Is it important to lose our accent when we speak English?

Is it important to lose our accent when we speak English?
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Flavia.lm 1 10 100
Question: Is it important that we lose our Brazilian accent when we speak English? Why?

Answers:

- Yes, because it gives us more credibility among native speakers of the language;
- No, it’s important to speak naturally, not imitating others;
- We should care about improving pronunciation skills, not reducing accent.

Now it is your turn!
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38 respostas
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Trying to be too "perfect" with an accent can cause problems.
When I first arrived in Brazil I met a teacher with a quite exaggerated English accent, he sounded like a posh version of Prince Charles.
At first I thought he was English, then I wondered why he was pretending to be English, it came across as a little false...
Every English speaking country has its own accent and they're all equally valid, pronunciation for clarity is important but an accent can be very charming.
"We should care about improving pronunciation skills, not reducing accent. "

I think in the beggining is more important to talk correctly. With the time, if you take care about it, the accent in the pronunciation will desappear.
Logan18 1
No, for me is more important to talk correctly even that without accent, speak naturally is ideal.
Gabi 1 1 19
What it was said is interesting.
You might speak really well, grammatically, on the other hand you might not speak naturally because of your accent.
I believe we've got to know where to put an stress on words when we're speaking, otherwise it won't never sounds
how it should be. I've got a Brazilian teacher, and this classes of her are taught in English.
Sometimes I can't understand her, because of that terrible Brazilian accent ! I get crossed everytime I've got to spend a couple of minutes figuring out what she's said.
Lose the accent, in my opinion it's important, but I think there's always going to be at least a bit of accent for a non-native speaker which is just fine, but not much otherwise is difficult to have a proper communication.
All in all is even cute to listen to someone speaking English with French accent or ,I don't know perhaps Italian accent but Brazilian accent just doesn't please me rsrsr, perhaps because I'm Brazilian :mrgreen:
Gabi 1 1 19
I would like to give a sample of what I mean by Brazilian accent,so have a hint of Brazilian accent listen to this brief trailer I've found on the youtube :

I think Lazaro spoke correctly, but still it doens't sound spontaneous for me. Pay attention that he's got an american pronunciation, as well.
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I think it's quite important if you want to be perfect. It's hard to lose our Brazilian accent completely, but the most you practice the better you'll speak.
We can't deny it regards perfectionism. It is not ''horrendous'' if you speak english with a slight accent from the place where you were raised. Of course it depends on the intensity this accent is pronounced. If it starts making your english sound weird, like Indian accent, I think it is better try to control it. On the other hand, if you only want to communicate yourself with people, go ahead. I like trying to have the closest accent possible to carry on a talk in a better mutual way, apparently.

Regards,
In addition to what I said, I think Brazilians have a beneficial advantage in terms of accent. It is not too strong making it seem bothering or artificial. Of course there are exceptions, those who don't like it tend to speak it without focusing on details and all. What do you think?

Regards,
Gabi 1 1 19
I agree.
Our accent is not so strong if compared to someone who speaks Spanish or Italian, for example.
I do think that it's not bad if you've got some accent from your own language when you speak English. Of course, it's not what we'd aim for,but it's perfectly understandable. And it's very commom.
What is important is to keep studying, and i guess that accent is something that we need pay attention..

The more you study the more you'll be rewarded by your hard work.

So what can i say.... you need to learn how to spell the right way, and the BEST WAY YOU CAN...
and if you can loose most of accent, or minimize it.. you should certainly do it..

Why? Why it's part of knowledge, and you'll receive compliments about your English even more if you do pay attention to accent, and some other minor details....


BUT, There's no need to lost your mind trying to be perfect at it... it's okay to have accent.
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Yes, because it gives us more credibility among native speakers of the language;

by the way, people won´t do jokes and slangs with us
I noticed something in my english class today that is really interesting. Here in São Paulo, we have a different accent that exerts influence when we are speaking English. For instance, some people say 'chee-cher' [teacher] which is not correct. Another example I saw in my class is one of the students talking about 'gates' to the my teacher, who is foreigner. He pronounced the word like 'Gaychee' and the teacher was like 'What the hell is that'?

You see the importance of this? I know it's contraditory to what I said before, but I didn't notice it before commenting up there. Portuguese habits sometimes mess things up. At least here in São Paulo.

Regards,
Yep renanKenpler...
Its very important to speak properly...

An great example why you should study how to spell the best you can:

THOUGHT you have to say θɔːt

If you don't speak properly the th sound, That's a horrible mistake
and it can make your English really tough to understand.

Two words similar to the word thought, but both of 'em haven't the same meaning as thought.
fought = fɔːt
taut = tɔːt

There is no such thing as TH which sounds like F or T.
Because there is a risk to be misunderstood.
TH has TH sound, period.
Accent is about the amount and where the emphasis or intonation of the word is placed, it is a learned behaviour. I thus believe that we can all adapt our accents to the situation. Now, that is not to say that it is easy, but we can do it if we deem it important.

