Speech Modification SMART American Accent Training Speech Modification

In this fluent speaking practice, we use shadowing and backwards chaining to have perfect intonation, while working on integrating W and V sounds into fluent speech.

In this shadowing lesson, we work on intonation for verbs with and without phrasal verbs.

Here are the phrases we cover in this lesson:

That's where she ran. That's where she ran into it!

They play soccer after school. Just play along with it for now.

He walks to work every day. Let's walk through the notes.

I don't know where to look. She will look out for her younger brother.

She reads books before bedtime. Let's read up on it before class.

You can hang your coat by the door. Try to hang in there for a little bit longer.

He writes poems in his spare time. Let's write down our ideas.

We sing songs at parties. Can you sing along with the music?

I watch the news after work. Watch out for snakes on the trail.

They draw pictures in art class. Let's avoid letting it draw out too long.

He will pull the sled behind him. I think she might pull out of the deal.

We study math for the test. Can you study up on the topic?

We can get some for you. I need to get up at 5 am.

They build sandcastles on the beach. He's trying to build up some muscle.

Have difficulty integrating your TH sounds into fluent speech? This practice focuses on the most common words with TH at the start and ends, to help you use this sound correctly and fluently in connected speech.

Letters PRO are pronounced differently when stressed on unstressed. We'll practice mix and match phrases with PRO as /prə/ (unstressed) and /prɑ/ (stressed) words in this shadowing lesson.

In this advanced mix and match practice, we work on integrating vowel schwa and vowel /ɑ/ into phrases. Many speakers struggle with differentiating vowel schwa and vowel /ɑ/ as in "nut" and "not." In this listen and repeat practice, we use common phrases with these vowels to help you master the vowels in fluent speaking.

For more basic practice and learning these two vowels, check out this video: https://youtu.be/RQ1d4zQ9GCY

For more on minimal pairs and other vowel contrasts, check out this playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJXFLCasjYl43lFxdcqCzUGbulhKIlRra&si=YgjVJhAz5zYFqsd6

In typical intonation patterns, we stress the last content word in a phrase, which is sometimes the verb. But in a phrasal verb, the meaning is contained in the preposition which follows the verb, so it gets the stress instead
of the verb.  For example, we stress play in the phrase I like to play. But we stress out the phrase Let's see how it plays out.

Phrasal verbs covered: run into, play along, walk through, look out for, read up on, hang in, write down, sing along, watch out, draw out, pull up, get up, build up

video with visuals: https://youtu.be/6u7LJQwsdPg