this is common in Nsukka, consciously work on yourself and you will definitely improve.

Maybe dats how ur tongue is.. meet an oral therapist..

Are u from the tribe that eat DOG in Nigeria

ernesty20:
Are u from the north?

that's either a Yoruba or Bayelsa accent for sure. "Seep for sheep", "cicken for chicken". The 'H' is always silent.

As for Igbos, those people has the worst accent in Naija. If you hear those of them that grew up in their villages speak, you will weep for English.

Thanks for speaking up.

The problem I have been facing when it comes to pronunciation is any word with letter

R
e.g

ThRee
CountRy
NaiRa etc
HundRed

I downloaded some pronunciation centered videos on Youtube and my ministry is now moving to the permanent site

Uhm....trust Me...there's a Lotta difference between "L" and "N"
....I've got a Neighbor that also Got difficulty with those Alphabets...and "R" too...the pronounce "Rose" as "Lose" it's sometimes Embarrassing...
I'm guessing it's a Mother's tongue thingy...
....I suggest you watch Lots Of American/british movies...stay away From SPANISH ones Abeg or telumundo/Bollywood! they tend to corrupt English..."" uhm...also do some practise too...Like when you're alone record yourself saying those words and try to listen and correct them....I'm sure you'd be able to tell the difference in No time...
Goodluck tho!

bossto:
I have an accent that has been discouraging me to the extent that i'm too shy to speak in the public.

For instance,"light and night" sound alike to me, I mean i can't differentiate them perfectly, but whenever I converse with my friends or put those aforementioned words in sentences, they (my friends) do not correct me...But I always doubt if I had pronounced them correctly.

Other words I have problem in differentiating are: snap/slap, lame/name. Though no one has corrected me on these.

So the main issue here is "IS THERE MUCH DIFFERENCE IN THEIR SOUNDS?
Pls be honest!!

bros! That can't affect you academic, cos when you are writing exam, you write exam in a written form no orally and your mind can spell it perfectly not your tongue.


You have another problem. Not this one

bossto:
I have an accent that has been discouraging me to the extent that i'm too shy to speak in the public.

For instance,"light and night" sound alike to me, I mean i can't differentiate them perfectly, but whenever I converse with my friends or put those aforementioned words in sentences, they (my friends) do not correct me...But I always doubt if I had pronounced them correctly.

Other words I have problem in differentiating are: snap/slap, lame/name. Though no one has corrected me on these.

So the main issue here is "IS THERE MUCH DIFFERENCE IN THEIR SOUNDS?
Pls be honest!!

There's hope bro, Buhari can hardly string two sentences together yet he is the president of Nigeria because of Kwarruption.

Re u from IBADAN frm osun, ile ife

bossto:
I have an accent that has been discouraging me to the extent that i'm too shy to speak in the public.

For instance,"light and night" sound alike to me, I mean i can't differentiate them perfectly, but whenever I converse with my friends or put those aforementioned words in sentences, they (my friends) do not correct me...But I always doubt if I had pronounced them correctly.

Other words I have problem in differentiating are: snap/slap, lame/name. Though no one has corrected me on these.

So the main issue here is "IS THERE MUCH DIFFERENCE IN THEIR SOUNDS?
Pls be honest!!

U must be an Edo person. Its common there.

To curb it, try speaking slowly n b mindful of Ur l/n usage. With time us will get it right

nait and lait abi
let your flat top of your tongue torch the back of your front tooth and drop it backward a bit- to pronounce - Night.



as for Light.
let the back of your tip tongue torch the back of your tooth and drop release your tongue backwsrd .


am not an expert. I hope it help sha.

N and L factor?? Hmmm, i've never heard that before, are u a Nigerian?? If yes, what tribe

RedCard1:
that's either a Yoruba or Bayelsa accent for sure. "Seep for sheep", "cicken for chicken". The 'H' is always silent.

As for Igbos, those people has the worst accent in Naija. If you hear those of them that grew up in their villages speak, you will weep for English.

