Overcoming an accent
Hello, this is my first question here, so I hope it makes sense to someone other than just myself. 
I've always loved hearing people speak English with an accent. However, I know it's best to try to minimize an accent as much as possible, but it's still something I enjoy hearing. As I've been trying to learn Spanish, I've heard it said repeatedly that it's best to try to get rid of an American accent. Does an American accent sound worse when a person is speaking Spanish than a British, French, German, etc. accent would? Or is this true for all accents? Maybe foreign accents just sound bad in Spanish? I've just been surprised to find that some people really don't like accents because I've always enjoyed them myself. As I've been learning, I've been trying to use correct pronunciation, but I know my accent is very obvious. I don't know which is better--to sound like an American speaking Spanish or to try to pronounce Spanish correctly (while feeling ridiculous) and still knowing that I sound odd? This has prevented me somewhat from feeling ready to speak to people. Thanks for any replies.
9 Answers
I think there are some very specific things that will help to minimize your American accent when speaking Spanish that are relatively easy to practice, but often not discussed.
The trilled r or rr is probably the starting point. For most sounds in Spanish we have a rough equivalent, but we don't for this. Not only is it essential in order to minimize your accent, it is a stumbling block to learning the language. Probably the closest equivalent we have is Thoreau, the last name of Henry David Thoreau. You are very unlikely to ever pronounce the trilled r like a native, but it is essential to speak it well enough that it is not overly distracting to a native speaker.
Spanish vowels are pure, and short (in terms of length of time they are spoken). The e vowel is more subject to slightly varying pronunciation. But remember if you approach it as a long a in English, it is without the long e sound we put at the end of a long a. The main point is to keep the vowels pure and don't elongate the time they are spoken. You will probably tend to elongate them more often when they are accented.
English consonants often sound harsh to native Spanish speakers. We often pronounce them from our throats, but that is not how they are pronounced in Spanish. The word "great" for example, is spoken from our throats. If, for example, a common Spanish word like "grande" is spoken from the throat, as we do in English, it sounds very odd to Spanish speakers. Try speaking the consonants from the roof of your mouth, rather than from the throat.
The positioning of the tongue is very important. In English our "rest" position for the tongue is in the middle of the mouth. From there we move our tongue all over our mouth to make all the various sounds, and nuances of sounds, that we have in English. The "rest" position for the tongue in Spanish is on the bottom of your mouth, with the tip of the tongue against the back of your bottom front teeth. It is from that position, for example, that the letter "s" is spoken in Spanish. This accounts for the difference in how "s" sounds in Spanish, rather than how we normally say "s" in English. Compare the two yourself. The Spanish "s" is much softer. Try speaking English with your tongue in the Spanish "rest" position, and you will have a Spanish accent in English.
I would also mention that Spanish is spoken with more of a "machine gun" like quality than English. A syllable in Spanish has a length of time, and all syllables normally take about the same length of time. As a result, the length of time it takes to say a word, a phrase, or a sentence primarily depends on how many syllables there are. This gives it the "machine gun" quality. In English, we give more "time" to words in a sentence that we consider more important. And we will also elongate vowels in the words we stress. We tend to "eat" the words we don't stress in a particular sentence. That is not to say that Spanish speakers never stress particular words, or never elongate a vowel. But it is not what they normally do, whereas in English that is how we normally speak.
Additionally, English has a "sing song" quality to it. We go up and down in pitch, in addition to changing pace by stress and elongating the words we stress. Spanish has far less of the "sing song" quality to it. I happen to live where a number of Italians live, and it is very distinctive to hear them speak Spanish, because they bring the same "sing song" quality to Spanish that we do.
Lastly, we tend to speak English very forcefully, or at least it seems so to Spanish speakers, who normally do not speak very forcefully. When I speak Spanish with the same forcefulness that I speak English, Spanish speakers think I'm angry or upset. I'm not, but that is how it sounds to them.
It is difficult for me to keep all these things in mind, while at the same time I am focused on what I want to say, rather than HOW I say it. But if you can keep these things in mind as you speak Spanish, it will help to minimize your accent, and help people to understand you better.
One thing I do to work on minimizing my accent is to read Spanish out loud. I use a bi-lingual reader so I don't have to spend time using a dictionary. It eliminates the need to think about what I am saying, and makes it easier to focus on how I say it. It also helps build vocabulary, and to instill correct grammar and verb usage.
All of us can speak American English without an accent, if we speak carefully, thinking about our accent and what we need to do to minimize it.. It is when we are not thinking about it, that our (in my case a Southern) accent comes out. It is the same when we speak Spanish.
Practice does not make perfect; perfect practice makes perfect! Increase the speed with which you speak as long as you can maintain correct pronunciation. And a final word of encouragement. You may find that you end up speaking Spanish better than you speak English!
I hope you find this helpful.
Don't worry about other people's opinions. There will be always people who don't like what you do or the way you do it. I'm Spanish and I don't find the American accent worse than the British or the French accents. It's just different, but not worse. And, of course, I would never laugh at anyone who is making the effort to speak my language; that person deserves all my respect. So, I think you should try to pronounce correctly for people to understand you, but don't hide your own accent. And, the sooner you begin to talk in Spanish, the better 
Well, you don't have to worry about that, you will not sound bad unless you are not coherent, clear or intelligible. What I know is that it sounds very funny, not only US people but also Europeans from any country and any language. And I know that many Spanish native speakers make jokes about foreigners speaking Spanish with their funny accent because it's funny.
Why this happens? I don't know, specially knowing that Spanish pronunciation is very simple and basic and we only have 5 vowels and 5 vowel sounds (one for each); unlike English in which you have like 5 sounds for just an "a".
But as long as you speak correctly, using the correct gender and without missing a word or connector, it will always be correct. Due to this fact that its pronunciation is simple, a native speaker will always understand you.
Greetings.
Accents are not important unless you are an actor.
We ALL have accents in our mother tongue.
What is important is correct pronunciation - especially in English.
I will "second" what the other posters have said about accents.
NikkiRivera and AlphaMichocana are right: try to speak like a native as much as possible: First, speak like a native from the perspective of grammar, spelling, and vocabulary. Be certain that your language makes sense from a regional perspective. Make sure your putting the stress on the right syllables. If you are among Mexicanos, don't try using language/slang from Spain, and vice versa.
Then, as you become comfortable with the language vocabulary and grammar, try to get your accent correct. Your accent may also improve if you work on the first tip.
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Digo lo mismo que los otros miembros han dicho sobre los acentos de voz. NikkiRivera y AlphaMichocana tienen razón: trate de hablar como un nativo español tanto como sea posible: Primero, hable como un nativo desde la perspectiva de vocabulario, gramática y ortografía. Tratar de estar seguro de que sus palabras y sus frases tengan sentido cuando hable con hispanohablantes. Ponga el acento de la voz en las sílabas apropiadas. Si está usted entre mexicanos, no intente utilizar lenguaje/jerga de España y viceversa. A continuación, cuando se encuentre más cómodo al hablar y usar el vocabulario y la gramática, trate de pronunciar su acento correctamente. Su acento también puede mejorar poco a poco si trabaja duro y conscientemente.
Con gracias a Cordobesa para las correcciones.
Favor de corregir mi escritura y grámatica. Gracias.
Además, hay muchas personas no hispanicas que hablan español con un acento muy fuerte, pero sus oyentes hispanoparlantes ("listeners") pueden entenderlos bastante bien.
Futhermore, there are many non-Hispanic persons that speak Spanish with a strong accent, but their Spanish-speaking listeners can understand them well.
Hi! I've felt just like you do now about accents. The only thing I can advice you is to try as hard as you can to identify the different accents so you can understand Spanish no matter where the speaker is from... And when you try to talk it it's better to be aware of the most standarized words and ways of pronouncing them in the place your interlocutor is from... For example, one of my English teachers told us that she studied the phrase "could i get a pack of cigarettes", and when she got to the first store she found in México, she said "¿Podría darme una cajetilla de cigarrillos?" pronouncing the C of cigarrillos like they do in Spain, and the woman that sold her the cigarettes just looked at her like thinking "This woman is insane!" because first of all, we don't the sound of that C is different here than it is there. (in Latinoamérica, Z, S and a C (followed by e or i) all sound like an S, while in Spain a C followed by the same letters, and Z, have a different sound) ((check ceceo, and yeísmo, if you are interested in differences about pronunciation))... second , because here it's really weird to hear "cigarrillos", we say "cigarros" most of the time...
And about accents sounding bad, I think that is a very personal thing.. You have no idea of the amount of ridiculos and stupid comments that I've read from Spanish speakers claiming the accent of their own country to be the best (Spain-México-Argentina... etc. all against each other, or Latinoamérica vs Spain).. anyway, I think the idea of a "best accent or no accent" thing is just ridiculous!
So, my advice: Feel free to do it anyway you want!!
I don't know if foreign accents sound bad in Spanish, but I have noticed some natives making fun of them.
I think the best thing is to try to speak Spanish like a native as much as possible. I have been doing this since I first started learning, and it seems that if you really work on it, your accent will slowly fade away over time.
Don't let your accent prevent you from talking! Talking is how we improve. From what I have noticed, native Spanish speakers are friendly and like it when someone is trying to learn their language.
Just go for it!!
Don't stop talking! Correct pronunciation is the most important. You will probably always carry an accent from your mother tongue. You will tend to acquire the accent of the people with whom you speak. It isn't only accent, but the words that you use that will identify you. I lived in México for a long time. Since then I have dealt mostly with caribeños, so my accent is more like that (with a few Mexican words coming out).
