In this video I’ll show you my work with several students as they try to improve their pronunciation of difficult American English words.
YouTube blocked?Video Transcript:
Today we’re going to go over some words and sounds in American English that non-native speakers find especially difficult. We’ll be looking at videos from people of 20 different language backgrounds. Through this we’re going to find tweaks that can help make you clearer when you’re speaking English.
I’m Rachel and I’ve been teaching the American accent here on YouTube for over 15 years, check out rachelsenglish.com/free to get my free course, The Top Three Ways to Master the American accent.
We’re going to go alphabetically through the languages so you can use the table of contents in the video to jump ahead to the native language that you’re interested in. I really want to thank everybody who submitted a video this really helps me become a better English teacher when I can hear so many people doing the same thing so I put a video out last year asking for people to record a dialogue for me,
Hurry up, we’re going to be late.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
And this is everybody that turned that in.
Hurry up we’re going to be late.
The first thing I noticed, hurry up, ha, you’re going to hear me saying this a lot. That vowel is ɜ. It’s very tricky, most native languages do not have ɜ in it, so it’s hard for those speakers to come into English to get that vowel, I call it the r vowel. Rrr. There’s not really a vowel sound between the H and the R, it’s just the R held out. Hur, hurry.
Sorry I just have—
Sorry, that’s another word I’m going to be picky about, the vowel there is a, a, sorry. So it’s not quite a pure a because of the r, saw, but we do want some jaw drop. Sor, to keep it separate from the r. Sorry.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Bathroom, that’s an A vowel, ba.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Great. I would use a little bit more length in wait, our verb, I’m going to wait in the, wait in the. That will make it a little clearer. Great job.
Hurry up, we’re going to be late.
Sorry.
Okay, I love the r in hurry, I love the uh in up. Now, the thing I notice is in the word ‘sorry’. We have a flap R there, sorry [flap]. American English never has that R. It’s always urr, sorry.
I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Nice job.
Hurry up.
Hurry Hur. I would rather hear hur, hur, hurry up. Hurry up, we’re going to be late I love the contrast. We’re going to be late, going to be, going to be. So fast. Late, longer. I love that contrast in syllable length.
Sorry, I just have to go to bathroom and that’ll be ready.
Alright, I’m going to wait in your car.
Nice job! I like your scene changes.
Hurry up! We are going to be late.
One thing I noticed, we are going to be late. So, in the dialogue that I gave, I said, we’re going to be late.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom, and then I’ll be ready. Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
I’ve noticed a couple different people did not do the contraction, we want the contraction. That’s part of very natural spoken English. We don’t want we are we want we’re, we’re, we’re. So fast, we’re going to be, we’re going to be late.
Sorry, I just have go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
I also noticed ‘bathroom’. There wasn’t really an ending M there, perhaps in Chinese we don’t have words that end in m. In English we have a bunch. Bathroom. Mm, mm. So I want to see your lips come together and make that M. Bathroom, mm, mm, mm. Nice job.
Hurry up!
Hurry up! Very good vowels there.
Hurry up! We are going to be late.
We are, I want we’re, we’re, we’re. Just the W sound, the R sound, the contraction we’re, we’re, we’re going to.
Sorry, I have just to go to the bathroom and then I’ll will be ready.
Bathroom. I heard that ending in an N, I want that ending in an M. Bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
I’m going to wait in the car. We don’t really separate things like that when we don’t have to in American English. I’m going to wait in the car instead of wait in the car. Wait in the car, wait in the car. Nice job.
Hurry up! You’re going to be late.
Sorry I just have to go to the bathroom—
I love your volume, very easy to hear you. Now, I like your rhythmic contrast but I noticed you’re not doing the two reduction. Go to, go to, go to. I would love to hear go to, go to ,go to, go to the, go to the bathroom. I have to, not have to but have to, have to, I have to, I have to go to the, I have to go to the bathroom. Nice job.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Sorry just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright I’m going to wait in the car.
