When you are speaking American English, there are many consonants that don’t always sound like you expect them to. Here is an example. When a word that ends with an /s/ or /z/ sound is followed by a word that starts with a /y/ sound the linked blended sound is a /sh/. Examples include: that’s
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Spanish speakers frequently drop the consonant sounds at the ends of words. This can cause your speech to sound both accented and grammatically incorrect. If you are a Spanish speaker, here is one technique you can use to reduce your accent. Words in Spanish do not typically end in a consonant clusters but English words
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Haitian Creole speakers and French speakers have some of the same problems with spoken English. One of these is the tendency to delete the /h/ sound at the beginning of words. Word initial /h/ is almost always pronounced in American English. That means that the /h/ must be articulated clearly in words such as: hat,
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Chinese speakers from some dialects tend to confuse word medial and word final /l/ & /n/ sounds when they are speaking English. This causes communication problems and contributes to your accent. The /n/ & /l/ sounds are articulated in almost the same manner as the tongue touches behind the tooth ridge. The tongue is a
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The letter X has two pronunciations in American English. Here is the first one. When X is followed by a stressed vowel it is pronounced like /gz/. Here are a few examples: 1. exAct→egzact 2. exActly→egzactly 3. exAmple→egzample 4. exAm→egzam 5. exAmine→egzamine When an X is followed by a consonant sound it is pronounced like
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In spoken American English both the /r/ & /l/ sounds are called “liquids”. That’s because the air stream moves around the tongue in an unobstructed manner. Both the /r/ & /l/ sounds are voiced so you should feel a vibration in your throat when you say them. When you make the light /l/ sound, the
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Many Chinese speakers have problems pronouncing the /r/ sound in American English. Some of my Chinese students don’t say the /r/ sound at the end of words at all and that really contributes to their accent! Sometimes they say the /r/ sound too softly when it comes before another consonant as in the words; forward, learn
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One of the teachers at the school where I teach here in Washington, DC just told me about a website with some good American English pronunciation videos. The website is called ugoeigo.com (you go I go) and it features videos that teach you how to make these English sounds: /p/ & /b/, /f/ & /v/,
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Like many people I love the sound of the French language and I wish that I could speak it better! One difference between American English pronunciation and French pronunciation is that in English we always pronounce s at the end of a word. French students learning English often forget to say that sound. You must
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In my classes this week I’ve been teaching students the difference between the sh sound and the ch sound. I have found that many of my students use the ch sound when they should use the sh sound. That means that when students try to say shopping it sounds like they are saying chopping. When
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