Okay, so this is a weird one - I’m trying to figure out how to use tech to change my accent, just a little, with one phrase.
I’m from New Zealand, so we tend to say our vowels a little differently to other countries.
For instance, when I moved to live in Ireland and London 25 years ago, I said, “New Ziland” rather than “New Zealand”, but I didn’t know that until I heard other people say it differently. It didn’t take long but I was able to change my pronunciation of “Ziland” so that I didn’t feel so out of place.
Nowadays, I have a different problem.
I call my signature intellectual property “The Stack the Deck” method (as in stacking the deck of cards so you’re more likely to win - it’s a metaphor for setting important projects up so they’re more likely to succeed).
But when I dictate it comes out slightly differently.
It’s almost pornographic, and it sounds like I’m promoting my only fans site!
When I dictate, sometimes it gets it right, sometimes it gets it wrong - I’ve got autocorrection to fix it, but that only works for text.
It’s a novel request, but does anyone have any ideas how I could use tech to help me change my pronunciation?
Actors are trained to do this. Try searching tech related to teaching actors accents.
Per Chat GPT (note, I’ve not verified any of this).
Digital Tools & Apps
• The Accent Kit provides breakdowns of accent subcomponents (sounds, mouth positions, tonality) with positive actor feedback .
• Accent Coach App (iOS/Android) offers courses, practice scripts, and coaching booking options .
• Real Accent and The Accent Kit (app): users recommend them for structured practice (€1.99 add‑ons), pairing convenience with detail .
Seriously (leaving aside the obvious jokes), why bother? Nobody’s going to be misled by what you say, and if a few juvenile deckheads want to snigger, well they’re hardly likely to be your target audience anyway.
Diverse accents are one of the glories of English and NZish is great.
100% this (though it’s true of most languages of course). If someone doesn’t understand you’re a Kiwi (affectionate!) that’s on them, not you. Be proud of your accent.
Although, I would love to believe this, my Indian accent has gotten so many racist comments on my YouTube videos that I have lost count. Most of the time, I simply block those commenters and move on.
But some of them hit you differently, as how can someone be so antagonistic against you just because of your accent—especially on simple tech videos that have no connection to politics or any such controversial topics.
Your videos are good! But even if they weren’t, that’s still no excuse for racist comments.
And, I like how calm your overall style is—it’s a refreshing break from YouTubers who insist on talking to their viewers IN ALL CAPS like the world will end if you don’t DO THIS THING I’M SELLING YOU ON RIGHT NOW.
This would be a great application for a focused AI tool.
Software that could drill the speaker by listening to their voice, analyzing it, and then offering customized drills to focus on changing their accent.
Over 20 years ago, I had a small boutique web hosting / web applications business. I outsourced tech support to a friend who moved back to India from the SF Bay Area and he had an excellent team of engineers that were cost effective for the entry-level customer pricing we we could offer live telephone support, instead of just via email responses.
The knowledge and expertise was great, but the customers couldn’t accept English speakers with very heavy accents.
We decided to switch to online real-time text chat only because customers were off-put by the heavily accented support reps.
I’m sorry to hear that: I would find it upsetting too.
With that sort of racist moron, if they didn’t sneer at your accent, they’d sneer at something else - they are racist morons and the point is the cruelty. I’m not sure that there is anything you can do other than treat them with the contempt they deserve and realise that decent people everywhere despise them as well, though I accept this won’t be easy at times.
