unable to understand U.S accent

MythiliMurali · Feb 28, 2008

hi
i am married & i came to U.S one year ago.but still i didn't find any improvement in understanding U.S accent especially the people at the counters that too with the teenagers & some other.
I don't have confidence & my face feelings also changes when i speak with them.even in the grocery shop also i will stand behind my husband,he pays it.
i searched in the net for phonetics but no use.i heard that the schools & class teachers here have their own website with different phonetics for students.
can any body send me(or pm me) those websites.

i feel my self that i don't know anything & behave like that only with my neighbours too.finally i came to know that it degraded my value & hope my ilite frnds may help me.
can anyone suggest me how to improve myself & how did u manage with these people at stores & in the office & during ur face to face interview.
plz reply me
regards

Sriniketan · Feb 28, 2008

Hi Mythili,
Don't worry my friend.
All faced the same situation once they arrive here.
What my BIL used to tell me is listen to a lot of news or any other programmes of your interest. you will get used to the accents.
Even if you watch the children's programmes those will help too.
Tune in to local news channels for that area's accent.

Hope this helps!

Talk slowly, only then they can understand and in their reply if you have any doubts ask 'pardon me' i couldn't understand, can you please repeat'.

Practice it no problem at all!

YOu will be surprised that still I don't understand our 'local accent' because southerners have a different accent ( like goligundu in their mouth while talking) and ask for pardon and repeat....

sriniketan

Shilpa77 · Feb 28, 2008

Sriniketan,

That phrase of explaining the accet ( goligundu!) was funny. You are right, Mythili follow news, switch on sub titles if you have, that will help you a lot!..

Believe me , i have so many Indians in my workplace who speak broken english.. So don't worry about it!!

Nivedi · Feb 28, 2008

Mythili,

First take the fear and panic off your mind. Do'nt worry, if you do not understand at the first instance. Ask them to repeat what they said. The person in the other end may also be facing the same problem of not understanding our accent.

When I was new here, I took some time to understand the Southern accent. The more we hear, the more we understand and the best way is what Srini suggested - TV programmes.

puni88 · Feb 29, 2008

One more suggestion...
While watching any TV program, setup the subtitle in the TV.
You could relate the accent and subtitles by reading them.
Just my My 2cents

shravanthika · Feb 29, 2008

I second all the Ilites who have posted earlier...yep go with TV..See movies with closed captioning on...I always turn on the Tv even if I dont see it and it was always a companion when I was all alone in intial yeras..

You remind me ..when i first landed in US...I never took up phone calls and always stood behind like you did.:hide:..that puts us behind further..come out..

I had and still have problem with the african american accent...

If I had done..you can too...:cheers

vidhyalakshmid · Feb 29, 2008

Hi Mythili,
Find the community college near your place and enquire about
ACCENT REDUCTION classes. Many community colleges have
this course. They conduct the classes in the evenings.
I attended such a class when I was in New jersey. It was useful.
You can also try one.

MythiliMurali · Feb 29, 2008

Thank you my friends
i have been watching movies only in my language all these days.i searched & downloaded them for my husband & we both watched them when we have our supper.That's what i did all these days.
But now when i think how to do a job then communication made me to feel more.
my neighbours can speak with customer care people but i can't.
my husband watches CNN & so i can undeerstand it but it's hard for me to understand T.V shows.If the captions matches audio it's ok.
but with ur valuable suggestions i understood that "Rome was not built in a day"
which made me to think that i can also do it.
i will watch them atleast 2 hrs a day & last time the community college timings didn't match with my husband office hours to drop me there.i will try once again.
one more thing-- is it helpful/must for a job to have an idea about foot ball game,yahoo finance... to mingle with americans.
once again thanks a lot.
bye

DudeWithAttitude · Feb 29, 2008

Mythili - welcome to the club, you are not alone, we've all been through this and it is not difficult - it is only by practice that you will get confidence, along with watching American TV, you may want to listen to American radio programs - initially they may be intimidating but eventually you will get it - and apart from just watching you may want to start practising speaking also just to get confidence. You dont have to change your accent as Americans are used to listening to different accents and they can follow it pretty well, on the other hand if you deliberately try to change your natural accent it will make it worse for the others to follow you

Also, consider joining ESL or similar courses in the community college or adult school in your neighborhood - good luck

MythiliMurali · Mar 1, 2008

thank you
today i went to my leasing office alone,to give a complaint.wrong or right i managed there.i will try to speak like that if i find any chance.
regards