Hi happy_lemon, The easiest way to learn Americans accents is to make friends with Americans, especially ones from different parts of the country. When you hear them all saying the same (or similar) things/phrases, you'll understand how different people from different places say the same things, and from there you'll be able to recognize speech patterns that belong to certain regions. Then you'll be able to tell where in the U.S. a person is from (or has been living). :-) Kind Regards, ~_~. Maidhc

Hello happy-lemon, *sorry for the misspelling: happy_lemon* Expose yourself to American accent. If you are taking classes make sure your teacher speaks it. Watch movies ,listen to songs with that accent which is abundant. Chat with American native speakers. Travel to the States. Eat burgers;) * no drop that one,doesn't help probably;)*. ;):)

Often, this issue is a matter of diction then, and not accent. If you ask an American to speak slowly and clearly, most will still have an ACCENT, though their diction will be as clear as possible. In movies, the way characters "dictate" their lines is supposed to show where they are from, how wealthy they are, what kind of attitude they have, what their mood is, etc. This all affects their diction. And, yes ... getting subtitles (or Closed Captioning for the Deaf) can help better understand it.

If you really want to speak English with American accent, you have to remember many rules, such as stress, rhythm, vowels, reduced forms, etc. And I think one of the key is linking. When we watch movies, we sometimes couldn't understand what they said. However when we see the English title, we know they didn't say difficult sentence. They don't pronounce each word very clearly. It is hard job to speak English with American accent, but I think it is not impossible. I also need to practice, though.

I watch the 2007 presidential debate, I think it's helpful to promote American Accent.