Accent Reduction: How Does It Make A Difference in Mastering English Speaking?
- May 11, 2024
- Posted by: Prosenjit Das
- Category: Communication Skills
You might know how to speak English but to truly master the language depends on many factors. One of them is to have clear speech and hone your pronunciation skills. But, as a non-native speaker, accents often become a severe problem in clear communication even if you know the language.
This is when accent reduction helps in improving your communication skills. The way you say the words impacts the flow of language that you are speaking. We at Multiedsupport offer lessons that cover accent reduction and help you boost your English speaking level.
Let’s see how accent reduction becomes important in mastering English speaking.
What’s Accent Reduction?
For the novices who don’t know, accent reduction or also referred to as accent modification is a way to learn and get accustomed to a new speech accent. It is a systematic approach where the lessons are designed to alter the sounds, stress patterns and rhythm’s of word pronunciation to match it with that of the target language.
In simple terms, a person taking up an accent reduction class will be able to speak like a native speaker. You may have heard many actors talk about working on their accent for a particular role, well, they work with professional accent coaches using accent reduction techniques.
Why Does It Matter?
Adapting to an accent for improving English language helps in more ways than one could imagine. Accent reduction is important because of a few reasons. Let’s explore a few of them.
Growth in Social and Professional Settings
Some of the subtle nuances and even speech patterns of non-native English speakers raises disruption. It can be distracting and can lead to communication barriers to some extent.
People with their native accents can find it challenging to get over the new social and professional situations. For example, a person from Indonesia moved to America for a new job opportunity but due his/her accent, the new colleagues may not be able to fully understand your speech.
Accent reduction helps in adapting to the new accent while making interactions with others much smoother. It quickly helps you gain confidence in your social and professional aspects of life as well since you have better communication skills with it.
Improved Confidence and Communication Skills
Many people with a heavy native accent experience lack of confidence as other people find their speech difficult to understand. Questions like “Can you repeat what you said?” or “I’m not able to understand what you’re saying.” impacts confidence.
This takes a toll on their communication skills as well. Accent reduction helps people to regain confidence when speaking. You have better flow of speech, resulting in improved communication skills.
So, if you still think that accent reduction is not important to master English speaking then you’re definitely missing out. We at Multiedsupport have an accent reduction course with English pronunciation practice lessons to help you on this journey. Check out our website to learn more.