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One of my favorite self help tutorial when it comes to learning proper pronunciation is The Ford’s American Accent Program.

Be low is the free sample of this product with audio and script. You can get your own full copy at Amazon.com

Congratulations! You are about to begin an exciting course of study. Master8ing the pronunciation and intonation of any language will result in “fluency” while speaking that language. In this course, you will work to ward becoming a fluent English speaker.

If you have taken other coursed in English, you probably touched only briefly on pronunciation and intonation. These elements of second language learning are extremely important and challenging. Your pronunciation and intonation determnone hoe will you are understood.

The ford Language Institute American Accent Program is completely devoted to the pronunciation of American English, rather than to grammar rules or vocabulary.

Getting the Most from This Program…

Practice several times every day. Many people listen to the tapes in their cars, or while exercising. If your schedule does not allow daily practice, you can still achieve satisfactory progress, although at a slower rate...

The small mirror we have included with these cassettes will help you produce the sound s of American English more quickly and accurately. As you practice each exercise, look at the way you form the sounds and compare it with the diagrams in the book.

A word of caution. Follow the course format even if you don’t believe that a certain subject is important to your speech improvement. When you learn a second language, you many hear pronunciation differences until you are sensitized to the /

Good luck... And good speaking!

The International Phonetic Alphabet

English spelling is not always phonetic. One consonant or vowel may have several sounds associated with it. As a result, it is often difficult to know how to pronounce a word from the way it is spelled. In a phonetic alphabet, each letter or symbol represents only one sound, not several.

For instance, “p” refers to the alphabert letter “p”, whereas /p/ refers to the sound the letter “p “makes in a particular word. When a word is spelled using these symbols, there is no confusion about its pronunciation. Whenever the phonetic alphabet is used in this course of study, the word or symbol will appear in brackets. The phonetic symbols for vowels and consonants are presented in tyher corresponding sections.

The Vowel System of American English

Introduction

One of the essential components of clear communication in any language is the crisp product ion of its vowels. Contrary to what you may think, it is usually the vowels, not the consonants which help us recognize the words e hear.

The first unit it will cover the vowel system of American English. You will begin with a review of the basic components of vowel production, followed by an introduction to the phonetic symbols for vowels. Then, for each vowel, a pronunciation description is given followed by sound, word and sentence exercises. Finally, the intonation rules for vowels in running speech are described and then practiced.

The Basic Components

The areas we will cover include: 1) tongue, jaw and lip position; 2) tongue tension; 3) vowel duration; and 4) compound vowels.

Instruction: As the basic of vowel pronunciation are presented, repeat the vowel sounds when indicated. This will improve your firsthand understanding of the mechanics involved. Learn to listen and correct yourself as you practice and later while you speak. This is very important because you must rely on what you hear to tell you when you are saying the vowels correctly.

Tongue Position

First, we’ll examine tongue position. When you say a vowel, the tip of your tongue should always be behind the lower teeth. The rest of the tongue my change position but the tip will always be down. This is the same for all vowels. Is the tip of your tongue in the right position when you repeat these vowels: /ae/, /a/, /u/? Again: /ae/, /a/, /u/.

The rest of your tongue changes position depending on the vowel you are saying. While keeping the tongue tip behind the lower teeth, the body of the tongue may be high in the mouth or low in the mouth. Try these vowels comparing the height of your tongue as you say them: /i/, /a/, /i, /a/ Yu should feel the tongue bunch high in the mouth for /i/ and flatten low in the mouth for /a/.

The tongue also presses forward in the mouth or back in the mouth or back in the mouth, depending on the vowels being said. For example, the body of the tongue is pulled back when saying /u/. It is pushed forward when saying /i/. It isn’t pushed forward or back when saying /a/, but rather remains in the center of the mouth. Repeat each three- vowel set and feel the movement of the tongue from front to back across the sounds:

/i/, /a/, /u/; /i/, /a/, /u/; /i/, /a/, /u/.

Lip Position

Next, let’s discuss the position of the lips when saying the vowels. When saying /u/, the lips are very round. When saying /i/, the lips are pulled back similar to a smile but without drawing up the corners of the mouth. When saying /a/, the lips are in a neutral position. They are neither drawn back nor puckered. They simply held in the normal position and parted slightly.

Using the neutral lip position for all vowels results in vowels that are not clear and distinct. This is a very common error., It is very important at this time to be sure that you round you lips or pull your lips back sufficiently when appropriate. Use a mirror as you practice alternate between /u/ and /i/, watching your lips pucker and then drawing you lips back.

Repeat: / i/, /u/, / i/, /u/, / i/, /u/, / i/, /u/, / i/, /u/,

Jaw Position

We have discussed lip position. Your jaw poisoning is also critical for clear and precise vowel pronunciation. Your bottom jaw drops down to varying degrees depending on the vowel being said. When saying /a/, the haw is lower that when saying /i/. Note the changes in jaw position as you repeat: /a/, /i/ /a/, /i/ /a/, /i/.

Tongue Tension

Tongue tension is another factor. Some vowels are said with the tongue tense, such as /i/ and /u/. Others are said with the tongue relaxed, such as /i/ and /u/ Repeat this group of vowels, comparing the degrees of tongue tension:

/i/ /I/ /u/ ,