Insights from India (for Hindi first Language Speakers wishing to Acquire an American Accent)

While traveling in India on Business, Rebecca Linquist of "English by the Hour" learned valuable insights on acquiring an American Accent for first language Hindi speakers. In this video, she shares knowledge and information and also announces the release of the full ***VIDEO*** version of her American Accent Training program on DVD at www.englishbythehour.com.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• American Accent training
• English
• American Accent
• Improve speech
• learn American English

[hfakhar]

Please make a video for people with persian accent.

[rebeccalinquist]

@hfakhar There is one! Check my channel :-)

[Gangga17]

let me ask you some thing! Why do India shake their head when they are Talking? it's getting really annoying, make me want to laugh

[rebeccalinquist]

Great question! You know, I saw a lot of that on my first visit 12 years ago and less on this last visit. I also think it has something to do with the region the person comes from, but I know many Indians mean "yes" not "no" when going from side to side!

[oenofakkind]

Great insights if someone's really interested in acquiring American Accent. Great Job.

[netcruizer]

Good vid. u're concentrating too much on tongue positions which can be easy to forget. i think u should throw in at least 3-4 words with scenario that actually distinguishes the uses of Indians VS Americans. Thanks for the good tips.

[McBKboy]

2:44 lolol look at her face

[fatalityhawk]

@Gangga17 it's our version of the nod. it can be exaggerated to place emphasis on whats being said or even to create the effect of hyperbole. it's a versatile communication tool that conveys multiple things in a short time. guess it can be annoying for someone who isn't used to it, bit like poor grammar eg. "why do india shake their head when they are talking?" "make me want to laugh" etc.

[faramarzsafadeh]

Thank so much you dear Rebecca.

[holikarang]

@galho96 this is completely wrong, none of the two t's and d's in Hindi are like the American t/d, the American ones are pronounced with a completely tongue position (in between the two Hindi sounds). In order to teach a correct American pronounciation to Hindi speakers this lady should know the perfect Hindi pronouciation.

[galho96]

A similar confusion exists with the v/w in Hindi, since they have BOTH sounds, but only use a single letter (you just have to know which sound to use in which case).

[galho96]

(cont'd) What happens in the case of Hindi, is that they have TWO "d" sounds/letters and TWO "t" sounds/letters. The native Hindi words use d's and t's identical in pronunciation to the American d's and t's. Ironically, all foreign words, such as "India", "ticket", etc. are written using the OTHER d and t. Therefore, it is when they speak English that their pronunciation strays the farthest from an American pronunciation. 

[galho96]

I find that the pronunciation issues Indians seem to have are of the same nature as those the Germans seems to have. For instance, Germans will often say "wary" instead of "very", not because they don't have the "v" sound in German, but because "w" is pronounced as a "v" in German. So the thinking goes like this: v-sound equals German w-sound, but since I'm speaking English, must say "oouh". So it's more like a generalized dyslexia of sorts, not an inability to make the sounds.

[made4fashion]

thanks 4 the video ...it helps a lot ....i am an Indian so thanks 4 uploading this video 4 indians

[leoguy2280]

insightful, thanks