1. Don’t speak just one word at a time:
Many people who learned printed English do this, rather than stringing their words together as Americans tend to. You end up sounding mechanical and foreign.
2. Mimic dialogue from American movies:
Read it out loud, record it and play it back to yourself. I started out this habit by doing some favorite lines from The Godfather to make people laugh. But it turns out it really helps you develop more of an American accent.
3. Try to hang out often with native speakers:
If you have had a hard time with finding American-born friends, try getting a volunteer position at an organization where people only speak English.
4. Listen closely when people around you are speaking English:
Listen to how they stress certain words in certain situations. Have you ever heard random people arguing about something? Listen to their intonation and watch their body language when they talk. But try not to be too creepy in your eavesdropping!
5. Never stop working on your intonation:
I personally find this to be the hardest part of mastering a language. Without intonation, your speech sounds flat, mechanical, choppy and unemotional. Even if the words you’re saying are technically perfect, your speech will still be very confusing to native English speaker. If English is your second language, intonation cannot ever be fully mastered, but you can always go deeper and deeper and discover more. For example, when I commute on buses in Seattle, I notice when Americans talk they don’t move lips like the rest of the world. Americans create most of sound in throat by using their tongues very actively.
6. Mind your manners:
I bumped into a very interesting book in local library, titled “Emily Post’s Etiquette, 18th Edition” which I found to be a must-have. It is well written and easy to read for immigrants who are interested in understanding local American etiquette. The authors provides invaluable advice on situation you might think of, including how to deal with salespeople, small talk, official protocol, sending cards and replying to invitations, job interviews, celebrations like baby showers, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, services of other faiths, weddings, and more.
7. Use American idioms… carefully:
“Put the word out,” “xoxo,” “play favorites,” “run errands,” “sure thing,” “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” “play hooky.” These American idioms remind me of similar idioms in my native language, Pashto. Learn to play with idioms, but use them sparingly – overdoing it will sound awkward. Get yourself an American idiom dictionary like “A Dictionary of American Idioms” written by Adam Makkai. It contains more than 8,000 idiomatic words, phrases and informal English expressions.
Getting proficient in American English will make a big difference in your life. Challenge yourself to experience that change!
Many people who learned printed English do this, rather than stringing their words together as Americans tend to. You end up sounding mechanical and foreign.
2. Mimic dialogue from American movies:
Read it out loud, record it and play it back to yourself. I started out this habit by doing some favorite lines from The Godfather to make people laugh. But it turns out it really helps you develop more of an American accent.
3. Try to hang out often with native speakers:
If you have had a hard time with finding American-born friends, try getting a volunteer position at an organization where people only speak English.
4. Listen closely when people around you are speaking English:
Listen to how they stress certain words in certain situations. Have you ever heard random people arguing about something? Listen to their intonation and watch their body language when they talk. But try not to be too creepy in your eavesdropping!
5. Never stop working on your intonation:
I personally find this to be the hardest part of mastering a language. Without intonation, your speech sounds flat, mechanical, choppy and unemotional. Even if the words you’re saying are technically perfect, your speech will still be very confusing to native English speaker. If English is your second language, intonation cannot ever be fully mastered, but you can always go deeper and deeper and discover more. For example, when I commute on buses in Seattle, I notice when Americans talk they don’t move lips like the rest of the world. Americans create most of sound in throat by using their tongues very actively.
6. Mind your manners:
I bumped into a very interesting book in local library, titled “Emily Post’s Etiquette, 18th Edition” which I found to be a must-have. It is well written and easy to read for immigrants who are interested in understanding local American etiquette. The authors provides invaluable advice on situation you might think of, including how to deal with salespeople, small talk, official protocol, sending cards and replying to invitations, job interviews, celebrations like baby showers, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, services of other faiths, weddings, and more.
7. Use American idioms… carefully:
“Put the word out,” “xoxo,” “play favorites,” “run errands,” “sure thing,” “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” “play hooky.” These American idioms remind me of similar idioms in my native language, Pashto. Learn to play with idioms, but use them sparingly – overdoing it will sound awkward. Get yourself an American idiom dictionary like “A Dictionary of American Idioms” written by Adam Makkai. It contains more than 8,000 idiomatic words, phrases and informal English expressions.
Getting proficient in American English will make a big difference in your life. Challenge yourself to experience that change!
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