Some unusual advice for improving your English accent

People often ask my opinion about how to improve their English accent. The best answer, of course, is to spend a lot of time listening carefully to natural, native English. But there's another secret which has to do with your attitude. The secret is: don't just try to speak English correctly; do an impression of a native English speaker.

What's an "impression"? It's when someone, like a comedian, tries to act and sound exactly like someone else. For example, a lot of people do impressions of this famous phrase:

When you do an impression, you try to sound exactly like the person that you're copying. You copy their accent, their tone, and maybe even some of their mannerisms.

The reason that I recommend doing an impression is that it separates the accent from your own personal identity. Last week, I asked whether you have a different personality when you speak English. I think it can be useful to have a different persona that you use when you speak English. Some foreign language sounds might feel unnatural to you. It might feel like you're over-pronouncing things. I remember feeling that way when I was learning French in school, for example. I was too embarrassed to try to speak in a really authentic French accent.

If you think of yourself as doing an impression of someone, then it's easier to accept some of those unusual foreign sounds. After all, it's not you that's speaking; it's the person that you're doing an impression of.

Have you ever tried to do an impression of a particular English speaker? How did it work out? Who did you try to copy? Let us know in the comments!