Well, one of the features of Indian English is that it has an underlying influence from Hindi or dialects of Hindi, which are syllable timed. This is very different to the way

British English is spoken, as British English relies on patterns of rising and falling intonation. This means that the pitch of a speaker’s voice rises in surprise, or to ask a question, or to show approval – or falls, to show disappointment, or refusal, or irony. One really good way of improving your intonation is to watch British films. As you listen to the spoken English, pay close attention to the meaning and the patterns of intonation. And you can clearly see the speaker’s intention because of facial expressions or the plot, and you can compare this with their intonation.

I think the other main difference in pronunciation between British and Indian English is the stress accent of individual words. And you can study the stress patterns – that is, which syllable is stressed – in a good dictionary. The stressed syllable may be marked with an apostrophe, for example in the word intonation the stress is on the third syllable, listen again: into’nation. So, to improve your accent, it’s a good idea to record yourself and listen to your own syllable stress and intonation patterns. It does take time to alter your accent, and it can only be done by recognising the features of the way you speak at the moment.

When we describe English as a world language, we mean that it’s spoken as a first, second or official language in countries in every single continent in the world. But what we often don’t realise is that the English that is spoken in each different area is slightly different, in terms of accent, vocabulary and some grammatical usage. Language is a dynamic, creative and constantly evolving medium and Indian English is recognised as a variety of English in its own right. I’m sure you can tell me lots of interesting words that only occur in Indian English, Vikram. There must be some words about weather, houses, family relationships, clothes, food and cooking processes that are different to British English.

Finally, Vikram, I just have to say I don’t think accent is ever a problem unless other people have difficulty in understanding it. And if you do find that other people don’t understand your accent, ask them which words are causing the problems. You can see if there are any specific sounds or phonemes that you need to improve. But if everyone can understand your accent already, then relax and just enjoy the chance to communicate in English!

Thank you for your question Vikram and I hope this helps!