American English Pronunciation Blog » accent assessment

Get an Accent Assessment and a Free Summer Bonus

susan — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:27:47 +0000

Do you wonder why your American colleagues and friends don’t always understand you when you speak English? Are you frustrated that people continually ask you to slow down or repeat what you said?

It’s time to stop struggling! Find out why your American English pronunciation is causing you problems by getting a personalized accent assessment.

Here are three reasons you should get an Accent Assessment:

You will learn WHY American English speakers don’t understand you.
You will be learn specific techniques you can use to address your pronunciation problems.
You will receive lessons & resources you can use to study and improve your pronunciation.

Sign up for an Accent Assessment during the month of July and I will give you access to my Accent Reduction Essentials Video Course for FREE.

Click on the link above to sign up or find out more.

Pronunciation Practice Technique: Rehearse

susan — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:07:28 +0000

One way to practice your American English pronunciation is to rehearse. This is what I mean.

Before going into a situation where you know you will be conversing with native English speakers, predict how the conversation might proceed. Depending on the context you should be able to anticipate many of the words and phrases that you will need to say.

Review those words and phrases in your head or even write them down. Rehearse the conversation by yourself or make a recording that you can listen to. Use a checklist to remind yourself of the pronunciation features that you are trying to change.

Holding a rehearsal may seem simple but it is a very effective way to practice the pronunciation features you are working on.

If you are not sure what aspects of your pronunciation are contributing to your accent you need to consider an Accent Assessment. Getting an assessment will tell you the specific pronunciations that YOU need to work on in order to improve the way you speak.

Can I Reduce My Accent?

susan — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 02:13:55 +0000

Will you ever be able to totally eliminate your foreign accent when you speak American English? The truth is, probably not. However, you can improve the way you speak so that people will understand you. To do that you need to learn the accent reduction strategies that will help you and practice those strategies every day.

How much you improve will depend on these factors:

Your ability to target the speech features that are contributing to your accent
Your motivation to improve
Your ability to practice daily

Learning to improve your spoken American English does not mean simply learning the 44 vowel and consonant sounds. You must also learn the key factor to speaking English like an American. That means learning to use the correct stress patterns in words and thought groups.

You will not change your accent overnight but with focused practice and commitment you can speak English more confidently and clearly!

If you are not sure which sounds and patterns you need to change to reduce your accent you may want to consider an Accent Assessment. This is a very valuable and affordable way to start your personal accent reduction program!

3 Strategies for Practicing American English Pronunciation

susan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:00:27 +0000

Sometimes it’s hard to know how to practice your pronunciation outside of class. Here are three strategies that I use with my students.

1. Use a checklist

Make a checklist of the pronunciation features that you need to work on. You can use the results of your accent assessment or feedback from your pronunciation teacher to make this list. Each day choose one of the pronunciation features that you need to improve and practice it for 20-30 minutes. You can practice using an audio CD, TV, online videos or you can practice with a friend. After a while you can work on 2 or 3 pronunciation features at time.

2. Rehearse

Before going into a situation where you know you will be conversing in English predict how the conversation might proceed. Depending on the context you should be able to anticipate many of the words and phrases that you will need to say. Review those words and phrases in your head or even write them down. Rehearse the conversation a few times aloud. Use your checklist to remind yourself of the pronunciation features that you are trying to improve.

4. Memorize patterns & phrases

Memorize short quotes, dialogues and poems as well as words with difficult syllable stress patterns. Practice saying these over and over while exercising, bathing, walking or driving. I often do this in the car when I am driving alone. I still remember the Spanish dialogs I had to memorize back in high school so I know that this is effective!

Whatever strategies you chose, you must practice consistently, just like you would if you were training for an athletic event or learning to play a musical instrument. Consistent practice will help your mouth and tongue develop the “muscle memory” needed for you to articulate American English sounds correctly.

Improve Your Pronunciation with an Accent Assessment

susan — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 10:00:40 +0000

Every week I get lots of questions from my readers. The most frequently asked question is- “How can I reduce my accent?”

That’s a great question!

Although most people will never sound like a native American English speaker, everyone is capable of reducing their accent and making their speech more comprehensible. As an adult learner you will continue to have an accent. But you can change your speech so that American listeners will understand you and this will make speaking English much more enjoyable!

One of the most effective and efficient ways to reduce your accent is to get an ACCENT ASSESSMENT. An accent assessment will tell you the specific pronunciation features that YOU need to learn in order to reduce your accent.

Using the results of your ACCENT ASSESSMENT you can focus on the areas of your pronunciation that keep American English speakers from understanding you. You won’t need to spend time working on vowel and consonant sounds that are not problematic.

You can read more about getting an ACCENT ASSESSMENT here. This is a very valuable service for serious students who want to reduce their accent without wasting precious time or money!

If you are still uncertain about how accent assessments work please listen to this article on Accent Improvement.

Improve Your American English Pronunciation with an Accent Assessment

susan — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:28:31 +0000

Spoken English can be mysterious. Since English is not a phonetic language there is not always a one-on-one relationship between the letters in the English alphabet and spoken sounds.

The written and spoken language don’t always seem to work together very well! This can cause problems when you want to pronounce English words from a text!

For example, did you know that:

the 26 letters in the English alphabet make up to 52 different sounds?
the sound of a vowel or consonant changes according to its position in a word?
the way a syllable is stressed determines the meaning of a word?
sentence stress & intonation are vitally important to comprehensible spoken English?

Many people realize that they have a foreign accent when they speak English, but they don’t know exactly what their pronunciation problems are and how to correct them. That’s how taking an accent assessment can help you.

I offer a very affordable ACCENT ASSESSMENT that you can take to find out exactly WHY Americans don’t understand you when you speak. After I analyze your speech I tell you the specific areas you need to study in order to improve your pronunciation. I also tell you the accent redcution techniques and resources you need to use to do this.

The results of your Accent Assessment will enable you to improve your American English pronunciation quickly and efficiently!