A reader named Alex asked the following question:
"Hello Lisa, I find one of the biggest differences between the British and the American accents is how "can't" is pronounced which I also find the trickest for us trying to learn the American accent. I just can't really tell the American "can't" from the American "can". So I have to say the British "can't" instead so as to avoid confusion even though I know it sounds awkward when I am trying to imitate the American accent. Could you please give me some tips on how to cope with it? Thanks so much!"
Here is my answer:
This is a common problem. I discuss this issue in my book "Mastering the American Accent" on page 35. You need to know that negative auxiliaries (such as can't, won't, wouldn't, isn't, etc) are stressed, but affirmative ones are not. Therefore, because "can't" is stressed, the vowel "a" is longer than in the word "can." "Can" is reduced and sounds kind of like "kn." This reduced vowel is short and neutral (schwa sound).
Practice this:
I kn go. (can)
I caaan't go. (the phonetic symbol is /ae/ so it's not actually the British sounding /a/.)
If you only listen for the "t" at the end of the "can't" you might still be confused since that final "t" is usually held. It's kind of like a silent, half T.
This is why it's important for you to know the rules of English word stress and rhythm. Also, following these rules will create a native sounding melody in your speech.
Good luck!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Asking Americans to help you with your accent?
Native speakers of English will usually gladly help you to pronounce words that you are struggling with or answer questions you have about the American accent. This is great and you should use this opportunity. But here are some things you consider first:
1. Most native speakers are not very aware of their own language. For example you may know more about English grammar rules than they do. So, if you ask them a rule about American pronunciation, very often they have never thought about it before and they won't really be able to help you. It's best to write down some difficult word and just have them pronounce the words for you. You can record the words and later try to imitate the way the sound. If you ask native speakers to analyze what you are doing wrong, they will hear a mistake, but don't expect them to teach you how to correct it. Do you really expect them to tell you something like this: "Well, you are not touching your tongue firmly enough on the gum ridge and you are releasing it too quickly." The average person never has to think about these things and often has no knowledge about really happens in the mouth to produce sounds.
Also, native speakers usually don't hear the "melody" of their own language. So if you are making mistakes in rhythm and melody which mainly has to do with stressing certain words and reducing others, Americans will not have the knowledge to tell you: "you should stress a noun more than an adjective" for example.
2. Also, keep in mind that native speakers are likely to "over-pronounce" words when you ask them to teach you how they sound. They might use a more exaggerated way of speaking because they have switched into their "teacher mode." It's funny, I have even heard people switch into a British way of speaking, thinking that this would be more helpful. Be careful about that.
So what is the solution? How should you practice?
You need to learn everything you can about the American accent by reading books on the topic. Then, you will have a good foundation and you will be able better direct your American friends when they are correcting you. You almost have to teach them what to listen for and how to correct your speech. Also, keep listening to natural American speech. Become a student of good speech. Be analytical about it.
I hope this helps.
By the way, I am now offering personal accent evaluations which will give you a diagnosis/report of your accent weaknesses and strengths and tell you which part of my accent reduction book you need to study the most. You send me an audio file of your speech. If you are interested, you can learn more on my website: accurateenglish.com
1. Most native speakers are not very aware of their own language. For example you may know more about English grammar rules than they do. So, if you ask them a rule about American pronunciation, very often they have never thought about it before and they won't really be able to help you. It's best to write down some difficult word and just have them pronounce the words for you. You can record the words and later try to imitate the way the sound. If you ask native speakers to analyze what you are doing wrong, they will hear a mistake, but don't expect them to teach you how to correct it. Do you really expect them to tell you something like this: "Well, you are not touching your tongue firmly enough on the gum ridge and you are releasing it too quickly." The average person never has to think about these things and often has no knowledge about really happens in the mouth to produce sounds.
Also, native speakers usually don't hear the "melody" of their own language. So if you are making mistakes in rhythm and melody which mainly has to do with stressing certain words and reducing others, Americans will not have the knowledge to tell you: "you should stress a noun more than an adjective" for example.
2. Also, keep in mind that native speakers are likely to "over-pronounce" words when you ask them to teach you how they sound. They might use a more exaggerated way of speaking because they have switched into their "teacher mode." It's funny, I have even heard people switch into a British way of speaking, thinking that this would be more helpful. Be careful about that.
So what is the solution? How should you practice?
You need to learn everything you can about the American accent by reading books on the topic. Then, you will have a good foundation and you will be able better direct your American friends when they are correcting you. You almost have to teach them what to listen for and how to correct your speech. Also, keep listening to natural American speech. Become a student of good speech. Be analytical about it.
I hope this helps.
By the way, I am now offering personal accent evaluations which will give you a diagnosis/report of your accent weaknesses and strengths and tell you which part of my accent reduction book you need to study the most. You send me an audio file of your speech. If you are interested, you can learn more on my website: accurateenglish.com
the American T
Here is my response to a reader who asked the following question:
"Hello Lisa, its me Alex again. I have one more question about the American accent - I have ordered your book on amazon.com but it has not come yet so I am not sure if it is already mentioned in your book. Anyway, is it true that the final "t"s on words are always not released?Thanks!"
