Monthly Archives: April 2020

• Cherry blossoms

  Cherry trees are in bloom during the spring in some parts of the U.S., displaying beautiful blossoms. “Cherry blossom” is a compound noun. Compound nouns are usually stressed on the first base word. A compound noun often means something different than just the individual words put together. For example, a GREENhouse isn’t a green-colored house […]

• April showers bring May flowers

  The vowel sound in “showers” and “flowers” is “ow”, as in “Ow! I stubbed my toe!” This is the sound in several common words, such as “about” and “how”. Some non-native speakers say this sound a little like “o”. The “ow” sound is like a combination of “ae” as in “cat” and “o” as in […]

• Happy Spring!

  In American English, the “r” sound is made with the tongue still and not touching the roof of the mouth. Think of a dog growling, “errr”. In the word “spring”, it can help to stretch out the word in practicing this sound, as in “sperring”.

• Fun discovery

  Have you ever noticed that American speakers don’t move their mouths much when they talk? We use a lot of neutral vowel sounds and don’t round our lips much. Non-native speakers often sound like they are over-pronouncing. So, use less mouth opening and mouth movements. It will likely reduce your accent! Try it with the […]