How to improve pronunciation and get rid of the accent

Anyone who teaches a foreign language and uses it for live communication, wants to speak with minimal accent or better without it. At least, so that the interlocutor understands you without problems. The pronunciation of individual words, stress, intonation - all this is not as easy as it seems at first glance. A strong accent can also spoil your impression. How can you dramatically improve pronunciation without expensive classes with a native speaker, lingua laboratories, and special programs? And how to make it so that the process brings pleasure?

The most important factor in improving the pronunciation is feedback or view from the outside. While you think you are talking correctly, the other person hears you in a completely different way. What can you do about it? Record your pronunciation. This way you can analyze and correct your mistakes.

To speak correctly, we need a sample. Of course, you can take the example of a BBC or CNN announcer, but it will be too boring. And what if you try to imitate the correct speech of your favorite movie stars? How about Leonardo DiCaprio, Doctor House or Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory?
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First, we determine who we will imitate. It is desirable that the actor had a timbre similar to you - it will be easier this way. It is also better to find out who this actor is by origin: if the goal is to improve American English, you should not take a native of Australia or Britain.

We need only two programs: a video player, for example, VLC or MPC Home Cinema and a program for voice recording Audacity.

• So, run the selected file in the video player. We listen to the phrase, you can several times.
• Open Audacity, click on the record and repeat what was heard. We listen to what we got on the record. Compare with the original. It is very convenient to use shortcuts: R for recording, space, stop and playback.
• When you think that turns out well, go to the next phrase. Repeat until ready.

By the way, a similar method is used by Hollywood actors when they need to imitate the emphasis for a role. I do not promise any magical results, like Tim Ferris for example, but by stubborn and lengthy pursuits in this vein, you can almost completely get rid of the accent.

Update
In the comments mentioned the online service Englishcentral.com , which work according to a similar principle. Of course, there are no TV shows or films. If who used, share opinion.