American English Pronunciation Blog » american english audio

Accent Reduction Books & Audio Courses

susan — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:00:49 +0000

Students who are really motivated to improve the way they speak English should invest in some training. One way to do this is to buy an Accent Reduction or American English pronunciation book with CD’s. There are several books with CD’s that are very affordable.

Here are some of the most popular choices:

1. For people who have never taken an accent reduction or pronunciation class before but read and write English well I recommend Mastering the American Accent.

2. For people who have studied pronunciation before and need to focus on intonation I recommend American Accent Training.

3. People who like audio courses with very detailed descriptions of American English sounds should take a look at Best Accent Training.

Click here to read detailed descriptions and reviews of these accent reduction books and audio courses.

Using books and CDs is a very affordable way for you to improve the way you speak American English!

If you are serious about improving your accent these resources are well worth the small investment.

Feel free to send me an email to ask more about these books and audio courses. I’d be happy to answer your questions!

Learn the Intonation of English with American Accent Training

susan — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:07:10 +0000

This week on the blog there have been a lot of you looking for information on American English intonation patterns.

One of the best books for learning and practicing the rhythms and intonations of spoken American English is Ann Cook’s American Accent Training.

American Accent Training includes a book plus 5 CDs that you can use to listen and practice.

Intonation cannot be learned without listening and the 5 CDs in this package give you plenty listening practice.

Here is a short article with some more information about intonation patterns.

American English Pronunciation: The /iy/ and /I/ Sounds

susan — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:00:47 +0000

One of the American English vowel sounds that non-native speakers frequently mispronounce is the /iy/ sound as in the word sheep.

They frequently shorten this sound so that it sounds more like the /I/ sound as in the word ship.

This means that when non-native speakers (especially Spanish & Portuguese speakers) say the word cheap, it sounds like chip. When they say the word seat, it sounds like sit. When they say the word seek, it sounds like sick. When they say the word beach, it sounds like…….well, you know!

Here is an exercise you can use to practice listening to and pronouncing these confusing sounds.

The /iy/ and /I/ sounds.

Good luck!

Speak English Like an American: Use Idioms

susan — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:31:15 +0000

Here are two common idioms that you will hear when you are listening to people speak American English.

Bring Home the Bacon
In American English a person who brings home the bacon is the person who earns the money for the family to live on. For example, if my father works hard to support my family I might say “ My father has to go to work everyday so he can bring home the bacon”.

Nest Egg
We call the money that you have saved for the future a nest egg. For example, if my friend has been saving lots money for her old age I might say, “Laurie has a nice nest egg in the bank”.

Click here to hear an audio lesson for these two very popular American English idioms.

Pronunciation of the Vowel Combination ou

susan — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:00:45 +0000

Continuing on my theme of American English vowels I’m going to write briefly on the pronunciation of the vowel combination ou.

This vowel combination can be pronounced 3 ways in American English. Here are some examples.

ou can be pronounced like /oʊ/

shoulder
soul
though
doughnut
although

ou can be pronounced like schwa /ə/

cousin
enough
country
tough
couple

ou can be pronounced like /aʊ/

loud
sound
south
found
house

If you want to learn more about how to articulate American English vowel sounds you might want to check out Mastering the American Accent with Audio CDs

This excellent book uses illustrated text with an audio CD to show you where to put your mouth, tongue and lips to form each sound.

American English Audio Lesson: The 2 Sounds of TH

susan — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 22:00:47 +0000

One problem that many or most non-native English speakers face in speaking American English is how to make the two sounds of ‘th’.

Here is a link to a lesson on these two very common sounds. At the end of the lesson is an audio practice activity for you to use.
American English Audio Lesson-The TH Sounds

If you like the lesson, be sure to sign up for my free four week accent reduction course on the page. This is a free introductory course with no obligations!

English Audio Lesson: Reduced Speech

susan — Mon, 31 May 2010 14:06:03 +0000

Several of my students tell me that they have trouble understanding the spoken English of native speakers. This is not at all unusual.

One reason that native English speakers are difficult to understand is because they often use reduced speech. When native speakers use reduced speech the words seem to run together and this can make it very difficult to understand what they are saying.

Click on the link below to hear a list of phrases that American English speakers commonly reduce in everyday speech. You do not necessarily have to pronounce these reduced phrases, however it is critical that you are aware of them because native speakers use them all the time!

AMERICAN ENGLISH AUDIO REDUCED SPEECH

The very best book for learning to use reduced speech is Nina Weinstein’s Whaddaya Say? Take a look at this great book & CD.

Learn American English Pronunciation with Songs

susan — Wed, 12 May 2010 11:17:33 +0000

One fun and effective way to learn the rhythm of spoken English is to sing songs. In my pronunciation classes last year I used this website called KaraokeParty to teach American English songs to the students and they found that this was very helpful way to practice phrasing, linking and vowel lengthening.

To find the free songs on this site choose Songs and then select the type of music you want. Songs that have a lock or star are for subscribers but there are many FREE songs you can sing along with!

Learn American English pronunciation with songs.

American English Pronunciation: Question Intonation Patterns

susan — Thu, 06 May 2010 14:42:34 +0000

When I was teaching one of my pronunciation classes this week I found out that my students did not know about the two different intonation patterns for questions in American English. Here they are:

1. Use rising intonation when the question can be answered with a “yes” or a “no”.

2. Use falling intonation when the question starts with a “wh” word such as what, when, where, who or how.

Here is some American English audio for rising intonation.

IPA for American English

susan — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:00:00 +0000

Many of you have written and asked me questions about the IPA and how to read phonetic transcriptions of English words.

I did some searching on the web and found this page from the Antimoon site. The page shows you how to read and write phonetic transcriptions. Each word and transcription has an audio recording using American English. Check it out!

IPA for American English