These professionals need to make the following adjustments in order to speak American English more clearly:

1. Slow down and speak using thought groups (phrases) and focus words

2. Learn which syllables are stressed and emphasize them.

3. Lengthen the vowels in stressed syllables

Of course there are other consonant and vowel sounds that need to be learned too… but in my opinion the three features noted above are the most important.

This recent article from Arab news discusses the pros and cons of Arab parents speaking English to their children.

http://arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article560962.ece

To read related information on American English pronunciation click on the links below. The 0 means closed for comments.

In words ending with the suffixes ion, ity, ic, ical, ian, ial, tion & ious we typically stress the FIRST syllable BEFORE the suffix.

• inVAsion
• fanTAStic
• fiNANcial
• GLORious

In words ending with the suffix ate we stress the FIRST or SECOND syllable BEFORE the suffix.

• aPPREciate
• DELegate
• DOnate
• LOcate

My accent reduction coaching clients usually find that learning to use syllable stress patterns correctly (and the schwa vowel sound) REALLY help them to improve the way they speak American English.

All (most) accent reduction books will teach you about these patterns. Once you learn them, you must 1) listen for them in daily conversations and 2) try to use them in your own speech.

To see the bestselling Accent Reduction books on this topic click the link here.

To read related posts or categories on syllable stress, you can scroll down and click on the links below. The 0 means that the post is closed for comments.

This section has lots of American English pronunciation exercises that you can use to learn and practice your spoken American English.

There are exercises on contrasting vowel sounds, syllable stress, homophones and sentence stress. There’s even a short exercise on the syllabic n.

This is free. You can see it by following the link here-Perfect Pronunciation.

To read related posts on this topic click on the links below. The 0 means closed for comments.

The first syllable is reduced and the ‘a’ has a schwa vowel sound.

The second syllable is stressed and the ‘i’ has an /iy/ sound as in ‘green’.

Here it is in a sentence. Stressed syllables are capitalized-

The comPUter is a COMplex məCHEEne.

When you are speaking English you must lengthen the vowel sounds that occur in stressed syllables. You must also lengthen vowels that occur before voiced consonant sounds such as /z/ and /d/.

Many non native speakers say the vowel sounds in stressed syllables and before voiced consonants in a short manner. Doing  that it will make your speech sound choppy to American listeners.

You can read more about vowel length on my post titled: Voiced & Voiceless Sounds in American English.

There are a number of factors that contribute to accented speech. In my posts over the next few days I am going to describe five factors that may be causing you to have an accent when you speak American English.

Today I will talk about syllable stress and intonation.

People typically use the stress and intonation patterns from their native language when they speak American English. Since your native language uses stress and intonation differently than we do in English this will be one of most important factors that contribute to your accent.

Using the wrong intonation and syllable stress patterns  make your speech may sound too choppy, too fast or too flat. Learning how to speak using American English syllable stress and intonation patterns will really help you to reduce your accent sound more American.

Professor Marianne Celce Murcia, co author of Teaching Pronunciation, found that students studying American English need a balance of both sound lessons and stress and intonation lessons in order to increase their comprehensibility.

You must learn the consonant and vowel sounds. But, you must also learn the rhythm of the American English if you want to communicate more clearly and effectively.

Here are two things you can do to help you slow down fast speech.

1. Learn to use content and focus words

Native English speakers emphasize the content and focus words in each sentence or phrase. They pause slightly after these important words. Learn about how native speakers use content and focus words and you will slow down too.

2. Learn to use syllable stress

In English words some syllables are stressed more than others. The vowels in stressed syllables are articulated in a long clear way, not in a short choppy way. Short choppy syllables will  contribute to fast speech. Learn about how native speakers use syllable stress and you will slow down too.

Speaking at a good pace is a fundamental speaking skill that everyone, including native speakers need to learn in order to be a good public speaker.

Learning to use syllable stress is one of the most effective techniques that Chinese speakers (and speakers of most other languages) can use to improve their English pronunciation.

This is how it works.

In English words with two or more syllables, one syllable always receives extra stress or emphasis. The vowels in stressed syllables are longer and articulated with a slightly higher pitch than the vowels in unstressed sylllables.

When you stress the syllables in words correctly, people can understand you much more easily! When you stress the syllables in words incorrectly, people have to work hard to understand you and the message gets lost.

Here is a link to a chart you can use to view some examples of English syllable stress.

Unfortunately their spoken English is often not comprehensible to American English speakers.

Here are 3 common American English pronunciation problems made by Indian language speakers.

1. Indian speakers tend to use a /v/ sound instead of a /w/ sound in words such as; we, will, went & wine.

2. Indian speakers tend to use a /d/ sound instead of the voiced th sound in words such as; the, there, mother & brother.

Since these sounds occur so often in the spoken language,  learning to say them correctly will really help neutralize your accent.

3. A third area of concern for South Asians is the way they use syllable stress when pronouncing American English words. Their tendency to stress the first syllable in each word causes confusion and makes it very difficult for American English speakers to understand what they are saying.

Heteronyms are two words that are spelled identically. The way the words are pronounced determines their meaning.

One good example of this is the word: ADDRESS.

When you say the word ‘address’ the way you use syllable stress changes the meaning of the word.

When you place stress is on the first syllable, address is a noun as in this sentence:
Susan’s ADdress is 2010 Pine Street.

When you place stress on the second syllable, address becomes a verb as in this sentence:
Susan will ədDRESS the class tomorrow.

Note that the reduced syllable in the verb form has a schwa (ə) vowel sound. This is the reduced vowel sound found in unstressed syllables. The vowel sounds in the stressed syllables are lengthened and pronounced with a slightly higher pitch.

Another example is the word PRESENT.

When you stress the first syllable, the word PREənt means a gift.

When you stress the second syllable preəSENT becomes a verb that means ‘to give’.

Again, note how the vowel sound in the unstressed syllable is reduced to schwa. The vowel in each stressed syllable is lengthened and pronounced with a slightly higher pitch.

To learn more about how to use syllable stress check out the great American English pronunciation book called Mastering the American Accent.

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