I was hoping to study abroad in Argentina or Spain in college, but I have a really thick American accent when I speak Spanish. Does anyone have any advice on how to lose or minimize the accent before going? I’m afraid people might have trouble understanding me, or at least that my accent will make them uncomfortable.
Some people simply have a better ear for languages, but you can try to overcome your handicap, if you have one. Go there and work at it.
Sometimes, the language department has upper level classes in how speech, sounds and intonation are formed in the language of interest. Typically, that’s not well covered in the mainstream courses. Can be very helpful.
Although I am black and Arab, I speak Spanish really fluently and don’t have an accent because I come from a densely Hispanic populated area. If you go to coffee shops in really Hispanic areas where residents don’t speak English, you are forced to adapt and learn the language. You can also pick up on it by listening in on conversations in Hispanic-owned restaurants. Ordering items in Spanish in America will help you practice getting better for when you go abroad. Also watching Spanish TV channels helps you better pick up on the language as well as sleeping over at Hispanic friends houses who don’t speak English in their homes.
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Thanks so much! I would love to hear any more suggestions.
Even if you can’t improve it before, you will have the chance when you are there in immersion.
The way people in Spain and Argentina pronounce Spanish is vastly different. There are many different accents already within the language, from country to country. A native Spanish speaker can generally recognize if someone is from Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, Spain, Columbia, Chile, Argentina or Venezuela, for example. If you want to get rid of your American accent, you will need to ask yourself which Spanish accent you’d like to have. Even when foreigners learn English in their own country, they often have the choice of learning British English or American English from an appropriate teacher, and they pick up the accent and any special wording along the way. Learning to recognize different Spanish accents may even help you get rid of your own as you hear the differences in pronunciation.
You can certainly immerse yourself online in any number of Spanish movies, music videos, and TV shows and news stories for free, but if you can afford about ten dollars a month then you can sign up for https://spanish.yabla.com/ which has English subtitles provided under short Spanish videos from many different countries, and you can play the videos at any speed. You can even practice repeating after the Spanish speakers and with your own device record yourself, and track your improvement over time that way. To get a really proper accent will not only take more fluency so you are not hesitating while speaking, but will involve holding your mouth in ways that feel strange to you. As you watch Spanish videos of any kind, pay attention to how the speakers are positioning their lips as they speak (which will vary depending on their own Spanish accent).
Keep in mind that some American accent is okay as long as you’re understood. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Mark Zuckerberg had a heavy American accent while speaking Chinese, but that didn’t stop him from having fun with it or his audience from being thrilled at his attempt to communicate in their language. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_168pH9GJk Spanish speakers are usually also very supportive and appreciative of people learning their language.
You should watch a lot of tv shows or movies in Spanish. Try and look closely at how they speak, namely how their mouths form the sounds. This is very important when learning any language. Try and mimic them and pronounce after them. Sometimes it helps to record yourself and then listen to see your mistakes. Compare your version to a native version and note the differences.