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Posts under ‘South Asian Language Speakers’

American English Audio Lesson: The 2 Sounds of TH

Welcome back! Have you checked out my Accent Reduction classes yet? Most non-native English speakers have problems articulating the two ‘th’ sounds that we use so frequently in  in spoken American English.
Here is a link to a lesson on the 2 ‘th’ sounds. At the end of the lesson is an audio practice activity that [...]

The Most Common Sound in Spoken English

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 say my name, Susan, the first syllable is stressed so the [...]

American English Pronunciation: Linking and Liasons

Linking happens in every English sentence. We connect two words together when the first word ends in a vowel sound and the next word begins with the same vowel sound.
that table sounds like thattable
next time sounds like nexttime
We also connect words when the first word ends with a consonant sound and the next word begins [...]

Syllable Stress Patterns: Compound Words

Those of you who read my blog frequently know that using syllable stress correctly is one of the very best ways to improve your comprehensibility when you speak English.  That said, here are a few syllable stress patterns for compound words that you may find useful.
Compound nouns are stressed on the first word in the [...]

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: Phrasal Verbs

This week in class one of my students said that he needed to catch up on his work. Uh, oh….
When I showed him this picture he understood his mistake.
In order to improve your American English pronunciation you must know how to use syllable stress and word stress. One pattern that you must follow is this: [...]

Syllable & Sentence Stress in American English

One of the most notable features of spoken English is its rhythm. Native English speakers alternate between using stressed and unstressed syllables in words and sentences. They do not pronounce all words and syllables with the same emphasis.
One way that non-native English speakers can improve their accent is to learn to use the rhythms of [...]

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 [...]

American English Pronunciation:The Voiced & Voiceless Th Sounds

In spoken American English the letter combination TH makes two different sounds. One of these sounds is voiced and the other is voiceless.
The IPA symbol for the voiced th sound looks like this /ð/.
The IPA symbol for the voiceless th sound looks like this /θ/.
While both of these sounds cause problems for non native speakers [...]

American English Pronunciation Problems for Indians

Thanks to all the nice people from India who read this blog. I am very happy that you found this website and I hope you find it helpful.
I recently came across a website that featured 10 Tips on English Pronunciation & Accent Improvement (for Indians). I think that the following tips on the website are [...]