Speak English with an American Accent

Introduction

• Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com discusses speaking with a standard American English accent.
• Comparison made with Tom Cruise and Ellen DeGeneres.
• A free PDF worksheet available for download.

Lesson Overview

• First 20 minutes: American English speaking practice focusing on pronunciation.
• Final 10 minutes: Bonus idioms only used by Americans.

Key Concepts to Sound American

What is an American Accent?

• Focus on the standard American accent used by news reporters and Hollywood.
• Excludes regional accents like New York, Southern, Californian.
• Importance of using American expressions over British or Australian.

Shadowing Technique

• Imitating word-for-word what the speaker says.
• Helps improve pronunciation to sound more American.

Four Important Pronunciation Tips

1. Change T Sounds to D Sounds

• Example Sentence: "In New York City, he wore an exciting sweater because that always made him satisfied."
  • Words like "city," "exciting," "sweater" change T to D.
• Happens between words, e.g., "that always."

2. Use of Colored R

• Occurs when R is plus a consonant (e.g., RS, RD).
• Example Sentence: "The first word that you learned is the one you heard the most."
  • Words like "first," "word," "heard" have a colored R sound (er).

3. End Words with ER

• Example Sentence: "In the letter he wrote, remember to water the flowers."
  • Emphasis on strong R sounds at the end.

4. Pronunciation of Ending ARY

• Example Sentence: "At the library, the secretary read a book about the military."
  • Full pronunciation of ARY, unlike British English.

Advanced Pronunciation Concepts

Four More Secrets to the American Accent

1. Stopped T

• T at the end of a word is not pronounced.
  • Example Sentence: "I thought he wouldn't appreciate the plant."

2. Glottal T

• T in the middle of the word replaced by a throat stop.
  • Example Words: "button," "gotten," "important."

3. Contractions with Will

• Clear vs. relaxed contractions.
  • Example Sentence: "He'll go if you'll go, and they'll go if we'll go."

4. Linking S + Vowel

• S becomes Z when linking with a vowel.
  • Example Sentence: "How's it going? There are cars in the sun."

American Idioms

Examples and Meanings

1. Take a Rain Check

• Means to change or delay plans.

2. Shoot the Breeze

• Means to chat casually without serious discussion.

3. Plead the Fifth

• Reference to the Fifth Amendment; choosing not to answer a question.

4. Give Props

• Means to give proper respect or acknowledgment.

Conclusion

• Encouragement to download the PDF worksheet to practice and remember what's learned.
• Weekly lessons available on Vanessa's YouTube channel.