Like this yoloba village accent

Na tribe and religion Nigeria Gog and Magog dey cause am. Religion causes fear and suspicion. Fear drives people to the safety of tribe. When are we going to move forward.

Poster drop your mother tongue. Then begin to learn. Learning is best under a relaxed atmosphere so I will suggest clean english literature and motion pictures.

.

bossto:
I have an accent that has been discouraging me to the extent that i'm too shy to speak in the public.

For instance,"light and night" sound alike to me, I mean i can't differentiate them perfectly, but whenever I converse with my friends or put those aforementioned words in sentences, they (my friends) do not correct me...But I always doubt if I had pronounced them correctly.

Other words I have problem in differentiating are: snap/slap, lame/name. Though no one has corrected me on these.

So the main issue here is "IS THERE MUCH DIFFERENCE IN THEIR SOUNDS?
Pls be honest!!

Not from the way you write. You are attention-seeking poster. I am smarter enough to spot your lie.

ernesty20:
Are u from the north?

ernesty20:
Are u from the north?

onye anambla. You've solved half of your problem. take up these words, learn to draw actions depicting them. tell yourself stories purposely using the words repetitively the right way. make your stories elaborate. snap your fingers when you say snap, slam the table when you say slap, pick up other words that may give you trouble. when you watch movies, repeat some sentences like you're mimicking them. read more novels. You'll pick up. just don't ever see your situation as helpless

If "night", and "light" mean the same thing to you, I'm sure many other words would be. I'd say ure probably better off talking in the dialect you're comfortable with. After all, it's all about communication.

prittyboi:



Re u from IBADAN

This is hilarious!

asuustrike2009:

Not even British movies? Theirs is best in the world not America that uses slangs like " am gonna" instead of " am going"

i suggested american movies because they have most of the action & fiction categories. british movies re mostly historical and not too casual. lest we forget its not tht op is tryin to perfect his English, the dude is poor at it so he needs smtng intrestin to stimulate and raise his level of commitment *for starters

jewelbaby55:

fine girl

Niyeal:
Not only u Op. I hav similar problem, any word ending wit -TION such as education, information, correction etc become difcot for me to pronunce because d tion wil sound like son sun etc. And am a teacher who use d words frequently. People do laf at me but i dont really care.

Don't mean to be rude but this just made my day....very funny.

Try using N and L toungue twistas lyk no normal landlord lyks nagging or looks ludiccrous at nyt.I knw t sounds somehow but I just frmed it,but constant practice on this could help

desmondDessi:

Don't mean to be rude but this just made my day....very funny.

Honestly? u were Rude....

tohpahz:
Maybe dats how ur tongue is.. meet an oral therapist..

most sensible comment so far.

It all depends on if your L1 (the first language you learnt to speak) is affecting your L2 (the second Language you learnt to speak)

This is commonly found in individuals who learnt their native language before learning to speak English.

I really do not know if anything can be done about it. Because your case seems peculiar. Maybe you can take oral English classes and see how it works.

You can also create a monitoring list of pronounciation errors and constantly practice the right pronounciation & the correct syllabification(how the words are divided) of the words.

I have worked in an office with lady who had issues with pronouncing words correctly. I adviced her to listen to BBC news on the radio and with this things improved.

Do not give up, just take your time and make a concious effort to work on your challenges and things will improve.

ernesty20:
Are u from the north?

its so hard to abide by all the rules guiding posts/comments/quotes.... That being said, You *sentimental* fool, is it not in the east that 'L' IS PRONOUNCED IN PLACE OF 'R'?... As in Red=Led

DrGraveYardz:
I think British movies would be better.

@Op,i suggest that you watch news,especially CNN and BBC,and also read your dictionary during your leisure time.

personally i like the way the americans speak their english. mmuah!. british s gud too especially their little kids accent

ernesty20:
Are u from the north?

Must you joke about everything?

DollyParton1:

most sensible comment so far.

It is true. The tongue matters too.

Akosxxx:
go get a dictionary & watch alot of American mpvies. guess tha ll help

Ghanian movies helps too