Perhaps you haven’t considered this but body language is really an integral part of sounding more like a native.
The facial expressions you make, the amount of smiling you do when you speak, the way you use your arms to support what you’re saying – these are all non-verbal elements that help you express your message more clearly and sound more native-like.
A good way to get a grasp of the kind of body language native speakers of the language you’re learning use – apart from obviously hanging out with them – is to watch some videos and focus specifically on body language.
What is it that they’re talking about? What are their faces doing and when?
What’s the tone of the conversation – are they being friendly, suspicious, hostile, welcoming?
Try to read their body language and if you’re struggling – ask your language exchange partner about the more unfamiliar gestures and faces you can’t read very easily.
What does ‘native’ really mean, though?
One problem with learning how to sound like a native speaker is that the idea of ‘native’ is so fluid, especially if you’re learning a language that has many regional variations.
For example, if you are learning Spanish, do you want to sound like a person from Madrid, Valencia, Colombia, Mexico, or a Puerto Rican living in the United States? They are all native speakers, aren’t they?
A foreign accent is a good conversation starter
The bottom line of all this is that having a foreign accent is perfectly OK when speaking another language. As long as you’re understood – that’s what really matters!
Having a foreign accent can be part of your identity and it can be an invitation to a conversation every time you speak. Your conversation partner will be interested to hear what your background story is and where you’re from, and your relationship may be more authentic as a result.
So, good luck with whatever it is that you’re trying to achieve – whether it’s sounding more like a native speaker or simply sounding more fluent!
