How do I ask my English tutor for pronunciation feedback I can use without having to copy a whole accent?
EducationI played my presentation recording, and the tutor stopped it after 'three stops from the station.' She asked me to repeat 'three' until it sounded closer to the sample speaker. That correction made sense: one classmate had heard 'free stops.' Then she said the rest of my accent also needed to be more neutral.
I'm taking an evening English course. I want to give the short welcome talk for visitors at our community centre. I can explain the route and opening times, but I rush when I'm nervous and sometimes people ask me to repeat a number. The course was advertised as practice in clear presentations. I wasn't expecting every sentence to become an imitation exercise.
The tutor may be giving me a model because 'speak more clearly' would be too vague. Another learner actively wants to sound like the recording. I don't want to dismiss the correction that solved an actual misunderstanding, and I don't want to spend my practice time chasing an accent I haven't chosen as my goal.
Our next task is a two-minute recorded talk. How can I ask for feedback that distinguishes words listeners mishear, my pace and the features she simply wants me to imitate? I need a conversation I can have after class without turning it into an argument about whose English counts.