4 ways to address Vietnamese accent deficiencies

English language learners are always concerned with their accents. And for good reason, a clear and native-like accent greatly improves communication and comprehension. Each country has their own specific accent problems, and Vietnam is no exception.

It takes work and effort to learn English, but not all work and effort is equal. Any road will eventually lead to Rome, but there are short, long, accessible, and difficult roads, and people must have perseverance to keep moving forward in order to reach Rome.

No matter what path you are on, learning English is the same, but if you find a good method and a motivating learning process, it will help you go faster and more easily. Understanding the significance of language learning, on June 21, 2023, the Department of Student Affairs (DSA), in partnership with the School of Foreign Languages of UEH, held a workshop on "How to address VietNamese accent deficiencies" as part of periodic activities at the UEH English Zone with the Speaker: Mr. Stephen Williams, a lecturer from the English Department at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Education.

Mr. Williams will present and coach attendees to perfect pronunciation using a specially designed system tailored to the most common language deficiencies that affect Vietnam. By focusing on the missing elements, great progress can be obtained within a short period. By focusing on what's missing, participants will see definite improvement in their accent and speaking confidence.

Efficiency is key, Mr. Stephen said, offering advice to students who have learned English before and those who are just getting started. To quickly improve, let us begin with the simplest task. Continuous learning and deep information chains that produce measurable outcomes and progress engage and inspire learners to continue on their journey. The more noticeable the improvement, the stronger the motivation and the more "confident" in the learner's demeanor. And the first key to successful language learning is confidence.

The relationship between improvement and confidence is highlighted in Mr. Stephen's 4 tips.

Knowing what we are wondering about is necessary before we can come up with a solution. In order for people to have an intuitive, straightforward perspective to compare and contrast in order to learn and understand themselves better, Mr. Stephen guided the participants through the common flaws in the Vietnamese accent.

The pronunciation of Vietnamese and English is similar or the same due to the overlap of many sound positions. Apart from that, there are also sound positions in English that are absent. Due to the similarities between Vietnamese and English, we should focus more on the missing sounds when learning than we would if we tried to practice all the sound positions. In addition, we Vietnamese frequently run into recurring issues like the final consonants.

This is also quite understandable considering that in Vietnamese, we do not pronounce the final consonant. But as you well know, omitting or swallowing the final consonants will quickly result in a great deal of misunderstandings. Because it is challenging for listeners to comprehend or understand when the final sound is missed or mispronounced in English. Because of the disparity between Vietnamese and English's usage patterns and habits, many learners struggle with the proper placement of nouns and adjectives as well as how to use prepositions correctly (Adjectives typically come before nouns in Vietnamese, whereas this is not the case in English, etc).

List of phonemes in English and Vietnamese

Mr. Stephen gave the students the opportunity to sharpen their pronunciation during the lecture by using humorous, real-world examples and close communication. In order to challenge the students with the game of "twisted tongue" the teacher assisted the class in differentiating between consonant clusters that are simple to understand and those that are more complex.

The "twisted tongue" allows students to improve their pronunciation.

The UEH English learning community paid close attention to and actively participated in the workshop, lasted for more than 2 hours with a joyful atmosphere. With the topic: "How to address VietNamese accent deficiencies" the event clarified methods to help Vietnamese English learners improve their pronunciation clearly in a short time. In addition, the workshop also answered attendees' questions and concerns about pronunciation. In the livestream format, attendees can send questions directly to the speakers through the fan page UEH English Zone.

You can rewatch the workshop here.

The sharing sparked a lively conversation and exchange among the attendees about the subject.

As part of UEH English Zone project, Language Workshop is a monthly activity organized with many practical topics to help learners and officials gradually feel interested in learning English. Develops habits and piques internal curiosity to enhance and affirm one's sense of worth in the dynamic integration environment of today.

Please engage with and follow UEH English Zone fan page to receive updates on the most recent information if you wish to register for and participate!

News, photos: Department of Student Affairs (DSA)