Accent Modification FAQs
Here is a great, simple resource from the American Speech, Language, and Hearing Association on what accent modification is: bit.ly/ASHAFAQ
Places to Practice
If you're curious, here is a list of the phonemic inventory (the individual sounds) of each language. Find yours and consider how they are different from the sounds used in English: http://www.asha.org/practice/multicultural/Phono/
To help you read the international phonetic alphabet (IPA) on the link above, here is a touch-and-listen IPA chart: http://web.uvic.ca/ling/resources/ipa/charts/IPAlab/IPAlab.htm
I love this visualization that shows you the IPA symbol, as well as tongue and lip placement for all sounds. This is more useful when you already know what symbol you're looking for and can look up the drawing based on the specifications on the IPA chart: http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~danhall/phonetics/sammy.html
Outlined drawings of how to change your tongue position to produce a sound. The explanations aren't always the clearest, but it has the added benefit of comparing some tricky sounds (like "r" versus "l"): http://www.paulnoll.com/Books/Clear-Speech/index.html
Minimal pairs, to practice hearing the difference between similar sounds. This would also be good for production practice once you're sure you're practicing the right way: http://www.shiporsheep.com/page1.html
Here's a nice website on word stress. There are more groups of word stress patterns than the three listed here, but it's a great start for practicing at home: http://web.archive.org/web/20120605123509/http://individual.utoronto.ca/English/SGSPronunciation.htm
A nice, basic rhythm and stress practice exercise: http://www.manythings.org/lar/
Here's a great website on jaw movement and how to form vowels based on jaw opening: http://www.avspeechtherapy.com/2014/01/13/accent-and-jaw-movement/
To help you read the international phonetic alphabet (IPA) on the link above, here is a touch-and-listen IPA chart: http://web.uvic.ca/ling/resources/ipa/charts/IPAlab/IPAlab.htm
I love this visualization that shows you the IPA symbol, as well as tongue and lip placement for all sounds. This is more useful when you already know what symbol you're looking for and can look up the drawing based on the specifications on the IPA chart: http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~danhall/phonetics/sammy.html
Outlined drawings of how to change your tongue position to produce a sound. The explanations aren't always the clearest, but it has the added benefit of comparing some tricky sounds (like "r" versus "l"): http://www.paulnoll.com/Books/Clear-Speech/index.html
Minimal pairs, to practice hearing the difference between similar sounds. This would also be good for production practice once you're sure you're practicing the right way: http://www.shiporsheep.com/page1.html
Here's a nice website on word stress. There are more groups of word stress patterns than the three listed here, but it's a great start for practicing at home: http://web.archive.org/web/20120605123509/http://individual.utoronto.ca/English/SGSPronunciation.htm
A nice, basic rhythm and stress practice exercise: http://www.manythings.org/lar/
Here's a great website on jaw movement and how to form vowels based on jaw opening: http://www.avspeechtherapy.com/2014/01/13/accent-and-jaw-movement/
Apps for Accents
This is a great resource for watching how to form lip positions to produce American English: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smalltalk-phonemes/id384170714?mt=8
This is the same company, but focusing specifically on more than one letter in a set, called a blend or cluster: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smalltalk-consonant-blends/id384174024?mt=8
Another app showing you how to form sounds, but this time including tongue position - so important!: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/speech-trainer-3d/id418333616?mt=8
This app contains the IPA chart to help you differentiate between sounds. It also allows you to practice word lists, take quizzes, and read helpful information about how to pronounce certain sounds. This is a personal favorite: http://www.soundspronapp.com/
Here's one showing you the basic sounds in English and how to produce them: http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/#
Pronunciation Tutor is working on a compilation of sounds in English. Listen to speakers saying the sound and select if they are correct or incorrect. This training in auditory discrimination, or hearing the slight difference between similar sounds, will help you improve your own self-monitoring skills: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pronunciation-tutor-th/id475526756?ls=1&mt=8
Don't underestimate the power of the dictionary! Use it to listen to a pronunciation of each word: http://dictionary.reference.com/apps
Record yourself speaking and receive immediate feedback on your productions: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/speakap-analyze-pronunciation/id474079009?mt=8
This isn't really an app, it's more of a computer program, but it's wonderful for recording longer practice sessions and playing it back: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
This is the same company, but focusing specifically on more than one letter in a set, called a blend or cluster: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smalltalk-consonant-blends/id384174024?mt=8
Another app showing you how to form sounds, but this time including tongue position - so important!: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/speech-trainer-3d/id418333616?mt=8
This app contains the IPA chart to help you differentiate between sounds. It also allows you to practice word lists, take quizzes, and read helpful information about how to pronounce certain sounds. This is a personal favorite: http://www.soundspronapp.com/
Here's one showing you the basic sounds in English and how to produce them: http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/#
Pronunciation Tutor is working on a compilation of sounds in English. Listen to speakers saying the sound and select if they are correct or incorrect. This training in auditory discrimination, or hearing the slight difference between similar sounds, will help you improve your own self-monitoring skills: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pronunciation-tutor-th/id475526756?ls=1&mt=8
Don't underestimate the power of the dictionary! Use it to listen to a pronunciation of each word: http://dictionary.reference.com/apps
Record yourself speaking and receive immediate feedback on your productions: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/speakap-analyze-pronunciation/id474079009?mt=8
This isn't really an app, it's more of a computer program, but it's wonderful for recording longer practice sessions and playing it back: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/