In today’s day and age English is the commanding language across geographical and cultural boundaries with multinational companies using it to communicate between different teams on different continents.
So, we have already solved the biggest problem for global communications because now we have a single powerful language that is utilised for communication all over the world.
However, the problem is not solved yet.
Instead of explaining this to you let me help you out with an example. Let’s assume you are good at spoken English but you are not a native English speaker. Simply open YouTube and listen to someone speaking Scottish English or someone speaking Australian at x1.25 speed without subtitles.
90% of the time you will have a difficult time understanding what they are saying even though they are also speaking in English.
That is where we come to the issue of accents. We speak the same language all over the world but it is the accent that changes from region to region with some accents being more difficult to understand than others.
That is where we come to one of the most effective solutions for other people to understand your accent.
We call this accent neutralization.
This is going to be the solution for bridging borders through clear speech so that everyone can understand what you are saying.
So, what is Accent Neutralization? Let’s find out.
What Is Accent Neutralization?
Accent neutralization is the process or rather the skill of softening your regional or native accent in order to make your spoken English much more universally intelligible to other people.
Every accent has certain stress elements and certain elements that are very distinct from other ones.
While we are not getting into the history or technicalities of why this is the case but let’s say accent neutralization is basically tuning down the uniqueness of your accent a little bit to suit other ears.
Accent neutralization is not entirely getting rid of your accent.
It is not even learning a new accent.
It is finding a middle ground and coming to a compromise regarding a balanced neutral and comprehensible accent that helps in global communication.
Why Is Accent Neutralization Important?
Improved Professional Communication
The very first reason is definitely going to be to improve professional communication because if you have a balanced accent that is neutralized you will be able to communicate with more people around the world.
With a neutral accent anyone speaking English will be able to understand you whether they are from England or Finland or even the US.
The thing is accent neutralization is an amazing skill to have and reduces misunderstandings between colleagues and will help your communication become much more effective which you want in a professional environment.
Enhanced Global Employability
When you have an accent that is understandable by a lot of people, you are going to become a much more favourable candidate for global employability where international clients and international companies are going to be willing to work with you.
Having this skill is sometimes even more favoured than actual qualifications or experience because even if someone has a lot of qualifications, if others cannot understand them then those qualifications are not going to be of much use.
In that situation, you will shine because you will be to one to communicate with your colleagues which means you will be able to work.
Boosted Confidence
Accent neutralization is an amazing skill to have because when you are not only able to speak with others but able to explain what you are saying to others.
This will help you unlock an entirely new set of opportunities and set foot in areas of employment in any part of the world that speaks English.
This will boost your confidence and make you feel like you have unlocked the world in front of you.
Cultural Inclusivity
Having the skill of a neutralized accent is just something nice to do because when people are able to understand you they will be able to speak more confidently with you and this is going to be a very good thing for a workplace.
This also means that if someone from another region comes to work with you and if you can accommodate them with a neutral accent then they will also feel welcome because you are making the effort to help them understand you.
Key Components of Accent Neutralization
Phonetic Awareness
Accent neutralization can be as simple as simply listening to different accents and trying to copy elements from them but if you want to do it in the proper way then you need to have an understanding of the sound system of English.
This means having an understanding of the vowel and consonant sounds not present in a speaker’s native language. This is foundational and might require expert help.
Stress and Intonation
Unlike other languages, English has some syllables that are emphasized more than others which makes English a stress-timed language.
If you want to achieve accent neutralization then you need to get this correct. For example, here are two words where the capitalised section denotes the stress part of the word. This will help you understand what we are saying.
- Correct: PRE-sent(noun)
- Incorrect: pre-SENT (may be mistaken for the verb)
Intonation patterns also play a very important role in this when it comes to the rising or falling pitch and can signal everything from enthusiasm to questions as well as sarcasm and much more and has a great deal of effect on meaning and emotional tone.
Rhythm and Pacing
Unlike other languages where rhythm and pacing are meant to change the meaning of things, English does not have that issue mostly but if you speak very fast or slow then it will be difficult for others to understand what you are saying.
If you want to achieve accent neutralization then you need to have a balance in how you say things with a good level of pauses between words.
Word Linking and Reductions
When you are speaking with native speakers, you are going to find that they utilise a lot of word linking which might be a very unusual concept for you as a non-native speaker.
We are talking about things like:
- “Want to” becomes “wanna”
- “Going to” becomes “gonna”
So, if you want to neutralize your accent and speak like a native speaker then you might want to understand some of these linking words and even use them in your spoken English.
We hope this blog has helped you understand what is accent neutralization. It can be a complicated thing to achieve for a beginner speaker or even an advanced speaker no matter how much experience and knowledge they have of English.
Some of the ways to achieve accent neutralization are phonetic training as well as speech drills and listening exercises. Some simple techniques will definitely include shadowing and feedback and correction.
If you feel like accent neutralization is complicated and you want expert help not only with that but with fluent spoken English then we are here for you.
We are LoveUEnglish and we present you the most recommended and reputed spoken English courses in the industry. Our carefully created CLT-enabled spoken English courses will help you achieve English fluency in no time.
We welcome you to visit our website and check out all over courses.