In certain situation it is more important that in others, as in a job interview or if you are a journalist.

I had a Brazilian friend in London who was a theatre actress and she had to loose all her accent to be able to get work. Her English was limited in terms of variety of vocabulary, but the little she spoke you would have thought she lived in London all her life.
it's important to talk as closer as a native does ad possible
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maryziller 1 2
I think the Brazilian way of pronouncing English is very beautiful. I love it when people English read aloud. There are some accents that sound prettier than others. I like the carioca accent in English very much.
I don't think so...
They will understand us if we speack English without the american accent. But it'd be very important to get it if you are supposed to live in the country...

Bye...
josneywat 6
The accent on the youtube video is actually not like my accent.
Of course, I think the accent is one the most important part of english.
I ran across this thread and since I am an American, with a Brisilian wife, and her Brasilian family is now mine I decided to expound on my experiences.

An accent is not as much a hindrance, as is the improper construction of sentences. In other words if you can use the correct words in the proper order it is easier for a native to understand, regardless of accent. I am not saying that proper enunciation is not important, but that an accent is not as big a problem as many people think.

In the United States, we Americans may have very noticable and distinct accents from, Boston, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angles, etcetera, and in some cases a Manhatten, New York accent can be very different from a Brooklyn, or Bronx accent. WE CAN DEAL WITH ACCENTS, even Canadian, British (the worse :lol: ), and yes, even the cute Brasilian ones :D .

If you concentrate on the proper use of words, and construction of sentences, while trying to improve your enunciation, and you will be OK.
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Ravenna 3
Well I already complained on this forum :D about foreigners trying to speak English with a heavy accent because I could barely understand a Russian Teacher trying to explain the complicated Russsian Grammar to the students and I gave up watching his explanation (it was a video) - Alas, just because of his English I decided to leave the Group of Studies!
I'm not worried about my accent while I'm speaking English - I'm just worried about the proper pronunciation of the words, the correct pronunciation is what really matters - then I will be understood. Of course we can deal with accents! But, you know there are exceptions...!
Hope it does make sense!

Regards,
Ravenna. ^^
Yeah, it is. We must keep our real idiom, because it matters so much, too.
isabelladevonne escreveu:Yeah, it is. We must keep our real idiom, because it matters so much, too.
Isabella,

See what you think of this rewrite.

"Yes, it is. We must use proper pronunciation because it matters so much."

Yeah, is slang and when learning a new language one should strive to learn the proper words, and pronunciation. An Idiom is a phrase that you can not deduce it's real meaning from the individual words, such as to kick the bucket which means to die, or a chip on your shoulder which means you have a grudge or are looking for trouble.

Keep studying,learning and improving your English.
ernando 2
Of course losing our Portuguese accent is important, as were said it will give us more credibility among the native speakers. But in the beginning of one's English studies lose the accent is not big deal, it comes naturally after some time. ;)

I got this opinion because once I went to a Shopping Mall where lots of Chinese people worked, some of them do speak Portuguese very well, but others don't, in this second case, these people sounded like being rude sometimes because of their Chinese accents.

Please correct my wrongs.
Some years ago I worked at a hotel and some foreigners guests did their best to try to speak a good portuguese, as we know, portuguese is very difficult for english speakers. One of them told me once that, in his opinion, is polite to do so. Beyond all explanations here, I agree with that guest. When we study another language we learn also another culture, thus we ought to put all our efforts to do the best!!!
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I think a Brazilian accent is actually quite charming. :) That said, the more neutral your accent, the higher people will perceive your English skills to be. Having people guess that you're American or British is probably the highest compliment you can receive.
No, the most important you get communicate with the people. The accent always there will be. You can see the example below:

The portugueses always that be in Brazil will have your accent of your country, so we always have some accent, independent where to be!
I think the key is communicating - if an accent is so strong that it becomes a barrier to communication and understanding then of course it needs to be worked on. But I don't think there is any problem with people having accents - I have an accent (southern English), my friends from Manchester, Scotland etc, have different accents. So what difference does it make if you have, for example, a Brazilian accent?

Besides, some people will find it sexy!
I find important to pay attention on the way you pronounce the words. The other day I was in a plane here in Brasil, and I heard the flight attendant speaking in englhish and I didn´t understant a word she said, she had a a terrible pronounce, is as though she didn´t care to be understood, . Não pega bem... But having a litlle accent is nice and cute, even sexy :lol:
Well, the communication is more important than the accent. But, if you want to lose it, I think that, first of all, you have to speak correctly (pronunciation skills). While you are studying english, you are losing your accent naturally, so don't lost your mind trying to do it.