Welcome back! Have you checked out my Accent Reduction classes yet? Linguistic research indicates that the most common sound in spoken English is the schwa vowel sound. This is because native English speakers pronounce the vowels in most reduced syllables with the schwa sound. The phonetic symbol for schwa is /ə/.
Here is an example. When I [...]
Posts under ‘Phonetic pronunciation’
The Most Common Sound in Spoken English
American English Spelling (and pronunciation)
One reason that non-native English speakers have trouble speaking English correctly is because of the variety of ways that words are spelled.
What I mean is, many letters or letter combinations have more than one sound. This can be confusing for non-native speakers who learned English using a written text.
There are many groups of people who [...]
Pronunciation Games for Teachers
Are you looking for ways to make your pronunciation teaching more interactive? Pronunciation Games is a resource and activity book that instructors can use to teach and practice English pronunciation concepts in their classrooms.
Each unit consists of a pronunciation game that is designed to raise students awareness of key English pronunciation features. Concepts include syllable [...]
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: The Importance of Voiced and Voiceless Sounds
In spoken American English there are many pairs of consonant sounds that are articulated using the same tongue and mouth shape. The difference between these pairs of sounds is that one sound is voiced and the other is voiceless.
Voiced sounds cause the vocal chords to vibrate. Voiceless sounds are softer and do not cause the [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Pronouncing t & th in American English (with Martha Stewart)
Listen for all the different ways the th and the t are pronounced in this Thanksgiving video by Martha Stuart.
Here is a checklist you can use to guide you as you watch and listen. Print or copy these words and mark each one when you hear it. Then watch and listen again several times to [...]
American English Pronunciation-The Silent T
One of my students wrote this week to ask me why the T is silent in some American English words. I don’t know why it is silent but I can give you three spelling patterns that you can use to determine whether or not to pronounce the /t/ sound.
Many American English words contain a silent [...]
