Welcome back! Have you checked out my Accent Reduction classes yet? 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 [...]
Posts under ‘Spanish & Portuguese Speakers’
Syllable & Sentence Stress in American English
American English:The Sounds of ed
Several of the students that I am coaching have trouble hearing the ed that comes at the end of past tense verbs. One reason why they are having this problems is that ed does not always sound like /ed/. Sometimes ed sounds like /d/ and sometimes it sounds like /t/.
The other reason the word final [...]
Accent Reduction Tips for Spanish Speakers
Image via Wikipedia
One of the most problematic American English vowel sounds for Spanish speakers is the /iy/ sound as in the words cheap, meet & piece.
Spanish speakers often pronounce this sound as /ɪ/ so that:
cheap sounds like chip
meet sounds like mit
piece sounds like piss
To articulate the /iy/ sound you should pull your lips back into [...]
American English Pronunciation for Portuguese Speakers
Here is an accent reduction tip for Portuguese speakers who want to improve their spoken American English.
Be careful when you pronounce the letter P. Portuguese speakers often pronounce the American English /p/ sound like a /b/ sound. This can be confusing to American listeners because when you do that:
pill sounds like bill
pull sounds like bull
poor sounds like boor [...]
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 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 [...]
Pronunciation Problems for Brazilian Portuguese Speakers
I know that many readers of my blog are Brazilians who want to improve their American English pronunciation. I am pleased that so many of you visit here!
Here are two common problems encountered by Brazilian Portuguese speakers who are trying to improve their pronunciation of American English.
1. The schwa sound /ə/
Brazilian Portuguese does not have [...]
American English Pronunciation-Vowels /iy/ & /I/
In my pronunciation and accent reduction classes I work with many people who speak Spanish and Filipino as their first language. One American English vowel sound that both these groups have trouble pronouncing is the /iy/ sound as in the word “sheep”. They often confuse this sound with the /I/ vowel sound as in the [...]