Alex: The T sound in English is very often not released on final words in American English. If you always release it, this will create a foreign sound. Non-native speakers tend to always release the T. I discuss this final T a lot in my book "Mastering the American Accent."
It's OK to occasionally release the T sound, especially to add more emphasis to a word and when the word is at the end of a sentence. For example, if you say: "I'm not that fat," you are more likely to release the T of "fat", but again, you don't have to.
I have listened carefully to Americans speaking and if I were to estimate, I would say that Americans hold (don't release) the final T about 80 percent of the time. Please be aware that the average native speaker is not aware of this rule. Americans automatically just do this, subconsciously. So, if you ask them to teach you to pronounce some words, they are likely to switch into a sort of "teacher mode" and their speech is no longer natural. So, they might talk differently. I have heard it happen a lot. You almost have to record them and have them listen to their own speech so that they can hear what how they actually speak.
It' best to try to listen to natural conversations. For example, when you hear someone say:"that's right", "at the bank," and "cut my hair." I bet they are not releasing it.
So, for those of you who are wondering what "not released T" means: it's when you start producing the T sound with the tip of our tongue touching behind the upper teeth. The tongue stops and is held there. No puff of air comes out and no sound is produced. You can hear this on the CD's of my book.
Good luck
"Hello Lisa, its me Alex again. I have one more question about the American accent - I have ordered your book on amazon.com but it has not come yet so I am not sure if it is already mentioned in your book. Anyway, is it true that the final "t"s on words are always not released?Thanks!"
Alex: The T sound in English is very often not released on final words in American English. If you always release it, this will create a foreign sound. Non-native speakers tend to always release the T. I discuss this final T a lot in my book "Mastering the American Accent."
It's OK to occasionally release the T sound, especially to add more emphasis to a word and when the word is at the end of a sentence. For example, if you say: "I'm not that fat," you are more likely to release the T of "fat", but again, you don't have to.
I have listened carefully to Americans speaking and if I were to estimate, I would say that Americans hold (don't release) the final T about 80 percent of the time. Please be aware that the average native speaker is not aware of this rule. Americans automatically just do this, subconsciously. So, if you ask them to teach you to pronounce some words, they are likely to switch into a sort of "teacher mode" and their speech is no longer natural. So, they might talk differently. I have heard it happen a lot. You almost have to record them and have them listen to their own speech so that they can hear what how they actually speak.
It' best to try to listen to natural conversations. For example, when you hear someone say:"that's right", "at the bank," and "cut my hair." I bet they are not releasing it.
So, for those of you who are wondering what "not released T" means: it's when you start producing the T sound with the tip of our tongue touching behind the upper teeth. The tongue stops and is held there. No puff of air comes out and no sound is produced. You can hear this on the CD's of my book.
Good luck
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Using idiomatic expressions
As I have posted earlier, most people who are working on reducing their accents should also constantly be trying to improve their vocabulary. It's particularly important to focus on improving your understanding of and ability to use idioms, expressions and slang (when appropriate). Using this type of speech will give the impression that you have native-like experience with the language. This has a psychological effect on the listeners, making them "hear" a less strong accent.
Last week I was teaching a student who is an an actress here in LA. She was was working on a TV script that contained a lot of idiomatic expressions that she didn't understand. I told her I would look for a good book to help her and I found a good one that I would like to recommend to you. I just received in the mail today and I like it a lot. It's called "Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs." I got it on Amazon for a pretty low price.
It's a lot thicker than I expected. Just be careful, a few of the expressions are a bit old fashioned. You might hear them in old movies but young people don't use them today. However, most of them are very common and you should try to learn them. I think this will give you more confidence when speaking with native speakers.
Last week I was teaching a student who is an an actress here in LA. She was was working on a TV script that contained a lot of idiomatic expressions that she didn't understand. I told her I would look for a good book to help her and I found a good one that I would like to recommend to you. I just received in the mail today and I like it a lot. It's called "Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs." I got it on Amazon for a pretty low price.
It's a lot thicker than I expected. Just be careful, a few of the expressions are a bit old fashioned. You might hear them in old movies but young people don't use them today. However, most of them are very common and you should try to learn them. I think this will give you more confidence when speaking with native speakers.
The American R sound
One of the biggest differences between the British and the American accents is that Americans always pronounce the letter R. In England the words "load" and "lord" would sound very similar since the R tends to be silent before another consonant. It's also silent at the end of a word in British English. If you first started studying English outside of the United States, chances are you are creating the British R. Take a look at this short video lesson that I just posted on YouTube yesterday. I think it will help you. I find that the majority of my students are not pronouncing this sound correctly when they first come to see me for accent reduction lessons.
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