Spanish speakers frequently drop the consonant sounds at the ends of words. This can cause your speech to sound both accented and grammatically incorrect.
If you are a Spanish speaker, here is one technique you can use to reduce your accent.
Words in Spanish do not typically end in a consonant clusters but English words frequently do. Since Spanish speakers are not accustomed to articulating consonant clusters (without vowels) at the end of words they frequently leave off a consonant sound.
One accent reduction technique to help with this problem is to use linking. Here is how it works:
When a word ends in a consonant sound and the next word begins with a vowel, try to use the last consonant to link those words together.
Here are a few examples:
In the phrase We worked on it link the ‘d’ (which has a /t/ sound) to the ‘o’ so that it sounds like We work don it.
In the phrase I liked it link the ‘d’ (which has a /t/ sound) to the ‘i’ so that it sounds like I like tit.
In the phrase I loved it, link the ‘d’ to the ‘i’ so that it sounds like I love dit.
In the phrase I studied economics link the ‘d’ to the ‘e’ so that it sounds like I study deconomics.
The above phrases may look a bit silly when written like this but it represents the way we SAY them.
Don’t forget that leaving the last sound off a word will contribute to your accent!
Tags: Accent Reduction Techniques, American English Consonant Sounds, American English Pronunciation, learn american accent, linking, Spanish & Portuguese Speakers


