“Too old to learn an accent?” Many adult learners believe that, but it simply isn’t true. With the right mindset, clear road map and practice, anyone can improve their pronunciation—at any age. In this post, we’ll look at how to help students overcome common myths and build confidence. If you’re an English as a Second Language (ESL) specialist and teaching the British accent, mindset matters just as much as technique.
Change is possible when we believe it is
Many students, especially adult ones, may not believe that learning to sound great in English is achievable. Whatever our goal is, it’s more likely that we’ll succeed when we’re confident we can do it. When we do, we put more effort and invest more time into whatever we want to achieve. We are more diligent in our pursuit. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy. When we believe we can do something, we achieve it; when we don’t believe it, we give up easily.
When Teaching the British Accent, help your students believe they can achieve it by debunking some myths
Help your students change wrong assumptions about learning pronunciation by debunking these most common myths:
1. “It’s too late to learn a new accent”
Many people believe that once they reach a certain age, usually around adolescence or early adulthood, it becomes nearly impossible to acquire a native-like accent in a foreign language. While it may be true that it becomes more challenging as we age, it is entirely possible to significantly improve pronunciation at any age with proper practice and just a little bit of dedication.
2. “An accent can’t be changed”
Another misconception is that an individual’s accent is fixed and cannot be changed. While it’s true that some aspects of pronunciation may be more challenging to modify than others, with focused practice and guidance, learners can certainly improve their accent and sound more native-like.
When teaching the British accent, you can use a simple example to help your students believe in it. This is what you can say: “Think about movie stars who very often need to learn a new accent for their roles. If they can do it with a bit of practice, why wouldn’t you? They are not from a different planet! They are humans too!”
3. “I can’t learn an accent because I don’t live in the UK”
Living in the UK or the USA doesn’t guarantee language learning. While immersion in an English-speaking environment can help, it’s not the only way to develop excellent pronunciation. Success in learning English depends on consistent effort and creating opportunities to practice, not your location.
Think about this: there are many people who have been living abroad for a long time but they still don’t speak English fluently. On the other hand, there are many expat families living abroad. The children pick up and absorb pronunciation from their parents, who are not teaching the British accent to the kids! It’s all about being surrounded by the language and its sounds. Your students can do it too, wherever they live, whatever the age.
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