Can you change you really change your accent, or at least lessen it?

Question

I have family in Colombia and I visit them between 1 to 3 months every other year, but I still have a heavy American accent. Is there a way to eliminate it or at least reduce it? Will regular classes with a native speaker work? Will practicing with a tape recorder over and over certain words work?

Answer 1

I on the otherhand have a heavy Colombian accent even though i'm half hebrew and colombian. A native speaker would work or you can just listen to tapes/cd of people speaking with a colombian accent and next to you know you get used to it.

Answer 2

Research in language acquisition says that if a language is not natively learned by about age 11-12, a native accent will never develop. Now, as with anything, practice makes perfect. The more you practice your vowels, trilling, and other nuances in the language, your "Spanish accent" will improve but the "American-ness" will never disappear. I don't know how old you are, but you aren't being fair to yourself to think that you should be able to develop the speed or the accent in another language that you have not spoken nearly as long as English.

Also, just think about other people of other languages that learn English. They can fluently speak English, and may rarely make a mistake. However, they still retain their accent. Some are thicker than others; this will improve with practice.

A mi parecer, debes preocuparte mas con el vocabulario y comunicarse efectivamente, en vez de tener una obsesion con el acento autentico.

Best to you.

Answer 3

Learn the IPA and find out what sounds are specific to your family. Then listen for the tones, that'd be the hardest part, and try to assimilate the best way you can.
Spanish has very specific sounds, if you want to learn them, learn how to produce them.

I mean living there always helps, however, if most cases you can't spend a year or two there. I would say tune your ear to what you hear, in your own language, in the language of those around you and more.

I can help you with the IPA and the sounds, but most of it means you have tune in your listening.

Answer 4

Live in Colombia for a year or two--that'll lessen it. Also, singing along to Spanish music helps. I do that with Italian, and it works for me!

Answer 5

Try lessons with a professional who specializes in accent issues. If this seems hard to find, there are bound to be some who teach actors and such people.

Answer 6

You could work with a speech pathologist!

Answer 7

hillary does it every week...yeah..sure you can..listen to her speeches