Learning accent is one of any learner’s pet peeves for quite a few reasons.
This is because of the very nature of Second language acquisition (any language learned in addition to a person's first language). Generally, it is believed that there’s a critical period (around age 10) when the accent can be acquired. Obtaining oral language skills without a foreign accent becomes less likely if a person starts learning a language later on in life. However, there are some ways you can make your English accent better:
1. Try to identify which accent you would benefit from. Consider such factors as your possible relocation and language environment you would like to find yourself in. Typically, the choice falls on North American accent and Received Pronunciation (the standard form of spoken British English). Train yourself to discern them as you watch videos or movies in original.
2. Pay attention to the vowel sounds (/ɪ/ /ʊ/ /ə/ /e/ /ɒ/ /ʌ/ /æ/ etc.); they tend to be the hardest ones to deal with. Oftentimes they are reduced to schwa /ə/ which is found in unstressed syllables. To pronounce it, just relax your mouth first. You do nothing with your lips and with your jaw. Open your mouth just a little bit a make a vowel sound. Give it a shot and try to read these sentences out loud (the schwa sound is given in the bold):
Let's go to the shops.
It's time for lunch
Can you help?
Send me some roses.
3. Use the correct intonation patterns. Usually a sentence which begins with a medium pitch and ends with a lower one is a simple assertion, but when a person uses a rising intonation, it is a question.
4. Practice daily for 10 minutes a day. Find a video in original and choose a sentence. Listen to it for several times and take very detailed notes on what you hear (flat “t”, intonation, schwa) . Then try and record your voice pronouncing the same sentence and reading your notes until you sound exactly the same. It might take some time but it’s worth it 🔥
5. Notice how natives articulate, basically try to pay attention to the way their mouth moves. To do this, try putting a video or a movie on mute and just look at the speaker’s articulation.
NB: Consistency is the King ♥️