Active listening is the key to mimicking accents. To start sounding more native and to speak with a British or American accent, your best bet is to watch as many audio/video programs already in-built into OréllTalk or download them from the internet and replay them in the program while constantly evaluating your progress. Observe the way speakers use their mouth, their tongue, and watch the way their lips move. Try and mimic the delivery of their speech by repeating after them and comparing your delivery with that of the native speaker. This will help you acquire any accents with ease.Not only should you pay attention to the sounds that are coming out of their mouth, but you should also focus on trying to figure out how these sounds are coming out. Which parts of their mouth are they using when producing them?
Try to imitate the way they speak. You could also record yourself saying the same sentences and compare your version to the original one. Do not worry about sounding silly, we guarantee that this method will really help you! Certain words are pronounced differently in the UK and in the U.S. Below are a list of words you could perhaps memorize to avoid mixing up their pronunciation.
To get you started, here are 10 words you can practice aloud depending on your choice of accents.
| Word | UK pronunciation | U.S. pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Vitamin | VIT-a-min | VIT-a-min |
| Water | WAH-ta | wodder |
| Schedule | SHED-ual | SKED-ual |
| Advertisement | uhd-VER-tis-ment | AD-ver-ties-ment |
| Mobile | MOH-bye-ul | MOH-buhl |
| Niche | neesh | nitch |
| Often | OF-uhn | OF-tuhn |
| Herb | hERB | HURB |
| Privacy | PRIV-uh-see | PRAI-vuh-see |
| Neither | NIGH-thuh | NEE-thuh |