Really nice job. I would say your unstressed syllables could be even shorter that would make the sound even just a little bit more natural.
Sorry just have to go to the bathroom.
Go to the bathroom. Go to the, go to the. What if you made it half is short? Go to the, go to the. And a little bit lower. Go to the. Go to the bathroom. That kind of contrast adds a lot of clarity to our speech it’s less clear but it’s against more clear syllables. They’re longer, these are shorter. I’m often working with students on making their short syllables even shorter. Nice job.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
I love that ER vowel, hurry.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Awesome. I don’t have much to say here, I do wonder what it would be like if the whole pitch was a little bit lower.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom,
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom, sorry I just have to go to the bathroom. Try it like this: Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom. Lower in pitch.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
The word be, I want an e vowel there, it sounded like be late. Be, be, bebebebe, be late, be late. I want that clearer sound. Be be, be late.
Sorry, I’ll just have go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
There was another place, be ready, be, be, be ready. E, e, be e ready, e e e. So, a little bit more brightness in that e vowel. Nice job.
Hurry up!
Hurry. Hur, ur, hurry.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready. Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Really nice, you’re ending e and ready sounds a little tense and a little bit flat to me. Ready, e e e e. See if you can do it with relaxing your tongue a little bit more, e, e, ready, ready. Well done.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Nice job with your UR vowel I did hear a T that is not an American T. Late. That kind of soft release is not in American English. We would probably do a stop T there. Late no release at all.
Sorry,
Sorry, I want so, sorry. A little bit more jaw drop little bit more open in that vowel. Sorry.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom then be ready.
I heard another kind of T. Go to, to, to. Go to. This would be a flap T and Schwa. Go to, go to the, go to the bathroom.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
That sounded a little bit like a G, g, g, g. We want a crisp k sound. Car. Nice job.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
I like the rhythmic contrast here. We’re going to be late. We’re going to be late. So, nice job making your fast fast and your long longer.
Sorry I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready. Bathroom. I did not hear the th there. Bathroom. Tongue tip lightly through the front teeth, bathroom.
Alright I’m going to wait in the car.
Nice job.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Sorry, I just have to go to.
Nice job. Sorry. Just a little bit could be more saw, a with a more open vowel there, sorry.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready. Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Wait in the car. Wait in the. I liked your flap T there connecting wait and in. Wait in, wait in, wait in the car.
Hurry up! We are going to be late.
Hurry up! The only thing I would say here is a little bit faster speed, hurry up, hurry up, to match a more American pacing. Hurry up!
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Bathroom. The th sounded a little bit like an S to me, bathroom, bath, make sure that tongue tip is coming through. Bathroom. I put this word in on purpose because I know that th is so tricky.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car. I’m going to wait in the car.
That’s just another place where your pacing could be a little bit faster, I’m going a wait in the car. Everything just a little bit faster. Nice job.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and I’ll be ready.
Bathroom. Didn’t really hear a th there, bathroom, bathroom.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Also, the th in the car, the, the car. I’m going to wait in the car. I didn’t really hear that. I heard sort of more of a d or, I’m going to wait in, maybe a z? So, we want to try to work on finding that th sound, the the the, the car.
I’m going to wait in the car.
I have a video that goes over some up close slow motion of the mouth with the th, I’ll link to that in the video description.
Hurry up! We’re going to late.
Late, late, lay. That’s a dipthong, two sounds, a, lay, late.
Sorry, I just.
Sorry, sorry, saw, a, a, a little bit more jaw drop. Sorry.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright, what I’m going to wait in a car.
Going to wait. Not wrong, but I believe in the dialogue I said, going to wait, going to, going to.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Do try to use gonna, wanna, gotta in spoken English, they just add a very nice casual conversational tone. Very natural in spoken American English. Well done.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright I’m going wait in the car.
