Shadowing Practice: COPY MY AMERICAN ACCENT 🇺🇸 Repeat These Tongue Twisters Every Day - Learn English Speaking with Video
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I am from the United States
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and maybe you can tell from the sound of my accent
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and that is what I want to talk to you about today.
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I want to go over five sounds
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that are really a distinct part of the American accent and let's not waste any time.
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I want to begin with our first sound which is the flap T.
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So let's start out with the placement of the tongue in your mouth.
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Now very quickly before we talk about the flap T.
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When making either a T or D sound,
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your tongue is going to come up to the top part of your mouth just behind your top front T.
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Now, the distinction when making the flap T is
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that your tongue is just going to come up and flap against the top part of your mouth.
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And when you do this, the sound, it's going to sound like a soft D sound.
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It's very quick.
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It's very soft.
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And that is the flap T.
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And this is especially useful because you hear it all the time in casual conversation.
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And it's really a defining feature of the American accent.
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Now, there are several times when a T is going to sound like a flap T.
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And I want to share that with you and practice with some individual words.
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So, a T may sound like a flap T when it comes between two vowels.
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Just repeat these words after me water
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water city city butter
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butter activity activity with the last word notice
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there are two T's the first T comes at the beginning of a stressed syllable
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and therefore you hear a true T the second T comes between two vowel sounds in an unstressed syllable
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and that's when you hear that flap T activity
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activity as you were saying those words hopefully you know pay attention to your tongue coming up
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and flapping against the top part of your mouth a T may also be pronounced as a flap T
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when it comes between a vowel and a dark L
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and a dark L really comes at the end of a word sounds more like all
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and once again just repeat these words after me little little battle battle bottle bottle
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hospital hospital you sound very American it may also occur before
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or after and our controlled vowel and we're going to talk about
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and our controlled vowel a little bit later on
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but let's focus on
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that flap T I want
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you to repeat after me party party dirty dirty turtle turtle daughter daughter
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and finally it may sound like a flap T
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when it comes after a
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or sound now to be honest sometimes in the US you may hear people use a true T
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but once again let's focus on that flap T repeat after me doctor doctor sister sister disaster
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disaster.
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Let's keep practicing.
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But not just with individual words.
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I want to practice with a tongue twister
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because not only is it challenging
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but it really gets you working on flapping the tongue against the top part of your mouth.
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And the tongue twister that I love using with learners is Betty Botter.
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So, to start out, I just want you to listen to me say this tongue twister.
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Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said this butter's bitter.
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If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter, but a bit of better butter will make my batter better.
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Let's practice one line at a time.
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I want you to shadow and say it with me.
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We'll say it once slowly and then once at a normal speed.
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So let's start with our first line.
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Betty Botter bought some butter.
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Betty Botter butter.
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You hear those flap T's.
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Let's say it slowly, Betty Botter bought some butter.
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And at a normal speed, Betty Botter bought some butter.
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The next line, but she said this butter is bitter.
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Let's say it slowly, but she said this butter is bitter.
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At a normal speed, but she said this butter is bitter.
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And then the next line, if I put it in my batter, one thing I want to point out think about
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that phrase put it it comes between two vowel sounds
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so I'm gonna pronounce it as a flat T
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and then we can link it with the vowel sound in it
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so it's gonna sound like put it put it let's say it slowly if I put it in my batter,
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and now at a normal speed, if I put it in my batter, the next line, it will make my batter bitter.
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Let's say it slowly.
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It will make my batter bitter.
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At a normal speed, it will make my batter bitter.
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And then there's, but a bit of better butter.
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Keep in mind those two phrases
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but a bit of I can link them together with a flat T
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but a bit of so let's say it slowly
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but a bit of better butter at a normal speed
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but a bit of better butter
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and finally we'll make my better better let's say
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it slowly will make my batter better at a normal speed will make my batter better all right I know
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that I'm going through this quickly but as we were saying
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that this tongue twister again hopefully you can feel
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that tongue coming up
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and flapping against the top part of your mouth let's say the entire thing we'll say it one time slowly
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and then once at a normal speed so let's say it slowly.
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Shadow, say it with me.
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Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said this butter's bitter.
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If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter.
