Many of our accent reduction students are interested not only in perfecting their pronunciation but also want to better understand the American psyche. An introduction to American culture helps them understand us betterThe American English language reveals the American personality. Like Americans themselves, our language is a world where exceptions are the rules, where consistent pronunciation…
Bugz Have A Voise: The S-Z Mess!
Why do so many letter S’s in the American English accent sound like Z’s? This is The S-Z Mess! Take: “poison” (POY-zin), “is” (izz), “bugs” (bugz). It’s frustrating for non-English speakers. I had a Columbian client once who said “My sister has a great American accent and she’s always going Z-Z-Z-Z. Now I know why!”…
How to get out of Phone Call Hell
Communicating by phone has its challenges in understanding speech. When there’s an accent, you need to know how to get out of phone call hell. I was recently on a phone call with a prospective new client. I spent a solid 10 to 15 minutes of that call trying to get his email address. He…
Flash Strategies for Indian-Accented Speakers
People from all over the world have speech challenges. These Flash Strategies for Indian-accented speakers address the pitfalls they face when speaking with Americans. Working with students from every corner of the world, I have come to recognize the various linguistic challenges my students face depending on their language backgrounds. For each accent, there are…
Accents in the World of Siri and Alexa
Language testing can hold back careers. We recently worked with a pharmacist who came to us after failing the speaking/listening portion of the TOEFL test 12 times. Passing this test was a necessary step for him in moving up in his career and failing it was holding him back. Tests are no longer scored by…
Podcast: The Complexity of Having an Accent
“Standard American English” – what is it and what’s the story behind its origins? …and when you don’t speak American English accent well, what are the social and professional consequences? Here is a thought-provoking podcast by the Asian American Journalists Association, where questions about assimilation, discrimination, and stereotyping are sensitively explored. One of the reporters…
Of course everyone has an accent!
Having an “accent” is based on the creation of a norm that is in the center of a spectrum. Saying that someone “has an accent” is based on perspective as viewed from the center of that norm. So I wondered if everybody has an accent? The answer is of course everyone has an accent, and…
American accent Geography Pronunciation Lesson
We created an American accent geography pronunciation lesson for you. Practice them and you will sound like a native when you say the names of our cities and states. Names of American cities and states can be tricky for non-natives to pronounce. Here are a few classics that we see our students having trouble with,…
Quick American Accent Practice
Accent Imitation Games
If you’re reading this, you already have some interest and knowledge of “accent reduction”. Playing accent imitation games is a fun, effective way to practice. You may know about phonetics and how languages have their own unique libraries of sounds. Maybe you’ve heard of “prosody”: the umbrella term for the accent features of intonation, stress,…