Accent Training Podcast

Do you ever notice that Americans won't always pronounce vowel sounds as they are written. Vowels will often be reduced to a quick and quiet "uh" sound to create clear contrast between rising and falling syllables. We call this The Schwa, and it is the most commonly used sound in the American accent.
Listen closely to learn a few common words and expressions using schwas, and keep reducing your syllable stress!

Check out my video course on Udemy to take your spoken English to another level!
https://www.udemy.com/course/command-the-american-accents-rhythm-and-pronunciation/?referralCode=C96318A268600601A20F

Follow along with these individual words and common phrases:
About  |  Below  |  Problem  |  Banana  
It was a problem  |  Foreign relations  |  About to arrive

Idiomatic Expressions:

Break Even To neither lose nor gain invested money
We broke even after 2 years in business. 

A Couch Potato A lazy person
Don’t sit around like a couch potato, get to work!

Bring home the bacon Earning a salary for a family
He’s no couch potato, he brings home the bacon!

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It takes work to keep one's house in order, and the words that we use to describe these actions can be confusing. Listen along as I give context to 25 must-know American English phrases to keep your house spotless!

Check out my video course on Udemy to take your spoken English to another level!
https://www.udemy.com/course/command-the-american-accents-rhythm-and-pronunciation/?referralCode=C96318A268600601A20F
Follow along with these phrases below:

1. Linens - Bedsheets and pillowcases
2. Throw in a load of wash - Washing fabrics in a washing machine.
3. Load of laundry - Fabrics being washed
4. Do laundry -  Washing fabrics in a washing machine.
5. Wipe the windows - Clean the windows with spray and a cloth.  
6. Broom - A long brush for cleaning hard floors.
7. Sweep - Cleaning with a broom
8. A mop - A long stick made to soak water to spread across the floor for cleaning. 
9. To mop - Using a mop to clean a hard floor.
10. Muck - Goopy Waste 
11. Toss a load in the dryer - Transfer fabrics from the washing machine to the dryer.
12. Cut the grass - Use a machine to cut grass short.  
13.  Mow the lawn - Cut the grass 
14. Rake the leaves  - Use a rake to create piles of leaves to be later thrown away. 
15. Clean the gutters - Clean leaves from the drain on the roof. 
16. Shovel the driveway - Remove snow from the driveway using a shovel  
17. Salt the ice - Lay salt on ice to walk on it easier.   
18. Damp - A little bit wet
19. Clean the car out - Removing the junk and vacuuming one's car 
20. Hose the car down - Soak the car in water with a hose
21. Scrub the car down - Cover the car in soap and scrub it with a sponge
22. Rinse the car off - Spray the soap and dirt off with a hose
23. The wax - A sticky substance applied as polish 
24. Wax the car - Apply wax to a car 
25. Make the bed - Lay out bedding and prepare bed for sleeping

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Take a good look at how you connect your speech. Do you do this at all, or is this something that usually goes right over your head? Face this concept head-on with everyday phrases like "you" and "your", and understand how and when we reduce and blend the sounds of these words with T endings. 
 
Follow along with these quick, common phrases:

Didn’t you go?  =  Didn’chuh’go?
I think that you should.   =  I think tha’chuh’should.
I’ll let you take a chance  = I’ll le’chuh’take a chance.

Rest your eyes =  Res’cher’eyes.
It’s not your fault. = It’s nah’cher’fault.
I hope that you're alright.  =  I hope tha’cher’alright.

T + U Sound Idiomatic Expressions

Bet you that  I'm confident about something
I'll bet you that they show up late. 

Lost your touch To lose proficiency with a skill
I see you haven't lost your touch with cooking!

That's what you get That's the consequence
That's what you get when you don't sleep early!

Check out my video course on Udemy, and learn to Command the American Accent's Rhythm and Pronunciation.

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Mornings can be a drag, but if you take them head-on, you might find them to be a great way to prepare yourself to take on the day! Listen in to learn about my personal morning routine, and what words you can use to best describe your own!

