How to speak with an American accent

Remember: there is no “right” way to pronounce English, simply different accents.

“I am going to go to the internet for some information on breakfast.”

Let’s try a sample sentence:

PRONUNCIATION: What the scholars say…

“...Traditionally, Filipino English is described as syllable timed with each syllable coming with even beats, rather than following the stress timing of American and British English where the stress is on nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.”

--Roger Thompson, “Filipino English and Taglish” (2003)

PRONUNCIATION: Word Stress

“I am going to go to the internet

for some information on breakfast.”

Filipino: even rhythm

American: uneven rhythm

“Instead of pronouncing unstressed vowels as a schwa, Filipinos pronounce each syllable with the full value indicated by the spelling.”

-- Gonzales (1983)

PRONUNCIATION

PRONUNCIATION: The “Schwa”

“I am going to go to the internet

for some information on breakfast.”

Filipino: ter

Filipino: fastAmerican: fust

American: tur

Say “Uhh”!In other words, Filipino speakers have more precise pronunciation than American speakers.

PRONUNCIATION: The “Schwa”In American pronunciation, the schwa, or

“uhh” sound, is the most common vowel sound. Examples:

'a' in about [əˈbaʊt] 'e' in taken [ˈteɪkən] 'i' in pencil [ˈpɛnsəl] 'o' in eloquent [ˈɛləkwənt] 'u' in supply [səˈplaɪ]

PRONUNCIATION: The “Schwa”Americans tend to omit medial posttonic

syllables. 

Examples: Sep(a)rate “Seprate” Choc(o)late “Choclate” Cam(e)ra “Camra” Elab(o)rate “Elabrate”

TRY TALKING LIKE AN AMERICAN

I am going to go to the internet for some information on breakfast.

tuh

tuh

tur

fur

fur

fust