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But a bit of better butter will make my batter better.
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And now at a normal speed, ready?
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Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said this butter's bitter.
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If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter, but a bit of better butter will make my batter better.
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All right, great job.
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This is an excellent tongue twister to familiarize yourself with the flap T
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and you can just keep practicing and practicing and practicing some more.
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Let's move on to our next sound.
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And well, actually before we do, this is something I should have said at the very beginning and I want to emphasize it right now.
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Even though we're talking about the American accent in this lesson, you should never feel like you need to speak with any particular English accent.
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There are many English varieties out there.
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I think we can appreciate all of them.
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But I know that some of you live in the United States
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or you're traveling there or maybe you work with people in the U .S.
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So this may be one of your speaking goals, whether you want to emulate the American accent
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or just get a better understanding as to why people sound the way they do.
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I think this can be a useful resource.
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And if you are someone who is interested in learning more about English accents or vocabulary,
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grammar, pretty much anything, please subscribe, turn on notifications.
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That way I can become your teacher.
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My name is Wes.
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The channel is Interactive English, and it's all about helping you reach your fluency goals.
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All right, now let's continue with our next sound, which is the American R.
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At least I call it the American R.
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I think this is one of the most recognizable sounds for learners when talking about the American accent.
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Now, one thing you should know is that in the United States, the R sound is rhotic.
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All this means is that you're gonna hear it no matter where it is in the word, at the beginning, the middle, the end.
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Now, of course, there are certain regional accents that may drop the R, like, for example, the Boston accent.
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They may drop the R if I were to say, I need to park the car.
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And you don't really hear that R.
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It's not an American R in park or car.
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But in general, you are going to hear that sound wherever it is in the word.
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So let's talk about how to make that sound.
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You're gonna pull your tongue back and up towards the roof of your mouth.
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The sides of your tongue are gonna lightly touch your upper back teeth.
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Now your lips are gonna be slightly open but not rounded like you would have in some sounds like the sound.
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They're not gonna be rounded like that but you know slightly open.
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Just say that sound with me and repeat these words I'm really going to emphasize
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that that our sound right right red red really really
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and now repeat these words when the R is more in the middle of the word.
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Around, around.
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Giraffe, giraffe.
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Carry, carry.
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And at the end of the word car car door door
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fear fear and because other English varieties may drop the R
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when it comes at the end I think
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that is more the the distinct part of the American accent
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when it comes to this sound
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but let's practice with with some tongue twisters again I am gonna say it slowly
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and I want you to shadow and say it with me
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and then we'll we'll say
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it at a normal speed the first one rare red roses are really remarkable let's say
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it slowly rare red roses are really remarkable at a normal speed rare red roses are really remarkable
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and you really feel that rough
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that our sound the next one roast rabbit is rarely rated wrongly let's say
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it slowly roast rabbit is rarely rated wrongly at a normal speed roast rabbit is rarely rated wrongly
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that is a that is a mouthful and finally
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Rory and Roger were drinking beer at the rural brewery let's say it slowly
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Rory and Roger were drinking beer at the rural brewery okay at a normal speed
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Rory and Roger were drinking beer at the rural brewery that's even difficult
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that last part rural brewery is challenging even for me to say
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but these are good these are good tongue twisters just to practice
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that American are now let's have some fun
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and I want you to say this next one as quickly as you can
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and this one is really used as more of a vocal warm -up
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if an actor is getting ready to go on stage
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or a person is getting ready to present you could use
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this tongue twister just to loosen up a little bit
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and you're just gonna say it again and again
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and again as quickly as you can
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and the tongue twister is red Lori yellow lori
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and this is really challenging not just because of the er sound
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but it's transitioning that r and l combination
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so let's let's say it quickly
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and uh we'll just try to shadow say
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it with me red lori yellow lori red lori yellow lori
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red lori yellow lori red lori yellow lori red lori yellow
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lori red lori yellow lori red lori okay okay hopefully as
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i was going through it you were able to try to maintain
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that pace at some point you're you're gonna fumble and
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that is when you could just start over and say it again
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and again and practice that that American are let's continue with our next sound
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and we're gonna go back to that our controlled vowel
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which I mentioned earlier but specifically I want to talk about the er combination
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so in our controlled vowel is when you have a vowel
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that is modified by that sound it's like you have the vowel that's followed by an er
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and instead of it being two separate sounds it's in the same syllable
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so it really blends into a single sound
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and I mentioned I want to talk about
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that er combination let's talk about how to make that sound
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and how it's a little different from the American are
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that we just talked about you're gonna pull your tongue back
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and up just like before but your tongue is going to be backing up more in a flat shape.
