Boston vs New York City Accents December 18, 2020There are a number of distinctions between vowel sounds between a Boston accent and a New York City accent. One of them really stands out: This is the very sound... Read more
Strut Vowel in American and British Accents October 1, 2018The "strut" sound, as in the words up, supper, and love, is quite different in the US than it tends to be in the UK. Americans tend to make it... Read more
Hell's Corner IPA: [ɑ] [ɒ] [ɔ] Vowels September 26, 2018Jim leads you through a REALLY important vowel distinction that is helpful to know more about for almost ALL accents! These are the Palm/Father, Lot, Cloth, and Thought vowels ([ɑ]... Read more
Nurse Vowel for American and British Accents September 4, 2018Jim Johnson takes you through the challenge of how the "NURSE" vowel + R sound happens for many Americans, and how to shift your thought when dropping the R for... Read more
British Isles Accent Map August 1, 2018British Isles Accent Map When people talk about a ‘British accent’, they tend to be thinking of the upper class Received Pronunciation accent. But what you might not realize is... Read more
Linking R July 5, 2018Most non-rhotic speakers - which is a term for people who "drop the R sound" after a vowel - bring that R sound back if that word goes into a... Read more
"I Need to Learn a British Accent" June 27, 2018I get enough inquiries from people who ask about learning a British accent, that it seems to be important to clarify that this is too broad of a statement. Usually... Read more
Trap & Bath [æ] Vowel Changes for Various ESL Accents June 17, 2018The [æ] vowel sound, as in trap doesn't exist for many ESL (English as a Second Language) speakers, so they will tend to shift to a more familiar vowel sound when speaking... Read more
Two Vowel Shifts in Almost All ESL Accents April 17, 2018In addition to sharing useful information about shifts to the [ɪ] and [ʊ] sounds, I use an example word that fills me with regret and joy. I love to be... Read more
Russian Accent Intonation April 9, 2018AccentHelp coach Jim Johnson leads you through some techniques for learning the intonation for a Russian accent when speaking English. It's always best to start with a very strong stereotype,... Read more
