American accent training cd free download

They include distinguishing between casual and formal speech, homophones e. A native language guide references problematic accent issues for 13 different language backgrounds. In recent years, Barron's American Accent Training has gained wide respect as a self-teaching program, but more and more speech trainers, teachers, and speech therapists report that they are also using it as a valuable teaching tool in their speech classes.

This new edition now comes with downloadable audio. The program goes where no American accent training tool has gone before, providing highly innovative instruction for both students and business people. The structure of the book has been reorganized, offering students a much more clear and direct sequence of lessons and a path to better understanding The downloadable audio component features professional male and female voices that have been carefully selected to represent authentic American pronunciation and intonation Pronunciation exercises encompass all vowel sounds, consonants, blends, and diphthongs Emphasis on linking, or phonetically transcribed sound liaisons, help students "see" the correct sounds Designed for foreign-born students and business people working, traveling, or studying in the United States and Canada Supplementary materials include detailed nationality guides for 11 languages Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Korean, Arabic, the U.

Southern accent, and African languages. More valuable features include access to a comprehensive website, and referral to a qualified telephone analyst for an individual diagnostic speech analysis.

Learn how with this detailed book. Illustrations, videos and detailed explanations of accent error patterns and American pronunciation give you everything you need to understand and implement the SMART American Accent Training method.

You'll change much more than just one word and get the tools you need to improve your American accent. Popular Books. This tip may sound a bit strange but if you try it, you will see the difference. There are many languages that are spoken at a faster rate than the English language, e. Russian, Spanish, Chinese, and Hindi. If you try to speak English with the same speed that these languages are spoken, native speakers may not understand you and you will need to repeat yourself. So you should slow down a little bit when speaking English and make pauses between words a little longer.

In this way, your speech will sound clearer. When speaking, Americans divide long sentences into phrases which are called thought groups. Try to adapt your speaking pace — speak in short phrases and make brief pauses after each phrase to help other people process what you said.

You should emphasize the most important words in your message. Use pitch emphasis on the focus word in each phrase — raise your voice and make a longer sound for the specific word that requires the most attention.

When stressing different words in the sentence, you can change its meaning:. You should also learn the common intonation patterns of spoken American English because we use intonation to display our emotions. You need to articulate vowels in the stressed syllables with extra length and a slight rise in pitch.

Every language has a specific set of sounds. Some languages may share common sounds but still, there are subtle differences in their pronunciation which will be very noticeable to native speakers.

So you should learn how to pronounce all the sounds in American English. There are 5 letters for vowel sounds in the English alphabet a, e, i, o, and u and these 5 letters make 15 different vowel sounds. You need to learn to pronounce all vowel sounds correctly to speak clear American English.

Get familiar with the International Phonetic Alphabet. It will help you identify new sounds and give you some markers to navigate the language. Schwa also occurs in many grammar words, for example, in articles, and prepositions. Getting proficient with schwa will help you make your pronunciation more accurate and natural. You have to distinguish between L and R sounds that are interchangeable in some languages. American R sound is rather unusual and seems to exist in only a few languages, for example, in Mandarin Chinese.

When pronouncing the American R, you must put your tongue in the middle of your mouth and keep your lips a bit rounded. You might be surprised but native American speakers do not articulate every T. Instead, they use at least three different T sounds — tapped T, silent T, and held T.

You must learn to differentiate and to pronounce all these variations. You should use them in your speech to make it sound smoother and more natural. Native American speakers almost always use contractions. Contractions are not slang but grammatically correct combinations of separate words that are shortened to speak faster. In writing, Americans use an apostrophe to replace the missing letters. Here are some examples of contractions:. You should practice contractions and incorporate them in your spoken English as well.

You will sound more fluent and native-level. Focus on mastering these features of the American accent and soon you will notice that you sound more engaging and natural.

Now that you know what features of American accent you need to work on, here are some practical recommendations on how to organize accent training lessons on your own. Use them to improve your American accent. The more you practice and the more feedback you get, the better your American accent will become. Listen to as much as possible native talks online.

You should focus on the phonetic aspects of the language and pay attention to stress, rhythm, and intonation. If you are not sure how to pronounce a certain word correctly in American English, check a good dictionary. You can use online audio dictionaries, listen to the correct pronunciation, and imitate it. English idioms and proverbs are an important part of the written and spoken English.

If you want to sound fluent and more native, you need to learn common idioms and expressions of American English and use them in your speech, especially in informal settings. A good idea is to make a list of words that confuse you.

You should also list the words that have some tricky combinations of sounds or are especially challenging for you to pronounce. Practice pronouncing these words regularly. You can find a lot of free video lessons on YouTube and expose yourself to the American way of speaking English.

Besides, you can subscribe to pronunciation podcasts and listen to them on the go. Find some interesting stories, poems or articles in English and read them out loud. Pay attention to how you pronounce sounds and analyze the correct intonation while reading. You should try to stress content words — nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs and use the proper intonation pattern to express your emotions. Training your American accent can be a pleasure if you use this tactic. Choose your favorite song and sing along!

You will practice your pronunciation and have fun. How can you tell if your practice is working? Use your phone to film yourself speaking English.

You will hear how you speak and you will see how you do it. Find a good video clip, choose several sentences, start recording and try to imitate the sounds and the intonations. When comparing the two videos, you will be able to see what you did differently and identify your shortcomings.

If you want to reach significant positive changes in the way you speak, the best thing you can do is to take an online American accent training course at Accent Hero. Here is why:. Top Reasons to Learn American Accent No matter what your native language is or what country you come from, if you speak English with a noticeable foreign accent or even a regional dialect, it will be harder for other people, especially native speakers, to understand you clearly.

You will reduce communication barriers and improve your self-confidence.