Mastering the P Sound

/in , , , /by

Pronouncing the P Sound

Sure, it’s easy to say the /p/ sound, but if you would like to pronounce the sound the American English way, then this lesson is for you.  Do you speak English using a different accent than American English?   You may be using less air than you should be while trying to pronounce words that have the P in it. This lesson will help you understand that if the P is not pronounced with enough air, it will sound like a B. My name would sound like “Bam!” instead of Pam, or the listener may hear “Boar” (a pig!) instead of the word ‘poor’.

The tongue twister in this lesson: Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how pecks of pickled peppers did Peter Piper pick?  That’s 18 P’s to practice!

Please comment below and tell me if this P sound is easy (or hard) for you to pronounce using the American English way.  Include your native language. I would love to hear from you!

 

We Celebrated! How To Pronounce Past Tense

/in , , , , , /by

Today we Celebrate Our Anniversary! And yesterday we “celebrated”!  Since we are always talking about past events, let’s learn how to pronounce the -ED using the American English Pronunciation.  With regular verbs, we add an -ed to the verb to change the word to mean something that has happenED in the past. There are a few different ways to pronounce the ED sound, so to simplify this for you, here are the 2 most important pronunciation changes:

  1. If the verb ends in a T or a D, you will add an extra syllable at the end.

That extra syllable will sound like “did”

pound + ed (pounded) will sound like “poun-did” and wait + ed (waited) will sound like “wai + did”

2.   All other verbs will have a small sound at the end of the word.

cook + ed = “cookt”

play + ed = “playd”

Listen to this lesson and practice repeating after me.

And by the way, Happy Anniversary. It’s been 4 years since I have been recording my podcast. And thank you for listening!

Please comment below about  verbs + ed that  you have questions about.

Talking About Time? Use These 3 Words!

/in , , , /by

This is a great lesson packed with exercises for learning about pronouncing 3 vowel sounds, while learning about these three tiny words that are important to use when talking about time concepts. It’s an 8 1/2 minute listen. Enjoy!

My Personal Picks

/in , , , , , , , /by

Time Flies When You’re Having Fun!

A New Year means New Beginnings. But for some reason I wanted to reflect back and review some of my favorite recordings, and tell you about the most popularly viewed recordings. I can’t believe it but the recording called, Ring, Ring Hello! currently has over 1,000 listeners. It’s been played in over 50 Countries. You never know what is going to become popular. Unless it’s stuck on constant replay-it must be a favorite somewhere!

Listen to My Personal Picks and you will hear my favorite lessons for you

If you’d like to see my playlists (and listen to all 98 lessons) LOOK HERE 

We have a whole new year to keep learning from each other.

Are you ready?

Oh No! Pronouncing O

/in , , , , /by

Pronunciation Roadblocks For Saying “O”        Can Vary

While many people are good at saying the first part of the sound, MOST do not say the crucial second part.  Everyone will wonder how you did it,  HERE IS THE KEY TO SOUNDING GREAT

Read more

Use your voice like this pro!

Use Your Voice Like A Pro!

/in , , , , /by

Using Your Voice Like A Pro Learn how to stretch your voice and raise your pitch. This is the cornerstone of learning how to make your voice sound more natural and native to English. Raising your pitch while placing stress on words will help the listener hear what you are saying! First let’s learn how […]

Read more

Ordering At Starbucks-Varieties of Coffee and L Sounds!

/in , , /by

Practice the American English pronunciation when learning how to order sizes, flavors and menu choices from Starbucks. Let’s listen to some of the L pronunciations. I guarantee you will learn a new pronunciation in this lesson! Listen to this recording and review the words listed below.

Read more

Pronouncing “Of”- A Small Word That Needs A Lot OF Work!

/in , , , /by
Today’s lesson can change your English from it sounds okay  to  you sound great!
 Say the word “of” flawlessly
while connecting “of” in your conversation

Listen to this lesson. The sentences used in this lesson are below

Pronouncing “Clothes” and other related words!

/in , , , , /by

Pronouncing “Clothes” and Other Related Words!

American English pronunciation is so confusing because the spelling is unreliable. Today’s lesson is an example of the discrepancies of 5 words with similar spellings and their pronunciations. Wow! The good news, is that we will take care of a few of these challenging words right now!

In today’s lesson, we have words that are written the same but pronounced differently-and- words that are spelled differently and pronounced the same. American English is so weird! Listen to the following recording and read the descriptions of each word below! I encourage you to listen to the recording and read along. Then listen to the recording again and repeat the sentences without reading along! That way, you are practicing TALKING not READING!

You can do it!

Read more

Pronouncing Breathe & Breath

/in , , /by

English Pronunciation isn’t for the light-hearted. If only there were rules to follow and no exceptions to the rules in English pronunciation! Well, you can breathe easier with this lesson. Because once you study these two words, you will notice that there is a rule. Well, at least you can call it a “pronunciation prediction”!  Listen to this podcast, and look at the practice phrases and sentences. Take a deep breath…You’ve got this!

Read more