Hi everyone, I'm Georgiana, founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com.
My mission is to help you to speak English fluently.
In this episode, I'll talk about why the American accent is so different from the British accent.
After that, I'll use the question and answer technique for helping you develop your speaking skills.
Let's get started.
In the 18th century, American and British pronunciations were pretty similar.
Remember that the British Empire colonized America.
Many immigrants travel to America to start a new life.
So, why is American and British pronunciation so different nowadays?
Well, there are many theories, but here's a reasonable one.
I know this may come as a surprise to you, but it's actually the standard British accent that has radically changed in the past two centuries.
However, the American accent has remained almost identical.
So what happened?
A little bit of history can help.
At the same time the British accent started to change, the Industrial Revolution began.
That means that many families became wealthy in a short period.
The upper class society did not welcome those families, although they had a lot of money.
Therefore, newly wealthy families tried to distinguish themselves from the other lower classes.
One way to achieve that was to change the way they spoke.
They tried to sound more sophisticated, more elegant.
So new tutors and experts on pronunciation offered their services to the newly affluent people.
New guidelines and pronunciation dictionaries were written.
This new way of speaking became standardized.
It's called received pronunciation, and it spread all over the country.
More and more people wanted to sound more elegant and not like the lower class.
It was a fashion that became very popular.
The funny thing about this is how accents are represented in historical films.
For example, the American Revolutionary War shows British soldiers talking with the received pronunciation accent as if they were on the BBC, and American soldiers with the standard American accent.
You know that's not very accurate.
Okay.
Let's move on to the next section.
Awesome.
Now let's practice with a mini-story, which is a method that I use in my English courses.
Sometimes I call it a conversation simulator, because you practice your English like in a real conversation.
Here's how it works.
I give you information and ask simple questions.
After each question, there is a pause where you can answer.
After the pause, I give you the correct answer for you to compare.
You will see how this method will help you to improve your English speaking.
Are you ready?
Let's go!
The Parker family owned a big factory in Liverpool.
Did the Parker family own a small factory?
No, no, they didn't own a small factory.
They own a big factory.
Did the Parker family own a big restaurant?
No, they didn't own a big restaurant but a big factory.
Was the factory big or small?
Big.
The factory was big.
Where was the factory?
In Manchester?
No, not in Manchester.
The factory was not in Manchester, but in Liverpool.
What did the Parker family own?
A big factory.
They own a big factory in Liverpool.
More than 1,000 people worked in Parker's factory.
Did only 500 people work in the factory?
No, more than 1,000 people worked in the factory.
Did less than 1,000 people work in Parker's factory?
No, no, that's not true.
More than 1,000 people worked there.
Where did the people work?
In a factory.
They worked in Parker's factory.
How many people worked in Parker's factory?
More than 1000 people.
More than 1000 workers worked in Parker's factory.
Whose factory?
Parker's, Parker's factory.
All the machines in the factory had steam-powered engines.
Were the machines electric?
No, they were not electric.
The machines in the factory had steam-powered engines.
Were there in the factory just a few steam-powered machines?
No, no.
All the machines in the factory were steam-powered.
What element did they use?
Steam?
Oil?
Water?
They use steam.
They use steam to power the machines.
Where were all those steam-powered machines?
In the factory.
They were in Parker's factory.
All three children of the family took pronunciation classes.
Did the three children buy a book on pronunciation?
No, they didn't buy a book on pronunciation.
They took pronunciation classes.
Did they take French classes?
No, they didn't take French classes.
They took pronunciation classes.
How many children took pronunciation classes?
Three.
All three children took pronunciation classes.
What did they take?
Pronunciation classes.
They took pronunciation classes.
The children sounded more refined and sophisticated than their parents.
Did the children sound refined?
Yes, they sounded refined.
Did the children sound sophisticated?
Yes, they sounded sophisticated too.
Did the children sound as sophisticated as their parents?
No, the children didn't sound as sophisticated as their parents.
They sounded more sophisticated.
Did the parents sound more elegant than their children?
No, no.
They sounded less elegant than their children.
Why the children sounded more refined and sophisticated than their parents?
Because they took pronunciation classes.
They sounded more sophisticated.
Because they took pronunciation classes.
Perfect.
That's the end of the mini story.
As you can see, you're answering easy questions all the time.
They are easy on purpose and this technique helps you develop your speaking skills.
It's like practicing with another person.
This is one of the techniques that i use in my courses.
I recommend you to take a look at speakenglishpodcastcom slash courses.
Well, that's all for today.
Try to listen to this content several times and share the podcast with your friends and families.
That would mean a lot to me.
Thanks.
I'll see you next week.
Bye bye.
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