I just wanna speak like a native English speaker.. Can you give me some ways on how to get that goal?

commented

Hello! Thank you for interest. I’d like to try to compare it to my previous experience of learning English through Skype on online classes. I did around 10 conversations over Skype with a native speaker from http://preply.com/en/english-by-skype. And I was pretty satisfied with their Quality. I think they have a strong teaching quality. Following their course curriculum now I can speak English like a native. But I Want to try another option.

commented

I would like to speak like native speaker

commented

Yes, I would like to speak like a native speaker
.

44 Answers

0vote

Hello you need to practice, speak with natives and watch a lot of english spoken movies (without subtitles!!!) to improve your accent.

commented

Well, practicing and watching movies will improve your fluency definitely as that way your vocabulary will grow up, your understanding will be better as well. But, I am afraid it doesn't solve the problem given up here... I know quite a lot of people who are able to read with full understanding, to translate, to understand most of native speakers (I say most because you can always meet somebody whose accent will be really hard for you. It happened to me in Scotland 3 years ago. A man told me something when I was doing my shoppings in a supermarket, and I must have looked like a complete fool since I asked him for repeating his statement three times, and finally, that man waved with his arm and left, lol! And, I have no problem with understanding in the UK usually.), but those people are unable to speak, or their pronunciation is really terrible.

0vote

Ron G 1720

To learn how to speak like a native speaker you need to learn how to think like a native speaker. Listen to English podcasts like China 232, English Funcast , and so on. It is also important to read fiction English books. I always tell my students to read goosebumps. It is a great fiction series to read.

commented

Ron, I agree with your first statement, absolutely! This is very important for being fluent. Pronunciation is a little bit different problem.... :)

commented

I am an English teacher and I find that the students that have the best pronunciation are the ones with the lowest grades and never pay attention in class. The reason I think their pronunciation is amazing is cause all they listen to and watch is American movies. When you try to learn pronunciation from books you end up sounding more like a robot than a person

commented

Everybody learns in a different way. I also agree with Ron that sometimes those who don't pay much attention have the best pronunciation skills, as it comes natural to them if they watch lots of movies.

And yes, leeeenka, you're right. It's even better to watch movies with English subtitles than watching it with no titles at all. This is why song lyrics can also be a great resource :)

commented

I agree with Ron. Podcasts and a lot of reading definitely help with overall language skills. Movies without subtitles are great, but movies with English subtitles are even better. I love Goosebumps :)

But I don't think just listening to the native speakers can solve pronunciation problems, especially to the people whose native languages don't recognize the sounds that English has.

commented

I agree, leeeenka!

0vote

It's not to easy to speak like a native, unless you move to an English speaking country and live there for many years. Some people are lucky enough to pick-up native accent fast, others not so easy. The only and best way to improve your speaking skills and accent is to speak English as much as you can with natives (if possible).

0vote

Astheart 2940

Anyway, each foreigner must understand that he will never ever have the pronunciation like a native speaker, sad in a way... But, if you work on it, you can improve it a lot. Though, like I have said, some people are talented, others are simply "tone-deaf". :)

0vote

Astheart, I agree that talent is a part of it, but it can definitely be replaced with hard work. Start from individual vowels and consonants, combine them into words and then move to sentences. My biggest problem came from my native language - I was unable to realize that not all of the letters in a word should be pronounced - although I knew that some of them are silent. It just didn't work. I tried many methods, books, DVD's free online videos - name it. So, if someone needs an advice, feel free to contact me.

commented

Well, it wouldn't work at school. There's no time for it. When I have beginners, I start with individual sounds (like th, nasals, r, and so on), but it's just one lesson. But, when beginning a unit, we go through a word list, and each student must pronounce new words. They listen to me and repeat them. This way I try to avoid mispronouncing mistakes as if you learn any expression in a bad way, later, it's nearly impossible to get rid of it and correct it.

0vote

Astheart, I think we would agree that there's simply not enough time in a regular class to dedicate to practicing all the sounds with all the students individually. I've been working as a teacher and I had lots of problems with coming up with proper ways to teach pronunciation because each student has a different problem. But, just as leeeeenka said, it seems that those who really want to practice will probably find good ways to do that on their own.

0vote

Plus, many teachers are not native speakers, and often have very strong accents, and sometimes they don't even know that their students are making the mistakes in pronunciation. This is where external resource, such as a good pronunciation software, are essential.

There is one more thing - the fact that most of the teachers, at least in Europe, teach RP. And many students don't have the chance to hear or practice RP outside their classrooms - American English is everywhere.

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marino 140

Did you know that there are more people in the world that speak English as a second language and as their first? Why do you want to speak like a native? What´s the big deal about having an accent? What is most important is that you are able to communicate well in English, that you have enough vocabulary to be able to express what you want to say, that speak the language fluently and are able to make yourself be understood. Why worry about sounding like a native?

commented

I hear you, marino. And, it's not a matter of confidence like Jennifer says. You will never have the accent like an English native speaker, and you're right, it doesn't matter at all. Nevertheless, I think you should pronounce right to avoid confusion both in speaking, and understanding.

0vote

These are also very useful and nicely done :)

0vote

With today's resources and technology you have tools for proper learning everywhere. Recording your speech and comparing it to a native speaker is not difficult at all. (Use lines from a movie for examples). And there are tons of apps out there designed to help you with pronunciation. You just have to pick the one that suits you. And of course, combine all resources. I think that way you will definitely get results. Good luck!

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