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The difference between Accent and Pronunciation Errors
7 meses atrásAccents are normal in speech and the sound of your accent speaking a foreign language is not necessarily going to offend native speakers. On the contrary, if you are speaking clearly enough to be understood, listeners may even find your “foreign accent” somewhat charming. However, there is a difference between a pleasing accent feature (think of applying the classic French “r” uvular trill to English, for example) and a pronunciation error.
Pronunciation errors are those mistakes which are not carry-overs from the speaker’s native tongue. Instead, they are failures to learn certain pronunciation rules, often in relation to sound-to-spelling correspondence. In English, for example, there are three simple rules that govern the verbal expression of -ed endings. A common type of error in this category is wrongly applying -ed as a separate syllable, as in: “I work-ed late” pronouncing “worked” as two syllables, instead of one (as in /workt/). Saying “work-ed” or “play-ed” is not accent. It strikes the listener as an obvious mistake indicating an incomplete mastery of pronunciation. These types of errors need to be addressed if you want to be taken seriously as a speaker of a second language.
So be proud of your accent, people will see it as part of your character and personality. But learn to recognize those features of the target language that function under clear rules and demonstrate your fluency with them. Happy learning!
