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Understanding the Indian English Accent

  • Writer: Ineka Estabrook
    Ineka Estabrook
  • May 2, 2020
  • 4 min read

Updated: Jul 2, 2020

“If some of you detect an accent, please remember that I didn’t have one until I came to this country.”

SK Gupta, Indian American executive at Sandia National Laboratories


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Do you have an Indian colleague or customer who you find hard to understand? Have you ever called tech support and couldn't understand the directions because of the accent?


Then read on! There are things you can do to help.


The first thing to know is that there are 130 million Indian English speakers with a variety of accents in India and scattered all over the world. That's more than in the UK. English is one of 22 official languages of India and many Indians grow up speaking several languages, English being one of them. Indian accents may be different from the ones you're used to, but they are as valid an English accent as RP, Hollywood, or Aussie. It's different, sure, the same way my California/Texan accent is different from the Queen of England's, but it is a native speaking English accent, same as Her Royal Highness'.


Nevertheless, I've heard many of my students say that the Indian English accent is a hard one to understand. I've also heard this of the Irish, Scottish, Nigerian, Cockney, Glaswegian, Jamaican... There are a lot of native English accents in the world. There are also a lot of Indian English speakers and it's quite a bit more likely that you'll have Indian colleagues, customers, or clients rather than a Glaswegian.

So how can you overcome the difficulties?


Do the needful!

1. Listen

Indian English may sound fast, but it's really not faster than a good New York accent. The difference is that the most prevalent accents in media are American and RP British so you're used to those accents. So get used to an Indian accent! Befriend your Indian colleagues and listen to them. Watch Bollywood movies, get involved in a good Indian TV series, listen to the news from an Indian source such as NDTV. Turn on the subtitles if you need to until you don't need them anymore.


2. Understand Indian English Pronunciation Patterns

Learning the differences in pronunciation can help you understand the accent better. Here are the biggest differences.

  • The very biggest difference in pronunciation is the stress pattern. English words carry their stress on a particular syllable--it's pronounced longer, higher, and louder. Intelligent is /in-TELL-i-gent/. Indian English doesn't usually do this. Instead, every syllable has the same stress. I find that a lot of my English language learning students do this, too.

  • This stress pattern also happens in sentences. I *want* to go to the store and I want to go to the *store* emphasize difference words and therefore it changes the meaning of this sentence. Indian English usually doesn't do this.

  • Generally, Indian English speakers pronounce words as they are spelled. English doesn't have phonetic spelling, so this can lead to big differences in the way words are pronounced.

  • Indians have a sing-song quality in English, resulting from the rhythmic influence of many of the languages spoken in India.

  • V and W are often pronounced the same, so vet and wet sound alike.

  • The TH is pronounced as a T or D or even as their थ sound, which is similar but slightly different than in English.

3. Hinglish

Ever heard of Spanglish, Czechlish, or Franglais? There is also Hinglish, which is a hybridization of Hindi and English. I love these hybrids! They leads to new vocabulary, collocation differences, and idioms that are heavily influenced by a person's native language. Some of them are perfect and I say "do the needful" all the time now. Some of them can lead to miscommunication, though. For example, "I was fired" can mean I was yelled at and not just I lost my job.

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The best way to learn these differences is to, again, befriend an Indian English speaker and have them teach you. If you don't have the opportunity, the Indian English Dictionary can be a great help, and it is only one of many.

Some examples:

Vocabulary:

  • freeship– scholarship

  • prepone– advance ( move up a date)

  • revert– report back with information

  • at the rate– the @ sign

  • clubbing– to join two things together

  • come home – come over to my house

  • cover – envelope

Collocations

  • take leave – to ask for time off or to leave a place

  • tight slap– a really hard slap

  • write an exam – to take an exam (not create one)

  • according to me – in my opinion

  • pindrop silence – absolute silence

  • bed coffee – a cup of coffee as soon as one gets up

  • native place – home town

Old-fashioned words that are less common elsewhere:

  • my missus – my wife

  • dickie – boot/ trunk

  • expire – die

Idioms:

  • Do the needful – do what's necessary

  • Any doubts? – Any questions?

