Shadowing Practice: How to Perfect Your American Accent REALLY FAST | Master Vowel Sounds (A to U) - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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How to perfect your American accent really fast.
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How to perfect your American accent really fast.
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You clicked on this video because you want to learn how to perfect your American accent in a short amount of time.
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In today's video, I'm going to show you exactly a few simple steps
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that can honestly change the way you speak for good.
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And most of all, adapt and learn how to speak like an American.
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Gang, welcome back to another episode of English with Collins.
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In today's video, we're going to be focusing on this specific thing.
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We're going to be focusing on the vowel sounds.
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Today, I'm not going to talk too much.
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I'm just going to show you the vowel sounds and how the vowel sounds plays a major role,
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especially when it comes to speaking clearly.
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A lot of people don't know that English is made up of two different things.
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We have consonants and we have vowels.
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If you can master these two, you can speak clearly.
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You go to school and your teachers are teaching you grammar.
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They're teaching you every single other aspect of pertaining to English.
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But rarely do we see our teachers focusing on pronunciation.
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And so that is my major focus is because I want you to become the best at speaking,
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especially when it comes to,
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you know, you know, bringing out whatever it is that is at the back of your mind.
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I want you to be able to articulate your thoughts so well.
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And by doing so, that is the reason why we're doing this practice today.
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Before we begin today's video,
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here's what I want you to do.
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I want you to go ahead and comment down this specific phrase.
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This year is my year and I am going to become excellent at speaking English.
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Let's say it again.
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This year is my year and I am going to become excellent at speaking English.
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I want you to comment that down inside of the description right now.
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Let's jump right in.
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Okay, so we have five major vowel sounds, right?
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So the English language is comprised of five major vowel sounds.
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We have the A, the E,
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the I, the O, and the U.
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These sounds is what makes up the American English language, right?
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So when every time you're hearing someone speak English,
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the vowel sounds is absolutely included.
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Now, there's a major difference between how Americans pronounce their vowel sounds versus other parts of the world.
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And so what I'm really going to focus on today is how Americans pronounce the following sounds.
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So let's start off with A sound itself.
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Americans don't pronounce the A as an ah.
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For example, you will see a word like cot.
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Americans don't say cot.
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They say cat.
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So the A has a slanted sound to it.
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It's sort of like an A mixed with an E sound.
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Ah, so cat, right?
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Another example, hat.
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And of course, bad.
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So that sound remains consistent in almost every single sound that features the A.
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So before me, I have 10 different words.
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All right, 10 different words featuring the A sound.
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And I want you to go ahead and repeat right after me step by step.
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Starting with the very first.
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Cat.
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Cat.
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Cat.
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Cat.
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Hat.
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hat hat hat map map map black black black
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fast fast fast bag bag bag
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hand hand hand laugh laugh laugh
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family family family answer answer answer so
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if you paid very close attention you will notice
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that the a sound is very consistent you hear the a
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sound throughout all of these words starting with cat to hat
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to map to black fast bag hand laugh family answer the a sound is very consistent
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so what i want you guys to do is register
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that at the back of your mind all right
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so remember it's not pronounced as ah it's a a now
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let's take a look at these two sentences for practice we
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have the cat ran past the black bag the cat ran
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past the black bag let's try it again the cat ran past the black bag.
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The cat ran past the black bag.
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Now for the second one,
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before I read it, we're going to take a pause.
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I'm going to give you the next five seconds to read that.
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Let's go.
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One, two, three, four, five.
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Excellent.
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The second sentence is, my family had a fast plan.
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My family had a fast plan.
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My family had a fast plan.
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My family had a fast plan.
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Number one, the cat ran past the black bag.
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The cat ran past the black bag.
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Number two, my family had a fast plan.
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My family had a fast plan.
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Now let's take a look at this paragraph and we're going to read it together.
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Remember the A sound is very consistent.
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Let's go.
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Last Saturday, I packed a black bag and grabbed my hat before leaving the house.
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My family laughed because I was moving so fast and forgot the map on the table.
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One more time.
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Last Saturday, I packed a black bag and grabbed my hat before leaving the house.
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My family laughed because I was moving so fast and forgot the map on the table.
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Excellent.
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All right, that is it for the A sound.
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If you want to learn more and you want to practice more,
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I have created a pronunciation course.
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The link is down below.
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I want you to go ahead and check it out.
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This chorus itself breaks pronunciation easily, right?
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I'm teaching how to fix the way you speak as if you are a kindergartner.
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By the time you have mastered this,
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you will be so good,
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especially when it comes to speaking.
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All right, let's take a look at the second sound.
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The second sound is the E sound.
