Everyone is capable of learning new sounds and patterns that will make their speech more comprehensible.

Using these new sounds patterns will make speaking English much more enjoyable for you and for your listeners!

How long it takes to improve your accent depends on a few variables. These include:

1. Your understanding of how your native language affects your accent when you speak English

There are some universal pronunciation problems that people from almost all languages have when they are speaking American English. These include the voiced th sound, consonant clusters as well as vowel lengthening and pitch.

The speech patterns that you habitually use from your native language will also contribute to your accent. Once you understand what your specific pronunciation errors are you can focus on these. This will help you study more efficiently! An accent coach can tell you which sounds and patterns from your native language are contributing to your accent when you speak English.

2. Your listening skills

In order to pronounce the sounds and patterns of American English correctly you need to be able to hear them accurately. This is not as easy as it sounds.

As very young children our ability to discriminate a wide variety of sounds is good. However, this skill diminishes very early in our development and as we age we lose the natural ability to discriminate between sounds not found in our native language. Accent reduction classes will teach you how to listen for new sounds using auditory discrimination exercises.

Most people who take accent reduction courses begin to hear new sounds after the first session. Pronouncing these new sounds can take time, but with focused and consistent practice, you will get it!

3. Time you spend practicing in a focused and efficient way

Once you understand what sounds and patterns from your native language are contributing to your “foreign accent” you need to find resources you can use use to improve these. Resources may include books with CDs, online lessons, accent reduction classes or coaching.

Many people choose to work with an accent reduction coach. Working with a coach may cost more than other books or group classes but the personal feedback and attention that you get from an accent reduction coach is very valuable and will probably save you time and money in the long run.

Whatever method of learning you choose, you must practice five times a week, just like you would if you were training for an athletic event or learning to play the piano.

In order to reduce your accent you must learn to move your mouth, tongue and lips in new ways. This will feel uncomfortable at first but in order to reduce your accent  you need to learn to articulate new (American English) sounds and patterns.

Daily practice will help your mouth and tongue develop the new “muscle memory” they need for you to articulate American English sounds correctly.  You simply must practice a sound  or pattern over and over for it to  become unconscious!

Most people see progress in 6-8 weeks. But this takes lots of  focused practice and dedication. In my practice I have found that people who take accent reduction classes or coaching sessions are highly motivated and goal oriented and they are willing to practice daily.

Remember, there is nothing inherently wrong with speaking American English with an accent. You accent is part of your identity and it makes you sound unique. However,  if your accent is so strong that it causes listeners to struggle to understand you, this is a problem that you need to address.

One thing that you can do right away is to get an Accent Reduction audio course. This type of course will help you get started listening to American English sounds and patterns. Audio courses are an excellent and affordable way to start learning.

I like Best Accent Training and so do my students and clients.

Once you take an audio course, the next step is to work with an accent reduction coach to get specific feedback on your progress and refine your skills.

Even though your English grammar and writing are excellent, your accent may be preventing you from communicating in your workplace, getting a promotion or even making new friends.

The most effective way reduce your accent and improve the way you speak American English is to work with an accent reduction coach.

That’s because accent coaching is very personal. The lessons are customized to meet your specific needs and goals. When you work with an accent reduction coach, you won’t spend your time addressing other people’s pronunciation problems as you would in a large accent reduction class.

My online accent coaching is convenient and very cost effective. There is no travel time involved, just sit at your home or office computer and work with me.

Working from your home or office allows you to feel comfortable and relaxed.

You will have to practice after each accent coaching session and I  will give you specific exercises to do. I also strongly encourage you to make and submit speech recordings between sessions. That way I can listen to your practice recordings and send you important feedback.

My program includes a book with audio CDs and other materials.

Accent reduction coaching is the best option for serious professionals who really want to improve the way they speak American English.

If you are interested in learning more about  accent reduction coaching  programs  take a look at the information on my current website, Learn American Accent Online

In order to reduce your accent effectively,  it is absolutely critical that you learn to use the schwa vowel sound.  In this post I will explain what the schwa sound is and why using the schwa will improve your accent.

What is the schwa sound?

