Welcome back! Have you checked out my Accent Reduction classes yet? Here is some excellent information from Ann Cook about how to improve your American English pronunciation using linking or liaisons. If you use liaisons like native speakers do your speech will sound smoother and less choppy to American listeners.
Liaisons in American English
Here is a [...]
Posts under ‘South Asian Language Speakers’
American English Pronunciation: Linking and Liasons
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 [...]
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 [...]
The Most Common English Sounds
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 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 [...]
American English Syllable Stress Patterns & Schwa
One of the most effective ways to improve your American English pronunciation is to use syllable stress correctly. The problem is that many students of spoken English don’t know the syllable stress patterns. Here is a general rule that will help you-
Most two syllable nouns are stressed on the first syllable. Other two syllable words [...]
Pronunciation Problems for Chinese Speakers
One American English pronunciation problem that is common for speakers of Mandarin Chinese is pronouncing voiced final consonant sounds.
In American English the voiced consonant sounds are: /b/,/d/, /g/, /ð/,/z/, /ʒ/ & /dʒ/.
One reason that voicing consonants is so important is that when a word ends with a voiced consonant sound the preceding vowel sound is lengthened.
Here are [...]
Pronouncing the American English /w/ Sound
I have the pleasure of working with many wonderful students from South Asia in my classes. One problem that these students frequently have is pronouncing the /w/ sound.
They often substitute the /v/ sound for the /w/ sound. This is confusing for American English listeners because Wednesday sounds like Vensday, will sounds like vill and week [...]