Really nice job, I do want to have you work a little bit on making your short syllables together even shorter. For example, in this phrase:
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be—
And then I’ll be, and then I’ll be, and then I’ll be, and then I’ll be, and then I’ll be ready. Nice job.
Hurry up!
Hurry, hurry. Let’s try hur, ur, hurry, hurry, hurry up.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright I’m going to wait in the car.
Great job with going to and the to reduction.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
We’re going to be. With the we are contraction, I mostly want to hear just the W and the r. Wer, wer, we’re. Not we, we, we. We’re going to be, we’re going to be.
Sorry,
Sorry, nice jaw drop, I liked that open vowel. Sorry.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom—
Also, I really saw your tongue tip come through for that th and it was very clear, bathroom.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready. Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Wow, you even did the munna reduction. I’m going to wait in the car. Love that.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Lay, lay, lay, late. With the stop T. I need a little bit more of that a diphthong, late.
Sorry, I just had to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Had to go to the, had to go to the. A little bit of the consonants aren’t very clear. Have to, have to, have to go to the, have to go to the. So the most common way to pronounce have to is have to, have to, have to, have to go.
Alright I’m going to win in the car.
Nice job. I would just say I didn’t hear an m in I’m. I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m going to, I’m going to, I’m going to wait in the car.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Here’s another place where I want more UR vowel. Hur, hurry, hurry up.
Sorry I just have—
Sorry. Sa, try a little bit more jaw drop, sorry, sorry.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Sorry I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright I’m going to wait in the car.
Alright I’m going to wait in the car.
Alright. I liked your second. Alright, a little bit more. I thought there was a little bit more space this way which I liked. Alright, nice job.
Hurry up we’re got to be late.
Sorry,
Pretty good, saw, that’s one place where I need more jaw drop so that that vowel can be clearer sar, sorry, sorry.
Sorry I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Nice job.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Hurry up. Nice job connecting them, nice UR vowel.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready. Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
So this is a place where your syllables feel like they’re the same length. Sorry, and a little bit more better would be sorry, like one up down shape with the e at the very end. Sorry. Sorry, instead of that. Sorry, sorry. Nice job.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
I did feel like the E and B was a little bit more like e, be, be late. B b b b be late. So the tongue is a little bit closer to the roof of the mouth.
Sorry I just have to go the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Well done.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late!
Nice job. I do think that the L is a little heavy and late. We don’t need that much contact between the tongue and the roof of the mouth. It’s a little bit of a lighter sound, Lalalala, late, late, late.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready. Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
A little bit more r at the end of car. Nice job.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready. Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Nice. I loved your rhythm, I thought it was all very, very smooth.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Sorry, I just had to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
A couple times, I was hearing a T late, alright. We either want a true T, which is crisper or no T at all like a stop T, alright. So I don’t want that softer release of the T. Well done.
Hurry up!
Hurry, hurry, hur. I want more R vowel there, hur, hurry up.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Sorry,
Sorry, saw. More jaw drop, more relaxation there, saw sorry, sorry.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Sorry I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Going to wait in the car would be a little bit more natural conversationally but very nice job like your low pitch and placement.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Sorry, I do have to go to the bathroom—
The word just can be hard for Spanish speakers so we’re going to drop the T here, just, just, just, just, and we’re going to make a j sound j j j and a quick vowel s just just, just, just.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom—
Jo, jo. That’s more what I heard instead of just, just, I just, I just have, I just have to.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I be ready.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
I’ll be ready. I heard I be ready. We want that dark l sound all, all, all. It can sound like the word a-l-l, all, all, all, I’ll be ready. Well done.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
We’re going to be late. Late. Pitch going up at the end makes it feel like a question, so I’d love to hear we’re going to be late, late. Pitch going down.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Nice job.
Hurry up we’re going to be late.
I noticed the vowel and up, app, app is pretty high, ah. I want something more like uh, uh, it vibrates less here and more here. Uh, uh, up. Hurry up!
