Many non-native speakers of English find it difficult to learn the American Accent. If you are one of these people, then you probably came to this page expecting to learn a few tips and tricks to help you improve your accent.

While tips and tricks are all well and good, there are actually plenty of those to be found in the other articles on this site as well as other resources. In fact, a simple Google search for “American Accent Tips and Tricks” can get you quite far.

This time however, let’s discuss a common mental barrier or roadblock that prevents many non-native speakers from efficiently acquiring an American Accent – being too shy to speak in American English.

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It Doesn’t Feel Right

If you are like most non-native speakers, then you probably grew up learning a different set of vowel and consonant sounds than the ones used in American English. Of course, this does not prevent you from learning American phonetics.

One problem often encountered by non-native speakers however is that they often say that “it doesn’t feel right” for them to be using American sounds when they are so used to using their native language’s vowel and consonant sounds.

So what happens is that they substitute the closest equivalents from their native tongue’s sounds for the real American sounds when they speak in English – as you can probably tell, the result is that their accent sounds very foreign.

I’m Embarrassed To Say It Like That

Of course, if you have been studying the American Accent for some time, then you probably already know all the American phonetics and you might even be able to speak them well during practice sessions.

When it comes to an actual conversation however, many people are too shy to pronounce English words like an American would because “it doesn’t feel right” for them to be speaking that way.

Some say that it feels like they’re showing off or that they feel that they’re being pretentious in pronouncing their words as an American would.

This type of anxiety is actually very common. In fact, even native speakers who use another accent experience this anxiety. For example, a British person trying to speak like an American would feel awkward when doing so.

Just Try It

Of course, if you don’t take that important first step and actually try to speak like an American, then you will never make any progress.

There’s an old Chinese saying that goes, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

If you let your fear of getting humiliated paralyze you, then this fear will only grow bigger and bigger over time until it becomes a permanent mental block that haunts you every time you want to try speaking with an American Accent.

So if you want to get over your fear, then you have to face it and take that first step. Just try and bear the slight embarrassment that you feel when you first start out and it will just fade away as you go on speaking.

Author Bio: Sheri Summers is a long-time English and accent trainer.  She works with individuals around the world through private coaching programs and her online American Accent Course, to help them feel comfortable living, working and speaking in American English.  She can be reached at sheri@accentonspeaking.com.