As we learn a foreign language, I think we all aspire to having a 'good' accent. We probably don't expect to sound like a native speaker but, at least most of us, would like to sound as close to one as possible. An important step to reaching a 'convincing' accent is to know what we are aiming for.
We all grow up listening to specific set of sounds - these vary not only according to the language we speak, but also according to the region we are from. Just think of Spanish here in Mexico. Think of your own accent: what does it sound like? Now think of someone from Mexico City: how does their accent compare to yours? And how about someone from Yucatan? How is their accent different? In each of these versions of Mexican Spanish there is a similar, but slightly different, set of sounds. When it comes to different languages, those differences become even greater, and there may even be sounds that don't exist in your mother tongue. The sound often represented by 'th' in English is a good example of this.
The video below from Alexander Arguelles explains this in more detail, and provides an in-depth overview of the International Phonetic Alphabet. To get your own copy of the chart he is using in the video, click here.
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