Mastering the American Accent

The Senior Teacher at St Giles San Francisco, Amy,  offers some helpful tips on how to sound like a true American!

Try saying the phrase, “I’d like a little bottle of water.” How did you pronounce the t sound in the middle of the words?

If you are studying at one of our centers in the United States, we would teach you to pronounce the /t/ sound as a /d/ to help you master the American accent. Try saying it again like an American: “I’d like a liddle boddle of wader.” Fantastic! You’re sounding more like a Hollywood actor or actress already!

Would you like some more tricks for sounding just like all the Americans you see in the movies? Just continue reading and you’ll be sounding like Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie in no time.

What you want to say:                                                          How you should say it:

Do you want to….?                                                                         “yantoo”

Try it:  “Yantoo have coffee with me in the St Giles café?”

Did you…?                                                                                         “joo”

Try it: “Joo study last night?”

…go to…                                                                                            “godu”

Try it: “I godu school at St Giles and I love it!”

What are you…                                                                             “Whaddaya”

Try it: “Whaddaya doing tonight?”

Got you                                                                                             “gotcha”

(meaning = I understand you. It is used in very casual situations.)

Try it: “Gotcha! I’ll try practicing these phrases outloud.”

If you would like to learn English in the USA at our English Language School in San Francisco, please visit our website or contact us for more information at english@stgiles-usa.com.