Immigrants Learn to Lose Their Accents

Immigrants Learn to Lose Their Accents

Some immigrants in the northeastern state of Maine are learning to lose their accents.

Some of the immigrants speak English fluently, but have a difficult time being understood because they have heavy accents, reported the Portland Press-Herald newspaper.

Assouma Nyirabahizi says she left her home and job in Rwanda two years ago, coming to America on a green card “in hopes of a brighter future.”

Nyirabahizi has a master’s degree in computer science and speaks English fluently. She says all of her classes in Rwanda were taught in English, “but here I have to learn again because of (my) accent.”

She attends a free class to reduce her accent with seven other students. The city of Portland conducts the class.

Marta Greenlaw is the teacher. She is also a speech therapist. She says immigrants who reduce their accent have better success at work. And they can communicate more easily with store workers, teachers, doctors and neighbors.

“It’s a basic need to be understood,” Greenlaw told the newspaper. “It affects every part of their lives.”

Greenlaw begins the class by telling students the 44 sounds of the English language. Those sounds include vowels¹, consonants³ and other sounds that give American English its unique sound. 

Later, students speak about the food in their home countries. Sometimes, Greenlaw corrects their pronunciation. She tells them to pronounce the word “onion” as “unnnn-yunnnnn,” and the word “potato” as “poe-TAY-toe.” She tells the students “how the lips and jaw⁵ work to form the word.”

Greenlaw tells the students that some American English pronunciation rules “don’t make a lot of sense.” But she says they are important to learn if immigrants are to be understood by Americans.

Losing one’s accent is especially important for immigrants who live in Maine, which is one of the least diverse states in the country. More than 90 percent of the population of Maine is white. Many people who live in Maine have not heard foreign accents except in movies or on television.

Greenlaw says some Mainers are impatient with people who speak English with a heavy accent. Her students say some Mainers ignore them or are unfriendly toward them because of their accent. They say this makes them less likely to speak.

“Imagine waking up every day knowing you are going to have that struggle,” she says.

Words in This Story

accent – n. a way of pronouncing words that occurs among the people in a particular region or country

fluent – adj. able to speak a language easily and very well

green card – n. a document that shows a person from a foreign country can live and work in the United States (it is not green, but once was, so it continues to be called a “green card”)

conduct – v. to plan and do (something, such as an activity)

speech therapist – n. a person who gives treatment or therapy to people who have speech problems to help them learn to pronounce words correctly

vowel² – n. a speech sound made with your mouth open and your tongue in the middle of your mouth not touching⁶ your teeth, lips, etc.; a letter (such as a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y in English) that represents a vowel

consonant⁴ – n. a speech sound (such as /p/, /d/, or /s/) that is made by partly or completely stopping the flow of air breathed out from the mouth; a letter that represents a consonant especially any letter of the English alphabet except a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y

diverse – adj. different from each other; made up of people or things that are different from each other

1 vowels   

n.元音，元音字母( vowel的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Note the various sounds of vowels followed by r. 注意r跟随的各种元音的发音。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

2 vowel   

n.元音；元音字母

参考例句：

• A long vowel is a long sound as in the word"shoe ".长元音即如“shoe” 一词中的长音。
• The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.单词my和thigh中的元音并不难发。

3 consonants   

n.辅音，子音( consonant的名词复数 )；辅音字母

参考例句：

• Consonants are frequently assimilated to neighboring consonants. 辅音往往被其邻近的辅音同化。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants. 元音比辅音响亮。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 consonant   

n.辅音；adj.[音]符合的

参考例句：

• The quality of this suit isn't quite consonant with its price.这套衣服的质量和价钱不相称。
• These are common consonant clusters at the beginning of words.这些单词的开头有相同辅音组合。

5 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

6 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。