Tag Archive | "accent reduction training"
Accent Reduction Training on Skype Video
In my Accent Reduction Training Course I work with you one-on-one via Skype video to help you achieve your American English communication goals. This course is designed for professionals who want to reduce their foreign accents and communicate comfortably and effectively with American English speaking clients, colleagues and coworkers.
Continue reading...How Long Will It Take To Reduce My Accent?
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Most people born outside of the United States will never sound like a native born American English speaker, but you can make changes to your current speech that will enable Americans to understand you. 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:
Continue reading...The Schwa Sound in American English
Thursday, April 28, 2011
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/.
Continue reading...Sentence Stress & Focus Words in American English
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
When Americans talk they stress the CONTENT and FOCUS words in a sentence or phrase because these words are integral to the meaning of the sentence. Americans reduce the function words in a sentence because these words 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
Continue reading...Pronunciation of “ed” in American English
Monday, November 29, 2010
Many Spanish and Chinese speakers do not pronounce word final sounds correctly. This creates an accent. When they are speaking English, many Spanish and Chinese speakers fail to pronounce word final sounds correctly. If you do this, it contributes significantly to your accent. 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".
Continue reading...American English Pronunciation: Practice Techniques
Friday, October 30, 2009
One of the most frequent questions that people ask me is how to practice the American English and accent reduction techniques that they learn in their books and classes. Here are seven techniques that you can use practice.
Continue reading...American English Pronunciation- Why Do You Have an Accent?
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Most non-native English speakers have an accent when they speak English but they don’t understand why and they don’t know what steps they can take to change this. In this article I will tell you why you have a an accent when you speak English. Then I will explain four things you must do if you want to reduce your accent.
Continue reading...American English Pronunciation Tips- Part 2
Sunday, March 8, 2009
This is the second in a series of articles that describe accent reduction strategies you can use to improve your American English pronunciation. Here are two more key strategies you can use to reduce your accent.
Continue reading...Syllable Stress in American English Words
Thursday, February 5, 2009
In this lesson I will explain why syllable stress in words is so critical to correct American English pronunciation and I will tell you the rules for using syllable stress correctly when you are speaking.
Continue reading...Introduction to Sentence Stress and Intonation
Thursday, February 5, 2009
In this lesson you will learn how content, function and focus words affect the rhythm of spoken English. You will also learn to use the two most common sentence intonation patterns in American English.
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Friday, January 20, 2012
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