Welcome back! Have you checked out my Accent Reduction classes yet? There are many English words spelled with the letter o in which the o is pronounced like /ɑ/ as in the word father.
To make the /ɑ/ sound relax your lips and your tongue. Your tongue should be low in your mouth when you articulate [...]
Posts under ‘American English vowel sounds’
When O is Pronounced With the /ɑ/ Sound
Pronunciation of the Vowel Combination ou
Continuing on my theme of American English vowels I’m going to write briefly on the pronunciation of the vowel combination ou.
This vowel combination can be pronounced 3 ways in American English. Here are some examples.
ou can be pronounced like /oʊ/
shoulder
soul
though
doughnut
although
ou can be pronounced like schwa /ə/
cousin
enough
country
tough
couple
ou can be pronounced like /aʊ/
loud
sound
south
found
house
If you want to learn [...]
American English Pronunciation of “ough”
During my accent reduction tutoring sessions I frequently see students hesitate when they come across words that are spelled with ough. And no wonder! This letter combination has many different sounds in spoken American English. Here are * examples of the most frequent sounds of ough.
/u:/ as in through (sounds like blue)
/ɔːt/ as in thought [...]
American English Pronunciation-The Letter O
The vowel O has many sounds in American English. It can be confusing to know the correct pronunciation of this vowel.
I can think of five different pronunciations for the vowel O, but there could be even more. Here are my five examples:
1. In these words the O is pronounced as a schwa sound /ə/: love, [...]
The Best Online Dictionary for American English Pronunciation
Lots of my students have asked me what the best online dictionary is for learning to pronounce American English words. I like to use http://dictionary.reference.com/ because they show both the spelled pronunciation and the IPA spelling.
The audio is not terrific though.
The Merriam-Webster ESL Learner’s Dictionary has a great section called Pronunciation Exercises that I frequently [...]
Accent Reduction Tips for Spanish Speakers
Image via Wikipedia
One of the most problematic American English vowel sounds for Spanish speakers is the /iy/ sound as in the words cheap, meet & piece.
Spanish speakers often pronounce this sound as /ɪ/ so that:
cheap sounds like chip
meet sounds like mit
piece sounds like piss
To articulate the /iy/ sound you should pull your lips back into [...]
American English Vowel Sounds
The Roman alphabet has five letters that represent vowels; a, e, i, o, & u, but in spoken American English there are approximately 15 vowel sounds. Linguists and many pronunciation teachers use phonetic symbols to represent these 15 sounds.
Please keep in mind that all dictionaries and pronunciation books do not use the same phonetic symbols. However, they will [...]
Pronunciation Problems for Koreans- American English Vowel Sounds
There are some American English vowel sounds that are particularly difficult for Koreans to pronounce.These include the /ɪ/ sound and the /ae/ sound.
Koreans often pronounce the /ɪ/ vowel sound in the words sit, slip, & grin more like an /iy/ vowel sound. That makes sit, slip, & grin sound like seat, sleep & green to American listeners.
Keep [...]
American English Pronunciation: The /iy/ and /I/ Sounds
One American English vowel sounds that non-native speakers frequently mispronounce is the /iy/ sound and 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 like [...]
Best Accent Training American English Audio Course
This week I found an excellent American English Pronunciation Audio Course on the web. In this audio course instructor Charles Becker teaches you American English vowel & consonant sounds, syllable stress & intonation as well as linking and connected speech.
This is a very complete course and I advise you to check it out! You can [...]
