Show #57: Do you have an accent?

Do you have an accent? Have you ever tried to change your accent?
If you’re interested in finding out more about your accent and what it might say about you, listen to this interview with dialect coach Annik Foreman, PhD. Your accent is an important part of your image as a communicator.

The entire podcast runs 34 minutes.

Listen and then let me know what you think!
You can download the show right here or subscribe through iTunes.

Here are the show notes:
Comment line 206-338-4200
00:01 Intro and welcome; my original Trafcom News blog post about accents
02:13 About today’s guest, dialect Coach Annik Foreman
05:00 The interview, in which Annik and I discuss:
How you can change your accent
How some people strongly identify with their country, which plays a role in keeping their accent when they relocate
Social linguistics, or the social meaning of language
Why it’s perfectly normal to speak differently in different situations
The issue of accent and class
Why Annik believes that everyone speaks with a dialect

28:00 Where to send comments: email to donna@trafcom.com, call the comment line at 206-338-4200 or post a message to the Trafcom News Podcast blog
28:45 Comment from Victoria Fenner
30:28 Comment from Christopher S. Penn
31:54 Comment from Paull Young
Look for the Trafcom News Podcast on Blubrry.com
Theme music is “Beneath Your Surface” by the Elisabeth Lohninger Quartet from the Podsafe Music Network

Comments

[Oleg Kuzin]

I believe you had asked HPCA members to comment on the topic. I remember responding about French accents on French words, which I now realize was completely off the topic. One interesting thing is that your podcast with Annik was really about English Accents. Because of my multinational background, I think more of accents in any particular language - a French accent, a Russian accent, a German accent, etc. Language and identity certainly go hand in hand and the use of language depends on the social circumstance. I would be very curious to see the other comments you may have received, especially from non-English speakers.

[Rafal]

I listened to the whole episode but you did not tell anything how to change you accent nor what the coach really does to show you how to change your pronunciation. That was what I was hoping to hear. I think it would be a nice thing to finally find a podcast that presents all the necessary techniques on how to sound the way one wants. So far I can only find recorded sounds without any lessons on how to produce such sounds and repeating doesn't do much if you don't know how to move you mouth.

[Corey@IrishFireside.com]

Just got back from 3 months in Ireland and chose this episode as the first episode I listened to upon return. Excellent topic.

I have to admit there is no better way for one to realize they have an accent than traveling. I can't tell you how many times I found myself sticking to "yes" and "no" answers or mumbling a reply simply because there were days I didn't feel like being noticed because of how I spoke.

On the other hand, there were several times my Irish friends and I tried "swapping" accents just for the craic ("the good times" ...yup, vocabulary IS the first thing to change).

Being over there also made me wonder about some elements of gender and accents. I found that in the rural part of Ireland I was staying, the women (even those with heavy brogues) were much easier to understand than the men. Meanwhile, when I was living in Sydney I found the Australian men slightly easier to understand. Maybe it's just my ears, but maybe there's something more there.

Anyway, great episode. Keep up the good work.

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