Four features of North American English

A lesson about some features of American accent

by Kasra Sharifan | Jul 21, 2019 | Speaking

Four features of North American English

Speaking correctly is not all that matters for an effective conversation; you must sound intelligible too. In the IELTS speaking test, although it is not important what accent you have, it is imperative that you avoid blending accents. Therefore, do keep these 4 distinct features of American accent in mind to help you get a better score.

1. The American “R”

Probably, the most significant feature of North American accent is strong R pronunciation. It doesn’t matter whether R comes in the middle, at the beginning or at the end of the word. It is still completely pronounced.

To pronounce the American R, two main steps need to be followed:

Try to tightly bring forward your mouth and lips as if you want to produce an /u:/ sound, for example: You /ju:/
Pull your tongue back without letting it touch any parts in your mouth.

More examples:

french fries
roller coaster
garage
direction
rarely

Note: If R blends with other consonants, it is always the strongest sound.

For example:

training
product

2. “T” between vowel sounds

If the letter T is accompanied by two vowels right before and after, as if it is sandwiched between the vowels, the T is pronounced like D.

For example:

Betty bought a bit of better butter. => Beddy boughd a bid of bedder budder.
water => wader
later => lader

3. The Silent “T”

If T comes after N, since these two consonants are almost produced from the same place in the mouth; thus, pronouncing both of them right after the other will be difficult. As a result, T becomes silent. For example:

international => is pronounced as if it was written In_ernational.
advantages => advan_ages
the Internet => the In_ernet

4. Some vowel combinations

Take the very familiar word “OK” for instance, unlike British accent in which the word starts with “əʊ” sound (i.e. /əʊ ˈkeɪ/), it is pronounced with “oʊ” sound by North American native speakers (i.e. /oʊ ‘keɪ/). Here are some more examples:

boat /boʊt/
toast /toʊst/
throw /θroʊ/
go /ɡoʊ/

Kasra Sharifan

Co-founder and CFO

British Council certified English teacher, IDP-trained IELTS instructor, content writer, editor-in-chief, co-founder, and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at IELTS Juice Online Academy.