Accent Neutralization

As I sit here and try to put my thoughts into words, i cannot help but look back at my previous classes in Accent Training. Whenever I start a new class I always tell my students that learning the proper way of speaking is not hard, the challenging part is unlearning what you already know. With that said, in Accent training, if you want to make the most out of it, you have to keep an open mind. Why do I say this? As you go through the course, you will encounter a lot of surprises that will challenge the foundation of all the stock knowledge that you've had since you were a child.If you got used to saying "one, two, tree" or "my pader is a carfenter" and your comfortable saying it then there is a lot of work to be done on your speech but it's not your fault. Most of the problem can be attributed to our Filipino Alphabet. We do not have the consonants th, v, f and z among others. All of our vowels are short vowels. This is the reason why we have to clear our heads when we study the proper way of speaking. Remember that you cannot fill a cup that is already full.

Filipinos are the best language learners in the world because our country, though relatively small in size, has many regions that have their own subcultures and dialects. Upon reading this, ask yourself, how many people do you know who can speak more than two languages? This is in regards to Filipino and English. Aside from Tagalog and English, most of us can speak Ilokano, Bisaya, Bicolano, Ilonggo, Waray, etc. Hence, language training should not be very difficult for us.

In the call center industry, in order to communicate effectively to our customers, we must learn to speak in a certain manner that is understandable to the native English speakers in all regions in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia. It must be clear and properly enunciated. For the sake of learning, we will focus more on the American Accent because a majority of our clients are Americans.

If you are going to ask me, there is no doubt that we can speak English very well. We just need to achieve a standard accent that will help our listeners understand us better. Do not get me wrong, accent is beautiful because they tell other people where we come from. For instance, if you have an Ilonggo accent, people automatically associate you to your hometown hence it gives you a sense of identity. On the other hand some people may have a hard time understanding the words that you are saying. If we want to sound professional, we have to speak in a manner that everyone else understands. It has to be clear, concise and properly enunciated. Hmmm, I like the sound of that. The first person that comes to mind whenever I think about speech clarity and good diction is Lea Salongga. I have seen her perform and I have heard her sing on stage and every word that she utters is very clear whether she is singing or not.

Let us take into consideration the U.S., they have 50 states in different regions across America. Every region has a distinctive accent. If this is the case, one might probably ask, what the standard accent is. A standard accent is the one that newscasters across the nation use whenever they deliver their report. To be more specific, the accent that most Americans consider as standard is the Midwestern accent. Oprah Winfrey is from the Midwest and has a Midwestern accent,oh and did I mention a popular figure in America?

There are three tips I can give you in Accent Neutralization.

1. Vowel sounds. It's all about opening your mouth and letting the air flow freely. Remember facial muscles are relaxed when you are pronouncing lax or short vowels and they are tensed when you are pronouncing long (tensed) vowels.
2. Consonant sounds. It's all about obstructing the airflow to produce the sounds. The main distinction between voiced and unvoiced consonants is the vibration that you feel in the points of articulation in your mouth. Remember, V=Voiced;V=Vibration.
3.Blending. Otherwise known as linking. Do not speak word per word. Learn to connect the last sound of the first word to the first sound of the next word. This will give rhythm to your speech and ensure that you don't sound like a robot.

If you want to learn more, then you have to attend my class. That's it for now. I am open to any comments and suggestions. Until next time. Ciao!