Welcome back! Have you checked out my Accent Reduction classes yet? Do you ever feel like the English spelling system does not match the sounds of spoken American English? It seems that way doesn’t it?
English spelling is the way that words are written using the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet. Since English is [...]
Posts Tagged ‘american english consonants’
American English Spelling & Pronunciation
American English Pronunciation: R Colored Vowels
The American English r is a very difficult sound for many non-native speakers to articulate correctly!
The American English r sounds like /ɚ/. The sound is made by bunching the middle of the tongue high in the back of the mouth and rounding the lips. The tip of the tongue curls up a bit, but it [...]
American English Pronunciation: The Importance of Voiced and Voiceless Sounds
In spoken American English there are many pairs of consonant sounds that are articulated using the same tongue and mouth shape. The difference between these pairs of sounds is that one sound is voiced and the other is voiceless.
Voiced sounds cause the vocal chords to vibrate. Voiceless sounds are softer and do not cause the [...]
Make Your American English Sound More Natural
In spoken English consonant and vowel sounds change depending on their location in a word or phrase. Learning some of the rules or patterns for these types of sound changes can make your pronunciation sound more natural.
Here is one pattern. When a /d/ sound is followed by a /y/ sound the result is a /dʒ/ [...]
American English:The Sounds of ed
Several of the students that I am coaching have trouble hearing the ed that comes at the end of past tense verbs. One reason why they are having this problems is that ed does not always sound like /ed/. Sometimes ed sounds like /d/ and sometimes it sounds like /t/.
The other reason the word final [...]
American English Pronunciation:Consonant Clusters
On her blog this week Lisa Mosjin, author of Mastering the American Accent writes about the pronunciation of the words months and clothes. These words contain the difficult consonant cluster th+s.
She says that you should always pronounce the th + s as in words like strengths and Smiths. In order to do this you must quickly [...]
American English Pronunciation for Portuguese Speakers
Here is an accent reduction tip for Portuguese speakers who want to improve their spoken American English.
Be careful when you pronounce the letter P. Portuguese speakers often pronounce the American English /p/ sound like a /b/ sound. This can be confusing to American listeners because when you do that:
pill sounds like bill
pull sounds like bull
poor sounds like boor [...]
Pronunciation Problems for Korean Speakers-American English Consonant Sounds
Here are two American English consonant sounds that are problematic for Korean speakers. The first is the /f/ sound. This sound does not occur in Korean.
Korean speakers often pronounce the /f/ sound as a /p/ sound . That means that the word stuff sounds like stop, the word coffee sounds like copy and the word [...]
Pronouncing the Voiced th Sound
The voiced th sound is one of the most problematic sounds for non-native English speakers to pronounce.
To make the sound place your tongue slightly between your teeth. Vibrate your vocal chords as you push the air through your throat.
While there are not that many words that have the voiced th sound, the words that do [...]
Best Accent Training American English Audio Course
This week I found an excellent American English Pronunciation Audio Course on the web. In this audio course instructor Charles Becker teaches you American English vowel & consonant sounds, syllable stress & intonation as well as linking and connected speech.
This is a very complete course and I advise you to check it out! You can [...]
