Schwa /ə/ The schwa is the most common vowel sound in American English and can be made with any vowel. The schwa is a vowel sound in an unstressed syllable. It is key to both word and sentence stress. How to make this sound This vowel sound is short and quick. It...
Stress for Numbers Many non-native speakers of English have difficulty hearing and saying the differences between numbers such as 13 and 30. The solution is quite simple, and once you become aware of the rule, it is an easy error to fix. There are two important...
“ahhh” The American /ɑ/ is a difficult vowel for many non-native speakers. People who studied British English may pronounce this vowel as o. However, in American English, the vowel sound is ahhh. The vowel is held longer in the American pronunciation. Of...
When speaking in English, Chinese speakers usually pronounce each word, and often each syllable, separately and with equal stress. English speakers use linking to run words together to sound fluid. They do not speak word by word. Rules for linking are formed by...
One of the steps in reducing your accent is becoming aware of your problem areas. People use the speaking patterns and style of communication from their native language when speaking in a second. This is called first language transfer. These are typical accent errors...
Our Partner Axiom Learning Solutions is spreading the good news about our new Accent Reduction Series! Unlike multi-week classes, these workshops function singularly, so you can chose to attend one, a few, or all sessions. You don’t need to take them in order and you...