Want to know how to make the American accent? I’ll show you in this video and you’ll see some of my real-life students working on their accent as well.
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Video Text:
Sometimes it’s the little things that make a big difference.
Today we’re studying how to make the American accent by looking at about 20 different native languages. These are videos that you, my followers here on YouTube submitted of yourselves speaking English. We’re going to look at one simple quick win that you can start using to quickly improve your American accent.
I’m Rachel and I’ve been teaching English and the American accent on YouTube for over 15 years. Check out Rachelsenglish.com/free to get your free course, The Top Three Ways to Master the American Accent.
The quick American accent win is pitch.
The pitch of American English is often lower than how my students are speaking English. Let’s look at an example.
This is Polly. Polly is one of my students in Rachel’s English Academy, you can learn more at rachelsenglishacademy.com. I know her story, I love her personality.
She can adjust her pitch down, and when she does, that will improve her sound every time she speaks English. We’re just using one phrase: Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Let’s analyze it. First, this is Polly.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Nice smoothness but let’s look at the pitch. We’re going to hear her say it then I’m going to imitate her pitch and try to match her exactly. Then, I’m going to move into a pitch range that’s more natural for me.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
The blue lines are measuring frequency which are ears here as different pitches. You can see Polly’s frequency and mine when I imitate her is higher and then when I speak in a way that’s more natural to me my pitch comes down.
For a lot of students, bringing your pitch down is going to help and I’m going to show you how you can measure your own pitch in a minute. Let’s just listen to that pitch comparison a few more times.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Can you hear the pitch difference? Not everyone can. Let me know in the comments if you feel like this helps you or if it just confuses you more.
Also, if you’re wondering how I got this video of Polly, a while ago, actually almost a whole year ago, I posted here asking for you all to record a conversation for me, thank you so much to the students who did. I admit I was surprised at how good your rhythm was overall and how good your linking was overall. But there’s always more to work on.
Let’s talk a bit more about pitch and this time we’ll compare male voices.
I got my husband David to record the same dialogue that you all recorded from me. So in this video, we’ll see Alan and then David’s version. First, let’s just hear Alan on this phrase.
Sorry I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
I love Alan’s rhythm. Really good contrast between short and long syllables but let’s focus on pitch for a minute. Let’s play those two together.
I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Let’s look at the pitch. The beginning of David’s is actually higher isn’t it? Both voices have pretty good pitch range. When the pitch range is too small, it’s harder to understand. But I really want to focus on the end of the phrase. Alan’s pitch goes up to be pretty high again and while we sometimes raise our pitch at the end for a yes no question or to show more emotion, it’s definitely the norm in American English for pitch to generally go down over the course of a phrase. So this is going to sound more natural. Let’s listen again.
I just have to go to the bathroom and then I’ll be ready.
Let’s dive further into pitch and how you can see your own pitch. But I just realized I haven’t even played you the full dialogue yet. This is what I asked people to record:
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 I had something like 50 students contribute videos to help me teach you like Tanya, native language Russian.
Hey Rachel here are my three phrases:
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.
Doesn’t she sound great? I want to talk about this final word, “car”. She did a nice job of having her pitch lower at that point.
Alright, I’m going to wait in the car.
Here we have a recording of the whole dialogue on the left for me, and on the right for David. Notice our final word, car.
For both of us it’s the lowest word of that phrase. Let’s go back to another phrase. Again for both of us, and then I’ll be ready. The end is lower than the beginning of this phrase.
I also notice my pitch is overall higher than David. I go from around 120 hertz to about 350. David is about 95 to 155. So I have more contrast than him and the pitch is overall higher.
How can you work on your pitch? How can you see your own pitch? I’ll talk about the software you can use in a minute, but first I want to take every video that was sent to me and just look at the last phrase. We’re going to look at does the pitch generally go down as a statement. This part will be easier at my desk.
