American accent, but wait, I love my Aussie accent!

[Boke]

keep your accent, the world is full of different accented english so if your students go on a trip somewhere and meet an english speaker they won't change their accents for them, by using your own accent you are helping their listening

[teacherj]

I would NOT try to put on a fake American accent for them. Like others have said, they are going to encounter lots of different accents, and it's best for them to hear it while they are young. Speak slower, by all means - but don't change your accent.

My accent isn't strong - it's very clear and indistinct. People sometimes have trouble working out where I'm from. I have been told by students that I am the easiest teacher to understand - and my students largely don't like me so that's saying something

I teach adults in Australia, and my current class (pre-intermediate) are about 50% Japanese. With so many Japanese choosing to study English in the UK and Australia, I think it would actually be detrimental to limit their learning to just one. We teach them both UK and US English variations as well - they need to know them, because a lot of things they have learned don't always work outside of the US.

We teach from British books, and the audio that goes with it usually has British accents - but sometimes has the most appalling fake US one, broad Australian, NZ and SA. Variety is good

We have teachers from all different places here - Aus, NZ, South Africa, UK, US - even Poland and the Czech Republic. The only complaint about accent has been about the Czech teacher. The students get used to accents suprisingly quickly

The Yanks pronounce A as eh and I as ire. If you've ever met an American, you will know for sure their pronunciation of A I O Z are completely different than the Aussies.

Really? Because those both sound the same to me, and my American colleage and I pronounce them the same way?

[MrStuff]

Well, to regurgitate what pretty much everyone else has said, I think you should keep the Aussie accent. As a student, you never quite know what the English you learn will end up being used for, and thus it helps to be able to understand a variety of English accents that might be encountered.

[mohsam1977]

I like amircan accent because i think it is easy away from formality and compexity

[AdvantageEnglish]

I'm sorry, I'd have to disagree with those of you who think that an American accent simplifies things...

As a starter to my rant, I'd like to open with this thought... The language is called ENGLISH... not American... English comes from England... but more importantly, nowadays there is no such thing as THE English language...but rather, the English Languages. A person growing up in South Africa, India, New Zealand, Australia, England, Canada, America, Ireland and (oh dear) Scotland...all speak English correctly.

If a student wishes to travel to America and only talk to local Americans, they should get an American teacher and enjoy life in their little bubble.

If, on the other hand, they want to learn to communicate in English as a global language, then they need to be exposed to it....all of it.

Don't wrap your students up in American cotton wool.

When a child is learning to speak, he or she (for ease of future reference, allow me to use the feminine SHE from now on) must be subjected to language beyond her own communicative ability... Ask a 1 year old, "Do you want a drink ?" and she may say "ef" (yes) or "oh" (no)... over time she'll learn the correct words and her language skills will grow. If the parent were to speak to a child using only words that she herself is able to produce, she'd never learn to speak !

So speak to your students in your own accent... if they don't understand, say it slower... put on an American accent if it helps (like an English to American translation, if you will) and then say it again in your native tongue... Over time, your students will learn to recognise your accent. God knows they're getting enough exposure to American English through TV and Movies... If you're an American teacher, I mean you no ill-will... your English and your English teaching is just as valid and important as a non-American's... I believe it's important to offer English from various countries and in my lessons I provide students with listening tasks (short video clips, audio listening, music) with American, English, Australian and New Zealand accents, but I myself only speak in my native Australian accent.

English is not a dialect, it's a global language...so teach it...all of it.

AdvantageEnglish
MA(TESOL/JAPANESE), BA(Asian Studies)

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