American English Pronunciation Blog » American English Consonant Sounds

American English Audio Lesson: The 2 Sounds of TH

susan — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 22:00:47 +0000

One problem that many or most non-native English speakers face in speaking American English is how to make the two sounds of ‘th’.

Here is a link to a lesson on these two very common sounds. At the end of the lesson is an audio practice activity for you to use.
American English Audio Lesson-The TH Sounds

If you like the lesson, be sure to sign up for my free four week accent reduction course on the page. This is a free introductory course with no obligations!

American English Consonant Sounds

susan — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 10:45:13 +0000

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 make any consonant sound there are three things that you need to be aware of – the Place, the Manner and Voicing. These are the 3 ’secrets’ for making English consonant sounds correctly that you need to know.

Click on the link below to read more about consonant articulation and listen to a short audio lesson on American English consonant sounds.

American English Pronunciation Tip-Don’t Drop Word Final Sounds!

susan — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 10:44:33 +0000

Many non-native English speakers tend to drop word final consonants such as the S sounds in words such as: boys, washes and stops.

When you do this it contributes to your accent and it creates grammatical errors that will confuse your listeners.

Keep in mind that word final S has 3 sounds in spoken English. In the word boys the s has a /z/ sound. In the word washes the s has a /ez/ sound. In the word stops the s has a regular /s/ sound.

Click here to see a nice chart on the rules and sounds of word final S.

EyeSpeak English Pronunciation Software

susan — Thu, 27 May 2010 11:00:39 +0000

Lots of people write to ask me about English pronunciation software. One that has recently come to my attention is called EyeSpeak English.

This program teaches English pronunciation through carefully designed content. Words build to sentences using common everyday themes that contain the language you need to know to speak English effectively with friends and in the workplace.

Topics include:

The software package includes over 100 hours of instruction and the price is only $49.95. This is a real value! EyeSpeak offers a 15 day guarantee so if you decide you don’t like the program within the first 15 days you can get your money back.
Check out EyeSpeak English nowand see how you can improve your pronunciation.

American English Pronunciation Problems for Speakers of Haitian Creole

susan — Tue, 25 May 2010 10:40:15 +0000

Haitian Creole speakers and French speakers have some of the same problems with spoken English.

One of these is the tendency to delete the /h/ sound at the beginning of words. Word initial /h/ is almost always pronounced in American English. That means that the /h/ must be articulated clearly in words such as: hat, here, hot, host, half, hair, hungry & husband. Exceptions to this rule include the words honest, honor and herb.

Speakers of Haitian Creole also have a tendency to pronounce words with the lax vowel sound /I/ using the tense vowel sound /iy/. That means that the word sit sounds like seat, the word live sounds like leave and the word chip sounds like cheap.

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

susan — Tue, 04 May 2010 11:00:26 +0000

Chinese speakers from some dialects tend to confuse word medial and word final /l/ & /n/ sounds when they are speaking English. This causes communication problems and contributes to your accent.

The /n/ & /l/ sounds are articulated in almost the same manner as the tongue touches behind the tooth ridge. The tongue is a bit flatter for the /n/ sound.

However, the /n/ sound is a nasal so you need to force the air through your nose to make this sound. The /l/ sound is a liquid so the air flows along side your tongue and out of your mouth.

Here are a few words with the /n/ & /l/ sounds that may be problematic:
financial, intellectual, international & analysis.

One book that you can use to help you learn these sounds is Ann Cook’s American Accent Training. Ann explains many problems encountered by Chinese speakers in this book and CD set.
American Accent Training (Book and Audio CD, 2nd Edition)

American English Pronunciation: The Sounds of X

susan — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 20:59:40 +0000

The letter X has two pronunciations in American English. Here is the first one. When X is followed by a stressed vowel it is pronounced like /gz/.
Here are a few examples:

1. exAct→egzact

2. exActly→egzactly

3. exAmple→egzample

4. exAm→egzam

5. exAmine→egzamine

When an X is followed by a consonant sound it is pronounced like /ks/.

