Introduction and Getting Started Welcome to the free Pronunciation Short Course! In Part 1, I’ll be covering a basic introduction to this pronunciation course and how you can get started. We’ll review the tools you need in pronunciation training and some exercises that you can start practicing right away. Remember, changing the way you speak doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, practice and focus to make improvements in your speech. It’s not always an easy journey, but I hope that I can make it fun for you! Listen to the new recordings every three days and spend the time in between segments to practice what you’ve learned. Print out the transcripts for further study if you find that helpful. Participate in the English Pronunciation Lab   Read More

Vowel Sounds: Short, Long and Schwa Welcome back to the Free Pronunciation Short Course! I hope that you’ve been practicing your tongue twisters and that you’ve gathered all the tools you need to be successful in changing the way you speak. Have you remembered to post any questions you might have had from Part 1 on the Part 1 lesson page? Since each section builds on the last, it’s best to get your questions answered before moving on to the next segment. In Part 2 we’ll be talking about vowel sounds. This is one of the more complicated areas of English pronunciation. We’ll be taking a broad approach by looking at the short and long vowel distinction and the most common English vowel (which you’ve   Read More

Voiced and Unvoiced Consonant Sounds Since we just looked at some important vowel sound distinctions in Part 2, I’d now like to look at consonant sounds. We’ll be covering voiced and unvoiced sounds and how you should use (or not use) your voice to create these sounds. If you’ve never stopped to think about how you use your voice when you speak, you’ll probably find this segment of the course really interesting. It’s amazing how such a small difference in pronunciation can lead you to saying completely different words than what you really mean. There’s a secret tip at the end of this recording that will help you to instantly improve your pronunciation of voiced word endings, so be sure to listen all the way   Read More

The Most Challenging Consonant Sounds I hope that you’re beginning to pay more attention to the voiced/unvoiced sounds distinction we covered in Part 3. Now I’d like to look at a handful of specific sounds that cause problems for just about all of my clients, regardless of their backgrounds. This is an area that can be frustrating for many because it’s hard to change the way your mouth moves to make different sounds. Don’t give up! Just keep practicing! The best method I’ve found is to stand in front of the mirror and really watch what your mouth is doing. Then compare what you’re doing to the instructions I give you in the recording. Click on the play button in the audio player below to   Read More