response to comment about embarassing mistakes

reader wrote: "Thanks very much for putting up this wonderful blog. I have been in the US for more than 7 years. My accent now is somewhat of a hybrid between American and Indian. Still at times I end up pronouncing some words (out of no where) in my native accent which in some cases is embarassing. Can you give some tips on how to avoid such awful untimely mistakes? Also, I always have this confusion about pronouncing words like "coke" and "cock" (I am sure you can see how this could be embarassing at times!). Mistakes like this kills my morale and confidence in speaking American English (creates like a mental block). I would greatly appreciate any tips on this."

First off, there's no guarantee that your American accent will always sound great. When you are tired and stressed, your foreign accent is likely to be stronger. Don't let this discourage you. You will keep improving if you are using English regulary around native speakers and if you practice "focused listening" when you are around Americans who use langauge well. If you do this, these errors that you mention will occur less and less frequently.

By the way, I do know about the "coke" and "cock" error. Here's what happened to one of my students: When she was in a restaurant ordering, she wanted to say to the waiter, "I want a large coke." But because she pronounced the "o" sound of the word "coke" incorrectly, you can imagine what the waiter thought he heard. She said he blushed.

The "o" of the word "coke" is actually an "ou" sound. Make sure that you pronounce both the "o" and the "u." The "o" of the word "cock" is an "a" sound as in "father" or "watch."

I have developped tons of practice exercises for these sounds in my new accent reduction book which will be available in book stores in a few months. You can already pre-order it on Amazon.com. It's called "Mastering the American Accent" by me, Lisa Mojsin. The publisher is Barrons. It comes with 4 audio CD's. It's only $19.99 on Amazon. I cannot believe how low they are pricing it.

I include a section in the book called "Warning, Dangerous Mistakes" that discusses the "coke/cock" issue and some other stuff that can be really embarrassing.

Happy New Year Everyone!!! I leave you with this quote:

"Winners have simply formed the habit of doing things losers don't like to do." Albert Grey

Best,

Lisa