Thread: Speaking Russian like a Russian--accent, accents, and stress

Hello all!

I am in a russian conversation class and we are graded on pronunciation, stress, etc.
I was just wondering if there are any resources available that would help me with this. We didn't speak much in my first two semesters of Russian so I'm not confident and still sound PAINFULLY American when I speak. I've tried listening to russian radio and things like that but I really need a resource that sticks mostly to vocab that I know (basic).
I guess I'm just looking for pronunciation help in general so if you have any tips/advice/etc please share!

Thanks in advance!!!!

Get a Russian skype penpal.

This site has not bad pronunciation lessons:
Russian Pronunciation: Hard Vowels

Also:


And +1 to the Ramil's post

Originally Posted by Jordan

Hello all!
sound PAINFULLY American when I speak.

as painfully as this guy (starts 56 secs. from the end.)
Телекомпания НТВ. Официальный сайт | Новости НТВ | Путешествие в прошлое

Better speak with native Russian! I'm Russian so if you want add me on skype(deimex9) or msn (deimex85@rambler.ru)

skype is the best way - so you can hear real russian speach!
Would be glad to help you. Me nickname in skype - olroir. Welcome!

Originally Posted by Jordan

...and still sound PAINFULLY American when I speak. !

It's difficult to get rid of one's accent, specially when your language belongs to a different language family. If you want to practice, get a skype penpal with your same level in English so you are patient with each other.

Learning the nuances of spelling and pronuncation rules will help emmensly.

Things like

И after Ж = Ы
Л before Ю = ЛЬ

This are things that no one will really tell you and things that native speakers also don't often think about or notice. They'll tell you that you still have an accent but won't be sure exactly how to correct it.

If you can remember these types of rules it will make your pronunciation a lot better.

Thanks everyone! I've been listening to podcasts to get some understanding of pronunciation. (I'm not quite ready to skype yet I don't think--I don't know enough of the language yet.)
However, I have another question that goes along with pronunciation. Where does one speak from when speaking Russian? For example, French is more nasally and sort of spoken in the front of the mouth and English and German and spoken from the back of the mouth. People always say that Russian is guttural but I'm not sure this is true. Any ideas? Also, it seems that they speak with more diction--a lot more emphatic consonants.. maybe?

Thanks everyone!!!

These languages may sound that way to a foreigner but it's all done unconsciously by native speakers and they're not aware of these things. Trying to figure out if Russian is guttural or nasal or whatever won't help your pronunciation. Diction varies tremendously depending on the social setting, emotions, etc.

Yeah I'm having the same problem...
I guess the most important thing is to be able to make the difference between hard and soft consonants properly...and that's sooo hard.
I wish there would be more resources about this topic. It's soo hard to find them. And yeah it's true, it helps to speak with native speakers just to hear how it should sound...but a guide how to pronounce them, e.g. where to have the tongue and stuff, would be from big help.

I might teach russian pronunciation, although I'm not a professional teacher but I have some successful experience of doing that. And I really don't understand why not use Skype right away. We just might talk in English about Russian and Russian sounds... MrEugene1000