In spoken English the schwa (see the image above) is the relaxed vowel sound that is frequently used to articulate the vowel sounds in unstressed syllables. Click here to read about syllable stress.

The schwa sound is made with your tongue in a relaxed position in the center of your mouth. It sounds like “uh”.

Any vowel can sound like a schwa when it occurs in an unstressed syllable.

Here a a few words that begin with the schwa vowel sound. Since the first syllable in these words is unstressed, the vowel sound is a schwa.

allow
ahead
around

economy
evaluate
erase

obtain
object
offend

undo
unlock
understand

The schwa sound is the most common vowel sound in English. Pronouncing this vowel correctly will help you improve the way you communicate with American English listeners.

Related posts:

1. American English Pronunciation-The Schwa Vowel Sound
2. American English Syllable Stress Patterns & Schwa
3. Syllable Stress in Nouns & Verbs

Keeping in mind that Singaporeans come from many language backgrounds, here are a few problems that Singaporean English speakers often have when they speak American English.

Syllable Structure and Stress

American English pronunciation patterns are based on syllable stress patterns. You must know and use these stress patterns if you want to sound more “American”.

American English speakers also delete syllables in many multi-syllabic words. Singaporean English speakers tend to pronounce all the syllables in a word and that sounds strange to Americans.

Vowel Lengthening

In spoken American English we lengthen the sounds of vowels in stressed syllables. We also lengthen the sounds of vowels that occur before voiced consonants. Many Singaporean English speakers do not lengthen their vowel sounds enough and this makes their speech sound choppy to American listeners.

These are just a couple of examples that I’ve heard when I’ve done accent coaching with professionals living in Singapore.

Related posts:

1. Syllable & Sentence Stress in American English
2. Syllable Stress-The Quickest Way to Improve Your American English Pronunciation?
3. Why You Have an Accent When You Speak American English, Part 2

Compound nouns are stressed on the first word in the compound.

• bedroom
• someone

Compound verbs are stressed on the second word in the compound.

• outsmart
• overdue

In compound adjectives the stress is on the second part of the compound.

• bad-tempered
• old-fashioned

Hyphenated compound words often have short words in the middle. Some of these are stressed on the first part of the compound such as:

• mother-in-law
• free-for-all

Click here to read more about syllable stress in American English.

Related posts:

1. American English Pronunciation: Syllable Stress Rules
2. American English Syllable Stress Patterns & Schwa
3. Syllable & Sentence Stress in American English

Cambridge English Language Teaching offers some FREE downloadable books for teaching English pronunciation and listening skills.

One of these free books is Judy Gilbert’s book: Teaching Pronunciation: Using the Prosody Pyramid. This is a great resource for teachers of American English pronunciation because it explains the importance of teaching students how to use word stress, sentence stress and intonation to improve their communication skills.

Click here to read more tips for teaching pronunciation.

Related posts:

1. American English Pronunciation & Accent Reduction Books
2. American English Pronunciation Books for Students & Teachers
3. American English Pronunciation & Accent Reduction Books

In order to improve your American English pronunciation you must know how to use syllable stress and word stress. One pattern that you must follow is this: in phrasal verbs the stress is on the participle or second part of the verb.

Here are a few examples:
put down, not put down, that’s like an insult
stand up, not stand up, that’s a type of comedy
turn on, not turn on, that’s a sexual term
turn over, not turn over, that’s type of pastry
catch up, not catch up, (ketchup) that’s for french fries

We use many phrasal verbs in English. To read more about phrasal verbs check out the Longman Pocket Phrasal Verbs Dictionary. This great little resource is only $6.00 and it’s easy to carry around with you.
Longman Phrasal Verbs Dictionary

Related posts:

1. Syllable Stress Patterns: Compound Words
2. Syllable Stress in Nouns & Verbs
3. American English Syllable Stress Patterns & Schwa

How much you improve will depend on these factors:

1. Your ability to target the speech features that are contributing to your accent
2. Your motivation to improve
3. Your ability to practice daily

Learning to improve your spoken American English does not mean simply learning the 44 vowel and consonant sounds. You must also learn the key factor to speaking English like an American. That means learning to use the correct stress patterns in words and thought groups.

You will not change your accent overnight but with focused practice and commitment you can speak English more confidently and clearly!

If you are not sure which sounds and patterns you need to change to reduce your accent you may want to consider an Accent Assessment. This is a very valuable and affordable way to start your personal accent reduction program!

Related posts:

1. Syllable & Sentence Stress in American English
2. Learning Tip-Listen for English Pronunciation Patterns
3. American English Pronunciation Problems for French Speakers

One good example is the word: OBJECT.
The way you use syllable stress say the word ‘object’ changes the meaning of the word.

When the stress is on the first syllable the word is a noun as in this sentence:
James has many beautiful OBjects in his home.

When the stress is on the second syllable the word is a verb as in this sentence:
Sylvia əbJECTed to her husband’s drinking.

Note that the reduced syllable in the verb form has a schwa (ə) vowel sound. I teach all about heteronyms in my free 4 week accent reduction e-course.

Related posts:

1. Why You Need to Use Syllable Stress Correctly
2. American English Syllable Stress Patterns
3. Syllable Stress-The Quickest Way to Improve Your American English Pronunciation?

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

One good example 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 is 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.

There are many more examples of syllable stress in heteronyms and I’ll post more of these in the next couple of days.

BTW-don’t forget to add this blog to your bookmarks!

Related posts:

1. Syllable Stress in Nouns & Verbs
2. Syllable Stress-The Quickest Way to Improve Your American English Pronunciation?
3. American English Syllable Stress Patterns & Schwa

One way that non-native English speakers can improve their accent is to learn to use the rhythms of spoken English. In my accent reduction classes and coaching sessions I spend significant time working with stress and rhythm because these features of English are key to comprehensibility.

Here are a few tips to remember:

In every word with two or more syllables, one syllable is stressed or emphasized.

1. The vowels in stressed syllables are pronounced with a higher pitch and longer duration than the other vowels in a word.
2. The vowel sounds in unstressed syllables often have a schwa sound.
3. The stressed syllables of content and focus words create stress within a phrase or thought group.

If you are interested in learning more about my accent reduction classes click on the Contact Me tab above and send me a question.

Here is some more information and a syllable stress practice activity.

Related posts:

1. Syllable Stress-The Quickest Way to Improve Your American English Pronunciation?
2. American English Syllable Stress Patterns
3. Syllable Stress Patterns: Compound Words

In spoken English words with multiple syllables, one syllable is always more prominent than the others. We call this the stressed syllable.
Stressed syllables are pronounced:

with a higher pitch
a bit louder in volume
with a lengthened vowel sound

Related posts:

1. Syllable Stress-The Quickest Way to Improve Your American English Pronunciation?
2. Syllable & Sentence Stress in American English
3. American English Syllable Stress Patterns & Schwa