Final Remarks on Learning English Accents: Tips for Mastery | Complete English Course

all right guys hello and welcome to the final lesson in the pronunciation section of your course today I'm going to give you some final notes on learning English accents some tips and answer some questions that I frequently get when people are trying to learn Accents in general what is the best way to learn English accents well it really starts with listening just like babies learn language they learn by listening so should you and whenever you want to change your accent or learn to moderate your accent or just want to pick up other accents because it's fun you need to start by listening and listening specifically to one Region's accent even more specifically to one accent within that region and I get it it's difficult because some accents are very difficult to find information on particularly on YouTube but you can broaden your search I put a lot of work into getting the main features of each of these accents into this course for you so at least you're not Flying Blind but I definitely think that you can do this you can start you've got the basics down so it's all about getting the time putting in the hours listen listen listen find a podcast find people in the area look on the worldwide web search for those other sites find a blogger if you will and pay attention to their um their videos on YouTube or their podcast out out on Apple you just need to listen that's the main thing so imitate that accent in words that's the next step so once you've isolated yourself to listen only to one accent you need to imitate now keep in mind that it takes a child about a year and a half of just listening the first part of their life is spent just listening and somewhere between 12 months and 18 months they start really mimicking those sounds they start trying to form those sounds and that is a hilarious part of their growth because it's so adorable but what they are doing is they are learning to tune in their voice they're learning to form to articulate The Sounds in their mouth and they're seeking a positive reaction of a yeah you got it wow I understand what you're saying and when they get that they remember that pattern and they keep using that articulation that is how we learn language guys so the same for you go back to being a baby spend a significant amount of time listening to that one accent use IPA to see some of the main qualities the main differences in pronunciation but you cannot live with IPA forever do not focus on learning only IPA and only seeing a language in IPA that's not good what it's good for is helping you see the differences between accents now imitate that accent in words phrases and sentences much like a baby does and learn faster to learn faster spend a few minutes writing phrases and words down in IPA to help visualize get your eyes and your hand your motions engaged in seeing the way that accent is formed and then you'll be able to spend more time concentrated on it and really Master it do I need to use the IPA I get this a lot technically no you can learn by imitating just like a baby does however you will learn faster if you can see the differences between accents you do not need to learn the super precise IPA that linguists use and you saw a little bit of it in this course those things with weird marks under it or Hoops over it or a little squigglies down under certain letters that is very specific it is personally just for linguistic use however for you being able to just break it down into mainly what it's pretty much saying is enough for your mind to understand oh I need to articulate closer to the front lower Ash rather than the higher a sound right that's super helpful to be able to understand notice that every vowel on that vowel map is going to have a circle around it and really that vowel can appear that vowel sound can appear anywhere within that Circle so for some people it might be more forward some people might be a little bit further back but it's still within that Circle and still considered Ash but that's just the way it is because we do not say words the same exact way every time we say them in fact we have strong and weak forms in most English accents and we when we're emphasizing a word we pronounce it far more strongly than we pronounce everything else so it's very important for you to understand that I can tell you the main features of an accent but even still person to person and honestly for each person themselves they're going to say it a little bit different depending on how they're using it when they're using it why they're using it and who they're speaking to Accents change and they evolve over time but also individuals manipulate their accent and the pronunciation based off of their situation and who they are speaking to so definitely need to use IPA a little bit to understand the basics but do not keep using it forever if you are using IPA 20 years from now to still learn the same accent that's not good you don't want IPA to become a crutch use it to understand how to articulate The Sounds once you've got the sounds down leave it in the Dust how do I master an English accent faster everyone is concerned about speed I get it I understand it wholeheartedly honestly the best way to do this is by making listening and speaking in that particular a accent a way of life you know Malaysia and the Philippines they speak other languages too but English is integrated in their way of life instructions are there schools in in English media advertising everything around them is a bit of English well that's on purpose that was done on purpose so that people will understand English more and have a higher literacy rate in English well it's kind of the same thing with an accent choose one accent and surround yourself with it try to pronounce things in it when you are practicing English make sure you pronounce things in that accent find a friend use the internet find connect with people Listen to Only influencers from that accent or who have that accent in order to surround yourself with it music and singers from that area interviews news and media whatever you can get from that region from that accent the better and surround yourself with it every single day the more you listen to and interact in that accent the better and the higher your chances are of learning it faster adopt unique vocabulary slang expressions and culture from that accents region so if they drink coffee every morning like a small little glass of espresso uh coffee then do that make yourself I mean adopt basically sections of that culture that are culturally appropriate to take but if you're living in and interacting in that accent you're going to get there much faster and I will add you do not have to move to that country to that region to speak that accent you can in fact do this yourself but you have to make your own little little space full of your own accent learning the next thing and one of the biggest thing is that you have to believe that you can do it don't just say I'll do this for a while and see if it if it works out I'll see how it feels I'll see if it tastes good kind of a thing don't do that so much about language learning comes down to believing that it is worth your time and that you can do it if any one of those things is out of whack like going the opposite way like you think it is worth your time but you don't think you can do it then you're not going to do it you have to Envision yourself as someone who learns accents who can Master English accents who can Master English in order to be able to actually do it if you don't see yourself being able to do that then you won't mindset is huge and know that you might spend hours and hours and hours of just listening to things and it being exhausting I get that I 100% get it I've learned three languages at this point I understand those lows do come but it is absolutely worth your time to be able to communicate and to understand others and to surprise others and to love on others with sharing an accent you really do have to make English a lifestyle to truly acquire the language and maintain it more so you've got to be able to make that accent a lifestyle if you do not live in English it will be easy to lose your progress so you did it you made it through this English accent pronunciation section 20 hours of English language instruction is hard enough but listening to and breaking down each accent into IPA is a real challenge I know I built the thing don't give up here though go to YouTube and search for channels featuring speakers from the English accent you want to learn go to Wikipedia or Oxford English Dictionary for detailed information on IPA phonetics and more resources on each accent remember that your accent even an ESL accent is Uniquely Yours it represents where you've come from your people your journey your identity what matters most is being able to communicate clearly I mean that's the goal of language is to communicate so this let this end of the course of this section of the pronunciation course not be the end of your journey but let it be the beginning of you being able to go on and master English accents all right thank you so much for joining me for this this has been a lot of fun I've loved it I've learned so much as well I enjoy this so much and I hope that you have enjoyed this as well and that you you will continue on learning English accents well done and I guess I won't see you again on this one but goodbye and good luck