Category Archives: Accent reduction

• Happy Memorial Day!

  The “l” sound at the beginning of a word or syllable, as in “love”, is made with the tip of the tongue touching behind the upper front teeth. The “l” sound at the end of a word or syllable, as in “Memorial”, is made with the back of the tongue shaping the sound somewhat similar […]

• Fun Feb(y)u(w)ary

  There is a letter “r” after “b” in the word “February”, but there is no “r” sound there! Instead there is a “y” sound. (Crazy English, huh?!) Note there is also a “w” sound between the vowel sounds.

• Happy Holidays!

  The “h” sound (at the beginning of “Happy” and “Holidays”) is made by opening your mouth and exhaling a huff of air from the lungs. To make this sound, pretend you are trying to fog up your glasses to clean them. If you’re a Russian speaker, make this sound a bit softer. The American “h” […]

• Joy to the World

  The title of this traditional Christmas carol features a word that is challenging for a lot of non-native speakers. To help with clearly pronouncing both the “r” and “l” sounds in the word “world”, think of there being two syllables, as if it were spelled “werrold”. It’s a little trick that will help it come […]

• It’s a Wonderful Life

  It’s the season that the popular 1946 American film of this title is being watched. This title uses a commonly used feature of American English — contractions, such as “it’s” (for “it is”). Speaking with contractions is a quick change you can make that will help you sound more like a native speaker.