VIDEO- 3 English words-American, British and Australian accent

3 English Words- American, British And Australian Accent

I’m sure you’ve noticed that the pronunciation of certain English words varies from country to country, and even from one city or state to the next.

When I work with accent reduction students, there are always English words that they aren’t sure how to pronounce. In fact I’m sure you could even tell me an English word you find tricky to pronounce right now. (You are welcome to write it in the comments below and I’ll include it in a future training blog). For this reason, we have included common longer, or more complex English words in the practise sentences and dialogs in our accent reduction courses.

Practise tip

Make a point of really listening actively and noticing at least 1 or 2 multisyllabic words that native speakers use when you speak with them each day. Notice if you say them the same way. Are you:

• saying the vowels exactly the same way- for example don’t say ‘ah’ if the ‘a’ letter is saying /ae/
• if there is an ‘o’ in the word, is it saying ‘o’ or ‘u’ 
• are you putting the emphasis/stress on the same syllables
• are you using the same melody
• are you making the long vowels long enough
• are you aspirating the consonants that need aspirating in the word

If you aren’t, make a note of what you need to do, and practise the word by itself and then in sentences. Once you can say it correctly, then do the same thing all over again. 

3 English Words

1) The first word is yoghurt

In British English it’s said – yogə(ː)t

In American English it’s said  yoe-gert

In Australian English it’s said yoegət

2) The next word is project (noun)

In British English it’s said  ˈprojekt

In American English it’s said  projekt

In Australian English it’s said proejekt

3) The next word is surprise

In British English it’s said  səˈpraheez 

In American English it’s said  ser-praheez

In Australian English it’s said səpraheez

Best wishes, Esther