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My accent and conversational ability in English is presently terrible. What is the best way to reach fluency?

I have no problem expatiating scientific jargon but fail at the rich palette of modern day English. I understand that fluency is a worthy objective, but I may need to set achievable intermediate objectives to reach my goal.

Generally I want something without too many 'additional elements' embedded into the accent. My main goal is developing an accent that facilitates communication with a wide group of English-speaking people as possible.

I work with a diverse group from different countries. Possibly looking for something without regional elements, which may hinder being understood by people who are unfamiliar particular region.

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DunningKruger · 61-69, M

Simplify your vocabulary. I have an English degree, I've been a writer and editor for 30 years and I had to look up what "expatiating" meant.

The thing about English is that its impossible to speak it without selecting some sort of regional accent simply because of how extensively it's spoken. In the UK, for example, if you drive for an hour you'll encounter multiple accents that may very well be mutually unintelligible, or next to it. There are US accents and Australian and New Zealand and South African, and sometimes its difficult for native speakers to grasp what we're all saying.

I would say the thing to do is to find native speakers and simply practice conversational English, while at the same time concentrating on finding simpler way of expressing you thoughts, which may have more impact on intelligibility than accent.

PilinisesiofParadise · 31-35, F

Exactly, I had to look up “expatiate” too. This is a common problem with non English speaking people. They speak like a walking talking dictionary. I learnt everyday conversational English by speaking to friends from America. @DunningKruger

Random1Thoughts · F

@DunningKruger
Thank you, I will widen my scope to find an accent that would suit my needs.

It is my anxiety and fear of mispronunciation that pushes me towards wrong usages. I am currently
voicing small sentences, and progressively opt for longer ones.

Salix75 · 46-50, F

@Random1Thoughts the thing about pronunciation is, even amongst English speakers, there is variability in how they pronounce words.

The standard example "tomato" : Many in Europe say "toe-MA-to", while in N. America it's more common to hear "toe-MAY-toe".

other small examples:
vih-ta-min / vye-ta-min (for vitamin)
GA-ragh / ga-RAGH / h (garage)
Leh-ver / LEE-ver (lever)

I think so long as you get the main elements, you'll be find. It's the differences in intonation and accent that make things interesting :)

Random1Thoughts · F

I will simplify and breakdown words as you've demonstrated above. You're absolutely correct in regards to different ways of pronouncing words. ☺️@Salix75