The schwa sound is the most common vowel sound in North American English. The schwa sounds like “uh”. It is pronounced with the mouth and tongue in a very relaxed position.

The schwa sound can be represented by any vowel. The IPA symbol for schwa is /ə/.

Here’s how the schwa works in words with more than one syllable.

When you are speaking English the vowels in stressed syllables usually have a long clear sound. However, the vowels in unstressed syllables  are reduced. That means that they often have a schwa sound.

In the words below the first syllable is stressed with a long clear vowel. The vowel in the second syllable sounds like a schwa /ə/.

WOmən

BREAKfəst

MARYlənd

MUFfən

The combination of stressed syllables with long clear vowels and reduced syllables with the schwa vowel sound help to create the rhythm of spoken English.

Americans listen for this rhythm when others are speaking. This rhythm helps native speakers to identify words and understand the meaning of a sentence.

The schwa sound is tricky but you must learn to use it in order to reduce your accent. I teach you all you need to know about the schwa vowel sound in my Accent Reduction Coaching Course.

Accent reduction coaching is the best way for serious students and international professionals to reduce their accents and communicate more clearly.

If you are not ready for accent reduction coaching, consider starting with an accent reduction audio course.

Accent reduction takes time and effort. Any course that you take will be worth the investment!

If this is happening to you, you need to learn about intonation patterns.

Intonation helps create the music of spoken American English. That’s because English speakers use different types of intonation or pitch patterns in sentences and phrases.

These intonation patterns, which are not visible in the written language, are extremely important because they convey meaning. If you are not aware of how Americans use these pitch or intonation patterns you could risk confusing or even offending your listeners.

Here are some examples of how American listeners interpret pitch patterns:

• If you use an very high pitch it indicates that you are surprised.
• If you use an very low pitch it may indicate that you are angry.
• If your pitch is too neutral it may indicate that you are bored.

The most common intonation pattern in spoken English is rising falling intonation. In rising falling intonation the pitch rises on the most important word in a sentence and then drops to indicate that you are finished speaking.

Americans use rising falling intonation in declarative sentences, commands and when asking questions that begin with the words who, what, where, when and why.

For example, in the sentence-WHERE is she GOing?-the pitch rises and falls on the word GOing.

Another common intonation pattern is rising intonation. In this pattern the pitch rises and stays high at the end of the sentence. When you use rising intonation it indicates that you are waiting for a reply or an answer.

Americans use rising intonation for questions that they expect to be answered with yes or no, or when they are expressing doubt or surprise.

For example, in the sentence-The PREsident is HERE?!-the pitch rises and stays high at the end of the sentence.

Even if you pronounce all of your American English vowel and consonant sounds clearly you will have a difficult time communicating with American English speakers if you don’t use the correct intonation patterns. Your speech patterns may sound rather dull to American listeners or they may even contribute to misunderstandings!

Try to listen carefully to the way Americans use sentence intonation and copy the patterns in your own speech. This will make your English sound much more natural to American listeners.

Most Chinese speakers, Spanish speakers and Indian language speakers need to learn how to use American English intonation patterns.

The Best Accent Training audio course contains several great lessons on intonation. You can buy these individually and the cost is very reasonable. Choose the lessons called Focus Words,  Jump-up glide down & Jump-up jump down. You will learn a lot!

It is hard to learn intonation on your own, but once you learn the patterns by listening to an audio lesson you will be able to hear these and master them.

Of course I teach you all about American English intonation patterns in my Accent Reduction Coaching Course.

American English speakers link or join words together so that they are easy to say and flow together smoothly. It often sounds like native speakers are saying one long word since they don’t leave spaces between each word.

Chinese speakers don’t usually use linking effectively when they speak American English. This makes their speech sound choppy and difficult to understand.

Here are 2 common types of linking that we use in spoken American English.

Consonant to vowel linking

When words that end in a consonant sound are adjacent to words that begin with a vowel sound, we hold the consonant sound of the first word until we say the vowel sound of the second word.

Here are some examples:
1. likes it = likes-sit
2. laughed at = laught-tat
3. explain it = explain-nit
4. wake up = wak-kup

In each of the phrases above the final consonant in the first word links to the vowel sound in the next word.

