Accent and identity (with Erik Singer)

If you know me and my work then you know that I talk a lot about identity, and especially how your accent is a big part of your identity: your accent tells the story of your life.
But if you do want to change your accent, or improve your pronunciation, how do you do it?
Recently I had the pleasure of talking to someone with expert answers to that question: Erik Singer, a dialect coach who helps film and television actors to speak with an accent that is not their native accent, and because of this he knows exactly what it takes mentally and physically to change the way you speak.
In this interview we talk about how to change your accent, the best ways to practice, but more importantly if and why you should try to ‘speak like a native’.
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Listen to the interview as a podcast here (or iTunes, or Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts): anchor.fm/canguro-english/epi...
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Visit Erik’s website which has lots of amazing content about different aspects of accent and pronunciation: www.eriksinger.com/
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Get unlimited access to my courses and learner community in the Canguro Academy.
Learn pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, listening, and more!
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[@Canguroenglish]

Get unlimited access to my courses and learner community in the Canguro Academy. Learn pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, listening, and more! canguroenglish.com/academy

[@rodtheteacher_]

awesome, my friend!

[@DaNOliveiraDaN]

I am a Brazilian English speaker. I hold the CELTA certificate by the university of Cambridge and I've been an English teacher for 11 years. I do have an accent (my accent is all over the place - there are a lot of Brazilian, American and British influences) and I am quite proud of it. Do not worry about sounding like a "native speaker". Rather, focus on sounding intelligible and proficient.

[@user-zb3wt5dy4w]

Dear Christian, thank you for your videos! I always look forward to your new videos and miss when you disappear for a long time.

[@brunoricardo5114]

I agree. Christian is like the air. I appreciat his tips and tricks all the time. I tried learned english but .. i'm brazilian and .. but i dont give up. One day i wiil be better. Greats from Brazil.🙏🌄

[@user-zb3wt5dy4w]

@@brunoricardo5114 , never give up!)

[@yes_haha]

dude is really thoughtful, nice to hear him speaking more spontaneously than he does in his other full, produced pieces

[@hintergarten]

What I learned from this interview is that intelligibility must be our principal goal. Reading aloud and recording is a great tip.

[@davide7708]

He's a legend

[@PodcastItaliano]

Hey Christian, this was an amazing interview! Thank you so much!

[@ethenaux]

Fantastic podcast. Erik Singer is an excellent orator and you guys bounced off of each other really nicely! The bit about some of the parts of your identity slowly erasing away really hit home. Been noticing this myself ever since I began actively changing my accent and the way I speak.

[@kumikokonishi2574]

So many great points made by Erik Singer. Thank you for clarifying the vocal and casting specificities of sound and issues of appropriation. Additionally, around 1 hour in, the conversation about "general American" was great! I remember speaking to this one girl who had a "pristine" American accent. I think many would assume she must be a native speaker because it honestly lacked any sort of "non-American" sounds but for months I couldn't put my finger on it why my radar was going off. I'm American myself by the way. I finally learned that she was actually German but worked really hard on her "general American" accent. Then I was like "That's IT!!!" It was what her American accent LACKED. It didn't have any regionalism, no flair or color that FELT American despite it being grammatically perfect and it having no "foreign" sounds. It still didn't FEEL American. I love hearing different American regionalism even if they are slight and I just couldn't pick up on Anything. That was the red flag for me.

[@shiva_689]

Hmm interesting

[@AuntieMamies]

Erik Singer is such an interesting dude. He carries a video well

[@nancyl7989]

Excellent interview. So enlightening! Thank you both!

[@jaydevbera1173]

Really you are the best teacher in the universe because of your dealing of language is cream.

[@ergunartan2591]

Thanks for your effort. Your pronunciation is very clear and understandable. I wish you good health and peace

[@elizabethbekes1810]

What a spectacular show! I loved every minute of it...

[@Singularity-X]

Thank you for your work!

[@RhenanMartinsRepoem]

As every time, excelent job❤

[@Guidus125]

I can listen to Erik Singer all day long, super interesting stuff

[@cillboon]

This was a really engaging and interesting discussion. Eric has some great insights. Thanks, Christian.

[@ashiminfinity]

Hi Christian, here's my short story. In one of my videos, I had to speak like *an American trying to speak Bengali* . I faced a great difficulty to achieve that. Thanks for the great information.

[@rhubarb4601]

I'm happy to see both of you together in a video. I follow you two at KZbin. It's been a great surprise when I found this video.

[@birazeglence6938]

On KZbin

[@rhubarb4601]

@@birazeglence6938 Thank for the correction.

