Welcome back! Have you checked out my Accent Reduction classes yet? This week many people have emailed to ask about the English schwa vowel sound. This vowel sound is found in both American and British English and it is the most common sound in the English language.
The best place to learn about the schwa is [...]
Posts under ‘Learn American Accent’
The Importance of the Schwa Sound
Intonation Patterns in American English
Many American English pronunciation courses focus on how to articulate the individual vowel and consonant sounds in the language. Learning to articulate vowel and consonant sounds correctly can be very useful and will help you reduce your accent.
However, learning to use American English stress and intonation patterns can really help you improve the way you [...]
American English Pronunciation: R Colored Vowels
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 [...]
American English Pronunciation: Reduced Speech
Today in one of my classes I taught a short lesson on making polite requests. During the lesson I pointed our two pronunciation features to my students.
1. When a /d/ sound is followed by a /y/ sound, the sounds blend together to sound like /dʒ/. Here are a few examples:
Did you sounds like didjoo
Could you [...]
Pronunciation Practice Technique: Rehearse
One way to practice your American English pronunciation is to rehearse. This is what I mean.
Before going into a situation where you know you will be conversing with native English speakers, predict how the conversation might proceed. Depending on the context you should be able to anticipate many of the words and phrases that you [...]
Syllable Stress in Nouns & Verbs
A couple of days ago I explained that heteronyms are two words that are spelled identically. The way the words are stressed determines the meaning.
One good example is the word: OBJECT.
The way you use syllable stress say the word ‘object’ changes the meaning of the word.
When the stress is on the first syllable the word [...]
American English Pronunciation Practice-Mirroring
Lots of people will tell you to watch American television shows to hear authentic examples of American English. That’s an excellent idea but you can take it a step further to get some serious pronunciation practice.
Instead of simply watching your show, choose a character to imitate. As soon as your character starts to speak, try [...]
When O is Pronounced With the /ɑ/ Sound
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 this sound. Here is a list of words in which the letter [...]
Make Your American English Sound More Natural
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/ [...]
American English Syllable Stress Patterns
If you are a frequent reader of my blog you know that one of the best ways to improve your American English pronunciation is to use syllable stress correctly.
In spoken English words with multiple syllables, one syllable is always more prominent than the others. We call this the stressed syllable.
Stressed syllables are pronounced:
with a [...]
