Question by ME: Is there a way to develope an Eastern European accent, or more specifically, Russian?
Born and raised in America, same for parents and I’m pretty sure grandparents, too. I’ve never left the country, but I am Russian and am proud, is there a way to “get” or develope a Russian accent. If so, how long will it take, and how good would it be?
Answers and Views:
Answer by flippinout989
Well its hard to develop an accent if you weren’t raised in Russia, im sure living there for a while and speaking the language you might gain the accent. If you want that raspy kick to your voice smoke cigarettes and drink lots of vodka.
Answer by dart
Learn to speak Russian. You will learn the accent.
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romanianrocker13 says
it depends. How fast a learner you are, and blah blabla. also, do you want to speak russian with russian accent? or english with russian accent? it deipehnts on how (said with russian h) mahtch you arre villing to lern. i have (russian h)(long a) bein studying drashin(roll r) alpfabet far tfventy days. 🙂 and mi rushin friends ve playh like dis. ok, you should probably learn how to hold your jaw and where to put your toung. Also, try to learn alphabet, so you know how the words are formed. Also, maybe watch russian movies? but do not watch americans because they might have a bad accent, and you should not copy them. maybe also listen to russian music? and practice with russians. it will really help, plus, you can listen to their accent. just ideas.
Also, it is difficult if you have sterotype in your head from watching movies, because it might not sound the real way.
[email protected] says
It may be difficult if you aren’t around Russian speakers or are not learning Russian. However, if you know certain things about *how* Russian words are formed, you can then transfer this knowledge to English, giving you a Russian accent.
For instance, Russian vowels are more rounded than English ones, and are produced further in the back of the mouth. The tongue position is also different than in English. The tongue position in Russian is in the middle of the mouth, rather than at the bottom, like in English.
Here is what you need to know about Russian consonants:
The Russian “p” is generally not aspirated, meaning that there is not a puff of air that comes out when you pronounce it (its like the “p” in the English word “span” as opposed to the English word “pot”).
The Russian “l” is harder than the English one, like the “l” in “lamp”
The Russian “n” is pronounced with the tip of the tongue against your palate, rather than against your teeth, like in English. This is the same with the Russian “d”
There is no “w” sound in Russian, so Russians often compromise this difference by combining the Russian “oo” (“y”) with the Russian “ah” (“a”). So “Walter” would sound like “oo-ahl-ter”
The Russian “r” is almost always rolled. If you don’t know how to roll your “r’s”, try flapping your tongue against your hard palate (number 5 on the chart), moving your tongue towards the back of your mouth towards your velum (number 8 on the chart).
One of the best things you can do to improve your Russian pronunciation is to listen to Russians speak Russian. You can do this by listening to Russian music (Dima Bilan’s “Toska” <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crNWYWVSmo0&feature=related> is good for learning pronunciation–just listen to how he makes every sound) or Russian TV (here is a Russian news broadcast on the internet <http://www.vesti.ru/> just keep clicking around and listening to the Russians speak Russian)
I looked up some info that may be helpful for your pronunciation:
Here’s a chart of where in your mouth you can make particular sounds
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Places_of_articulation.svg
here’s a description of the alveolo-palatal region of your mouth, useful for making Russian sounds: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alveo-palatal>
I hope this helps you, and good luck in learning Russian pronunciation
bomberhatmoll says
NO, you can’t develop an accent Russian or otherwise. For example even if you learn to speak Russian you’d still have an American accent. Unless you move to Russia and live there for 20 years you can’t just develop one.
Lita says
Take Russian classes, listen to Russian music, and watch Russian movies. Immerse yourself in the language.