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I am learning English. If I want to be understood by everyone, I need to learn an accent. I know no matter how hard I try, I will never sound perfect but learning 80% is enough for me.

Every time anyone says they want to learn Received Pronunciation, people will tell them not to learn it, as it sounds posh. So I think I should learn modern version of RP, but there is not enough resources on Youtube to learn it.

So, is General American accent the only choice for a non-native speaker who learn English through the internet?

Is it OK to learn General American accent? Does a non-native speaker speaking with a General American Accent sound ridiculous?

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    Learn any accent that's easy for you. ..... “Does a non-native speaker speak with a General American Accent sound ridiculous?”.. No, not at all.
    – Void
    Commented Mar 17, 2021 at 8:03
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    I would say learn the accent of the APP that suits you best. My wife is studying English and she uses an American APP because it is the one available in her mother tongue. To be honest I find the English spoken on it very difficult to understand. The pronunciation is not clear words run in to each other and are spoken much too quickly. Without considering the awful accent and the bad grammar. Oh yes, and the misuse of our beautiful language.
    – Brad
    Commented Mar 17, 2021 at 9:23
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    It is OK to learn the General American accent and doesn't sound ridiculous. It is also OK to learn Received Pronunciation, and I don't agree with those who've apparently said otherwise. If you are planning or hoping to live or study in the UK (or Australia or NZ) then learning RP might be preferable (and if you are planning to live in N. America then learning General American might be preferable), but if you have no such plans then objectively there isn't much to choose between them.
    – rjpond
    Commented Mar 17, 2021 at 10:25
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    Whether RP sounds posh is a matter of opinion and perspective, but generally speaking, to the extent that people judge each other by accent socially, it is more likely to create a positive impression than a negative one. Also, while Brits may lightheartedly mock their mates for sounding posh, they may also mock them for sounding too "common", or for sounding too American. But this isn't to be taken too seriously.
    – rjpond
    Commented Mar 17, 2021 at 10:37
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    @Brad No offense but it sounds like your wife needs a better app (not APP as it's not an acronym/initialism).
    – TypeIA
    Commented Mar 17, 2021 at 11:12

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There are several points one could make here.

Whichever accent you choose you need to make sure you learn the appropriate dialect of English to go with it. It would sound odd if you speak with a perfect British accent and use words with their North American meaning and vice versa.

If you learn one way of speaking and then go to a country where they speak differently you should not find it too hard to adapt. At least that has been my experience with another international language (Spanish).

I am not sure who tells you RP sounds posh. We do have posh accents in the UK but they are not the same although they are closer to RP than they are to regional dialects.

So, in summary, do not worry too much. After all we will all understand you which is the main reason you are learning the language.

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