Welcome back! Have you checked out my Accent Reduction classes yet? This week on the blog there have been a lot of you looking for information on American English intonation patterns.
One of the best books for learning and practicing the rhythms and intonations of spoken American English is Ann Cook’s American Accent Training.
American Accent Training [...]
Posts under ‘american english audio’
Learn the Intonation of English with American Accent Training
American English Audio Lesson: The 2 Sounds of TH
Most non-native English speakers have problems articulating the two ‘th’ sounds that we use so frequently in in spoken American English.
Here is a link to a lesson on the 2 ‘th’ sounds. At the end of the lesson is an audio practice activity that you can use to practice.
American English Audio Lesson-The TH Sounds
If you [...]
American English Intonation Patterns
Many people have been visiting the blog looking for information on American English intonation patterns. In American English we use different types of intonation or pitch to express meaning and emotion. You can’t learn about intonation without listening to native speakers so you need to use audio or books to practice this skill.
One of the [...]
American English Pronunciation: The /iy/ and /I/ Sounds
One of the American English vowel sounds that non-native speakers frequently mispronounce is the /iy/ sound as in the word sheep.
They frequently shorten this sound so that it sounds more like the /I/ sound as in the word ship.
This means that when non-native speakers (especially Spanish & Portuguese speakers) say the word cheap, it sounds [...]
Accent Reduction Books & Audio Courses
Students who are really motivated to improve the way they speak English should invest in some training. One way to do this is to buy an Accent Reduction or American English pronunciation book with CD’s. There are several books with CD’s that are very affordable.
Here are some of the most popular choices:
1. For people who [...]
Reduced Speech in American Spoken English
I get a lot of questions from people about the reduced speech forms that they hear when they listen to American English conversations. Examples include: gonna, wanna and hafta.
Here is a link to Nina Weinstein’s Voice of America episode on reduced speech. Nina is the author of the book Whaddaya Say. You can see the [...]
American English Consonant Sounds
Did you know that there are 24 different consonant sounds in American English?
When you make these consonant sounds your mouth narrows and the air flow is obstructed by your tongue, teeth and lips. There is a lot of action happening in your mouth when you pronounce consonants so let’s talk more about this.
When you [...]
English Audio Lesson: Reduced Speech
Several of my students tell me that they have trouble understanding the spoken English of native speakers. This is not at all unusual.
One reason that native English speakers are difficult to understand is because they often use reduced speech. When native speakers use reduced speech the words seem to run together and this can make [...]
American English Pronunciation: Question Intonation Patterns
When I was teaching one of my pronunciation classes this week I found out that my students did not know about the two different intonation patterns for questions in American English. Here they are:
1. Use rising intonation when the question can be answered with a “yes” or a “no”.
2. Use falling intonation when the question [...]
