I agree entirely with this. Another thing that you can do, which is helped by speaking slower than normal, is to articulate as clearly as you can all the consonants you are saying. It is almost inevitable when one is speaking quickly that words get slurred, but articulating all consonants will slow you down and slowing down helps you have the time to articulate all consonants. You will probably find, however, that it usually feels really strange to speak at a slower pace than you are used to. It will also feel really strange articulating every consonant. But you can at least shoot for articulating most consonants. The more you can do for your listener means the less the listener has to do to understand you and the more likely they will enjoy listening and listen longer. But really, there's no need to mimic any particular accent - unless you want to, that is.annise wrote:I'm not sure you really need to mimick English accents , I find the main problem with understanding other versions of English happens because of people reading quite fast , it takes the brain a little longer to recognise the word if it is said in a different way and by then the reader can have read a couple more words and I can get lost. I think Indian speakers do tend to speak fast , and Australians are supposed to speak r e a l l y s l o w l y but a good rule is to speak slower if you want to be understood by people not of your country , it is more important than whether your w sound sounds like v and your a sounds like ah or ay
Anne
People from the southern and western U.S. also tend to speak slowly, at least in contrast to New Yorkers. I wonder why. Big wide open spaces?
Bob