American Accent

Yesterday I met a Japanese friend who is studying English. She asked me how she can have an American accent and why I sound like I do when I speak in English.

I told her I don’t know and maybe – MAYBE – it’s because I have good ears. I don’t know the reason and the advice I give to people who want to sound like a native speaker is to listen to native speakers A LOT and try to copy them.

But, in using a language to communicate, I think the accent is the least important. I know many Filipinos with strong Filipino accent who have married native English speakers, and they have no problem communicating.

I think, at the end of the day, the most important is being able to use a language to say what you want to say instead of sounding like a native speaker.