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 ‘voiced & voiceless sounds’
The Most Common Sound in Spoken English
American English Consonant Sounds
Did you know that there are 24 different consonant sounds in American English?
When you make these consonant sounds your mouth narrows and the air flow is obstructed by your tongue, teeth and lips. There is a lot of action happening in your mouth when you pronounce consonants so let’s talk more about this.
When you [...]
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 [...]
Why You Have an Accent When You Speak American English, Part 3
This is Part 3 of a series of posts that describe why you have an accent when you speak American English.
In the past two posts I wrote about syllable stress and the duration of vowel sounds. Today I will write about voiced and voiceless consonant sounds.
Using voiceless consonant sounds instead of voiced consonant sounds at [...]
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 Tips for French Speakers
Here are a couple of tips for French speakers who want to improve their American English pronunciation.
1. Pronounce S at the end of English words.
Word final s is always pronounced in English. Word final S often has a /z/ sound as in the words: boys, girls & dogs.
The S may also have a /s/ sound [...]
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 [...]
Pronouncing the Voiced th Sound
The voiced th sound is one of the most problematic sounds for non-native English speakers to pronounce.
To make the sound place your tongue slightly between your teeth. Vibrate your vocal chords as you push the air through your throat.
While there are not that many words that have the voiced th sound, the words that do [...]
American English Pronunciation Problems for Vietnamese Speakers
Pronouncing voiced consonants in American English is a problem for many Vietnamese speakers (and speakers of other Asian languages). In American English we have many voiced consonant sounds. These sounds include: /b/,/d/, /g/, /ð/,/z/, /v/, /ʒ/ & /dʒ/.
Here are a few examples of what happens:
When you say the word save it sounds like safe.
When you say the [...]
American English Pronunciation Problems for Filipinos
American spoken English frequently causes problems for English speakers in the Philippines.
Specific pronunciation problems include the schwa vowel sound, and voiced and voiceless sounds such as the /s/ & /z/ sounds, the /p/ & /b/ sounds and the /f/ & /v/ sounds.
Here is an article from the Manila Bulletin that explains more about these pronunciation [...]
