Local and International Language/Accent | CCS9 Q4 Week 3

Language is an integral aspect of every culture, as it serves as a means to convey and comprehend ideas, knowledge, values, and attitudes between generations. Without language, effective communication would be challenging, particularly when it comes to delivering and comprehending precise instructions, such as meeting at a specific location on a particular date and time.

Gestures, which are limited in conveying messages, would be the only alternative. This issue is especially relevant in Contact Center Services, where encountering customers who speak different languages can make addressing their concerns difficult without prior knowledge of their language. 

Language holds significant value, as it is one of the fundamental elements of a culture.

The Philippines is a country where the English language is widely used in communication, business transactions, and even as a medium of instruction in education, making it somewhat of a second language for Filipinos. According to the EF English Proficiency Index, a significant ranking of countries and regions by English skills, the Philippines ranked 27th place in 2020. Although there has been a decrease compared to our previous rank, it is still considered a high level rank among other countries.

The Filipino-English accent is unique and recognizable, with distinct characteristics that set it apart from other English accents.

For instance, there are no r-flapping words like butter, water, or letter, which often sound like "but-ter," "wot-ter," and "let-ter."

Additionally, yod-dropping is not common, which means that the y sound is not lost. For example, "tube" will sound like "toob" and "New York" will sound like "Noo York," not "Nyoo York."

Filipinos also do not have the f and v sounds, and instead, f sounds like p and v sounds like b.

For instance, "flock" would sound like "plock," "flip" like "plip," "vinyl" like "binyl," and "vase" like "base."

Furthermore, there is no th sound, and instead, it is often replaced with a t sound. For example, "things" will sound like "tings," "threat" like "treat," and "thin" like "tin."

Lastly, Filipinos often lack the distinction between the he/she pronouns, which can lead to confusion in certain contexts.

Despite these distinctions, the Filipino-English accent remains an essential part of the country's cultural identity and is recognized worldwide.

International Accent

In the United States of America, they use English as their primary language as their way to communicate with other people. Similarly, in the Philippines, which has different dialects in different regions, people in America have their own accents when speaking.

Global English, also known as international English are spoken by non-native speakers who haven't mastered English as a first language and speak a wide range of English. It is a common language of communication among non-native English speakers. 

Global English includes all of the characters you acquire as a result of interacting in the other parts of the world. Native English refers to the language spoken by the native speakers whose first language is English.

Here are some of the English Accents 

1. British Isles- England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales use this accent and is referred to as Received Pronunciation (RP). 

In RP; the phrase the northern fourth of the park will have no [ɹ] sounds at all. 

2. The Western Hemisphere - General American (GA) or Mainstream US English (MUSE) is the unofficial standard accent of the United States. 

It is the accent used in Midwest and West, while in some other regions like Northern cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and Rochester has created new accents. 

The word socks in the Chicago White Sox's name, for example, is pronounced [saks] in the Northern Cities accent, as opposed to [saks] in Canadian English.

The Southern accent has the London accent, while the Northeastern has the New York accent. Another one is the Canadian English, very similar to GA but with difference in the pronunciation of [aɪ] and [aʊ].

3.The Southern Hemisphere - The majority of Australians and New Zealanders, as well as a significant minority of South Africans, speak English as their first language. 

The broad accents of the three countries have tense vowels similar to those in the London accent. 

4. Non-Native accent – Areas of South Asia and Africa speaks English as their secondary language. The phonology of the local languages has resulted in specific English pronunciation conventions. 

There are questions to consider about why it is important to work with your accent.

1. Do you speak global English or have a neutral accent? 

2. Do you live in a native English speaking country and you would like to sound like a native speaker? 

3. Does speaking like a native speaker will fit you better at work? 

4. Does your work require you to interact with the people who live in native speaking country?

Tips to improve your accent

1. Learn to listen. Listening is absolutely important when learning to speak. To be able to utter words correctly, it is necessary that you hear the word being pronounced. You may practice by listening to songs, movies, and podcasts. There are also listening exercises online that you can use to practice.

2. Notice how your mouth and lips move. When speaking, you may notice that your

mouth is moving and this may affect how you pronounce a word. 

To check that your lips and mouth are making the correct shape pay attention to the following.

● Use a mirror. The simplest way to tell what your mouth is doing while you talk.

● Put a finger in front of your lips (like you’re saying “shh”). As you speak, don’t move your finger. You should feel your lips moving away from or pushing against your finger.

3. Pay attention to your tongue. When you talk, you make sounds with your tongue.

Testing what your tongue is doing will help you improve your English pronunciation. If you notice that there is a distinction between rice and lice that can be found on your tongue.

4. Break words down into sounds. Words may be broken down into sections to make them easier to pronounce. Place your hand flat just under your chin to see how many syllables a word has. Slowly say the word. Each time your chin touches your hand, that’s a syllable.

5. Add stress to sounds and words. The English language has a lot of stress in it. As a result, certain words and sounds have a higher priority than others.

When you utter a word out loud, you will hear this. For example, if you said "PREsent," you're referring to a noun that can mean "right now" or "a gift." If you said "preSENT," you're referring to the verb "to give or demonstrate."

6. Exaggerate certain sounds (make them bigger). Exaggerating these sounds will help native speakers understand you more easily. 

You'll sound a lot more relaxed than a foreigner who is afraid to use these sounds.

7. Practice with tongue twisters. Tongue twisters are fun (but challenging!) way to practice distinguishing two tones.

8. Record yourself. Using a camera to record yourself is one way to see if all of your practice is paying off. Use a camera rather than just a sound recorder because it's necessary to see, not just hear, how you talk.

9. Practice with a buddy. “Practice makes perfect!” as they say. It's even more

comfortable to practice with a friend. Find someone with whom you can practice your pronunciation.

10. Speak as much as you can. If you don’t speak often, you may forget how to pronounce the words and become nervous when it’s finally time to open your mouth and say something in English.