The Key to a Pure Accent

Many people pronounce foreign languages badly that they have begun to learn at school.  Why is that?  

It is important to listen, listen, listen to a new language even when you don’t understand what you are hearing; this will pass.  You will not understand everything right away.  Listening over time will create understanding.  Each learner needs vast quantities of exposure to the spoken language without the expectation that they will say anything!  This step is typically overlooked in gaining real fluency and a proper accent. 

Listening trains the ear to native cadences and patterns.  It teaches the ear to perceive the sounds that do not exist in the first language.  Listening shapes accent and is subtly different from what textbooks teach, helping with the long process of acclimation.  At home you can create a language “bubble” with intentional media use.  Hearing various native speakers provides access to the variety of ways that natives use their language.  It begins to lay down a foundation in a person’s brain of grammar, vocabulary, which words are or are not used together, how to add emphasis and a host of other things that are learned subconsciously.  Even if the language is not understood or the individual is not paying attention, the brain is busy even though students may not be actively aware of it. 

Using media may be challenging for the language student but having access to native speakers will allow the learner to become fully acquainted with the language and its culture enabling them to form genuine relationships with others.  Remember, there is no substitute for large quantities of aural exposure to a new language!  Hearing repetitive phrases and sentences  builds familiarity which eventually brings a response from learners. 

While things progress slowly in the beginning, there comes a point when things begin to synergize: with enough prior knowledge the learner picks out, first words, then phrases, and even whole sections. In due course, speaking, writing, and reading will follow naturally if careful listening has been given ample time to train the brain.