I'm a 20 year old Norwegian male, and I want to improve my spoken English.

For years I've been trying to decide upon which form of spoken English to go with, but I've never really found what I'm looking for. My approach to other languages has been mostly to imitate the dialect of the capital. So I would appreciate your opinion. For the past I haven't been consistent about my pronounciation; sometimes pronouncing my r's, sometimes not.

I want to talk an English that most people would accept and understand. Does this imply that I should seek to talk 'General American', 'Received Pronounciation' or 'Atlantic English'? Do you think such a speaker would appear 'slick'?

As a Norwegian I'm surrounded mostly by British (news and series) and Amerian dialects (CNN and films). Great Britain is of course nearer geograpically, but on the other hand I have some (more and less distant) relatives in California. I don't want to sound 'hostile' in any way.

Any role models also? Thank you.

I'm from north west england, so I can say this without any bias ;) but our accent kicks a**, seriously go with northwest british english...role models - anyone from coronation street (a soap)
ok - a norwegian person speaking american english? yep slick, unless you have studied there.

hello,

I think i´ve a link could help you, you seem to be surrounded by many possiblilities it´s an audio chat where you are able to practice your spoken english, here it goes:http://www.talkingcommunities.com/

Kindest Regards
Grace be with you
http://www.srac.de

Hei, kult at det er noen Norske her. Jeg har bodd i Amerika, og det er veldig mange som prater Americans dialekt der. Jeg har mange venner fra England og Amerika og det er ikke så stor forskjell egentlig.

Jeg synes at Amerikansk høres finest ut, men andre har sikkert helt annen mening, mn det er jo ikke noe galt å prate Britisk heller (De fleste i Norge prater jo Britisk, det er jo det folk i norge lærer på skolen, hvis de ikke har lærer som har bodd i Amerika eller noe lignende).

Det beste du kan gjøre for å få bedre Engelsk uttale er å prate mer med de som prater Engelsk. Du trenger ikke å velge hvilken dialekt eller om det skal være Britisk eller Amerikansk. Når du først starter å prate Engelsk, så bre prater du som du pleier og plukker opp ord som andre rundt deg sier. Og år du har pratet Engelsk en god stund så føles det så naturlig at ordene kommer automatisk, så du trenger ikke å tenke over hva de betyr. Så når du prater så prater du ord fra forskjellige folk du har pratet med rundt deg.

Når man prater et språk flytene så er det som om man alltid har pratet det selv om man ikke har det. Det spiller ikke så stor rolle hvordan du prater et språk så lenge du gjør deg forstått. Men ting kommer etter hvert og det mer du prater dess mer lærer du. Når du har pratet det lenge nok føles det helt naturlig å prate sånn. Ingen prater helt likt, det kommer ann på hvilke mennesker som er rundt det og hvordan de prater.

Det er også lurt å lese en del fordi da kommer man lenger inn i språket og man blir mer vant til å høre ordene. Selv om man kan et språk veldig godt betyr ikke det at man trenge rå forstå hvert eneste ord. Ordene du ikke fostår som er vanlige i språket blir bare en del av språket.

Lykke til!!!
Good Luck!!!

As an American married to a Norwegian man, I don't think you should lose your Norwegian accent!! That was the first thing that attracted me to my hubby! I think most Americans would agree that having a Norwegian accent is more "slick"! But if you truly wish to gain a more American accent, my suggestion would be to try to emulate accents you hear on CNN. I am trying to think of a state in the US that has a general American accent and I can only think of Florida and Maryland. You don't want to have a southern, New York, New England, western, or Californian accent, you won't appear "slick" or well spoken.
Best of luck to you!

Most Americans are accepting of English spoken with any accent. We are a large community of immigrants and are very used to hearing accents from around the globe, as well as accents from within our own borders.

You are correct in choosing a dialect from the mid eastern coast or one from the mid central area of the U.S.