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And it's going to press lightly against your upper back teeth.
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And you make that sound.
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And you should feel that your tongue is flat and up pressing against your upper back teeth.
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Your lips are going to come in and kind of push away from your teeth.
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So just to put the sounds together.
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That American R and then the R controlled that so you can hear the difference.
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I don't know why it feels a little awkward just saying these sounds.
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But hopefully you could hear the difference between these two.
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But again, that it is a feature of the American accent.
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Let's practice with some words.
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I want you to repeat after me when it comes at the beginning of a word.
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Earth.
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Earth.
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Early.
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Early.
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Earn.
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Earn.
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Now in the middle, verb verb, service, service, perfect,
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perfect.
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And then at the end,
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teacher, teacher, paper, paper, water, water.
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And when you said water, I hope you were using that flap T.
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Just like before, I think
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when this.. comes at the end of a word is really the distinction between the US accent
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and other English varieties because in other varieties it may get dropped here is the tongue twister
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that I want to practice the nurse heard the early bird
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search for the worm of course the sentence doesn't make much sense it doesn't really matter we're just focusing on
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that er sound I want you to shadow say it with me one time slowly.
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The nurse heard the early bird search for the worm. At a normal speed.
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The nurse heard the early bird search for the worm.
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Great job.
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Now I want to add one thing to this
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which makes this sound well more challenging when it's combined with a dark L.
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So when you have the ER
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and it's followed by a dark L I quite often hear learners tell me
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that this is these are words that I struggle with
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when you have words like world or girl or world
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and what I would recommend is that now you know how to make
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that er sound just slow it down and transition into that dark L that
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Earl I want you to say this with me URL
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now repeat these words after me
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girl girl curl curl world
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world these combinations can certainly be tricky
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so let's practice with another tongue twister the third girl in
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the world found a pearl of curls tucked inside a purple curl okay yeah it doesn't make any sense
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but we're just practicing that
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Earl combination
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so shadow say it with me slowly the third girl in
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the world found a swirl of pearls tucked inside a purple curl you have a lot of those
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Earl sounds let's shadow say
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it more at a normal speed ready the third girl in
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the world found a swirl of pearls tucked inside a purple curl all right
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if you struggle with that combination
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that earl sound this is a great tongue twister to practice let's move on to our next sound
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which is the th actually there are two sounds
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and I will explain why because you could have a voiceless th sound
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and a voiced th sound the only difference is whether
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or not there's a vibration in your vocal cords
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now the position of your tongue in your mouth is it's really the same whether it's voiced
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or voiceless and the tip of your tongue is going to lightly come between your top
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and bottom front teeth actually the tip is going to extend just beyond your front teeth your mouth your lips
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it's just going to be relaxed
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and there's going to be a continuous flow of air just coming right over your tongue
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and you're making this sound that would be the voiceless sound
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that think about where your tongue is just slightly beyond the top
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and bottom front teeth if I want to make that voice sound that the
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only difference is
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that vibration in the vocal cords let's practice the voiceless th
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with the following words just repeat after me think think Thursday Thursday
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three three when the th is in the middle of the word nothing nothing method method
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author, author.
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And then when the TH is at the end,
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math, math, with, with, month, month.
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When practicing these individual words, I'm really trying to choose words that are quite common in just everyday conversation.
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Let's practice the voiced TH.
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And remember, you're then feel that vibration in your vocal cords.
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Repeat after me.
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The, the.
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This, this.
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They, they.
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When it's in the middle, father, father.
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Weather, weather.
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Other, other.
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And then at the end of the word.
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Smooth.
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Smooth.
