Your 20s is a great time to soften your native accent. The muscles that create speech operate on pure muscle memory. This memory is less entrenched than it will be in your later years. Your brain has more plasticity when you’re younger. We may have more and more difficulty accessing this plasticity over time, so it’s often more challenging to learn new things or retrain muscle memory as we age.
How can you lose your accent? While it’s not easy, people do it every day through accent coaching and training.
So, what is accent training exactly?
This article will answer some of the most common questions about reducing your accent in your 20s. We’ll also explain accent training and how to work with an accent coach for the best results.
Does your accent become permanent at a certain age?
An accent is said to become cemented in childhood for most people. Scientific studies indicate that after the late teens, just living far away from home has a limited effect on your accent. As an adult, the methods used will need to be much more specific and detailed to have a lasting impact. Then, as you get older, you can use these same methods to keep the language centers in your brain active. So, no matter how long you live in a foreign country, your accent may not change much unless you actively work with effective accent exercises.
Can you lose your accent completely?
Accent reduction coaching is a proven way to soften and reduce a native accent and improve your pronunciation in a secondary language. However, most scientists agree that it’s tough to eradicate a native accent completely. It can be done, but success depends on the right balance of determination and linguistic ability. Some people have that determination to assimilate completely into American culture and erase all vestige of their linguistic origins.
Of course, most of the students we meet don’t want this. Most people treasure their native accents because they’re central to identity and national pride. If you’re worried that accent modification will remove your native identity, you can rest easy. How much you modify your accent is your choice. You may prefer to change it just enough to improve your professional and social life – and still retain your identity. It’s the best of both worlds.
Exactly what is accent reduction and modification?
Accent modification is a proven method to reduce your native accent. It consists of voice training and breathing exercises that you regularly practice. You can do this on your own or hire an accent coach. As the leading professional online accent school, we recommend you work with an accent coach one-on-one for the fastest and best results. There are several reasons for this.
One of the biggest is that most students need to be made aware when they’re saying something incorrectly. At times, students may need another person to mirror sounds and teach them how to pronounce it correctly. Of course, it also helps to have someone keep you on track so that you train your accent consistently and diligently.
Here’s what one of our students said about the process:
“Accent Advisor has been a very helpful resource in improving my American accent. Their coaches are very professional, and their advice is spot-on. I’ve personally worked with two of their coaches. The lessons would focus on individual sounds and those tiny changes in your speech together make a huge difference.” — Accent Advisor Student
How will accent training help me?
More and more young adults are interested in accent training. They understand the difference it can make in many aspects of their lives – and for good reason. Check out these significant benefits:
- More effective professional presentations, meetings, and conversations with co-workers
- Greater income opportunity, employability, and career mobility
- Increased self-confidence
- Easier social life and integration
- More effective social media and video presence
How does accent reduction work?
After being paired with one of our many qualified coaches, the program will follow some general guidelines. It includes a routine of progressive exercises that train your voice in two basic ways.
First, you’ll learn the mechanical details, or phonetics, of each sound that make the American accent unique. Second, you’ll train your muscle memory with interactive practice under the guidance of your accent coach. Along the way, you will also be introduced to essential speech skills like rhythm and intonation.
Each accent lesson includes exercises that will help you master mouth and tongue positions, repeating each sound correctly. You can also branch out into breathing exercises, select tongue twisters, and minimal pairs (Learn more about some of our most effective practices for accent reduction).
Taking an accent program will also be fun! A little bit of fun gets you through the tough spots, helps you learn, and motivates you to keep showing up. Here’s what one of our students said about the program she took with us:
“I love it. It’s really fun and gets much better when you have a master coach that makes it more fun and easy for you to learn, without any pressure.” – Accent Advisor Student
Now that you know it is possible to reduce your accent, can you see yourself doing it? We can. We should know. Our professionally trained coaches are helping students achieve their goals every day.
Why is it best to learn 1-on-1 with an Accent Coach?
Learning from a 1-on-1 tutor is the fastest, most effective way to reduce your accent and do it correctly. This is why we’ve made 1-on-1 coaching as easy and accessible as possible.
Our American accent school is affordable and convenient. You can take each 25-minute session with your coach anywhere you have Internet at a time that works for you, no matter your time zone. And you can skip or cancel a class anytime.
So, can you lose an accent in your 20s, 30s, 40s, etc.? Absolutely! And our coaches are here to guide you every step of the way. Accent Advisor is the most trusted and highest-rated accent school around. We’ve even been featured on Fox, NBC, and CBS.
If you want to learn the American accent, come learn with us.
