Accent Reduction Techniques | American English Pronunciation Blog

Archive for Accent Reduction Techniques

American English Pronunciation: How to Make the /n/ & /l/ Sounds

If you are a Chinese speaker who is working to improve your American English pronunciation, you may have found that you’re having trouble with your /l/ & /n/ sounds. Don’t worry!! This is a very common problem & you can fix it. ✔ The /n/ & /l/ sounds are articulated in almost the same manner.

Actors & the American Accent

Sometimes my accent reduction clients ask me how actors learn to speak with an American accent. In order to answer that question, let’s listen to a professional actor.☝ Here’s what the actor Matthew Rhys says about mastering an American accent: “you can nail the sound, but sometimes I think you can tell a British actor when

How do you pronounce April?

While April may seem like an easy word to pronounce, I find that many of my accent reduction coaching clients say this word incorrectly. Let’s take a look at this word ☂ When you say the word April~ The letter A sounds like /ey/ as in Gray. The /ey/ sound is long. ➝ The letter

2 ways to pronounce THE

This week in my accent reduction coaching sessions, several of my clients learned when to use the 2 pronunciations of the word THE. Here are the rules: When THE occurs before a vowel sound, add an ʸ. The vowel should sound like /iy/ as in Green. theʸOFFice theʸissue theʸotherDAY When THE occurs before a consonant

How to pronounce the TIME clearly & correctly!

Fred wrote in to ask how American English speakers pronounce the time. ✰This is a great question that I’ll answer below.✰ American English speakers pronounce numbers using familiar patterns. Basically, we stress the vowel sound in the last number word. Here are some common examples that will help you. When stating the time

Stress, Pitch & Pause!

After working with many people on American accent techniques over the the past 6 years…I want to emphasize something that anyone who wants to improve the way they communicate MUST understand. When you speak American English you need to: Stress important words Raise your pitch slightly when you say important words Pause slightly after you

3 Ways to Practice Your Pronunciation

My blog readers are people from all over the world who are working hard to improve their pronunciation and speak English with a more American accent.☝ Many of you have asked me for ideas on how you can practice. Here are three suggestions. 1. Get an American Accent audio course These courses are very affordable.

A Difficult American English Vowel: the /ae/ Sound

One American English vowel sound that many of my accent reduction coaching clients have problems pronouncing is the /ae/ as in Black sound. This is the stressed vowel sound in the words: expand, command & manage. Here are 3 tips to articulate the /ae/ as in Black sound correctly~ Your tongue should be flat &

4 Presentation Tips for Non Native Speakers

In my work as an accent reduction coach, I frequently help my clients practice their upcoming presentations. Here are 4 techniques that I teach them to use when planning for their presentations: 1. In your presentation text (yes, you should write it out), underline the key words. 2. These key or “focus words” should get

Quick Tip for Compound Nouns

Here is a quick & easy tip for pronouncing compound nouns correctly. ✔ When you are speaking American English, you need to stress compound nouns on the first syllable. SOFTware WEEKend WORKforce NEWSpaper PRINTout (noun) Many of the Hindi & Telegu speakers who I work with in my accent reduction coaching program don’t stress compound