Why Standard English

What 'Standard English' means

In this guide, Standard English means British Received Pronunciation, often called RP. It is the reference accent used in British dictionaries and English teaching, and you hear it in the 'UK' audio of the Cambridge Dictionary and Oxford Learner's Dictionaries.

We use RP as a model for individual sounds, not as an accent to copy. You do not need to sound British, and RP is not about sounding posh. Take from RP only the sounds that make words clear.

Why we start from it

Helping Kinyarwanda speakers with English, we found that in several sounds, RP matches a sound you already make in Kinyarwanda, where the American version turns into a different one. By matches we mean how the sounds are made (your tongue, lips and breath), not the melody or accent of the language.

• A full t. In RP, the t in water and better stops the air completely, like the t you already say in Kinyarwanda. The American tapped t is close to the Kinyarwanda r, so writing can sound like riding. See Rule 1.
• Words that end in a vowel. RP doesn't say the r after a vowel: car is kaa, and computer ends in tə. Kinyarwanda syllables also end in vowels. American English says the r there, which gives your r one more chance to be heard as l. See Rule 4.
• The o in hot. RP says hot, job and stop with a short, rounded o, close to the Kinyarwanda o. American English uses an open, a-like vowel (haat), which can sound like heart or hut to some listeners. See Rule 5.
• Long and short vowels. Kinyarwanda already separates short and long vowels. RP uses length, together with a change in the vowel itself, in pairs such as ship and sheep, and can (kan) and can't (kaant). See Rule 6.

One model is also easier to practise than a mix: following one consistent set of recordings helps you notice your progress.

What about American English?

American English is a full standard of its own, and many Rwandans who use it are easy to understand. You will hear it in films, music and online, so this guide includes American examples too. They are there for listening: practise the Standard English version, and use the American one to recognise the same word said another way.