Welcome back! Have you checked out my Accent Reduction classes yet? Non-native English speakers think that they should pronounce each word, sound and syllable clearly and distinctly but that’s not how spoken English works.
Americans use reduced vowels and speech when they talk. They do not say every sound and syllable clearly and distinctly.
Look at the [...]
Posts under ‘American English Pronunciation’
American English- Using Reduced Speech
Learn the Intonation of English with American Accent Training
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 includes a book plus 5 CDs that you can use to [...]
Accent Reduction Techniques for Spanish Speakers
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. [...]
Accent Reduction Coaching for Professionals
Do you speak English with a foreign accent? If you do, you may have found that native English speakers find it difficult to understand you. Even though your grammar and writing are excellent, your accent may be preventing you from making progress; getting the best job, getting a promotion or even making new friends.
The most [...]
The Schwa + /r/ Sound
The schwa + r sound /ɚ/ is frequently a confusing feature of American English pronunciation.
In many situations when a vowel is followed by an /r/, only the /r/ sound is heard. The vowel sound isn’t really heard at all! This is called the schwa + r /ɚ/.
The letter combinations or, er, ur [...]
American English: Don’t Drop Word Final ‘ed’
I meet many non-native English speakers who have excellent grammar. However, they do not articulate word final consonant sounds strongly enough and this contributes to their accent.
One word final sound that many people fail to articulate is the past tense ed. Failing to pronounce the ed will definitely contribute to your accent!
Most of my students [...]
American English Spelling & Pronunciation
Do you ever feel like the English spelling system does not match the sounds of spoken American English? It seems that way doesn’t it?
English spelling is the way that words are written using the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet. Since English is not a phonetic language there is not always a one-on-one relationship [...]
American English Vowel Sounds-How Can You Tell the Difference?
Last week, I was working on vowel sound articulation with one of my accent reduction coaching students. We were working on the tense /iy/ sound in the words feet & leave and the lax /I/ sound in the words fit & live.
My student, a project manager at an international communications company, said “but Susan, I [...]
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 [...]
American English Pronunciation: Words that Begin with Schwa
This week I received LOTS of questions about the schwa vowel sound. Let me explain a few things about this KEY American English vowel sound.
In spoken English the schwa (see the image above) is the relaxed vowel sound that is frequently used to articulate the vowel sounds in unstressed syllables. Click here to read [...]
