One of the most obvious things you realize when learning the Twi language is its accent, which is a bit difficult to grasp if you happen to grow up speaking British or American English or any other European language. This is because English and other European languages do not use the kinds of intonations you hear in the Twi language.
The goal of this post is to introduce you to a simple four point language learning technique that will help you to improve your Twi accent and fluency as you learn with Nkyea Twi Primer. Using this technique will greatly improve your accent so that you can speak Twi with confidence.
1. PLAY AND LISTEN TO THE NATIVE SPEAKER
As you may already know, Nkyea Twi Primer teaches the Twi language with simple everyday words and sentences, encouraging you to listen and practice saying them. It is very important that you first listen to how each word or sentence is pronounced. Make sure to play and listen carefully at least three times.
2. PLAY AND REPEAT AFTER THE NATIVE SPEAKER
The next step is to repeat after the native speaker when he finishes saying each word or sentence. Do this also at least three times. This will unconsciously help your tongue to start adapting to the language.
3. PLAY AND SAY ALONGSIDE THE NATIVE SPEAKER
The third step is to play the native speaker and pronounce the word or sentence along with him. This shouldn’t be very difficult to pull off after learning it from the previous steps. This step helps you to pronounce a word or sentence just like the native speaker. Repeat it a few times until you can say it exactly with him.
4. RECORD, PLAYBACK AND COMPARE WITH THE NATIVE SPEAKER
If you feel that you can say the word or sentence very well, the last step is to use the Record, Playback and Compare feature to help you hear yourself and make a comparison with the native speaker. This comparison will let you know whether you are saying it correctly. You should re-record and compare with the native speaker if your recording doesn’t sound right.
Watch the Nkyea Twi Primer video to see how to use the four point technique I have outlined above.
I hope that you use this technique to help improve your Twi accent and fluency.
Get the full version of Nkyea Twi Primer from here for only $18.99.
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I really want to learn Fante but I could not find courses in Fante. I decided to study twi and later learn the differences if I could communicate in twi. Is this a good approach? Is there enough interest to develop a course in Fante?
Yes, it’s a reasonable approach considering the fact that both dialects come from the same Akan language. When you learn Twi you will be able to understand what a Fante person says even though the accent is different.