What Is Accent?

Accent is a combination of three main components: intonation (speech music), liaisons (word
connections), and pronunciation (the spoken sounds of vowels, consonants, and combinations). As
you go along, you'll notice that you're being asked to look at accent in a different way. You'll also
realize that the grammar you studied before and this accent you're studying now are completely
different.
Part of the difference is that grammar and vocabulary are systematic and structured— the letter of
the language. Accent, on the other hand, is free form, intuitive, and creative— more the spirit of the
language. So, thinking of music, feeling, and flow, let your mouth relax into the American accent.

Accent versus Pronunciation

Many people equate accent with pronunciation. I don't feel this to be true at all. America is a big
country, and while the pronunciation varies from the East Coast to the West Coast, from the southern
to the northern states, two components that are uniquely American stay basically the same—the
speech music, or intonation, and the word connections or liaisons. Throughout this program, we will
focus on them. In the latter part of the book we will work on pronunciation concepts, such as Cat?
Caught? Cut? and Betty Bought a Bit of Better Butter; we also will work our way through some of
the difficult sounds, such as TH, the American R, the L, V, and Z.
"Which Accent Is Correct?"
American Accent Training was created to help people "sound American" for lectures, interviews,
teaching, business situations, and general daily communication. Although America has many
regional pronunciation differences, the accent you will learn is that of standard American English as
spoken and understood by the majority of educated native speakers in the United States. Don't worry
that you will sound slangy or too casual because you most definitely won't. This is the way a
professor lectures to a class, the way a national newscaster broadcasts, the way that is most
comfortable and familiar to the majority of native speakers.
Chapter 1 American Intonation
The American Speech Music CD 1 Track 4
What to Do with Your Mouth to Sound American
One of the main differences between the way an American talks and the way the rest of the world
talks is that we don't really move our lips. (So, when an American says, "Read my lips!" what does
he really mean?) We create most of our sounds in the throat, using our tongue very actively. If you
hold your fingers over your lips or clench your jaws when you practice speaking American English,
you will find yourself much closer to native-sounding speech than if you try to pronounce every ...
single ... sound ... very ... carefully.
If you can relate American English to music, remember that the indigenous music is jazz. Listen to
their speech music, and you will hear that Americans have a melodic, jazzy way of producing
sounds. Imagine the sound of a cello when you say, Beddy bada bida beader budder (Betty bought a
bit of better butter) and you'll be close to the native way of saying it.
Because most Americans came from somewhere else, American English reflects the accent
contributions of many lands. The speech music has become much more exaggerated than British
English, developing a strong and distinctive intonation. If you use this intonation, not only will you
be easier to understand, but you will sound much more confident, dynamic, and persuasive.
Intonation, or speech music, is the sound that you hear when a conversation is too far away to be
clearly audible but close enough for you to tell the nationality of the speakers. The American
intonation dictates liaisons and pronunciation, and it indicates mood and meaning. Without
intonation, your speech would be flat, mechanical, and very confusing for your listener. What is the
American intonation pattern? How is it different from other languages? Foa egzampuru, eefu
you hea ah Jahpahneezu pahsohn speakingu Ingurishu, the sound would be very choppy,
mechanical, and unemotional to an American. Za sem vey vis Cheuman pipples, it sounds too stiff. A
mahn frohm Paree ohn zee ahzer ahnd, eez intonashon goes up at zee end ov evree sentence,
and has such a strong intonation that he sounds romantic and highly emotional, but this may not be
appropriate for a lecture or a business meeting in English.
1
American Intonation Do's and Don'ts
Do Not Speak Word by Word

Three Ways to Make Intonation

About this time, you're coming to the point where you may be wondering, what exactly are the
mechanics of intonation? What changes when you go to the top of the staircase or when you put
stress on a word? There are three ways to stress a word.
+ The first way is to just get louder or raise the volume. This is not a very sophisticated way of doing
it, but it will definitely command attention.
+ The second way is to streeeeetch the word out or lengthen the word that you want to draw
attention to (which sounds very insinuating).
+ The third way, which is the most refined, is to change pitch. Although pausing just before
changing the pitch is effective, you don't want to do it every time, because then it becomes an
obvious technique. However, it will make your audience stop and listen because they think you're
going to say something interesting.

Exercise 1-1: Rubber Band Practice with Nonsense Syllables CD 1 Track 5

Take a rubber band and hold it with your two thumbs. Every time you want to stress a word by
changing pitch, pull on the rubber band. Stretch it out gently, don' t jerk it sharply. Make a looping °
° figure with it and do the same with your voice. Use the rubber band and stretch it out every time
you change pitch. Read first across, then down.
A B C D
1. duh duh duh 1. la la la 1. mee mee mee 1. ho ho ho
2. duh duh duh 2. la la la 2. mee mee mee 2. ho ho ho
3. duh duh duh 3. la la la 3. mee mee mee 3. ho ho ho
4. duh duh duh 4. la la la 4. mee mee mee 4. ho ho ho

1. duh duh duh 1. duh duh duh 1. duh duh duh 1. duh duh duh
2. ABC 2. imprecise 2. condition 2. alphabet
3. 123 3. a hot dog 3. a hot dog 3. hot dog stand
4. Dogs eat bones. 4. They eat bones. 4. They eat them. 4. Give me one.
 1. Dogs eat bones. 11. Jerry makes music.
2. Mike likes bikes. 12. Jean sells some apples.
3. Elsa wants a book. 13. Carol paints the car.
4. Adam plays pool. 14. Bill and I fix the bikes.
5. Bobby needs some money. 15. Ann and Ed call the kids.
6. Susie combs her hair. 16. The kids like the candy.
7. John lives in France. 17. The girls have a choice.
8. Nelly teaches French. 18. The boys need some help.
9. Ben writes articles. 19.

