Why you MUST pronounce word final S

This morning one of my accent reduction coaching clients said to me;

“Susan, the reason the American accent is so difficult for me, is because so many of the letters have more than one sound!”

And you know, he’s right.

The fact that our 26 letters make 44 different sounds creates plenty of problems for non-native speakers who are try to improve their accents.

The three sounds of the letter S

Take the letter S for example…….did anyone ever teach YOU that the word final S has 3 different pronunciations?

Probably not!

Here’z what I mean……

The letter S has 3 different sounds in spoken American English.

These 3 soundz are:

1. /əz/ as in the wordz churches & marshes
2. /s/ as in the wordz cats & stops
3. /z/ as in the wordz loves & hugs

In order to speak American English clearly and correctly you MUST learn & apply the rules for saying theze word endingz correctly.

Chinese, Vietnamese & Spanish speakers

Many non native English speakerz often fail to pronounce any word final S sound at all. This may be happening to you if you’re a Chineze, Vietnameze or Spanish speaker.

Failing to pronounce word final soundz creates both grammatical & pronunciation errorz that will definitely contribute to your foreign accent!

What can you do about it?

If you’re a non native speaker who needs to speak American English clearly and correctly, check out my American Accent Master Class at the link below.

In my American Accent Master class you’ll learn to use the three sounds of word final S, the three sounds of word final ED and much much more.

My programs will help you make positive changes to the way YOU speak American English!

About the author

Susan Ryan is an American English communication and accent reduction coach.