[@alejandros2191]

Thanks for the interview, Christian! It was really nice to hear about the techniques accent coaches use. I was surprised to hear that reading was that important! But it's also kind of sad you didn't ask about shadowing. I find this thing quite useful.

[@radiotory]

Thanks a lot for all your work for us

[@przemyslawbrzuchalski]

Great lecture

[@saswathbevoy5076]

Such great content. You are a conversational wizard Christian, kudos!

[@lorenzobenedusi6352]

Thanks for sharing this video!

[@MrVvulf]

I'd never heard the "age "12-13 and under" rule of thumb before, but I can attest that it applied in my own life. I moved to England at age 11 from the US. By the second year there, new children and adults I met assumed I was English, to the point that some of them thought I was "taking the piss" when I told them I was American.

[@amirhosseinjavadi3185]

I love this interview, I think the best interview 🙌 ❤❤😍😍🙏

[@raphaelcarotta6129]

That was amazing video.... 😊.

[@mohdhairulshahrizal109]

Thank you for sharing this video.I really appreciated that and it will help me to get more knowledge on how to develop in English skills.

[@mohdhairulshahrizal109]

As I m Malaysian think that English is my second language apart from my native language. The problem is about the environment which absorbed us to make our English speaking barrier. Most Malays aren't able to create the environment of English instead of translate from our native language. There is a problem for us.

[@guidofaria6721]

Great theme.

[@rodtheteacher_]

Awesome, my friend. Rod from Brazil, here!

[@briwaff8620]

thanks

[@marcoantoniogalecki1824]

Christian I believe that I will never speak English as he responds, I just enjoy listening to you and understanding what you say, following you with affection and pleasure ... many greetings

[@susilpremarathne495]

Sir, l see your lesson from two month ago .your pouncing can understand very ese for any language speaking people .Sri l dont know what is the different have and keep . If you have time please explain .Thank you so much .

[@elobservador7155]

Gracias por los subtitulos +1

[@Astro-Markus]

Indeed, one should try to aim for a pronunciation that is understood by native speakers, and also non-native speakers. I have been to many scientific conferences with participants from all over the world speaking English. Sometimes it's really hard to guess the proper meaning. Recently, I understood "wheel" instead of "will" when spoken by an Italian. I always asked myself: what wheel is he talking about? But another point is to be consistent, meaning: jumping between different sets of pronunciations is just as confusing. Therefore, one should at least try to stay in one range of "native" accents, although one doesn't need to be perfect.

[@DawnPeacock]

I agree that (for me at least) picking one dialect to model one's speech after is extremely clarifying. If I didn't have that as a guide as I develop my second language (Spanish) I would be adrift in a world of options without knowing how to choose among them. What kind of English do you use as your primary model?

[@Astro-Markus]

@@DawnPeacock modern RP

[@DawnPeacock]

@@Astro-Markus I'm curious - how did you pick that dialect? In my case, I picked Mexican Spanish (especially from Mexico City) because I'm in Texas, near Mexico...and especially because my language partner is from Mexico City. Here in Texas I hear all kinds of Spanish, but Mexican is the most common...and I can model myself after my partner. He is my North Star.

[@Astro-Markus]

@@DawnPeacock Ah. Perhaps a misunderstanding. I am aiming at speaking modern RP. But of course I will always struggle with native German influences. My working environment and an influence from family members who are English (west of London) paved the way for me.

[@mariak.3766]

I've long believed that adults can't change their accents. But that's not true. When we learn a new language, we should study phonetics. I spoke German with an accent for many years and after I started doing the phonetic exercises intensively, I now speak almost without an accent. Now I'm learning English and from the beginning I'm learning completely differently. It works.

[@razdva402]

Hi Christian. Since you have new beard you look really great, /and I envy the beard to you cos I have no beard/, I think the beard suits to you... (I assume that suits is proper word only for clothes). I want to say big THANK YOU for your amazing work, I am hanging on the internet waiting for you new video. I like the most your video about reading book. Pig Tale - this is the story of two bored pigs .... :-), when Im working in a garage, I am do fixing cars, throughout Im listening your videos and mainly this one about the pigs, jewelry and real "price" of our life time - the longer he struggled, the madder he got :-))) Please, can you make a new video on topic reading book ? Please, please, please Thank you for your work, for your time Christian, all the best for the new year.

[@sergiyshklyar2573]

Thank you for the interview. Eric Singer answered the question I had had for a long time. What are the features of American English pronunciation that distinguish it from English pronunciation in England? 63:08 Oral posture and work of jaws. (Rhoticity is not a correct answer, as Eric Singer's accent is non-rhotic.)

[@Pop-pop-p]

For quite some time now I I kept looking for a video where Christian explained the tenses in few stories (about a boat and a pizza delivery boy on a motorbike if I well remember)and how the tenses are all about perspective but for some reason I can't find it anymore and I'd like to rewatch it. Can anyone tell me the name of the video if it exists anymore? Thank you!

