It seems pretty basic. Some vowels are long, some vowels are short. But is this really the case? In the pronunciation classes I teach, my first order of business is to take the words “long” and “short” and dump them in the figurative trash can. The essential...
Meet my best buddy, Mr. Mouth. Creepy? Yes. Useful? Couldn’t possibly live without him. You can probably tell that this mouth is well loved. I didn’t quite realize how ragged he looked until I took a picture of him to send to a friend. What makes...
Ah, the bane of every non-native speaker’s existence! The dreaded “can” and “can’t.” In American English, you need to use contractions in order to sound natural. Unless you are trying to emphasize your point (along the lines of “I can NOT believe she just did...
Have you ever had to repeat yourself when saying “fourteen” or “forty,” “seventeen” or “seventy”? Here are some pointers that may help people understand these numbers more easily when you speak. The differences… Stress (sometimes) When you pronounce the word “forty,” primary stress, or emphasis, is placed...
In your throat, you have a set of vocal folds (or vocal chords). These folds can either be pulled apart or pushed together when producing speech sounds. If you pronounce a sound with your vocal folds pulled apart, the sound will be voiceless. If you...
If you think getting kids to do their homework is challenging, try convincing a 40-year-old to do theirs! Some people mistakenly assume it is easier to get adults to practice because they are motivated. They signed up for the training course on their own, didn’t...
Quick and easy doesn’t exist in accent training, but it doesn’t stop people from trying to find a magic pill. Many language learners end up in large group classes, in courses with trainers who don’t specialize in accent reduction, or in online programs. The main...
A few weeks ago, one of my friends had an interesting post on Facebook. She was fed up with people asking her where she was from as they were obviously racially profiling her. When someone asked her where she was from, she would tell them...
Have you been watching “The Bachelor” this season? Have you ever wondered what it is about Juan Pablo’s pronunciation that makes him sound so different from a standard American English speaker? Prepare to find out! First check out this video to hear Juan Pablo speak and...