1. Bob sees Betty. 1. He sees her.

2. Betty knows Bob. 2. She knows him.
3. Ann and Ed call the kids. 3. They call them.
4. Jan sells some apples. 4. She sells some.
5. Jean sells cars. 5. She sells them.
6. Bill and I fix the bikes. 6. We fix them.
7. Carl hears Bob and me. 7. He hears us.
8. Dogs eat bones. 8. They eat them.
9. The girls have a choice. 9. They have one.
10. The kids like the candy. 10. They like it.
11. The boys need some help. 11. They need something.
12. Ellen should call her sister. 12. She should call someone.
13. The murderer killed the plumber. 13. He killed a man.
14. The tourists went shopping. 14. They bought stuff.

Exercise 1-5: Four Main Reasons for Intonation CD 1 Track 12

Depending on the situation, a word may be stressed for any of the following reasons:
New Information Opinion Contrast "Can't"
1. New Information
It sounds like rain.
Rain is the new information. It's the most important word in that sentence and you could replace
everything else with duh-duh-duh. Duh-duh-duh rain will still let you get your point across.
V Repeat: Duh-duh-duh rain I It sounds like rain.
Duh ray
///// duh ///// ayn.
///// ///// duh ///// /////
///// ///// ///// ///// /////
V Make rain very musical and put it on two notes: ray-ayn. Duh-duh-duh ray-ayn / It sounds
like ray-ayn.
2. Opinion
It sounds like rain, but I don't think it is.
 In this case, intonation makes the meaning the opposite of what the words say: It looks like a
diamond, but I think it's a zircon. It smells like Chanel, but at that price, it's a knock-off. It feels
like... It tastes like... These examples all give the impression that you mean the opposite of what your
senses tell you.
V Practice the intonation difference between new information and opinion:
It sounds like rain. (It's rain.) It sounds like rain, (but it's not.)
3. Contrast
He likes rain, but he hates snow.
Like and hate are contrasted and are the stronger words in the sentence.
4. Can't
It can't rain when there're no clouds.
Contractions (shouldn't, wouldn't) and negatives (no, not, never) are important words since they
totally negate the meaning of a sentence, but they are not usually stressed. Can't is the exception.

1. It sounds like rain.

2. It sounds like rain.
3. He likes rain, but he hates snow.
It can't rain on my parade! He can't do it.
Exercise 1-9: Inflection CD 1 Track 16
Notice how the meaning changes, while the actual words stay the same.
1. I didn't say he stole the money. Someone else said it.
2. I didn't say he stole the money. That's not true at all.
3. I didn't say he stole the money. I only suggested the possibility.
4. I didn't say he stole the money. I think someone else took it.
5. I didn't say he stole the money. Maybe he just borrowed it.
6. I didn't say he stole the money, but rather some other money.

Hello, my name is . I'm taking American Accent Training. There's

a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the American
intonation pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I
use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used to. I've been paying
attention to pitch, too. It's like walking down a staircase. I've been talking to a lot of
Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on,
but the important thing is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?

Acronym Pronunciation
IBM Eye Bee Em
MIT Em Eye Tee
Ph.D. Pee Aitch Dee
MBA Em Bee εi
LA Eh Lay
IQ Eye Kyu
RSVP Are Ess Vee Pee
TV Tee Vee
USA You Ess εi
ASAP εi Ess εi Pee
CIA See Eye εi
FBI Eff Bee Eye
USMC You Ess Em See
COD See Oh Dee
SOS Ess Oh Ess
X,Y, Z Ex, Why, Zee
Spelling Pronunciation
Box Bee Oh Ex
Cook See Oh Oh Kay
Wilson Dubba You Eye El, Ess Oh En

Numbers Pronunciation
Area Code 213
Zip Code 94708
Date 9/6/62
Phone Number 555-9132

Exercise 1-20; Sound/Meaning Shifts CD 1 Track 29

my tie mai-tai Might I?
my keys Mikey's My keys?
inn key in key inky
my tea mighty My D
I have two. I have, too. I have to.

How many kids do you have? I have two.

I've been to Europe. I have, too.
Why do you work so hard?
I have to.
actually [æk•chully] every [εvree]
average [ævr'j] family [fæmlee]

aspirin [æsprin] finally [fyn•lee]

broccoli [bräklee] general [jεnr'l]
business [bizness] groceries [grossreez]
camera [kæmruh] interest [intr'st]
chocolate [chäkl't] jewelry [joolree]
comfortable [k'mf•t'bl] mathematics [mæthmædix]
corporal [corpr'l] memory [mεmree]
desperate [dεspr't] orange [ornj]
diamond [däim'nd] probably [präblee]
diaper [däiper] restaurant [rεstränt]
different [diffr'nt] separate [sεpr't]
emerald [εmr'ld] several [sεvr'l]
vegetable [vej•t'bl] liberal [libr'l]
beverage [bev•r'j] conference [cänfrns]
bakery [bā•kree] coverage [c'vr'j]
catholic [cæth•l'k] history [hisstree]
nursery [nrsree] accidentally [æk•sə•dent•lee]
onion [əny'n] basically [ba•sə•klee]

Did he? Didee?

Does he?Duzzy?
Was he?Wuzzy?
Has he?Hazzy?
Is he? Izzy?