1. exTreme→ekstreme

2. exTinguish→ekstinguish

3. exPect→ekspect

4. contexT-contekst

5. nexT→nekst

When the letter X is at the end of a word it is also pronounced as /ks/.

1. tax→taks

2. fax→faks

These pronunciations of X can be tricky so take it slow and try to feel both of the sounds in /gz/ & /ks/.

American English Pronunciation: The R & L Sounds

susan — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 11:00:07 +0000

In spoken American English both the /r/ & /l/ sounds are called “liquids”. That’s because the air stream moves around the tongue in an unobstructed manner. Both the /r/ & /l/ sounds are voiced so you should feel a vibration in your throat when you say them.

When you make the light /l/ sound, the tongue touches the alveolar ridge behind the upper teeth. This is the /l/ sound that you hear in the words: light, listen and only.

When you make the dark /ɫ/ sound the tongue is more bunched up and the back of the tongue is raised. This is the /ɫ/ sound you hear in the words: bell, call and fall.

To make the /r/, start with your tongue in the relaxed position of the schwa sound (say “uh”), then bunch your tongue up and back and say “red”. Do not let your tongue touch the roof or any other part of your mouth when you make this sound!

You can try to round your lips and push them forward when you make the /r/ sound. This will help.

Try using the contrast drills below to pronounce the sounds of /l/ and /r/.

These word pairs contrast the light /l/ sound with the /r/ sound. Say each word slowly to feel the tongue position for the /l/ and /r/.

lake/rake
Eileen/Irene
led/red
light/right
list/wrist
long/wrong
pilot/pirate

These word pairs contrast the dark /ɫ/ sound with the /r/ sound.

call/car
fall/far

Ann Cook does a wonderful job explaining the sounds of /r/ & /l/ in he book, American Accent Training. You can take a look at this book by clicking on the link below.

American Accent Training (Book and Audio CD, 2nd Edition)

American English Pronunciation: R Colored Vowels

susan — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 11:00:41 +0000

The American English r is a very difficult sound for many non-native speakers to articulate correctly!

The American English r sounds like /ɚ/. The sound is made by bunching the middle of the tongue high in the back of the mouth and rounding the lips. The tip of the tongue curls up a bit, but it never touches the roof of the mouth.

When a vowel is followed by an r, the vowel sound changes. These are called r-controlled vowels, or r-colored vowels. Here are some of the phonemes you will hear.

The letters ar can sound like /ɑɚ/ as in: car, guitar & star.

The letters ear can sound like /iɚ/ as in: near, fear & beard.

The letters or usually sound like /ɔɚ/ as in: or, more & course.

The letters ir, er and ur, sound like /ɚ/ as in: bird, were, & fur.

Since the sounds of r-colored vowels are so complicated, many pronunciation books and courses simplify these. One great resource is the American English Pronunciation exercises from the Kelly brothers at Many Things.

The best book that I know of for learning the r-colored vowel sounds is Ann Cook’s American Accent Training. You can see the book by clicking on the link below.

American Accent Training (Book and Audio CD, 2nd Edition)

Make Your American English Sound More Natural

susan — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:21:00 +0000

In spoken English consonant and vowel sounds change depending on their location in a word or phrase. Learning some of the rules or patterns for these types of sound changes can make your pronunciation sound more natural.

Here is one pattern. When a /d/ sound is followed by a /y/ sound the result is a /dʒ/ sound. This sound occurs between these words:

could you sounds like couldjew
would you sounds like wouldjew

When a /t/ sound is followed by a /y/ sound the result is a /tch/ sound

can’t you sounds like cantchew
won’t you sounds like wontchew

Don’t think that articulating every sound exactly as it is written will improve your accent. In spoken English the letters in the alphabet take on different characteristics according to their position in a word or phrase.