Accent Modification is the process of polishing your words..

..so that they shine every time you have a conversation! Take this scenario: Everything is going well with your day and then SURPRISE  you say a word- a simple word- and the next thing you know, you are repeating yourself over and over again, trying to get the other person to understand what you are saying. Annoying, right? Well, it happens to all of us, but for those trying to pronounce English sounds, the “zh” or /ʒ/  can be the culprit for misunderstandings.

Learning how to say this sound is as difficult as me trying to write the sound for you to understand. Commonly, we write “ZH” because there is no other way to explain it. The International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA, has letters and symbols that represent sounds in the English Language. The symbol for the sound “zh” is /ʒ/

The sound /ʒ/ is often said incorrectly. But not today, because you are going to fix it!

Speaking English is easier than Spelling English!

If only English used one letter to represent one sound. But that is not the case. Here are the most common to the least common spellings

Spellings with  S – do you see any patterns?    s    su    si 

measure, illusion, usual/usually, division, Asia, collision, precision, persuasion, occasion, television, version, lesion

Spellings with  G  (listen to the podcast to learn how to say this sound at the ends of words)

regime, camouflage, beige, garage, corsage, rouge, massage

Spellings with Z

seizure, azure

Spellings with T (least common spelling)

equation

Are there any Doctors in the house?

…or are there any medical staff here? There are many medical terms that have  /ʒ/. Think “aphasia” or “seizure”.  If you are interested in learning how to pronounce medical terms or words that are specific to your field of study, please contact us- we can customize a program specifically for you. There is no commitment to talk about the possibilities. Schedule your free 30-minute consultation, contact Pam  to schedule.