Stress and Thought Groups in American English

I can’t believe I’m going to talk about phrasal verbs! While I’m not going to teach you the 10 most common phrasal verbs in English, or anything like that, I am going to explain how to pronounce phrasal verbs clearly. Specifically, we’re going to talk about the stress patterns that you need to get right in order to be understood when using phrasal verbs. We’re also going to discuss how to link them together so … Read the article and watch the video lesson

 Have you noticed that Americans and Brits pronounce words quite differently? You might be able to hear that some vowel sounds are completely different. After all, vowel sounds do vary quite a lot between regional dialects. And you might notice different consonants, especially when we’re talking about the American “r” versus the British pronunciation of “r,” or the American flap “t” versus the British clear pronunciation of the “t” sound. But as far as … Read the article and watch the video lesson

Have you noticed that when you use informal contractions like “gonna,” “wanna,” “dunno,” “hafta,” you don’t exactly sound like an American? 🤔 In fact, if you’re not careful, using these informal contractions can actually draw more attention to the fact that you’re a non-native speaker and enhance your accent. In this video, I’ll explain why we use informal contractions and share twenty-two (22!) of the most common ones we regularly use in natural, relaxed speech. I’ll … Read the article and watch the video lesson

 Want to sound more like a native English speaker? Then you need to create the natural rhythm and melody of American English through sentence stress. What do I mean by sentence stress? Sentence stress is when we put extra attention on the words that convey the meaning of the sentence. We signal which words are truly important in our speech by making them longer, louder and higher in pitch. Specifically, we make the stressed … Read the article and watch the video lesson

If you’re like most people, you’re probably concerned that you’re not pronouncing words correctly in English. After all, when we’re speaking another language, it can be hard to know if the sounds that we hear inside our heads are actually coming out correctly. In my case, worrying about my accent in Spanish kept me from speaking confidently for many years. That’s why I emphasize helping you speak more clearly so that you’re more easily understood … Read the article and watch the video lesson