Welcome back! Have you checked out my Accent Reduction classes yet? One of the best books for learning and practicing the rhythms of spoken American English is Ann Cook’s American Accent Training. The book includes 5 CDs. You can read the reviews of this best selling book here American Accent Training
Posts Tagged ‘american accent’
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 /ae/ Sound
One American English vowel sound that many non native speakers have problems with is the /ae/ sound as in the words: cat, bad and man.
To articulate this sound your tongue should be flat and very low in the front of your mouth. Your lips should be open. Many non native American English speakers us the [...]
American English Audio Course
If you are looking for an affordable American English audio course you may want to check out the short course offered by Accent Workshop. The course contains eight mp3 audio lessons with workbooks that you can use to study American English pronunciation at home or on the go.
I have not personally used the course but [...]
American English Pronunciation Problems for French Speakers
One key feature of good spoken English is syllable stress. In spoken English one syllable is each word is stressed. The vowel in the stressed syllable is lengthened and pronounced with a higher pitch.
Spoken French does not employ syllable stress in this way. French syllables are evenly stressed until you reach the last syllable in [...]
American English Pronunciation: How to Pronounce Can & Can’t
One common pronunciation feature that is troublesome for non-native American English speakers is the pronunciation of the words can and can’t.
Here are a couple of tips that will help you with the pronunciation of these words.
1. When you say the word can’t you should give it extra stress or emphasis (like all negative auxiliary verbs).
2. [...]
American English Pronunciation-The Tapped T Sound
When you are listening to American English speakers you may have noticed that when the letter “t” is in the middle of a word it often has a /d/ sound. Pronunciation teachers call this sound the flap or the tapped T because when we make this sound we slightly flap or tap our tongues behind [...]
Improve Your American Accent with Sentence Stress
One great way to improve your American accent is to learn how we use sentence stress in American English through the use of CONTENT, FOCUS and function words.
Click on the link above to read my complete article on how Americans use sentence stress.
Improve Your American Accent with Relaxed Speech
One of my students this week had a breakthrough moment when she realized that American English speakers do not pronounce every word clearly and distinctly and that using relaxed speech or “weak forms” is absolutely OK!
In this text and audio from Voice of America Special English, Nina Weinstein, the author of a very popular American [...]
American English Pronunciation-The Schwa Vowel Sound
Many of you have been asking me about the schwa vowel sound. Here is a brief description.
The schwa sound is the most common vowel sound in North American English. The schwa sounds like “uh”. It is pronounced with the mouth very relaxed. The IPA symbol for schwa is /ə/.
Below are some common words that have [...]
