[ti:How Can I Sound American?] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:01.92]Today on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Igor in Russia. He writes, [00:10.08]Question: I'd like to speak with an American accent. [00:13.84]Could you give me advice on how to improve it? [00:18.12]Thank you so much. [00:19.80]Yours sincerely, Igor, Russia [00:24.64]Dear Igor, [00:26.32]An accent is more than simply the way one says individual words. [00:31.92]It is also the way speakers use three things: intonation, pacing and stress. [00:41.44]Intonation is the rise and fall in one's voice when speaking. [00:47.52]Pacing is how fast you are speaking. [00:50.96]And stress is the word or words you play up, or emphasize, when you talk. [00:58.76]If you want to sound more like an American when you speak, [01:03.12]there are a few sounds that experts say make up the American accent. [01:10.20]The thing most people notice is that many Americans [01:14.20]pronounce the "r" sound at the end of words, like "butter." [01:20.12]And, in American English, the "t" in the middle of a word is often said like the letter "d." [01:29.96]Try making the "r" sound in these three words: better, door, poor. [01:38.64]Another of these sounds is the short "a" sound you hear in words like "cat." [01:46.28]To make this sound, pull your lips back as if you are smiling, but keep your mouth open. [01:55.16]Try making this short "a" sound in these words: dad, map, tag. [02:05.08]Another sound you should watch for is the short "o," as heard in the words "bot" and "cod." [02:13.88]Your lips do not need to be round to produce this "o" sound. [02:19.72]Try saying this sound in mom, got, and pop. [02:26.76]The most important way to improve your accent is to keep on speaking [02:31.80]and listening to American English. [02:35.80]Try to hear the rhythm, or "music," of the language as you listen to Americans. [02:43.44]The pace, or speed, should be slower than other accents. [02:49.08]And it is not necessary to sound exactly like a native speaker. [02:55.36]As long as you speak clearly enough to be understood, [02:59.56]most Americans enjoy hearing a foreign accent. [03:03.68]It makes you sound a little mysterious! [03:07.60]Our website has several Education Tips stories on pronunciation, [03:13.60]as well as the new video series "How to Pronounce." [03:18.28]To learn more, see Keep Your Identity While Changing Your Accent, [03:24.24]our story about a program that helps students change their accents. [03:30.48]What question do you have about English? [03:34.36]Send us an email at learningenglish@voanews.com. [03:41.52]And that's Ask a Teacher for this week. [03:45.28]I'm Jill Robbins. [03:48.32]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM