Your own accent!
How do you get a good accent for speaking Spanish? I was born in Colorado and have no Hispanic accent at all, and when I speak Spanish I want to actuallly sound decent
6 Answers
Hello Keziah
Welcome to the Spanishdict forum
You said/asked:
How do you get a good accent for speaking Spanish? I was born in Colorado and have no Hispanic accent at all, and when I speak Spanish I want to actuallly sound decent
I know that some people here have already answered this question, and I am not concerned about being chosen as best answer so I will add my answer
The most important thing is to be clearly understood when communicating in any language which means that accurate pronounciation is more important than accent which will come with practice and time! 
Using the same words and expressions that the natives do when expressing your thoughts, felings and ideas will also help you to communicate effectively with other natives and be easily understood!
When it comes to prounciation and accent,there are a number of ways to develop a good, authentic accent like a native
In order of effectiveness:
1 Go to live in a country where the native people speak the 'target' language you are trying to learn. This is the best and most effective way known: to live among the natives who are speaking your chosen language among you, 24/7, and become immersed in the language! This works best if you actually live surrounded by the native people (Spanish, French, Portuguese or Italians etc..) and you don't hide yourself away in some remote expat community where you will just be tempted to resort to speaking English1 People do not learn well that way they just beecome lazy and then forget what they have learnt,...which is such a pity! ;(
2 Take an immersion Spanish Course in Spain or some other Spanish-speakng country where the language school arranges for you to live with a native Spanish family. This wull give you plenty of real=life experience learning how to correctly use the language in context!
3 Take Spanish classes with a native Spanish speaking teacher as often as you can afford and.preferably.also combine this with.......(number 4)
4 Take advantage of a language exchange /partnership where you help the native Spanish person with learning English in exchange for receiving help with improving your Spanish, You have to be willing to be corrected of course Don't worry about making mistakes we all make many of them on our journey towards achieving a degree of fluency in any language and provided that you continue beng open to correctioon and learning from them (your mistakes) you should continue to make good progress!
I have recently found a new website which facilitates people practising languages together called: Holubo. Here is a link to the website: enter link description here They also have teachers on site so you can receive lessons in any available language you choose ...The language exchange/partnerships are free you arrange them yourself but you do have to pay for the classes!
5 Practise speaking the new language as often as you can and apply everything you have learnt and don't be afraid of asking questions and making mistakes I speak as someone who has made lots of them, in several languages lol
6 Read books
7 Watch films /TV in your new language
Relax and have fun/enjoy the experience
I hope this helps
Even though I lost my native language from almost 25 years of speaking only English, the one thing I didn't lose was my accent. I still speak with a quite noticeable Panamanian accent, and I can't imitate any other accent to save my life. It seems strange that despite losing my Spanish though all these years of speaking nothing but English, my accent would remain. I guess that's why I have never had any trouble pronouncing Spanish, although my dialect is quite different then most other dialects of Spanish.
I would suggest you don't worry too much about having a "good" accent.
Of more importance is being understood and that is about pronunciation.
We all have accents even when we speak our own first language.
You would probably need a speech therapist to achieve a natural Spanish accent and then will have to decide which one you want from very many.
Don't make learning Spanish more difficult than it already may well be for you.
The word of the day and almost any word on an online dictionary has an audio file so you can listen to a native speaker pronouncing it. If you have a library nearby you can consult with one of the librarians to see if there are audio courses available to check out or use in the library. You might also find a native Spanish speaker through the library whom you can help learn English in exchange for helping you with your Spanish.
Listen and try to imitate but don't obsess over it. The more you try to imitate the better you will become. Spanish speakers are much more patient with our accents in speaking Spanish than many Americans in listening to English with a foreign accent.
Good luck and let us know later how you are progressing.
Your accent softens a lot. You don't recognize it, but native still living in the country of origin, can pick that up, and invariably they will ask where are from or where you are coming from...
But people living with you in the same foreign county are still able to more or less pinpoint where you are from.
Thanks guys! This helps a lot.
