Do a Credible Mexican Accent
So you want to learn a Mexican accent, and the answer forums aren’t being very understanding? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Remember these essentials and the you’ll have learned how to do a pretty good Mexican accent.
Steps
- Know that in Mexican Spanish, there are few of the short vowels we have in English. In English, the words "fill" and "feel" are easily distinguishable ("fill" is a short I and "feel" is a long I), but not to a Mexican. To a Mexican they would both sound like "feel". The same goes for "beach" and "b*tch" (both sound like "beach"), "reach" and "rich" (both sound like "reach").
- Notice how in English, o is pronounced in many different ways, depending on context. For example, the O in "to" is pronounced differently from the O in "go". Whenever you would in English pronounce an O like the O in "to", the Mexicans would say OO, such as in "tool". Try pronouncing "tool" but cutting out the last L and you will know how a Mexican pronounces "to", as in " Geev it too' me". Also, where O is AW in English (Toxic, box) it is pronounced as an AH in Spanglish (Tahksic, bahks etc.).
- Be aware that many in the Spanish-speaking world are unable to pronounce the English "th"-sound. Now, there are two TH-sounds in English: The TH in "there" or "though" is soft, while the TH in "with" or "think" is more sharp. Make sure you understand this difference in English. The soft TH is pronounced like a D ("I don't want to do dat dough"). The sharp TH is simplified to more or less just a T ( I teenk dis is a torough explanation).
- Understand that English shares many Latin roots with Spanish. Some of these are very similar with only small differences that Mexicans tend to forget. Any word starting with ST in English will start with EST in Mexican Spanish. "Station" becomes "estation" (because in Spanish it is "estación"), "statistics" becomes "estatistics", "stupid" becomes "estupid" etc.
- Remember that the SH-sound is troublesome to many Mexicans. They simply don't have it in their language and therefore substitute it with its closest relative that exist in Spanish, CH. "Shower" becomes "chower", "share" becomes "chare", "shallow" becomes "challow" etc.
- Know that in most Spanish dialects (with a few exceptions) the Y and the LL have almost the same sound. They both sound pretty similar to the English J, more accurately a DJ-sound. So words that begin with a Y in English such as "you", "yes" and "yesterday" sound like "joo/djoo", "jes/djes" and "jesterday/djesterday".
- Remember also that in Spanish, words usually don't end in NG or ND. So when you use the Identify the Gerund As One of the English Verbals form (-ing form), you should omit the G and make the end just an N. "Lifting" becomes "leefteen" and "helping" becomes "helpeen". Do the same for words that end with ND: "friend" becomes "fren", "lend" becomes "len" etc.
- Keep in mind that in Spanish, B and V are interchangeable because they sound almost exactly the same. For this reason, many Mexicans might say “watching a bideo” or “playing bolleyball”.
- Remember that the H is pronounced HR, the sound you would make if you had a hair stuck in your throat - hrrr. "Hrrrve it your way."
Tips
- Try not to exaggerate too much.
