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Got it?

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One of my students said he loves the word “get” because it is the perfect verb. “You can use get for everything!”  Well, I don’t know about everything, but get is a flexible verb with many meanings. Let’s get into how many expressions use get.

Some meanings of get are:

acquire

I get my paycheck every Friday.

arrive

I got there on Tuesday. I got back on Saturday.

bring

Can you get me some supplies?

become

Don’t get upset because I didn’t call.

contract an illness

I would hate to get the flu.

Before you get used to get, you should know that get tends to be used more often in slang expressions. It’s fine if you want to use get, or slang in general, but remember that there is always a more professional way to express your thought. So, if your writing or speaking purposes are professional, I recommend searching for a more specific word or expression.

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Tags: Speaking in General, Vocabulary by Debra
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Reduce Your Accent by Reducing Your Speed

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Speak slower. It might be very tempting for you to speak fast now that you have a strong grasp on your new language. You’re comfortable with vocabulary and phrases; people answer your questions instead of asking you to repeat them. Many people feel confident with their language but they still want to improve their accent.

Speaking slower will:

  • help you focus on sounds that you need to change.
  • help you strengthen the muscles in your mouth for new sounds so you can get used to how those sounds feel when they are produced.

You wouldn’t run a 10K without training your muscles, right?

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Tags: Accent Reduction Tips, How To, Speaking in General by Debra
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Accent Reduction or Grammar Review?

People who have spent a long time learning English might not feel quite confident in their speech, and they tend to blame their communication problems on having an accent. It’s fine to try to reduce your accent if that is what you want to do. But before you do, make sure it’s your accent you need to change and not other aspects of language or grammar.

Accent reduction and language acquisition are different. Some aspects of language acquisition affect the accent and vice verse.

Look at this example:

A. I can’t go to the store.   B. I can to go to the store.

If you have an accent, you might pronounce sentence A as “I can’t (ah) go to the store” but you would write it correctly. If you have language issues in addition to accent, you would write and pronounce A and B the same. Sentence B is grammatically incorrect, and the listener will not be able to understand if you can or can’t go.

Don’t forget that communication is really about mutual understanding.  Dig a little deeper to make sure you spend time on the right aspect of language to improve your chances of being understood.

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Tags: Accent Reduction Tips, Speaking in General by Debra
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Accent Reduction Suggestions

If you are thinking about reducing your accent to sound more like a native English speaker, keep in mind the following:

Having an accent is common among English language learners and adult English learners in particular. Having an accent basically means that you carry sound characteristics of your native language to your new language. Americans also take accent reduction courses so they can sound more native to a particular region.

If you are wondering what a good American accent to learn might be, remember that, while there is standard American accent, everyone has an accent that is unique. If you are going to stay in one region for a long period of time, you might want to become familiar with the accent of that region. On the other hand, if you want to know what the standard sound like, I recommend watching the local or national news.

The question is: what accent is best for you?

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Tags: Accent Reduction Tips, Speaking in General by Debra
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