  • Cut the call – hang up abruptly

  • Eating my brain – really bothering me

  • Mugging up – cramming, or memorizing before an exam

  • Neck out – to push someone out of a room by force

  • Got fired – either got yelled at or lost their job

  • Sitting on his head – forcing someone to do something

  • I will come just now – I will be back in a minute

4. The grammar can be wrong

Some Indians really do learn English later in life and their English can have the common mistakes that other English language learners make. As with all your friends and colleagues who aren’t native English speakers, a little patience and understanding goes a long way.


Have an Indian English accent yourself?


If you work with non-Indian English speakers and are tired of people asking you to repeat yourself, there is one thing that you can do that will make a tremendous difference in communicating.



The very biggest difference in American/British versus Indian English pronunciation is the stress pattern. Most English accents carry their stress on a particular syllable--it's pronounced longer, higher, and louder.

intelligent /in-TELL-i-gent/

compromise /COM pru mise/

cooperate /ku WAH pur ate/

economy /e KON o mie/


Learn the stress pattern of multi-syllable words and it will make a big difference.


Learn More:


I offer:

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  • Conversation Groups

  • Online English Lessons

  • Pronunciation Workshops


Check out my FREE pronunciation pages and subscribe to my newsletter below.


Write me a question in the comments below if you have about English and I will try to answer it.


And please subscribe, too!

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Silent Letters

  • Writer: Ineka Estabrook
    Ineka Estabrook
  • Apr 30, 2020
  • 2 min read

Updated: Jul 28, 2020


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Silent letters are one of the trickier things in English Pronunciation. Like so much else with English phonetics, it is not easy to figure out by looking at the word.


Nonetheless, there are some patterns:






The Silent B:

In words that end in MB, the B is usually silent.

comb, climb, plumber, tomb, dumb, bomb, numb, thumb, womb

If MB is in the middle of a word, the B is usually pronounced.

stumble, bumble, tumble


BT is another common silent B pattern.

debt, subtle, doubt


The Silent K

In words with KN, the K is always silent.

know, knot, knee, knife, knight, knock, knack, knapsack, knickers, knuckle


The Silent P

In words with PS, the P is always silent.

Psychology, psychiatry, psyche, psychological, psychotic or pseudo

In words with PN, the P is always silent.

pneumonia, pneumat, pneuma


The Silent C

In words with CS, the C is silent.

Muscle, miscellaneous, scene, ascend, ascent, descent, fascinate, fluorescent, incandescent, obscene, scene, scenario, scented


The Silent G

In words with GN, the G is usually silent.

gnarl, gnome, gnaw, gnat, gnash, gnostic


Exceptions: when the G and N are in a different syllable:

stagnate, smugness, pregnant, signal, magnet, cognition, eggnog, hangnail, recognize


In words with GH words, the H is silent and the G is pronounced.

ghastly, ghoul, ghetto, ghee, ghetto, spaghetti


GH can be pronounced as a /f/ at the end or in the middle of a word.

laugh, tough, enough, cough, laughter

GH can also be silent.

alight, light, high

The Silent L

There is no good rule here, you just have to memorize these.

folk, salmon, talk, walk, could, should, would, half, calf, chalk


The Silent S

S is usually pronounced, but there are a few words where it is silent.

aisle, island, isle, islander, islet, debris, apropos, bourgeois, faux pas, rendezvous

The Silent H

H is silent at the beginning of some French words,

heir, honest, honor, honorable, hour, herb (American English)


The Silent N

In words with MN, the N is silent.

hymn, damn, solemn, condemn, column, autumn


Exception: when MN are in different syllables, they are both pronounced.

alumni, gymnast, warmness, slimness, insomnia, omnivore


The Silent T

If ST is in the middle of the word, the T is usually silent:

listen, whistle, hustle, jostle, apostle, bristle, thistle or wrestle


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CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN


