One word final sound that many people fail to articulate is the past tense ed. Failing to pronounce the ed will definitely contribute to your accent!

Most of my students understand that American spoken English has 3 sounds for the past tense ed but they need to practice these sounds to make them more automatic.

Eva Easton has a nice page on her website that you can use to learn about and practice the 3 sounds of ed. Don’t forget to take the quiz at the end!

American English ed sounds

You can learn the rules for how to pronounce ed endings and much more with the book Mastering the American Accent with Audio CDs

Spoken English has linking between words and also within words.

Word internal linking occurs when there are 2 vowel sounds inside a word. When this happens native English speakers will insert a /y/ or /w/ glide  to connect the sounds.

The /y/ insertion is very common. This is sometimes referred to as the invisible /y/. Here are a few examples:

reunion sounds like reyunion
client sounds like cliyent
diet sounds like diyet

You will also hear a /w/ insertion is some words:
cooperate sounds like cowoperate
graduate sounds like graduwate
coersion sounds like cowersion

Click on the LINKING category to your right to learn more about the importance of linking in American English!

1. exAct→egzact

2. exActly→egzactly

3. exAmple→egzample

4. exAm→egzam

5. exAmine→egzamine

When an X is followed by a consonant sound it is pronounced like /ks/.

1. exTreme→ekstreme

2. exTinguish→ekstinguish

3. exPect→ekspect

4. contexT-contekst

5. nexT→nekst

When the letter X is at the end of a word it is also pronounced as /ks/.

1. tax→taks

2. fax→faks

These pronunciations of X can be tricky so take it slow and try to feel both of the sounds in /gz/ & /ks/.

When you make the light /l/ sound, the tongue touches the alveolar ridge behind the upper teeth. This is the /l/ sound that you hear in the words: light, listen and only.

When you make the dark /ɫ/ sound the tongue is more bunched up and the back of the tongue is raised. This is the /ɫ/ sound you hear in the words: bell, call and fall.

To make the /r/, start with your tongue in the relaxed position of the schwa sound (say “uh”), then bunch your tongue up and back and say “red”. Do not let your tongue touch the roof or any other part of your mouth when you make this sound!

You can try to round your lips and push them forward when you make the /r/ sound. This will help.

Try using the contrast drills below to pronounce the sounds of /l/ and /r/.

These word pairs contrast the light /l/ sound with the /r/ sound. Say each word slowly to feel the tongue position for the /l/ and /r/.

lake/rake
Eileen/Irene
led/red
light/right
list/wrist
long/wrong
pilot/pirate

These word pairs contrast the dark /ɫ/ sound with the /r/ sound.

call/car
fall/far

Ann Cook does a wonderful job explaining the sounds of /r/ & /l/ in he book, American Accent Training. You can take a look at this book by clicking on the link below.

American Accent Training (Book and Audio CD, 2nd Edition)

Voiced sounds cause the vocal chords to vibrate. Voiceless sounds are softer and do not cause the vocal chords to vibrate. Here are a few examples:

In spoken English the /s/ & /z/ sounds employ the same tongue position and mouth shape but the /z/ is voiced and the /s/ is voiceless.

The English /k/ & /g/ sounds are both produced in the back of the throat but the /g/ is voiced and the /k/ is voiceless.

The /p/ & /b/ sounds are both made by pushing your lips together and then releasing them but the /b/ is voiced and the /p/ is voiceless.

Many non-native English speakers used the voiceless sounds /s/, /k/ & /p/ when they should use the voiced sounds /z/, /g/ & /b/. Making this type of pronunciation mistake will both contribute to your accent and cause misunderstandings.

The IPA symbol for the voiced th sound looks like this /ð/.

The IPA symbol for the voiceless th sound looks like this /θ/.

While both of these sounds cause problems for non native speakers of American English, the /ð/seems to be the most problematic.

The /ð/ is the sound you hear at the beginning of frequently used words such as the, this, that, those. You also hear this sound in the middle of many common words such as: mother, father, brother and rather.

To make the /ð/ sound place your tongue slightly between your teeth. Your tongue and teeth should be touching. Since this is a voiced sound you should feel your vocal chords vibrate when you make the sound. That vibration will extend all the way to your tongue.

Most people find that the /ð/ is not comfortable sound to make and it takes a lot of practice to get it right!

To make the/θ/ sound place your tongue slightly between your teeth. Your tongue and teeth should be touching lightly. When the air flows out of your mouth it should feel gentle.

The /θ/ is the sound you hear in words such as: thanks, Thursday, birthday and month.

To see a detailed articulation model for these sounds click below and choose Consonants–>Fricatives

American English Pronunciation: The Voiced & Voiceless Th Sounds

Here are a few examples of what happens:

When you say the word save it sounds like safe.

When you say the word bed it sounds like bet.

When you say the word eyes it sounds like ice.

Also keep in mind that the vowel sounds before voiced consonants are lengthened.

The Master’s Cup coffee house welcomes anyone who wants to make friends and speak English. The coffee house doesn’t offer accent reduction classes but there are always two native English speaking volunteers who are available to talk to customers who want help with their English pronunciation.

“I am a loyal customer and now I’m really confident with my English since I come here,” said a customer named Nam with perfect English pronunciation.