If you are difficult to understand when you speak English, you are probably using your first language sound system as you say English words. English is stress-based, and you must learn to “package” words and “package” phrases, using strategies that are completely different from Vietnamese. You must learn how to signal to your listeners where the start and end boundaries are for individual words, and for groups of words, like phrases. If you use a Vietnamese system when you speak English, your listeners will be lost. More about why we have accents.
What causes Vietnamese Accents in English
- Syllable stress is a requirement for English words, so you must study each word and learn its stress pattern. Learning when and why to alternative your accentuation of syllables will make you much easier to follow when you speak.
- Certain consonant sounds will be difficult for you because they don’t exist in Vietnamese. You will have to practice these until your brain and your mouth muscles become comfortable making the articulation of these new sounds and they become habitual, rather than a conscious struggle each time you have to say them. Examples are TH, R, L, CH, SH, J, Z.
- Clusters of consonants, such as SL, ST, PR, PL, SKR, and all the others, will seem like an unmanageable mouthful. You must learn the tricks that native speakers use to say them–we find them challenging also but have learned some “work-arounds”.
- English speakers use tonal changes for a completely different purpose than Vietnamese speakers. English tone changes do not change the meaning of individual words. Instead they help listeners know why you are speaking. These intonation patterns and tonal changes give listeners a lot of information about your ideas, your attitudes, and your intentions.
- The most disruptive feature of Vietnamese accents in English may be final sounds. You must learn how to “package” your words and pronounce them from beginning to end, including their final sounds. Most English vowels and consonants are voiced, which means they vibrate your vocal folds to make their sound. This is a very different speaking experience for you, and you must learn to do this as native speakers do. There are strategies that native speakers use to help them say these end sounds.
Get some help!
If you are a private student struggling with your Vietnamese accent in English, contact me to discuss a customized online private pronunciation course: peggy@AmericanPronunciationCoach.com. We will diagnose your current pronunciation habits, define your goals, and create a plan of study and practice and will lead you to a better sound in English.
Are you a teacher, tutor, or coach?
If you are a teacher, coach or tutor, check out my pronunciation guides and subscribe to my newsletter. The guides address specific language accents. The newsletter is filled with teaching and learning tips and strategies, plus announcements about new pronunciation guides or online courses that I publish.
Peggy Tharpe teaches, coaches, and publishes about English pronunciation and intonation. She believes that if you understand why something is happening, you’re better able to address it and change it. She teaches the “why” of pronunciation as well as the “what” and “how”.