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breathe breathe loathe loathe two things that I want you to avoid
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when it comes to the TH sound
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so I don't want you to turn the TH into either a D
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or T sound you're not gonna say dem it's them
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you're not gonna say tink it's think I also don't want you to turn it into a or sound
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so instead of sink think the you really need to think
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about where your tongue is in your mouth having the air flow right over the tongue
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and then consider whether you're making a voice th
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or a voiceless th let's practice with some tongue twisters if we're focusing on the voiceless TH,
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then we could say 33 ,000 feathers in my throat.
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Let's shadow, say it slowly.
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33 ,000 feathers in my throat.
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At a normal speed, 33 ,000 feathers in my throat.
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If focusing on the voiced TH, their mother and father prefer this smooth weather.
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Let's shadow, say it slowly.
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Their mother and father prefer this smooth weather.
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At a normal speed, their mother and father prefer this smooth weather.
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And then if we want to mix them together, voiced and voiceless, 33 thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
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Let's say it slowly.
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33 thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
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At a normal speed, 33 thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout thursday as you're saying
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that last tongue twister you should really feel your tongue kind of shooting between your top
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and bottom front teeth you're doing great i got one more sound for you
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and for the most part we've talked about consonant sounds
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so let's talk about a vowel sound
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and i want to talk about the american short a sound
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the short a is one of the most distinct open vowel sounds in general American English
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it is a front low unrounded vowel
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so let's make this sound your mouth is gonna be fairly wide open
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you're gonna drop your jaw your tongue is gonna be low
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and toward the front of your mouth
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and then your lips are gonna be relaxed phonetically speaking it's pretty much the same sound
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that a sheep would make that bah bah just say that
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Now, let's practice with some individual words.
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Repeat after me.
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Bad, bad.
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Man, man.
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Back, back.
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Bag, bag.
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fast fast now I have a couple of tongue twisters for you again
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that a sound that's what we're focusing on here's a fun one a fat cat sat on a mat
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and ate a fat rat let's say it slowly shadow a fat cat sat on a mat
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and ate a fat rat and And now, at a normal speed, a fat cat sat on a mat and ate a fat rat.
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Here's the next tongue twister, Dan's dad had a bad habit of packing a black backpack with apples and snacks.
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Let's say it slowly,
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Dan's dad had a bad habit of packing a black backpack with apples and snacks at a normal speed
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Dan's dad had a bad habit of plat okay I can't
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I'm having trouble with this okay let's start over I apologize at a normal speed
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Dan's dad had a bad habit of packing a black backpack with apples
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and snacks excellent let's do a quick recap
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and practice all five of those sounds with one of the different tongue twisters
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and again we're practicing to develop that muscle memory, but this time I want to say it quickly and challenge you.
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So let's go back and begin with the flat T and say Betty Botter.
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Let's say it quickly.
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Shadow, say it with me.
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Ready?
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Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said this butter's bitter.
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If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter, but a bit of better butter will make my better, better, butter.
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I'm just, I'm kind of losing it now as we, as we kind of get back, get to the end.
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Okay.
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Let's try it again.
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Let's say it twice.
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Again, I apologize.
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That was my fault.
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Let's start over with Betty Butter.
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Ready?
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Betty Butter bought some butter, but she said this butter's bitter.
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If I put it in my batter, it will make my batter bitter, but a bit of better butter will make my better better
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one more time ready betty bought her bought some butter
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but she said this butter's bitter
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if i put it in my batter it will make my batter better
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but a bit of better butter will make my batter better we're just practicing
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that flat t that is the goal the next one
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that american r let's go back to
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that vocal warm -up i just want to say
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this one five times as quickly as possible ready red lori
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yellow lori red lori yellow lori red lori yellow lori red lori yellow lori red lori Yellow Lori.
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Okay, I'll take a quick little break.
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Shadow.
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Once again, say it with me.
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Red Lori, Yellow Lori, Red Lori, Yellow Lori, Red Lori, Yellow Lori, Red Lori, Yellow Lori, Red Lori, Yellow Lori, Red Lori, Yellow Lori.
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All right, good, good.
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Well done.
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The next tongue twister, working on that er sound.
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The nurse heard the early bird search for the worm.
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Okay, let's say it twice.
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Say it with me.
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The nurse heard the early bird search for the worm.
