ing on your riting s&ills ill hel" you avoid ma&ing embarrassing mista&es$ (eys of Success ,elf0Confidence .es, Ive said it before but I cant stress it enough4 In order to achieve your goal you need to have total self0confidence$ 5elieve in yourself, believe that you can eliminate your accent, and youll see that it is easier than you ould have ever imagined$ Time )e all ould li&e a&e u" one morning and s"ea& ithout accents, but that isnt going to ha""en$ Com"letely getting rid of your accent ill ta&e time and you need to allo yourself to ta&e that time$ Im sure you sa results soon after you started to or& ith this boo&$ 5ut you have to &ee" going, even if you dont thin& youre ma&ing "rogress anymore$ Im sure you are still ma&ing "rogress, but because its so subtle youve become oblivious to it$ ,chedule I strongly advise you to create some &ind of schedule of hen you ant to or& on eliminating your accent$ )hen learning a ne language, "racticing regularly and re"eating e2ercises is very im"ortant, es"ecially in the beginning$ *o successful youll be and ho soon youll reach your goal de"ends on ho much time you are illing to invest$ A schedule ill hel" you find the time to or& ith this boo&$ Combination There are ste"s in this boo& that are more im"ortant than others$ Also, Im sure there are e2ercises you li&e doing, and maybe there are e2ercises that you ould rather not do$ .et, it is very im"ortant to be a are of the fact that only doing all these ste"s combined ill give you the desired results$ ,ure, if you "refer reading out loud to atching T=, you can devote more time to the reading "art, but you ill also need to ta&e the time to do all the other ste"s$

Com"letely Absorb English ;emember the "art about thin&ing in English( I ho"e youre still doing it because this too is a &ey to success$ In order to s"ea& American English ithout an accent you need to com"letely absorb the language$ ,to" thin&ing of yourself as foreign in this "lace and s"ea& English henever you have the "ossibility$ ,urround .ourself )ith Americans If you ant to com"letely absorb English, ma&e sure youre integrating yourself in the American orld, es"ecially if you live in a neighborhood here most "eo"le s"ea& your native language$ Ma&e sure you go out there and sociali6e ith Americans$ .oull be forced to s"ea& English ith them, hich is a great ay of "racticing$ .ou dont have to give u" old rituals or your heritage, but #ust by o"ening u" and tal&ing in the language you are trying to master, youll find it much easier to lose your accent$ Jee" Going3 After some time or&ing ith this boo&, you might feel li&e the "rogress youre ma&ing is only marginal$ 'uring this "lateau time, you might be tem"ted to -uit$ ;emember that even natives never sto" to learn$ They too dont &no all the ords in the English language and mis"ronounce things sometimes$ There are, of course, some e2ercises that you ont have to do for the rest of your life, but you should commit yourself to certain things$ ,eeing your American friends on a regular basis, as ell as atching T= only in English are t o e2am"les that are "erfectly manageable and dont re-uire a huge effort$ ) *inal +ote Every #ourney begins ith one ste"3 Im sure that you had certain ho"es, e2"ectations, and goals hen you "urchased this boo&$ Maybe you ere #ust curious, or maybe youve been or&ing on getting rid of your accent for many years and have tried many different methods$ )hatever your reasons ere, I ould li&e to than& you for buying my boo& and ta&ing the time to read it$ ,"ea&ing ithout an accent may not be the most im"ortant thing in the orld, but it ma&es life so much easier and ma&ing this effort ill benefit you for the rest of your life$ I &no from e2"erience hat an u"hill battle eliminating an accent can be, so I ish you the strength, determination, and ambition to reach your goal$ I ho"e youve had success ith the methods and e2ercises from this boo&, and that this boo& has "rovided you ith all the right information you ere loo&ing for$ Most im"ortantly, I ho"e youll e2"erience the same success that I did$

Ma&e this boo& the start of a ne "art of your life$