Vowel to vowel linking

When words that end in a vowel sound are located next to words that begin with a vowel sound we add a /y/ or /w/ sound to link the words together.

Here are some examples:
1. too + early = toowearly
2. who + is + it = whowizit
3. I + am = Iyam
4. do + it =dowit

Many Chinese speakers pause between words instead of linking or blending the sounds together. This creates speech that sounds very choppy and accented to American listeners.

If you can use linking when you are speaking with Americans your accent will improve and people will understand you more easily!

In my accent reduction coaching program, I work with many Chinese professionals. You can contact me to find out more.

When Americans are speaking they do not stress every word in a sentence equally!

This means that in order to reduce your accent you need to learn about how American English speakers use focus words and sentence stress.

American English speakers stress the CONTENT and FOCUS words in a sentence or phrase. That’s because CONTENT and FOCUS words are integral to the meaning of a sentence.

They reduce the sounds of function words in a sentence because while these words hold a sentence together, they are not key to meaning.

In spoken American English each sentence or phrase contains:
A Focus word-the most important word
Content words-very important for meaning
Function words-not important for meaning

Content Words and Focus Words
The most important words in English sentences are CONTENT words and FOCUS words. Content and focus words are pronounced louder and with a higher pitch than the other words in a sentence.

CONTENT words are usually nouns, main verbs, adjectives, adverbs, question words, negatives and numbers.

The FOCUS word is usually the last content word in a phrase or sentence.

In the sentences below notice the CONTENT and FOCUS words. Americans will pronounce these words with more emphasis than the other less important words.

1. SUSAN is HAPPY in her new POSITION.

2. She conducts her MEETINGS in the BOARDROOM.

In longer sentences, there is a focus word in each phrase or thought group.

1. If you PLAN to become a DOCTOR, you need to study ANATOMY.

Function Words
The unstressed words are called function words. Function words are important to the grammatical structure of a sentence but they don’t convey much meaning. Function words are pronounced quickly with a low pitch so when Americans pronounce them they are difficult to hear.

Stressing Function Words
In certain situations, speakers may choose to stress a function word rather than a content or focus word. For example, when someone gives you a choice and you want to choose both items your should stress the structure word.

Mother: Would you like CAKE or ICE CREAM?
Child: I’d like cake AND ice cream!

Using content, focus and function words correctly is important because the emphasis and reductions create a speech rhythm that is familiar to Americans listeners. If you don’t use sentence stress correctly your speech will sound flat and uninteresting.

You will learn how to apply sentence stress using content, focus and function words when you sign up for my accent reduction coaching course.

Not ready for coaching? You can get started reducing your accent right away by using an accent reduction audio course. While not as effective as live training, this audio course will teach you the rules you need to know to reduce your accent.

If you find that Americans have trouble understanding you when you speak, you are not alone!

Here are three accent reduction techniques that you must learn if you want to American English speakers to understand you.

Accent Reduction Technique 1-Learn to Use Syllable Stress

In English words with two or more syllables, one syllable always receives strong stress or emphasis. Here is a common syllable stress pattern: 90% of two syllable English nouns are stressed on the first syllable. That means that you should pronounce the words TEA-cher and STU-dent with strong emphasis on the first syllable. The second syllable is reduced.

You must learn English syllable stress rules and patterns if you want to improve your American English pronunciation. That is because Americans listen for syllable stress in order to identify words and meaning.

Accent Reduction Strategy 2-Learn to Lengthen the Vowel Sounds in Stressed Syllables

The vowels in stressed syllables take on a special quality in spoken English. These vowels must be lengthened and pronounced with a slightly higher pitch in order to make words easily comprehensible to American listeners.

Lengthening vowel sounds in stressed syllables is vital to the rhythm of spoken English so you must do this if you want to reduce your accent. For example, when you say the word TEA-cher you need to lengthen the EA and say it with a slightly higher pitch.

