The Sounds of American English
A New Year, a New Accent
The Sounds of American English -- and how they relate to stress -- are the building blocks of American English. It’s a new year, and a new opportunity to gain fluency in spoken American English. This set of 36 videos totaling nearly 3 hours is truly special for the way integrates understanding stress into learning the vowel and diphthong sounds.
Why These Videos are Different -- Better -- Than Anything Else
Most of the materials you'll find elsewhere just teach the sounds on their own, in isolation. It's a mistake to learn them this way -- we learn the sounds to speak words and sentences, not just sounds! For beginners, you can simply focus on what the different sounds are, and how they’re made. You can differentiate between ee [i] vs. ih [ɪ] and ah [ɑ] vs. uh [ʌ].
More advanced learners can focus on the subtleties of how sounds are affected by stress to put the finishing touches on their American accent. Every vowel and diphthong video teaches the sounds in the context of stress, so you’re working on the overall character of American English, which is so important.
What You Get:
- 36 videos (nearly 3 hours of video) in TWO forms: one with English subtitles, one without. You choose which set to watch. You can download these to your computer or other devices, or simply stream them on the Gumroad website or through the Gumroad app for mobile. These videos are in .m4v format.
- 1 PDF of all the transcripts.
How to Work:
Watch this collection all in one day if possible. Do this a couple of times to get really familiar with the sounds as a whole. Then go back and study individual sounds. Be sure to practice out loud with the example words.
About Rachel
Rachel has taught American English pronunciation on the popular YouTube channel, RachelsEnglish, for over 8 years.
Complete List of Included Materials
Transcripts (PDF)
Videos:
1 - Download Companion Video with subtitles
1 - Download Companion Video
2 - General Information on Sounds - with subtitles
2 - General Information on Sounds
3 - UH as in BUTTER - with subtitles
3 - UH as in BUTTER
4 - AH as in FATHER - with subtitles
4 - AH as in FATHER
5 - AW as in LAW - with subtitles
5 - AW as in LAW
6 - AA as in BAT - with subtitles
6 - AA as in BAT
7 - EH as in BED - with subtitles
7 - EH as in BED
8 - EE as in SHE - with subtitles
8 - EE as in SHE
9 - IH as in SIT - with subtitles
9 - IH as in SIT
10 - OO as in BOO - with subtitles
10 - OO as in BOO
11 - UH as in PUSH - with subtitles
11 - UH as in PUSH
12 - UH as in SUPPLY - with subtitles
12 - UH as in SUPPLY
13 - UR as in BIRD - with subtitles
13 - UR as in BIRD
14 - OH as in NO - with subtitles
14 - OH as in NO
15 - OW as in NOW - with subtitles
15 - OW as in NOW
16 - AI as in BUY - with subtitles
16 - AI as in BUY
17 - AY as in SAY - with subtitles
17 - AY as in SAY
18 - OY as in TOY - subtitles
18 - OY as in TOY
19 - EW as in FEW - with subtitles
19 - EW as in FEW
20 - Vowel and Diphthong Comparison - with subtitles
20 - Vowel and Diphthong Comparison
21 - B and P - with subtitles
21 - B and P
22 - G and K - with subtitle
22 - G and K
23 - T and D - with subtitles
23 - T and D
24 - F and V - with subtitles
24 - F and V
25 - S and Z - with subtitles
25 - S and Z
26 - SH and ZH - with subtitles
26 - SH and ZH
27 - The Two THs - with subtitles
27 - The Two THs
28 - CH and J - with subtitles
28 - CH and J
29 - M - with subtitles
29 - M
30 - N - with subtitles
30 - N
31 - NG - with subtitles
31 - NG
32 - H - with subtitles
32 - H
33 - Y - with subtitles
33 - Y
34 - W - with subtitles
34 - W
35 - R - with subtitles
35 - R
36 - L - with subtitles
36 - L