Many people who learn a foreign language during adulthood often incur a heavy accent that makes them easy to tell apart from native speakers. It’s the same way for English speakers. When you use a new language, there’s a tendency to fall into using sounds that are native to you, rather than those actually used in the target vernacular.
Despite that, pronunciation can be improved. It just takes the willingness to recognize your shortcomings and putting in the practice time (well, a lot of practice time) to getting over it.
- Listen to native speakers as much as you can. The more you can hear natives speaking a language, the more exposed you will be to how they pronounce certain sounds. Even without conscious thought, you will likely absorb some of those habits.
- Find a speaker to emulate. If you have a friend who’s a native speaker, try to emulate the way he talks. When you practice, picture yourself taking over his talking style. For those who don’t have access to a native speaker, you can pick up a movie that’s shot in the target language and choose an actor to base your speaking style from.
- Record yourself speaking. Most of the time, you need to hear yourself talk in order to realize your faults. Record yourself speaking the language and listen to it to get a more objective assessment of how you’re doing.