[@siahmedsidali277]

good morning sir thanks for your lessons I learn many things ,sir I have problem with Word (being + pp) example equipment being issued to contractor or after being voted nation's top apprentice...etc , thanks.

[@beppobarrendero74]

But Christian, I enjoy imitating English pronounciation... It's really fun for me. That's why I try to !!! Si hablo inglés como si hablara español, para mí, se pierde la chispa y la diversión! Me resultaría tan aburrido q abandonaría en inglés el el acto

[@edls89]

Good point... but I think he meant we don't, necessarily need to speak as other people, imitate them... you know? There must be a freedom to choose either or not to speak just like a native... and there are lots of accents in the USA, Canada, UK and Australia so what really matters is to understand and be understood..

[@DawnPeacock]

I love that practicing English speech music is fun for you! That's the way it should be! 💛 What kind of things do you do to practice it?

[@damianomaggio]

Christian how can i follow your lessons?

[@Superfreak214]

Rafinha Bastos?

[@venkospro4583]

I'll give you a like because of your beard

[@ovidiumoldovan6510]

Great job! By the way, has Gillette died?

[@mrtruthvirtue8752]

Christian is the man for whom everyone looks.

[@Astro-Markus]

I was thrown off a bit when Erik Singer mentioned "primary and secondary schools" which is typically a British term. Yes, they call it primary and secondary education. Still, the standard terms are elementary and middle school.

[@Heldan]

I gave up learning an accent. It's too difficult. Melody, Rythme, Stress, Pronunciation, Resonance, voice placement + depend wich mother tongue you come can give you a huge handicap. Let alone affording a linguist to correct you I quit

[@erasmomagoulas8429]

Improve English or any other language pronunciation, doesn't have anything to do with anyone's effort to modify its non native accent. The first definitely will boost our communication, the second most probably ended as an irritating journey.

[@someboodey]

I skipped to 20:41 by accident and he memed on me

[@recepdemir710]

The people who use language in a good way should not use like ''you know'' ''you know.

[@user-zo4gd2tv3e]

You know, you know, you know, you know... Does it irritate only me?

[@Patsysusan]

I find uh uh uh more irritating, but it’s great listening to people who don’t say like every other word.

[@lomercyol]

He said thousands of you know! Yes he irritated me too.

[@samDLBJAusMelb]

no point to sound like someone else. there are hundreds of millions of native speakers.

[@caiorossi4776]

I'm Brazilian and I teach English as a foreign language. "identity" has nothing to do with language learning, but with political ideology. This "how your accent is a big part of your identity: your accent tells the story of your life" is so snowflake-ish! Fact: people have accents, even local native ones. However, there's a certain level that's too "noisy" even for fluent communication between native speakers. Communication is not about post-modern identitarianism. It's about interaction, not soliloquy. That non-native speakers living abroad should make an extra effort to make their accent closer to what a native speaker can understand is an act of respect for those who opened their national doors to you.

[@martinismaudlin6428]

I'm afraid you didn't quite get their point mate. You claim that "there is a certain level that's "too 'noisy' even for fluent communication between native speakers", but could you indicate precisely what that level is? American broadcasters have had the nerve to add subtitles to interviews with British nationals, which I find particularly offensive. You know, we kinda invented the language, although I must concede it doesn't belong to Britons anymore, and that's perfectly alright.

[@martinismaudlin6428]

Then you go on to say that "non-native speakers living abroad should make an extra effort to make their accent closer to what a native speaker can understand" because that's supposedly "an act of respect for those who opened their national doors to you." Well, do people in your country have some sorta threshold for what is and what isn't to be deemed proper pronunciation? Don't you think you might be a bit confused by the very concepts of 'accent' and 'pronunciation'?

[@martinismaudlin6428]

For instance, I've certainly embarrassed myself trying to replicate nasalisation, which is such a peculiar feature of Portuguese compared to English. Should I be sent back home on grounds of 'lack of respect for those who have opened their borders to me' just because I struggle to articulate certain phonemes? That's bonkers!

[@caiorossi4776]

@@martinismaudlin6428 , those Britons are not living in the US. In case they were, and couldn't be understood by most native American English speakers, the least they could do is change their accent when talking to Americans in order to be properly understood.

[@caiorossi4776]

@@martinismaudlin6428, the threshold is kind of obvious: can people understand you? Your experience living in another country will make it obvious when you should start improving your accent and when that's enough.

[@eriksyring]

"You know..."..."sort of..."uhm..."... intolerable.

[@Marteire]

Such a great interview! Thank you so much!