Episode 29
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Hi, everyone! I'm Georgiana, founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help YOU to speak English fluently and confidently.
In today's episode:
I'm gonna talk about how to understand people who speak English with a strong accent.
Next, through a point of view lesson, you'll practice vocabulary, and above all, you'll improve your grammar without memorizing boring rules.
Awesome! Let's get started!
I listen to people who speak English with a strong accent every day.
Their mother tongue sometimes has a strong influence on the way they speak English.
Have you ever traveled to another country and tried to speak their mother tongue?
Then you're probably aware that some locals experienced some difficulties understanding you and that not everybody was patient. Some people got very impatient and sometimes even rude.
That's why, whenever you talk to people with a strong accent, you should try to be as patient and encouraging as possible.
Usually, people with a strong accent already know that you may have some difficulties understanding them.
So, just be honest with the person you're talking to. Don't pretend to understand if you can't comprehend what the other person is saying.
And don't be afraid to hurt the other person's feelings. Being honest doesn't necessarily make you rude.
Instead, use a polite phrase to say that you have some difficulties understanding. Ask the other person to speak more slowly. Just say something like this:
"I'm sorry, but I'm having some difficulties understanding you." or "Can you please speak a bit more slowly?"
Don't try to understand every single word. Instead, make an effort to get the overall meaning. Like this, you'll be able to participate in the conversation.
As a listener, you'll need to relax and listen to meaningful words and then observe. Use as many contextual clues as possible.
Listen very carefully and give all the feedback possible to the speaker.
Use your facial expressions to give feedback.
Nod when you get the meaning.
Smile when the topic is interesting.
Frown when the content is about some problem.
Put in all the effort and patience as possible:
In many cases, the reason you don't understand people is not due to their accent but because you don't listen carefully enough.
Learn how to listen without interrupting:
If you can understand the main point, but you're not sure about some words which don't seem relevant, just ignore them and don't interrupt.
However, when you don't seem to understand keywords, relevant ideas and you can't catch up with what that person is saying, you'll need to interrupt by using a phrase like this one politely:
"Excuse me; I don't quite understand." "Could you please say that again?"
Ask questions:
Help the speaker by asking questions like: "Do you mean that…?" or "Are you trying to say that…"
Like this, the speaker will get the impression that you're genuinely interested in the conversation.
Write Things Down
If you still can't get the meaning no matter how he or she explains, then try to write things down. Show them what you understood and leave in black the rest.
And keep smiling, show respect, and have fun communicating with people from all around the world.
Want more speaking practice? Continue with a complete audio course.
GRAMMAR MADE EASY
POV Story: Grammar in Context
Read the same story in two different points of view and notice how the grammar changes naturally.
Kate's Point of View
Hi everyone! I'm Kate, and today I'll talk about my friend Tony.
Some years ago, my friend Tony had a "hopeless" accent, or at least that's what I thought.
His accent was so strong that everyone thought he was speaking a variant of English or something like that.
It took me too much mental effort to guess whatever he was trying to say.
He was very nice and friendly, and we hang out from time to time. Often, we'd communicate with the help of facial expressions, hand gestures, or even writing on a piece of paper.
The funny thing is that he could perfectly understand me.
We didn't usually run into each other unless we made an effort to do so. Eventually, we both got busy and didn't see each other for years.
Last week, we finally ran into each other. I was shocked at how much his pronunciation had improved. I was able to understand him perfectly, and although he still had an accent, it wasn't a distraction anymore.
I asked him how he improved his spoken English and how he got rid of the strong accent.
He told me that his first step was to identify his problem areas, so he hired a tutor.
Once he knew his weak points, he started listening to lots of English podcasts and audiobooks.
He would normally listen to the same chapter several times, and then he tried to copy the speaker's pronunciation and intonation.
After a while, his friends started to notice great improvement. Eventually, it took him about one year to get rid of the strong accent.
He worked really hard to improve his pronunciation, but it's been totally worth it. Tony's life has changed completely.
Now he's helping others who are dealing with the same difficulties that he faced when he moved to the US.
Tony's Point of View
Hi! I'm Tony. I'd like to tell you how I managed to get rid of my strong accent.
Some years ago, I had a "hopeless" accent, or at least that's what everybody thought.
My accent was so strong that everyone thought I was speaking a variant of English or something like that.
It took people too much mental effort to guess whatever I was trying to say.
I liked hanging out with my friend Kate from time to time. Often, we'd communicate with the help of facial expressions, hand gestures, or even writing on a piece of paper.
The funny thing is that I could perfectly understand her, but she wouldn't get me.
We didn't usually run into each other unless we made an effort to do so. Eventually, we both got busy and didn't see each other for years.
Last week, we finally ran into each other. She was shocked at how much my pronunciation had improved. Kate was able to understand me perfectly, and although I still have an accent, it wasn't a distraction anymore.
She asked me how I improved my spoken English and how I got rid of my strong accent.
I told her that my first step was to identify my problem areas, so I hired a tutor.
Once I knew my weak points, I started listening to lots of English podcasts and audiobooks.
I would normally listen to the same chapter several times, and then I tried to copy the speaker's pronunciation and intonation.
After a while, my friends started to notice great improvement. Eventually, it took me about one year to get rid of the strong accent.
I worked really hard to improve my pronunciation, but it's been totally worth it. My life has changed completely.
Now I'm helping others who are dealing with the same difficulties I faced when I moved to the US.
Thanks for listening, and I’ll see you in the next episode.
Review
Vocabulary
Review the most useful words and expressions before listening again.
strong accent
a very noticeable way of pronouncing a language.
contextual clue
information around a word that helps explain it.
mother tongue
the first language a person learned.
interrupt
stop someone while they are speaking.
encouraging
giving support or confidence.
run into someone
meet someone unexpectedly.
overall meaning
the main idea rather than every detail.
intonation
the rise and fall of the voice while speaking.
Want more speaking practice? Continue with a complete audio course.
Pleasant to learn English with you.
I’ve improved my English by listening to your podcast. Thanks!
CIAO. FEEL GOOD IMPROVING MY SPOKEN ENGLISH @SpeakEnglishPodcast.com . BRILLIANT INITIATIVE