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Practice Reading:

Knox, the plumber, climbed out of his car on Thistle Lane, grabbed his knapsack with his tools and hustled up the walk to the brick house. It was dark at this late hour and the light was on as he knocked on the door. The damn owner took forever to answer the door and Knox was cursing softly to himself. They should be answering the door immediately, it was so late! When the door finally opened, he could see the owner in the dim light. She was coughing and ghastly pale and Knox immediately felt ashamed of his impatience. Miscellaneous debris was piled high through the house and Knox weaved his way through the towering aisles. What a mess. Plopping his knapsack down in the kitchen, he wrestled out his tools and got to work.


 
 
 

English Pronunciation for native Czech speakers

  • Writer: Ineka Estabrook
    Ineka Estabrook
  • Apr 30, 2020
  • 6 min read

Updated: May 1, 2020

Native speakers of Czech are blessed with having a pretty understandable accent in English. I rarely have trouble understanding Czechs even when their accent is strong. Celebrate!

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Still and all, there are a few predictable pronunciation difficulties that native Czech speakers make. If you are aiming to improve your clarity in English, this article is for you.


What do you have to do to improve your pronunciation?

  1. Learn the common mistakes listed below.

  2. Identify which ones you make.

  3. Practice, preferably with a good teacher, practice and practice some more.


Learning the accent of a foreign language is like learning a musical instrument. Just learning the theory isn't going to be enough. You need to learn the theory AND figure out your mistakes, correct them, then practice, practice, and practice some more. You need to develop muscle memory, the way the sound is made by your mouth, tongue, teeth and throat, and you need to practice those sounds until it is effortless.


But first, the learning.


Common pronunciation mistakes Czech speaker make:


Primary Stress

Czech always places a word’s primary stress on the first syllable. Always! Primary stress is the syllable in a word that is pronounced LOUDER, loooooonger, and higher. The Czech word sedm is pronounced SED-m. In English the primary stress can be on any syllable and it is not marked in any way. Thank you, English!


Look at the following examples:

Seven SEV-n /ˈsɛv n/

Intelligent in-TELL-uh-gnt /ɪnˈtɛl ɪ dʒnt/

Hotel ho-TEL /hoʊˈtɛl/


This is especially fun:

Photograph FOW-tuh-graf /ˈfəʊ tə ɡrɑːf/

Photography fuh-TAH-gruh-fie /fəˈtɒ ɡrə fi/

Photographer fuh-TAH-gra-fr /fəˈtɒ ɡrə fə/


There is no way to know where the stress goes and you just need to memorize them. Every time you learn a new multi-syllable words, even two syllable words, mark the stress and practice the pronunciation.

Learn more:


Sentence Stress

English also has weak and strong forms of entire words.


Look at this sentence:

It’s his book.


In this example, It, is, and his are not important words. The important word is book, and that is pronounced fully. Content words are the words in a sentence that carry meaning and they are stressed--pronounced LOUDER, loooonger, and higher. It, is, and his condense and reduce. They are function words, the articles, pronouns, auxiliary verbs, and other words that show grammar. When words are reduced, the vowels often turn into schwas /ə/, and some consonants can even disappear.


Reduce the H in his:

It’s ’əs book.

Reduce the HI in his

It’s ’s book.

Reduce the I in It's and the HI in his:

'ts ’s book.


Vowels

Czech only has five vowels while English has between fifteen and twenty depending upon who you ask. For Czechs, this causes the most problems with /æ/ in bat and/ɛ/ in bet. Here is where a good teacher can be particularly important because a sound that you don't have in your language you might not even hear! When a sound doesn't exist in your own language, you often substitute a sound that is close, a sister vowel sound--in the case of /æ/, it's often substituted with ɒ, the sound in on. This makes bat sound the same as bought. You may not even realize that you are doing it. There are tons of videos out there on these sounds. Start listening to them.

