[bkgunby]

As someone who learned to speak fluently in a different language, I believe the trick is to study the IPA of both your native language and the one you want to learn. This is especially true if you come from a language like English which isn't a phonetic language.

It sets a common ground for you to work with. There may be some vowels that may be undistinguishable for both native speakers. However, you'll likely to come across some that requires a developed ear to differentiate the two. This is the reason why you probably have an accent. Focus on tongue placement, emphasis, change in pitch, etc.

Of course, this won't help much to actually speak in a different language, but for accents I found this method incredibly helpful. It's the micro side of things that most people overlook.

[vinay427]

As someone who is currently learning to speak in a different language, I would agree with this wholeheartedly. I learned IPA in a university course and have found it very useful for learning languages, especially because most native speakers of the target language may not be aware of the phonetics of that language.