In general, some languages have their accents.
English as one of the languages in the world also has accents, but there is a
problem in learning it. Most of English learners are wondering about the
importance of English accents. They are confronted with two English accents to learn: American English and British English
(leaving aside Australian, Indian, Singaporean English, etc.). As the time goes
by, those two accents have changed due to the cross cultural influences such asvocabularies,
spellings, andpronunciations as well.So, is it important to learn those
two English accents?
To answer that question, first of all, let us
compare between American English and British English.There are many differences
between those two accents, three of which arethe definitions, spellings, and vocabularies.
Wikipedia states, “American English is the form
of English used in the United States. It includes all English dialects used within the
United States. Otherwise,British
English isthe form of English used in the United Kingdom. It includes all English dialects used within the United Kingdom.” In spellings, American English has more
economical spellings than British English. For example, there is an excision of
the letter ‘u’ in words such as “color” belongs to American English and
“colour” belongs to British English. It is also in word “program” and
“programme”, “check” and “cheque”, and many more. Furthermore, some
vocabularies of American English and British English are different, especially
in their term. For instance, “elevator” belongs to American English and “lift”
belongs to British English. Another example is “rest room” for American English
and “toilet” for British English, etc. In spite of those differences, both
American English and British English also have similarities. One resemblance is
that the same articles that we use such as “the”, “and”, “but”, etc. Another
similarity is its pronunciation of the letters, except for the letter “z” which
is usually pronounced “zed” outside of the United States. Both American English
and British English have the same adjectives, nouns, verbs, and adverbs as
well. In short, American English and British English have differences and
similarities. Of course, the differences and similarities are related to the
difficulties in learning those two accents. Our ability in differentiate both
accents is one step forward to master it.
On the other hand,non-native English learners
mostly have difficulties in learning American English and British English. It
is because of many obstructions. One obstruction is the learners’ first
language. Mostly the learners’ accents are influenced by their mother tongue.
It is quite difficult to change, for instance it needs a long period of time.
Besides, it is such an obstacle if the learners have unsupported surroundings.
It does not mean that the learners’ environment is bad in English but the
people around mostly assume that accents are not necessary to learn. They think
that as long as people understand our language, it does not matter about the
accents. It is such a trouble if the learners eager to know English accents.
Another obstacle is the learners do not have good role models in learning
accents. It will be OK to learn the accents if the learners are living in
English speaking countries, especially in America and England because the
learners can compare their accents with the natives. However, the learners who
are living outside America and England have doubts in learning accents. Their
friends, elders, even their teachers are sometimes not sure with their own
accents. In brief, there are some factors that hamper non-native English
learners in learning English accents such as their first languages, their
surroundings, and also their role models. Obviously, their doubts in learning
English accents are growing up. It should be minimized or even be erased.
To eliminate the learners’ doubts in learning
English accents, the learners should know how necessary the accents are. It is
right if people say that the accents are not really matter as long as other
people understand our languages, but it will be great if we can master English
with a good accent, whether it is American English or British English. The most
important thing in learning English accents is to build our self-confident
especially in speaking aspect. If we are not sure about our accents, of course
it influences our self-confident. For example, in a particular situation we may
be afraid if other people laugh at our accents, but if we have a good English
accent, we will be brave and confident in English speaking whatever the
situation. The second significant point in learning English accents is we can
broaden horizons. It means we are not just learning an accent, but we are also
learning a culture. An accent shows a culture. An obvious example, Americans
are using American English and Britons are using British English. In a
particular situation, there is a cross cultural between them. The result is
Americans know about British English, even they sometimes use it, and vice
versa. The least prominent in learning English accent is others’ impressions.
It is one of human characteristics that human needs good impressions from
others. For example, if we have a good English accent, others will think that
we are intelligent, presentable, etc. In a nutshell, to eliminate our doubts in
learning English accents, we have to know how important the accents are. If we
are able to master an English accent, it can build our self-confident, broaden
our horizons especially in cultural development, and increase our prestige that
is impressed by others.
To sum up, English actually has many accents,
but mostly people face two English accents, specifically American English and
British English. The English learners who want to know the importance of
learning English accents have to understand about the accent. As English has American
English and British English,the learners should be able to find out the
differences and similarities so that it will ease them to learn it. In learning
those accents, they will have some difficulties such as their first language
which is influenced by their mother tongue, their surroundings, and their role
models.Those difficulties generally make them indecisive in learning English
accent, whether American English or British English. Moreover, some people say
that English accent is not really matter as long as other people understand
what they say. Although that opinion is right, learning English accent is still
necessary indeed. By learning English accents, we will be able to build our self-confident
up, to increase our knowledge especially in cultural development, and to have
nice valuation from others related to our ability in English accents. Those are
the reasons why we should learn English accent.
Sources:
Admin. Comparison of American and
British English. From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_American_and_British_English. May 11, 2013.
Luh Gede T.P.D.
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