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The full list of vowel practice:

A

E

I:

O:

U:


The schwa /ə/ and /ʌ/

The /ə/ sound is the most common sound in English and because English is not spelled phonetically it can be spelled with any vowel. It is in most of the unaccented syllables of multi-syllable words. In single syllable words such as pull, it is the /ʌ/ sound which is simply a /ə/ that is stressed.


The best way for Czech speakers to imagine a schwa is to omit the vowel completely. For example, in the word pull, the middle vowel /ʌ/ is often substituted with the sister sound /uː/ as in pool. It is easiest for Czech speakers simply to imagine it being pronounced PL, and to lengthen the L a bit.


Learn More:

TH /θ/ and /ð/

TH /θ/ and /ð/ do not exist in Czech, nor in many languages, and English learners from all over the world hate this sound. Fortunately, it is a pretty easy sound to learn how to say, unlike the dreaded Czech /ř/ which I cannot say to save my life.


To make this sound, you need to stick your tongue out. Place it lightly on the bottom of your top teeth (you can lightly bite it if that’s easier) and blow air through it like you would for a /v/.


Learn More:


V and W

The V and W give students from many countries in north, central, and east Europe the fits. They cannot say one or the other, or they confuse them. Many Czech speakers cannot even hear the difference between the two sounds.


The ž and ř sound the same to me, too. I feel your pain!

The best way to learn the difference is just to look at the spelling of the word and put your mouth in the correct position. If you do that, the correct sound will come out.

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The V is almost always pronounced as /v/, so if you see a V, put your bottom lip on your top teeth to say this sound.

The W and WH are usually pronounced as /w/. To pronounce /w/, put your lips in a kissing pucker. If you put your mouth in the correct position, you will get it right!


Learn More:

Silent Letters

Unlike Czech, English is not phonetic and there are many silent letters. This is often due to the history of the language—pronunciation has changed over the years but the spelling has not. There are a few patterns, but once again, you just have to learn them. Sorry!


Learn More:


R

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The /r/ in English is unique. Czech usually rolls its Rs as does Spanish and Scots. The /r/ in English is said in the mouth, not in the throat (as in German or French) and the tongue doesn’t touch anything. Look at my links below to get more details.


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-ING

-ing at the end of a word often is pronounced with a K: meetingk. This can cause confusion in word pairs such as thing/think and sing/sink.


Hard and soft G

When do you pronounce the G hard /g/ or soft /dʒ/?


G is pronounced hard /g/ in words before an A, U, or O such as gas, gather, goblet, goddess, gum, gutter.


It is pronounced soft /dʒ/ before E, I, and Y such as gel, general, giant, ginger, gypsy, gyrate.


And then there’s girl /ɡəːl/. Sorry. English.

/s/ and /z/

Czech speakers often pronounce the S as /s/ and the Z as /z/ as is written, but alas, English is not phonetic. Often the S is pronounced /z/, but not always. A /z/ is always pronounced /z/. Click on the link below for more details.


Learn More:


Y

The [j] sound is spelled with a Y in English and a J in Czech, leading to confusion. Also, the Y at the end of a word, as in community or really, it is pronounced /i/ as in see. Many Czech speakers soften this tense sound into more of a /ɪ/ as in hit.


Learn More:

One last note:

Like learning a musical instrument, you can "know" the facts, but you need to practice in order to improve. Everyone brings the phonetic pronunciation, stress patterns, intonations, and rhythm of their own language into the languages they learn. In order to improve your English pronunciation, you need to break those old habits and learn new ones. This just takes time.


Listen to native speakers (movies, TV, music…), hear the new sounds (a teacher can really help), and finally, practice, practice, practice.

If your brain knows something, you need to keep your brain engaged in order to produce it. If your MOUTH knows it, it becomes effortless. This is when your language reaches a new level.


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I offer:


  • Conversation Groups

  • Online English Lessons

  • Pronunciation Workshops

Check out my FREE pronunciation pages and subscribe to my newsletter below.


Write me a question you have about English and I will try to answer it.


Check these out, too:


 
 
 
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