The Adult Accent
Written by Studio AM.
Your result
- Words per minute
- Score
- Pace
Words per minute mean something only with the score beside them. They describe this passage on this read. With fewer than 3 right, try the next slower pace.
Choose a pace and select Start. The passage is paced and timed, then the questions check what you understood. How pace mode works
Reading time 0:00
Adults who learn another language sometimes judge their progress by their accent. They compare themselves with a native speaker and overlook the conversations they can now follow or the ideas they can express.
An adult brings useful experience to learning. Knowing one language can help with noticing patterns, organizing vocabulary, and planning practice. Pronunciation may still resist change. Familiar speech habits can make a new sound difficult to notice or reproduce, especially when the first language does not use that sound to distinguish words.
This does not make an accent evidence of failure. An accent and unclear speech are not the same thing, and listeners also differ in how familiar they are with different accents.
A practical goal is to make speech easier to understand. That can involve stressing the right syllable, grouping words into clear phrases, or pronouncing an ending that changes the meaning. Record a short message and ask a listener which part was unclear. That gives you a specific problem to practise, instead of treating every difference from a native speaker as a mistake.
The passage is hidden while you answer. It comes back with your result.
Questions
Choose an answer. The explanation appears after you answer.
-
Question 1 of 4
What is the essay's main argument?
The answer is C: An accent is not failure; being understood easily is the real goal.
The essay says an accent is not evidence of weak learning, and that the useful goal is to be understood without effort.
-
Question 2 of 4
Which practice method does the passage recommend?
The answer is A: Record a message and ask which part was unclear.
The final paragraph recommends recording a short message and asking a listener to identify an unclear part.
-
Question 3 of 4
Why might familiar first-language sound patterns affect new pronunciation?
The answer is B: They can make a meaningful sound difference in the new language hard to notice.
The first language may not use the same sounds to distinguish words.
-
Question 4 of 4
What does “resist” mean in this passage?
The answer is D: remain difficult to change
The next sentence describes familiar speech habits that can be difficult to change.
Score: none answered yet.