So, let’s listen to everybody. We’re going to go in alphabetical order by language.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car. I want a little bit more a, car. But yes the pitch does go down at the end.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car. The pitch does go down at the end.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car. There the pitch is even lower at the end and I love that.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car. So, it’s a little flat, car and that’s partly because we don’t really have the r, car, that will help us shape it and bring it down. Car, r, car.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car. Up down shape of stress. A
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
This is also a little cut off I’m not really hearing that R and I do want more that pitch coming down car, car.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Wait in the car. Car. So the pitch was already low because it was higher and then came further down as the phrase went on and then it really went low at the end of R, that’s a very good natural shape.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car. Good length, good pitch change coming down.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car. I did hear that pitch coming down.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Nice. Car.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Gar. I did hear a little bit of a g instead of a k, k, k sound, car, car. But I did hear it coming down in pitch which I like. Car.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Pretty good. Car. I do hear the pitch coming down.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car. This one to me comes up a little bit at the end. Car. So it would be a little bit more natural, car for the pitch to go down at the end.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car. Car. I do hear the pitch going down at the end.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, pitch going down exactly what we want to hear.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car. I do think it went down but it was pretty short a little bit more length will make me more sure that I’m hearing car with the pitch going down. Car.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car. To me, that pitch is going up, it’s a questioning intonation. I would rather have it car, going down.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car. going down.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Wait in the car. Going down at the end.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Also, car. Up down shape of stress, heading down exactly what we want to hear.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car. Car. Up down shape of stress, I like that I could have a little bit more length to make that more clear, car, car, car, since it is a stress word. But I do hear it low and getting lower.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car. So I do hear up down shape of stress I do hear that the pitch has gotten low at the end of a phrase.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car. It was a little bit quiet at the end and I do think car, I want a little bit of jaw drop, car, car so we can just hear that word a little bit more clearly, but definitely the pitch was going down.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car. Up down shape of stress.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car. Just what we want.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
I do hear that the pitch is going up and down, car, but I don’t really hear a strong r at the end. The r at the end will help me hear the pitch going down. Car, car.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car. Low pitch, getting lower at the end I love it.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car. Up down shape of stress, going down at the end, just right.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car. Pitch going down, love it.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, pitch is low, goes up and down, just like we want at the end of a phrase. Car.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car. Up down shape of stress.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car. Up down shape of stress.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car, car. Up down shape.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car. Good R, good up down shape of stress.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car. Car. That word was a little too short to really get the feel of coming down. Car, car.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car. Up down shape of stress, low and pitch at the end.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
I’m going to wait in the car. It did come down at the end but it went up almost too high. I’m going to wait in the car. A little bit more conversational would be, I’m going to wait in the car. Up down shape of stress for car but the whole thing a little bit lower.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car. Nice and low coming down at the end.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car. I could use a little bit of a stronger R but I do feel the up down shape of stress.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car, car. Up down shape of stress.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
Car. Up down shape of stress.
Alright, I’m going to in the car.
I’m going to wait in the car. I’m going to wait in the car. I think car is coming down at the very end but it’s, ‘I’m going to wait in the car.’ The fact that everything is lower and then it comes up more at the end, ‘I’m going to wait in the car.’ I don’t feel like car, I don’t feel like that final word should be the highest word in that sentence, it’s just a little bit less natural.
So, most students did have that up down shape with the phrase coming down at the end however, ever it’s important to know that that last word is a stressed word if it’s too short, then it’s hard for us to feel that shape, to feel that going down in pitch.
Okay, so how can you look at the pitch of your own voice? The software you saw me using was an app, Voice Analyst.
I got it for my iPhone but there is an Android version. It did cost $15 but it’s not the only app out there that can do this so you might be able to find a cheaper one. I suggest finding a bit of speech in a voice that you like. Favorite movie maybe. Take just a little bit of a part that’s normal conversation, not someone giving a speech, not someone upset and yelling, just normal conversation. Play that little clip into your voice analyzer. You’ll get something that looks like this. Now, what I like to do is use the built-in screen recording software on my iPhone, I like to make a video of me playing this clip so I get a video of it which I and then put on my computer. Then I can compare to next to each other like I’ve done in this video. So you can do this and you can compare your pitch with the pitch of the native speaker. If you see that it’s much higher, try to find that lower pitch, try to imitate that first word over and over and over so that you’re really grounding yourself in that opening pitch. It might feel really low compared to what you’re used to but just try it. You can also play with different pitches. Let’s take the first phrase of this dialogue, it was ‘hurry up.’ So, I want you to play around with hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up. Just lots of different range to get different feel in your body.
Seeing the visual of your frequency represented with a line may help you find a new lower pitch which may be more natural for speaking American English. Now, pitch isn’t the only thing I studied in your videos, I also really studied sounds and rhythm and as we speak right now, I’m working on that video. Taking all these conversations, using them to master some of the trickiest sounds in American English and to discover tweaks you can make to your voice to find a really natural American rhythm. While you wait on that, I want to play for you each students video. I’ll group them by native language. Take a listen and gas these students up in the comments.
Do you know that slang? To gas someone up is to give them compliments and make them feel good about themselves.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Love these students. 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:
Hear the difference immediately.
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