Train your accent: American English pronunciation practice

At Train Your Accent, American teacher Randall Davies explains that a common problem with English students is that they tend to equally emphasize all the words in a sentence.

Randall’s goal here is to help students find a natural rythm when it’s time to speak - and to give every word the appropriate weight. Look at one of his examples:

I WANT TO GO TO THE PARTY TODAY FOR ABOUT AN HOUR, AND I CAN DO MY HOMEWORK TOMORROW (all words have the same weight)

i WANT ta GO ta the PARTY taDAY for about ?n HOUR, and i kn DO my HOMEWORK taMORROW (capital letters represent emphasis)

So Randall produced several English lessons with audio and 2 versions of the corresponding text: a plain transcription and another one that shows Reduced Speech symbols.

Each lesson also comes with questions for discussion. Make sure to read the sections About the Site and Accent Symbols to become familiar with the teacher’s method. Recommended for intermediate level students and above.

Work on your English pronunciation with Phonogram Flashcards

flashcards for English pronunciation What’s the difference between the pronunciation of bit and beat? If you don’t know (or if you think there isn’t any) you may find teacher Jen Brett’s Phonogram Flashcards useful. There are 42 cards, each containing a group of words that end with the same sound (for example - uck: duck, luck, etc.)

These cards can be a great tool to learn once and for all how to say certain groups of sounds such as the sometimes problematic - aw, - it and - eat, - ock and - oke. There are no audio files accompanying the cards, so if you’re not sure how to pronounce the examples ask a friend or teacher to help you practice! All the cards are available in PDF for immediate download.