Category Archives: Accent reduction

• Cherry blossom

  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, such as those from India, say this sound a little like “o”. The “ow” sound is like a combination of “ae” as in […]

• The Easter Bunny

  Colored eggs, baskets, and the Easter bunny are all part of the Easter tradition in the U.S. In the word “bunny”, the last letter “y” in the spelling represents the “ee” sound. The final letter “y” is commonly the “ee” sound. Some nonnative speakers, such as Russian speakers, pronounce the final “ee” sound more like […]

• Like mother, like daughter

  In British English, the word “daughter” is pronounced with a vowel sound that is used commonly in British English, but is no longer used in American English.  In American English, “daughter” has the same vowel sound as the word “father” (pronounced “dah-der”). The sound is pronounced with a more open mouth and further forward in […]

• Happy Spring!

  In American English, the “r” sound is made with the tongue still and not touching the roof of the mouth. This sound is not rolled or trilled as it is in many other languages. Think of a dog growling, “errr”. In the word “spring”, it can help to stretch out the word in practicing this […]