I always tell my accent reduction coaching clients that they must listen to American English if they want to improve their accents. Focused listening is a key part of accent improvement! One way to listen is to use the Voice of America’s Special English Broadcast. One of my clients from Madagascar uses the VOA all
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One of the most frequent questions that people ask about accent reduction is: ‘how long will it take me to reduce my accent?” Here is my response to that very important question. Most people will never sound like a native American English speaker, but everyone is capable of reducing their accent and making their speech
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Over the past 6 months I’ve been very busy with one-on-one accent reduction coaching, so I have not been conducting any group accent reduction classes. If you are interested in taking an online accent reduction class, follow the link below to see a great course taught by a talented and very experienced instructor. The American
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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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Everyone knows that speaking skills are one of the most important things that you need in the workplace. That applies to native and non native English speakers! Many people contact me for accent reduction coaching when they are preparing for a performance review (or often after a performance review). They want to improve their spoken
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It’s been awhile since I mentioned the Kelly brothers’ fantastic website for learning English called manythings.org. The site contains many audio lessons on English vocabulary, pronunciation, idioms and grammar. There are also some short video lessons here. Here is a link to the online pronunciation activities. These are great and free. Enjoy! Related posts Pronunciation
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If you are a Chinese speaker you may have found that Americans don’t always understand your pronunciation. Here is one accent reduction tip you can use to help. Pronounce your voiced final consonant sounds more clearly. In American English some of the most common voiced consonant sounds are: /b/,/d/, /g/, /ð/,/z/, /r/, /m/, & /n/. You need
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An article published today in USA Today reports that more people are taking lessons and classes on how to improve their American English pronunciation. Accent reduction can be controversial because one’s accent is part of their identity. We all know that there is nothing wrong with an accent because we all have one. However, for
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Do you wonder why your American colleagues and friends don’t always understand you when you speak English? Do you find that people continually look at you quizzically or ask you to repeat what you said? Do people seem to “give up” on talking to you after a few minutes? It’s time to stop struggling! Find
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Non-native English speakers think that they should pronounce each word, sound and syllable clearly and distinctly but that’s not how spoken English works. Americans use reduced vowels and speech when they talk. They do not say every sound and syllable clearly and distinctly. Look at the words in the careful speech column below. If you
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