American Accent

My monologue is performed in an American accent I have researched how to do a believable American accent.

I found that the American R is like a vowel, it does not touch anywhere in the mouth unlike the Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Italian, Greek and many other languages because the R is commonly a consonant this is because it touches behind the teeth. The American pronounces their Like the French R and the German R it is produced deep in the throat.

An exercise on how to do this is simple:

1.       Hold your hand out in front of you, with your palm up, like you are holding a tray on it.

2.       Slightly drop your hand down, and say ah, (like you want the doctor to see your throat.)

3.       Curl your fingers up slightly, and say [R]. Your tongue should be in about the same position as your hand.

Intention	Spelling	Pronunciation
Positive	I can do it.	[I k'n do it.
Negative	I can't do it.	I kæn(t) do it.
Extra Positive	I can do it.	I kææn do it.
Extra Negative	I can't do it.	I kænt do it.

The [ae] sound is a common sound in America; [ae] is very distinctive to the ear that is why it is important to make the [ae] sound when there is an [a] As its phonetic symbol indicates, [æ] is a combination of [a] + [e]. To pronounce it, drop your jaw down as if you were going to say [a]; then from that position, try to say eh. The final sound is not two separate vowels, but rather the end result of the combination. It is very close to the sound that a goat makes: ma-a-a-ah!