There are 44 different sounds in American English. All are important, but some sounds are more important than others. Which sounds should you tackle first?

Vowel sounds play a very important part in language. We lengthen and intone vowel sounds when we emphasize certain words in a sentence. We also lengthen vowel sounds to indicate syllable stress. Vowel sounds play an important part in making words, and sentences, knowable.

Practice these sounds:

1.) The “Cat” Vowel Sound – This is a very common vowel sound. To make this sound, bring your lips into a smile. Keep the tongue flat. The sound is short.

2) The “Fun” Vowel Sound – This sound often gets mispronounced. Many executives, especially Russian speakers of English, make it more complicated than it is. This sound is made by keeping the jaw and tongue very relaxed. The sound is short. It sounds like a small grunt.

3) The “High” Vowel Sound – This sound is long and your lips, tongue and lower jaw move while you make it. To start, round your lips as if you are holding a small ball in your mouth. As you make the sound, move your lips into a slight smile, and arch the middle of the tongue high toward the hard palette. Count to two as you make the sound.

This entry was posted in ESL Accent Reduction Video Blogs
Tagged with accent modification , accent reduction , esl executive , executive , manhattan , new jersey , new york , new york city , presentation training , presentation training esl business executives , reduce accent , speech coach
Bookmark this article Three Core Sounds Every ESL Executive Should Master