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Once again, the nurse heard the early bird search for the worm.
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Then we have the th sound, voiced
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and voiceless let's use the the 33 thieves tongue twister let's say
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it two times as quickly as we can ready the 33 thieves thought
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that they thrilled the throne thrown throughout Thursday again I Paul
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I'm I'm having trouble right now one more time the 33 thieves thought
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that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday it is really difficult
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if you're trying to say it quickly but that's part of the challenge
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and then the last one working on that short a let's just use
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that final tongue twister that we were practicing let's say it twice quickly.
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Ready?
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Dan's dad had a bad habit of packing a black backpack with apples and snacks.
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One more time.
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Dan's dad had a bad habit of packing a black backpack with apples and snacks.
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Give yourself a round of applause.
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Great job.
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I want you to keep practicing these tongue twisters, especially if you are someone who wishes to emulate the American accent.
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If you enjoyed this lesson, you can let me know by hitting that like button.
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As always, thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This speaking lesson is built on the video “COPY MY AMERICAN ACCENT 🇺🇸 Repeat These Tongue Twisters Every Day”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: sound, tongue, lori, butter, word. This video has 375 sentences and 3969 words to shadow. The speech runs for 26:59. The speaker talks at a steady 147 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 80% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| butter noun | /ˈbʌtɚ/ | A soft, fatty foodstuff made by churning the cream of milk (generally cow's milk). |
| batter verb | /ˈbætə/ | To hit or strike violently and repeatedly. |
| bitter adjective | /ˈbɪ.tɚ/ | Having an acrid taste (usually from a basic substance). |
| accent noun | /ækˈsɛnt/ | A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to… |
| shadow noun | /ˈʃædəʊ̯/ | A dark image projected onto a surface where light (or other radiation) is blocked by the shade of an object. |
| nurse noun | /nɝs/ | Anyone performing this role, regardless of training or profession. |
| habit noun | /ˈhæb.ɪt/ | An action performed on a regular basis. |
| thief noun | /ˈθiːf/ | One who carries out a theft. |
| worm noun | /wɝm/ | A generally tubular invertebrate of the annelid phylum; an earthworm. |
| curl noun | /kɜɹl/ | A curving piece or lock of hair; a ringlet. |
| smooth adjective | /smuːð/ | Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough. |
| vocal adjective | /ˈvoʊ̯.kəl/ | Of, pertaining to, or resembling the human voice or speech. |
| throne noun | /θɹəʊ̯n/ | An impressive seat used by a monarch, often on a raised dais in a throne room and reserved for formal occasions. |
| snack noun | /snæk/ | A light meal. |
| backpack noun | /ˈbæk.pæk/ | A knapsack, sometimes mounted on a light frame, but always supported by straps, worn on a person’s back for the purpose of carrying things, especially when… |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come up verb | To emerge or become known, especially unexpectedly. | |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. | |
| go through verb | To travel from one end of something to the other. | |
| start over verb | to begin again; to return to the beginning | |
| warm up verb | /ˌwɔː(ɹ)m ˈʌp/ | To become warmer. |
| back up verb | To move backwards, especially for a vehicle to do so. | |
| come up to verb | To approach. | |
| get back verb | Return to where one came from. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Let's practice one line at a time.
- Let's move on to our next sound.
- Let's practice with some words.
- Let's shadow, say it slowly.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | be pronounced · be rounded · is rarely rated |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | sound which is · someone who is · sound, which is |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 69 contractions and reduced forms, such as gonna, you're, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: thief /ˈθiːf/, smooth /smuːð/, throne /θɹəʊ̯n/, thrill /θɹɪl/, throat /ˈθɹoʊt/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shadow /ˈʃædəʊ̯/, vibration /vaɪˈbɹeɪʃən/, transition /tɹænˈzɪʃ.ən/, distinction /dɪˈstɪŋkʃən/, casual /ˈkæʒ(u)əl/
- Long words — get the stress right: apologize /əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/, mathematics /mæθ(.ə)ˈmæt.ɪks/, continuous /kənˈtɪn.juː.əs/, notification /ˌnoʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn̩/, combinations /kɑmbɪˈneɪʃənz/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like butter, batter, bitter.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.