Sorry,
Sorry, sorry. A little bit more jaw drop there, sa, sorry, sorry. Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready. Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Very good overall I like those ending phrases.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Sorry, I just got to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
So I think I heard I just got to go to the bathroom instead of what I said in the dialogue which is I just have to go to the bathroom, and that’s actually fine. Both phrases are grammatically correct.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Nice. Now, one thing that I think could be a little bit more natural is if some of your syllables are less long. Car, car, car. If you shorten up your long syllables a little bit, I think that will be a little bit more natural sounding. Nice job.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Hurry, this is another place where I want a little bit more of that UR vowel. Hurry. Hurry up!
Sorry, I just have to go out to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
I had to listen to this a few times to figure out what I wanted to say and it’s the O diphthong on go. I heard g, go, go, go, go, go to the, go to the, go to the bathroom.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Nice job.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Sorry,
Sorry. Little bit more jaw drop, saw, sorry.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and—
Bathroom. I heard a little bit of of like maybe a z sound in your R, bath, bathroom.
I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Car. I want more length on that because it is a stress word. Car. Well done.
We’re going to be late.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom then I’ll be ready.
Nice job with your rhythm here but on the word to, I want to hear that reduced so it’s not the u vowel but the schwa. I just have to, to, to, I just have to, go to the, go to the, the, not go to, go to, go to, go to the.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Nice job.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Here, I also think I’m hearing we are we are. Very fast. I want we’re, we’re, we’re, we’re going to, we’re going to.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready. Alright I’m going to wait in the car.
Nice job with your rhythm and your other reductions.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
I think I see your arm moving and I love that. It makes your stress even clearer when you practice it that way. Hurry up! Mmm. Moving your arm with your stress syllable I think can help your body tune into the difference in length and the difference in melody in a stressed versus an unstressed syllable.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
And then I’ll be ready, and then I’ll be. I think I’m hearing an extra syllable in there, and then I’ll be ready. So you might want to slow it down and focus in on those syllables because I think I’m hearing an extra one maybe between I’ll and be.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Well done.
Hurry up! we’re going to be late.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
I’m hearing an extra stable here too. I just have to, I just have to, have to. So it might be that linking the words is a little bit tricky for you so you want to put in an extra vowel but let’s try have to, have to, have to go have to go to the bathroom.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Well done. A little bit more length on wait I’m going to wait and maybe more lip rounding for that W that one word was a little unclear. Wait, wait in the car.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Hurry. Hurr. Try that R vowel with not much jaw drop at all. Hur, hurry up.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Be instead of be, be late, b, b, b, b, be late.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Nice job. I do think your short syllables could be shorter in the phrase ‘go to the bathroom’. Go to the, go to the, go to the. It can help to just take those unstressed words in a row and practice them and simplify your mouth as much as you can to make it go quickly. Go to the, go to the, go to the bathroom.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Well done.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Hurry up! I like your smoothness and connection and I do like your UR vowel.
Sorry, sorry, saw. Let’s get a little bit more jaw drop there. Sorry, sorry.
Sorry, I just go to the bathroom and then I’ll ready.
I just go to the bathroom. We’re missing some words, I just have to go to the bathroom. I just have to go to the bathroom. I just have to go to the bathroom. I just have to go to the bathroom.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Nice job.
Hurry up! We’re going to be late.
Hurry up! Your A vowel, your UR vowel, perfect.
Sorry, I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready. Alright, I’m going to away in the car.
Car. I do want the pitch to just go down at the end. Car, car. Nice job.
Thank you so much to all my students out there who took the time to make a video and send it in. I just love seeing your faces and hearing your voices. I will say when I was going through and listening to these the first time, I thought man, these people have really good rhythm, really good smoothness and overall very good placement. I’m so proud of you you’ve really been watching the videos. You all sound fabulous.
Keep your learning going now with this video and don’t forget to subscribe with notifications on, I love being your English teacher.
That’s it and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.
Video: