Chinese Accent Reduction
If you speak Chinese (or any other Asian language) your challenge is to speak English in such a way that you are understood both in person and on the phone.
1. Make a conscious effort every day to concentrate on speaking carefully when you talk on the phone. This is a great place to practice speaking because no one can watch you.
2. Speak s l o w l y – you will not sound dumb. People won’t notice you’re not speaking fast and they’ll understand you without having to ask you to repeat yourself.
3. Enunciate. Take the time to speak ALL the letters of the word – especially if they are at the end of a word. This will make a big difference.
4. Watch out for the letter /s/ at the end of words. You need to say the sound, otherwise what you say can be unclear. The English language differentiates between singular and plural nouns.
5. Avoid slang when you can since it usually comes across as something different or sounds strange when you say it with an accent. The mistakes you might make can be embarrassing to you.
6. Don’t speak through your teeth. Open your mouth so English-sounding sounds can come out.
7. Do put your tongue between your teeth when you say a word with a /th/ in it, as in /thin/, /there/, /this/, etc. The sound /d/ for /th/ doesn’t sound good, that’s how small children speak in the US when they first learn English.
8. Avoid nasal sounds, i.e., speaking through your nose. English sounds are more towards the front of the mouth and not in the nasal cavity.
9. Don’t repeat your words more than once when you want to make sure people understand you . It is better to rephrase your sentence.
10. People are very tolerant in the US and in the Silicon Valley and they will usually make an effort to understand you. So, take the time to practice and you will improve.