how can i improve my english (british) accent?

Question

i live in london for 3 years. i captured almost 40% of british accent but somehow i dont understand 100% when old white people i come cross, i dont mostly understand what the hell they talking about? i understand full100% of bbc news, programmes all channels but when i go outside idf they are young i understand but when it is old people and if they are native specially englsih, i confused, i think their accent confusing me, so if u guys please tell me how can i improve that? cheers!

thnx guys for ur time,

Answer 1

experience my friend. Go visit with an older person. the only way to improve is to practice.

Answer 2

I don believe that the British tone is that hard to understand. I live in Hong Kong and was brought up bilingual and I still understands it. What you have to do is listen more.

And on the other hand, why do you want to speak British English? I mean with so many people speaking English now, getting the "right" accent is not as important as it was. I think that it's already okay when people can understand you without paying extra effort. Anyway maybe you have your own reason.

Answer 3

Impossible you are not British. Be proud of what you are and if British people get upset with you for being foreign and not speaking clearly, then that is just the attitude and culture of the real British people (not the government) You cannot change the British attitude about foreigners. We have had to fight too many off of our shores.

The government will let you think you can change us, but you can't. Get used to it.

You could perhaps listen to the News Readers on BBC. They are very very well spoken and pronounce everything correctly.

Good luck

Answer 4

Are you wanting to improve your english accent when you speak or your understanding of people with strong accents?

Practice makes perfect in both cases. TV is probably the easiest way of exposing yourself to different accents without travelling. An english language course would also help.

If it any consolation, natives to this country can struggle to understand some of the accents in this country, so you you are far from alone!

Answer 5

i have a feeling that the "old white people" you come across speak 'cockney' english. 'cockney' is the far most difficult dialect to understand in the english language.

the only phrase that i understand in 'cockney' is: "have a good one!" roughly translated is, "have a good day!". oh... i also know this word in 'cockney': "guvnor". it was or still is formerly used by upper-class young men as an informal term, and a term of address, for their fathers.

if you want to improve your so-called accent... befriend with a "cockney". you can practice your speech with him/her. good luck with you. and have a good one! haha...

here. i've given you a proper definition for 'cockney' so you can understand better:

cockney [kóknee] (noun)
1. somebody from London’s East End: somebody born in London, traditionally within a two-mile radius of the bells of St. Mary-le-Bow church in London’s East End. Cockneys are considered to be the “true” Londoners.
2. London dialect: the accent or dialect of native Londoners from the East End.

[14th century. Middle English coken generative plural of cok (see cock1) + obsolete ey “egg,” from Old English Ç£g . Originally “small or misshapen egg” (supposedly laid by a rooster), “pampered child”; hence “town-dweller” (originally pejorative).]

Answer 6

I think the problem is that you don't come across many older people in your everyday life. The older generation does speak differently to us and some older peoples speech is affected by their hearing deteriorating. Maybe volunteering to help old people would help you to overcome this barrier. Well done for getting so far with your English, I hope you conquer this barrier.

Good luck!

Answer 7

ask them to speak slower, it would only be the dialetct that you are not getting, just like any country, the region you are from is stronger than the language itself, but listen hard, ask the person to speak up a bit or slow down a bit. Were quite nice you know and im sure most people would help you understand them better.
Good luck

Answer 8

Listen to the Queen talking over and over again - Voila! The perfect British accent!

Answer 9

Talk like an Aussie, slow and pronnonced and listern very closely, learning lip reading isn't a bad idea either. You have to remember that they invented the language, but even I can't understand most of them and I'm an Aussie

Answer 10

lol practice m8 my mother is from the west country and my fiancee(from yorkshire) can never understand what she's saying it just takes practice... also some people are fine with different dialects and others aren't. there isn't many dialects i can't understand except the angry glaswegian(spelt wrong sorry). the accent goes really thick and they talk really fast!

Answer 11

Watch lots and lots of british movies and television, or directly observe those you wish to understand with greater detail.