Having an accent is not a bad thing; one should not be ashamed of it. A person’s accent represents his or her background and culture. Lots of people take pride in their accent as it reveals their cultural heritage. Even English native speakers have their own accents such as American-English, British-English or Australian-English. However, this sometimes causes difficulty in understanding so some people are embarrassed by their own accent in English Speaking. It turns out that having a residual accent might affect self-confidence in communication and interaction.

There are some techniques that non-native English speakers can use to reduce their accent in speaking. 

1. Slow down and clearly pronounce words

People tend to speak fast when they are excited or nervous. If you have an accent, try to speak slowly and clearly pronounce words so that everyone can understand what you want to say.

2. Feel the rhythm while speaking English

English is considered “stressed language” as every single word have its own stress, differently on verbs, words and adjectives. Same to sentence. People said that sentence stress gives English a rhythm or beat. 

3. Listen and Talk to native speakers

Listen and repeat to sentences spoken by native speakers until you can naturally speak those sentences. Try to speak to the native speakers as many as possible. You need to overcome your in-confidence and speak to the native speakers. It might make you feel embarrassed at first but failure creates success. People also tend to imitate others whom they frequently interact with. Therefore, the more you talk to the native speakers, the more you could improve.

4. Record yourself

Don’t learn from others only, learn from yourself. Take your time to record your speaking and listen again to identify your weaknesses. Recording will also make you proud of yourself in how clarity in your pronunciation has progressed. 

5. Take a class or tutor

Consider working with an experienced tutor or teacher to help you with pronunciation, intonation and even vocabulary. An ESL teacher will have his/her strategy to quickly help you with your accent. Joining a class might also motivate you as you have partners in your accent reduction journey.