Archive for /iy/ & /I/ sounds

Accent Reduction for Spanish Speakers

Here is an accent reduction tip for Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese speakers. American English has about 15 vowel sounds. These 15  sounds include several pairs of vowels which are pronounced with your lips and tongue in approximately the same position, but where one vowel sound is considered “tense” and the other is “lax”. For tense

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Accent Reduction & Listening

Over the weekend I was working on vowel sound articulation with one of my accent reduction coaching clients. We were working on the difference between the /iy/ sound in the words feet & leave and the /I/ sound as in the words fit & live. My client, a project manager at an international communications company,

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Accent Reduction for Spanish Speakers

In my accent reduction coaching program, I work with many Spanish speaking clients. These include international professionals from Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Puerto Rico.  While each person has a slightly different accent, they all have problems with these five features of spoken English: The /I/ sound as in fill & difficult The /ae/ sound as

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Accent Reduction Tips for Koreans

If you are a Korean speaker who is trying to reduce your accent, here are 2 TIPS for you. These tips have to do with American vowel sounds. American English has 15 different vowel sounds. Some of these vowel sounds are particularly difficult for Koreans to pronounce. Difficult sounds for Koreans include: the /ı/ sound

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Accent Reduction: The /iy/ & /I/ Vowel Sounds

Two of the American English vowel sounds that non-native speakers frequently mispronounce are the /iy/ sound in the word sheep and the /I/ sound in the word ship. When I work with my accent reduction clients I call these sounds /iy/ as in Green /I/ as in Silver Most of the non-native speakers who I

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