Welcome back! Have you checked out my Accent Reduction classes yet? 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 [...]
Posts Tagged ‘american english vowels’
When O is Pronounced With the /ɑ/ Sound
Why You Have an Accent When You Speak American English, Part 2
This week I am writing about factors that contribute to accented speech. Yesterday I wrote about syllable stress and intonation. Today I will talk about lengthening your vowel sounds.
When you are speaking American English you must lengthen the duration of vowel sounds in stressed syllables. You must also lengthen vowels that come before voiced consonant [...]
Pronunciation of the Vowel Combination ou
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 [...]
Accent Reduction Tips for Korean Speakers
Many non-native English speakers, including Koreans, often mispronounce the words woman and women.
Both words are stressed on the first syllable as indicated in ‘ bold. However, the vowel sounds do not sound how you think they should!
The word woman is pronounced ‘wʊ-mən.
The word women is pronounced ‘wɪ-mɪn.
Here is a short video from Tarle Speech and Language [...]
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 Vowel Sounds
The Roman alphabet has five letters that represent vowels; a, e, i, o, & u, but in spoken American English there are approximately 15 vowel sounds. Linguists and many pronunciation teachers use phonetic symbols to represent these 15 sounds.
Please keep in mind that all dictionaries and pronunciation books do not use the same phonetic symbols. However, they will [...]
Pronunciation Problems for Koreans- American English Vowel Sounds
There are some American English vowel sounds that are particularly difficult for Koreans to pronounce.These include the /ɪ/ sound and the /ae/ sound.
Koreans often pronounce the /ɪ/ vowel sound in the words sit, slip, & grin more like an /iy/ vowel sound. That makes sit, slip, & grin sound like seat, sleep & green to American listeners.
Keep [...]
American English Pronunciation: The /iy/ and /I/ Sounds
One American English vowel sounds that non-native speakers frequently mispronounce is the /iy/ sound and 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 [...]
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 [...]
American English Pronunciation Software
Many of you already know about the great free pronunciation software from the University of Iowa. However, for those readers who are new to my blog, I’m going to post it again.
This online software shows you how to pronounce all of the American English vowel and consonant sounds using audio and video. If you want [...]
