Hi!
Let’s talk about a few ways to sound more American when speaking English. Have you ever been watching an American movie and thought, “Oh, it would be great if I could sound like Tom Cruise?”
Well, today, I will give you some tips to help you make your pronunciation sound more like an American, and by American, I mean the United States of America. We need to talk about a couple of things first, though.
What in the world is an American accent?
Because many people in the U.S. have different speaking styles, I will explain how to sound like the most general American accent, which is that of news reporters or Hollywood. When you think about Tom Cruise, this is the accent.
I’m not talking about a New York accent, a Southern accent, or a California accent. I’m talking about standard American English. Of course, if you want to sound more American, you need to use American expressions instead of British or Australian expressions.
The best way to improve your pronunciation to sound more American or if you want to express more British or Australian is to shadow, and this means you’re imitating word for word everything that that person is saying. You’re repeating directly after the speaker. ‘How To Speak English Just Like An American’ will allow you to do just that. So, click here when you are ready for personal English language training from me. It’s also great to break down the sounds of a language, and that’s what I’m going to do today talk about four essential concepts that you need to include in your speaking if you want to sound more American.
The first way to sound more American is to change your T sounds to D sounds when they are between two vowels. Let’s say a sentence that uses many of these. Dan: In New York City, he wore an exciting sweater because that always satisfied him. In New York City, he wore an exciting sweater because that always made him satisfied.
Vanessa: City, exciting, sweater. Here we have at T between two vowel sounds like I mentioned, changing to a D.
It’s not a “Tuh” sound. It is “Duh.” This also happens between words.
Native English speakers do it when they are talking quickly. We link together words by making the final T change into a D, that always. This can be used in a lot of different situations. A couple of years ago, I had a British friend who I always teased because whenever I asked him to speak with an American accent, the only thing he would say was, “Water bottle, water bottle, water bottle,” again and again and again. It was so funny because it is the perfect example of an American accent.
It uses the T changing to a D water bottle, and it also uses one more concept that we’re going to talk about a little bit later in this video. Now I want to allow you to practice this pronunciation, T changing to a D.
We will read and speak one more time of that sample sentence, and then I want you to pause. Please read that sentence and try to talk slowly, clearly, and naturally.
Are you ready to use your speaking muscles?
Let’s do it. Dan: In New York City, he wore an exciting sweater because that always satisfied him.The second way to sound more American when speaking is to use the colored R.
What in the world is that? Well, it’s in the middle of the word when there is an R plus a consonant. A consonant is any letter that’s not a, e, i, o, u. It might be RS, RD, or any word with an R plus a consonant. It’s going to sound like, “Err, err.” Let’s listen to a sample sentence that uses this a lot. Dan: The first word you learned is the one you heard the most.
The first word that you learned is the one you heard the most. Vanessa: Did you notice something in this sentence? There are a lot of different vowel sounds that change to sound like one sound, err. In the word first, there is an I. In the word, there is an O.
There is E, A in the word heard and learned, but they all sound like “Err, err.” This is the colored R, and it’s typical in American English, err, heard.
Test your pronunciation muscles. Try to sound like an angry dog.
First, word learned. It sounds a little crazy when you’re practicing, but of course, when speaking with other people, you can tone it down, but it’s good to exaggerate when you’re practicing pronunciation because you’re getting your muscles prepared.
Then when they’re already ready to use those sounds, it will feel more natural. Your muscles will know where to go, and then you can tone it down and not sound so crazy when you’re speaking with other people. When you’re practicing, don’t worry about exaggerating.
“The first word that I learned.” Take it easy. Try it yourself. Listen to yourself and pause. Dan: The first word you learned is the one you heard the most. My next tip for sounding American is to include an E-R at the end of your words. It is typical American English, so before I explain it any further, let’s listen to a sentence that includes this a couple of times.
Dan: In the letter, he wrote, “Remember to water the flowers.” In the letter, he wrote, “Remember to water the flowers.” Vanessa: When my British friend said, “Water bottle,” this was the second American sound that he was using, the E-R at the end of the word, er, water.
“Don’t forget to water the flowers. Remember to water the flowers,” and this will test your R pronunciation.
We used it previously, and now we’re using it again. You need to make sure your Rs are substantial. “Remember to water the flowers.” All right, let’s listen to that clip one more time, and then we’re going to pause, and I was hoping you could say it out loud. Speaker 2: In the letter, he wrote, “Remember to water the flowers.
” Vanessa: My fourth and final tip is a specific contrast with British English. It is the ending A-R-Y. Again, we’re talking about R because R is essential in English and necessary for many different languages. The R is the most challenging sound in other languages because it’s so integral. In this case, A-R-Y at the end of words indicates that we will pronounce the entire phrase in American English.
Library, secretary, military.
We’re going to say the complete word. Please repeat a quick sentence that uses a couple of these examples. Speaker 2: At the library, the secretary read a book about the military. At the library, the secretary read a book about the military. Vanessa: In American English, you will pronounce each of the final letters, A-R-Y, military.
British English often cut out the A, so instead of “Military,” it would be “Military, military.” That A is just gone, but in American English, each of those letters is pronounced, “Military, ary.” Let’s say this one more time, and then I want to pause and let you have a chance to repeat the sentence yourself. Speaker 2: At the library, the secretary read a book about the military. Vanessa: How did you do with these American English pronunciation sentences?
Did you challenge your pronunciation? Do you think that you can sound more American after watching this video? I hope these tips are helpful to you, and let me know in the comments below.
Are there any other words that you can use to sound more American using these four tips?
Let me know, and I hope that you enjoyed this lesson.
And as I always remind you, READING English is very different from SPEAKING English.
When you are ready to SPEAK English LIVE in my virtual classroom, you only need to click here. My LIVE classes will help you know what is the next step in your English journey to help you really master English and speak fluently.
Thanks so much!
Let’s speak English together soon!