Listen closely for the following vocabulary and phrasal verbs in the episode:

Groggy - The feeling of sleepiness when you wake up

Early birds - People who wake up early in the morning

Alarm goes off - the alarm buzzes / sounds

Hit snooze - Press the "Snooze" button to sleep a bit longer

Get up - Rise from the bed

Up and at'em - Get your day started

Head to the kitchen - Go to the kitchen

Put on some coffee - Brew coffee

Cup of joe - A cup of coffee

Have breakfast  - Eat breakfast

Take the dogs out - Bring the dogs outside for a walk

Take a morning jog / have a workout - Exercise

Groom oneself - Tidying one's hair

Get things together for work - Collect materials needed to do one's job

Get one's thoughts together - Focus / Consider what needs to be done

Head out to work - Leave the house to go to work

Get to work - Begin working

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Blending sounds helps to eliminate the choppy sound from your speech. Sometimes sounds blend between words, and sometimes to transition smoothly between sounds within a word.

When T precedes u in an unstressed syllable, blend the sounds together. This habit will help you to better control your stress and transitions between sounds.

Want more tips on controlling your stress and sound of American speech? Check out my video course on Udemy, and learn to Command the American Accent's Rhythm and Pronunciation.

I look forward to teaching you more in-depth uses of T stress there! 

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We all take a little leisure time now and then, so let's take a moment to consider the words we use to express what we're doing! Tune in to learn about 10 great idioms to better explain your leisure activities, then practice using these phrases as soon as you can!

Follow along with these 10 idioms here:
Chilling  |  Keeping it low key  | Disco nap  | Hanging around  |  Hanging out  |  Going ham
A night on the town  |  Go window shopping  |  Catch a flick  |  Call it a night

Take your Spoken English to another level, and check out my video course on the Rhythm of the American Accent here:
https://www.udemy.com/course/command-the-american-accents-rhythm-and-pronunciation/?referralCode=C96318A268600601A20F

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Today I teach you all about a the au / aw Digraph, and why you're overthinking this sound. It's an easy letter combination to pronounce, all that you need to do is forget what you previously learned in school and open your ears to this episode! Let's get to work, and learn to say vowel sounds clearly and confidently!

Follow along with these practice phrases:
Auto shop  |  Self-taught  |  Caught off guard  |  Poor audio quality

Practice these au / aw Digraphs in American Idioms:
A yawn fest A very boring event
The show was a total yawn fest, I was so bored!

It dawned on me I realized something
It suddenly dawned on me that my phone was gone. 

The Rule of Law Nobody is above the law
The rule of law applies to the highest placed officials. 

Check out the video course here!

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Today I interviewed Stephen Greene, an English teacher from the U.K. Stephen has taught English for many years in many different countries. In this chat Stephen breaks down for us some of his favourite teaching methods to ensure success when learning ANY language! Tune in to see what it's all about!

Check out Stephen's website here!
https://englishwithstephen.com/

Also, check out my video course on enhancing your handle on the stress of the American accent! Click here to try for yourself!

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Glides are used all over spoken English, and getting used to them will help you take more control over your speech when it comes to learning an American Accent. Here we discuss 2 more Y glides, and consider how they can improve your vowel pronunciation, and enhance your American pronunciation!

Read these phrases along with me and shadow my pronunciation and stress:
  I don't feel like it  |  Between us  |  Don't annoy me  |  Employment rates 

• Be polite and clean your space. 
• Enjoy some red wine with your steak. 
• I don't feel good after eating cake all day. 
• Don't boil the buoyant eggs, they've spoiled. 
• This drive may take a while, feel free to sleep.  

Train your American accent, and repeat these common American idiomatic expressions:

• Down the toilet Something  was wasted or failed
  His cash went down the toilet with the market crash. 
  
  
• Any minute now Sometime very soon
  Get your things together, we'll leave any minute now. 
  
  
• Do you feel me? Do you understand me? (informal)
  I need to rest before we head out, do you feel me?

Interested in learning more about the Rhythm and Pronunciation of the American accent? Click here to check out my video course!

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I'm here to help, and the best way to do that is to make sure that those who need my help can find me. For this reason, I have changed the name of this podcast to "AccenTraining Club".
I have also changed the name of my Instagram account to the same @accentrainingclub, so make sure to check me out there!

And finally, I'm proud to announce that I have completed my first video course, and it's available for purchase now! Check out the link to see how you can boost your ability to control your American accent!

Boost your spoken English using an American accent here!

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