This week one of my accent reduction clients said. “Susan, I just listened to the recording of our coaching session. How come my speech sounds so mumbly and your speech sounds so clear?”

“Ahhh…”, I told her, “I think you are beginning to recognize the importance of articulating  long clear vowel sounds in key words.” ✰

You see… American English speakers lengthen → the vowels in stressed syllables. We say these vowels with a slightly higher pitch. ☝

When a word is particularly important, the main vowel in that word needs to be articulated with lots of length and clarity.

When you mumble through your words, without stressing key vowel sounds, you risk sounding mumbly and monotonous.

When you do that, Americans will find it difficult to understand you.

There’s no magic bullet to improving the way you speak American English. It takes focused listening,  hard work and diligence. BUT… for most people learning to speak with vowel length and clarity is really important.

Take a look at these video lessons on American English vowels to see what I mean.

To learn about the BENEFITS of American accent coaching you can check out my coaching website at LearnAmericanAccentOnline.

To LEARN MORE tips for clear spoken English, click on one of the links below.⬇