Linguistic research indicates that the most common sound in spoken English is the schwa vowel sound. This is because native English speakers pronounce the vowels in most reduced syllables with the schwa sound. The phonetic symbol for schwa is /ə/.
Here is an example. When I say my name, Susan, the first syllable is stressed so the vowel has a long high sound. The second syllable is reduced so the vowel has a schwa (uh) sound. Spelling using phonetic symbols my name would look like: ‘su:-zən.
The most commonly spoken English word is the and it is frequently mispronounced by non-native speakers because it starts with the troublesome voiced th sound. The phonetic symbol for the voiced th is /ð/. Using phonetic symbols it would look like ðə.
You simply must learn to use the schwa vowel sound in order to reduce your accent!
One accent training book that provides lots of lessons on the schwa vowel sound is Mastering the American Accent. You can see the details and reviews at this link.
Mastering the American Accent with Audio CDs
Tags: Accent Reduction for Indians, filipino speakers, french speakers, IPA, lisa mojsin, mastering the american accent, schwa sound, Spanish & Portuguese Speakers, voiced consonant sounds
