This afternoon I was contemplating studying some French (I'm working on French Level III on the Indo-European Languages French tutorials website) and was feeling a bit discouraged about my pronunciation. It seems that no matter how well I think I understand the rules of French pronunciation the sounds simply do not want to come out of my mouth properly most of the time. Plus I tend to association with people from a variety of first language backgrounds, so mimicking another person's French pronunciation is not always the answer.
So I did what I always do- I turned to the Almighty Google. After browsing a few websites about accent reduction for learning English, I happened upon this study about Reverse Accent Mimicry.
Basically, the study says that the fastest way to break through that accent and pronunciation wall in a second language is to mock a native speaker's accent in your first language. The process includes four steps (assuming you already have some functional use of the language):
1. Find a reverse accent model- a person who speaks your first language well with a heavy accent that is based on your desired second language. So I would want to find a French person who speaks English comfortably but has retained his/her French accent.
2. Mimic your model in your own first language- ask your model to speak a bit, in English in my case, maybe even something scripted for ease of memory. Then mimic your model's habits. You are essentially mocking them in an animated fashion, taking on their character, etc. Use facial expressions, gestures, vocal changes and intonations. Camp it up. Sometimes it is better to mimic a TV show or movie if you don't know someone who will find this funny rather than insulting.
3. Transition into your second language retaining the mimicry- keep your animation, expression, intonation, and pronunciation but start speaking in French (or your second language). This can work with conversation but is often easier if scripted.
4. Guided use and generalization- use in one-on-one interaction with a speaker of the second language (preferably native). Again, using a script can be good and having a coach or teacher doesn't hurt either.
Since becoming a teacher in France I have often found myself mocking my students' accents in English (out of love, of course, and because it makes my stories funnier) but I have never tried slipping into French in the middle of my performance. This is definitely on my list of linguistic experiments. I am also very excited to try this out on my newest tutoring pupil/conversation practice buddy. Maybe we'll take turns mocking each other and see what happens, but the goal of the meetings is to improve her conversation abilities and reduce her accent, so I see myself being mocked a good deal in the very near future. Should be fun!
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