Accent Reduction Strategy 3-Learn to Use the “schwa” Vowel Sound in Reduced Syllables

In American English the vowels in reduced syllables are NOT pronounced long and clear. Instead these vowels have the “schwa” sound. The schwa is a low pitched “uh” sound. For example, when you say the word STU-dent the e in the second (or reduced) syllable sounds like “uh” and the word sounds like STU-duhnt.

The schwa is sound is the most frequent sound in spoken English but many learners are unaware of it. Learning to use the schwa sound for vowels in reduced syllables is one of the best ways to improve your accent.

I teach you all of these accent reduction techniques in my Accent Reduction Coaching Course.

In my Skype accent reduction coaching course, I teach you to speak American English clearly and understandably using the techniques that I describe here. Your listening comprehension will improve and you will enjoy speaking English with American friends and colleagues!

One problem that arises are the sounds of the past tense “ed”.

In American English the past tense “ed” has three different sounds.

These sounds are: /d/ as in the word “loved”, /ed/ as in the word “wanted” and /t/ as in the word “stopped”.

Rule 1

The past tense “ed” is pronounced as /ed/ in words ending with the sounds /t/ and /d/.

For example: wait/ed/ and decid/ed/. This /ed/ adds an extra syllable to the word so it is easy to hear.

Rule 2

The past tense “ed” is pronounced as /t/ in words ending with the sounds /k/,/s/, /f/, /p/, /sh/, and /ch/.

For example: kiss/t/, stopp/t/ and push/t/. The /t/ sound is made by touching the tip of  your tongue to the gum ridge behind your front teeth.

Rule 3

The past tense “ed” is pronounced as /d/ after all other sounds. The /d/ sound is also made by touching the tip of  your tongue to the gum ridge behind your front teeth. Your vocal chords should vibrate when you say the /d/ sound.

In American English the correct pronunciation of grammatical endings is extremely important for effective communication.

In my Skype accent reduction coaching course I always teach my clients how to make these sounds correctly.That’s because when you pronounce the “ed” incorrectly your speech will be accented. It may even mark you as uneducated!

Monst non-native English speakers have never learned to use intonation groups when they speak English. For some people this causes their speech too sound too fast for American listeners to understand. For other people the lack of intonation groups causes their speech to sound very choppy and neutral to American listeners.

There are no solid rules for dividing longer sentences into intonation groups. It really depends on the idea that you are trying to convey. The best way to learn to use American English intonation is to sign up for accent reduction coaching.

You can also learn how to use intonation groups and thought groups using the book Mastering the American Accent.
This book includes four full length audio CDs that let you listen to and practice your intonation. The cost is less than $20.00.

The truth is that many people have problems understanding the spoken English of people from the Indian subcontinent. This can be very frustrating if you have been speaking English since your youth!

If this sounds familiar you may find yourself wondering, “Why is my spoken English so difficult for American English speakers to understand?” One reason is because most Indian English speakers have not learned to use American English syllable stress correctly.

One of the most significant features of spoken American English is its use of syllable stress. Syllable stress patterns create a speech rhythm that American listeners use to identify words and make meaning.

Here is an anecdote that illustrates why stressing syllables correctly is so important.

I was having lunch at a local restaurant last June. At the table next to me were two Indian gentlemen. They were talking about the BP oil spill.

When speaking, the men were putting the stress on the B in BP instead of on the P as we do in American English. This made the abbreviation BP sound like the word beepy instead of BP (beepee). I found myself thinking, “The beepy oil spill?

It took me a few seconds to figure out that they were talking about British Petroleum.

This is just one example of the way that I, like other  American English speakers, rely on hearing the correct syllable stress in words in order to understand what was said.

In my experience working with clients, stressing syllables correctly in American English is often an area of great difficulty for Indians. When speaking English they typically stress each syllable equally, or they stress the first syllable of a word as in the BP example above. However, in American spoken English the stress or emphasis can fall on many different syllables and it is important to get it right!

When speakers stress each syllable equally, or consistently stress the first syllable, it makes their words sound very “accented” to American listeners and creates speech patterns that extremely difficult for us to understand!

If you are an Indian speaker who wants to improve your American English pronunciation take a look at the American Accent Short Course.

This course is online and very affordable!