k_soul_search

eg: James Bond always sounds (sexy and) sophisticated, partly based on accent. Many male protagonists in American movies are like that.
eg: [[off the rail]]
eg: the featured interviews on MLP intranet. The native speakers sound more sophisticated.

Consider a male China-born immigration lawyer , or architect, SWE, (various) designer,,,, who came to the U.S. at age 25. He can be competent/effective/proficient in English professionally [in office, with clients, in meetings, over phone]. However, a less-educated local American would be more fluent orally.

Actually, 1) personal insight 2) vocab are the foundations beneath 3) articulation and 4) accent, when we meet a sophisticated speaker.

(1) includes knowledge, education, socioeconomic status,,

I think cool confidence is a key ingredient. With cool confidence, one can really slow down, which enhances articulation. Somehow, Singaporeans seldom have that sophistication, esp. in slow-n-steady articulation and accent. Some local professionals (such as secretaries or receptionists) learned a sophisticated accent, but they lack a sophisticated vocab.

To develop a sophisticated vocab, you first _need_ a rich oral vocab.

— Q: Why do the interview video clips sound 3x more sophisticated than audios, which sound 10x more sophisticated than transcripts?
I guess the dress, the hairstyle, the facial expression all add to the sophistication

— Q: There are millions of native English speakers in Nigeria, the Caribbean, Singapore/Malaysia, predominantly non-white. Why do they not sound sophisticated?

— Q: do you want to PP) sound sophisticated to (subtly) impress people or you want to YY) sound sophisticated to feel good about your own English skill?

Admittedly, (YY) depends on (PP) at some fundamental level, but I often feel I don’t have to impress everyone around me. There are many categories (won’t enumerate) of “people” whom I don’t need to impress. I want to sound slow, articulate, concise, with a good vocab.

However, even if you meet all of those requirements but lack a native accent, you will fail (YY), because most of the “people” judge you by skin color and regional accent.