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The E sound.
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The E sound, I've noticed that a lot of people don't have problems pronouncing it,
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but if you do have a problem pronouncing it,
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I'm going to show you.
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The E sound in the American accent, it's very short.
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It's quick it's fast sound sound it's a very fast paced sound
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so we have bed red said that's the e sound right the e sound has
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that sound bed red right
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so let's take a look at the following examples i'm gonna skim through it all right
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so just repeat after me starting from bed one two three here we go bed red head said friend best
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next get ready left let's try it again bed
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red head said friend best next get ready left all right
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if you made a mistake go back
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and watch this again all right let's move on to the
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sentences we got my friend said get ready next my friend
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said get ready next number two i left the red bag by the bed.
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I left the red bag by the bed.
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Let's try it again.
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I left the red bag by the bed.
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Remember the A in bag.
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We're bringing it back again.
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We're bringing the same sound.
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I left the red bag by the bed.
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Excellent.
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The paragraph.
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Let's read it together.
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My best friend said he was ready.
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So I got dressed quickly and left the room.
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I checked the bed one last time and grabbed the red jacket before heading out.
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Let's try it one more time.
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My best friend said he was ready,
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so I got dressed quickly and left the room.
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I checked the bed one last time and grabbed the red jacket before heading out.
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Incredible.
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All right, that is it for the E sounds.
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Let's move on to the following sound.
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This is the I sound.
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The I sound is as quick as the E sound,
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so it's a fast-paced E sound.
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So the E is an E sound.
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The I is an E sound,
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such as sit, big, and live, right?
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That's how it works.
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Let's move on to the following words.
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Let's do the following 10 words.
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Let's do it together.
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Let's go.
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We have sit, big, live,
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give, little, simple, minute, kitchen,
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business different you notice the i is very quick sit
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big live give little simple minute kitchen business different you see
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that exactly right let's take a look at the following two
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sentences sit in the little kitchen for a minute sit in the little kitchen for a minute number two
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Give me the big dish.
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Give me the big dish.
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Give me the big dish.
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Let's take a look at the paragraph.
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I live in a small place with a little kitchen,
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but it feels comfortable.
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Every minute I spend there reminds me that simple things can make life feel different.
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I live in a small place with a little kitchen,
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but it feels comfortable.
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every minute I spend there reminds me that simple things can make life feel different.
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Okay, I made a few couple of mistakes there,
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but that's pretty much how I want you to read, all right?
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I want you to pronounce the I sound in the vowel very, very well, okay?
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Let's jump on to the following.
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So now we have the O sound.
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The O sound is also a little bit different.
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The O sound gets a little bit tricky
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because a lot of people don't know how to pronounce this
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the O sound in in the American accent has a sound sound, like A-W-W sound.
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AH.
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So that's how Americans pronounce it.
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They don't say hot.
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They say hot.
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AH.
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Hot.
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You see?
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O has an AH sound.
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So we have hot, stop, job.
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All right?
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Hot, stop, job.
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Let's take a look at the following 10 words hot
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stop job watch problem not problem
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problem problem coffee box body dollar honest let's
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try it again we have hot stop job watch problem coffee box Body
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Dollar Honest Let's take a look at the following sentences Stop by the shop for a hot coffee
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Stop by the shop for a hot coffee My job starts after the watch alarm
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My job starts after the watch alarm
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The paragraph I stopped by the coffee shop before work because it was a hot morning After that,
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I grabbed my bag and headed to my job with no problems at all I'm gonna put it together again.
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I stopped by the coffee shop before work because it was hot,
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because it was a hot morning.
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After that, I grabbed my bag and headed to my job with no problems at all.
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Problems.
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I didn't say problems.
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I said problems.
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Excellent.
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That is it for the O sound.
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Now we're going to take a look at the U sound.
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The U sound.
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The U sound is very beautiful because what it does is it's pronounced at a faster pace.
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It's like a sound.
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So every time I think of the U, I'm going up, right?
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So we have cup, luck, fun, right?
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Okay, let's take a look at the following 10 words.
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We have cup, luck, fun,
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run, money, love, lunch, enough, company, right?
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Company, right?
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Country, country the sound the sound we're talking about the u
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sound itself right country company enough lunch love money run fun
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luck cup all right excellent let's take a look at the
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following sentences we had fun at lunch with enough money we
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had fun at lunch with enough money we had fun at
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lunch with enough money we had fun at lunch with enough
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money let's take a look at number two run to the truck
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and grab my cup run to the truck
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and grab my cup run to the truck
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and grab my cup let's take a look at this following
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paragraph we had lunch at a small restaurant in the country
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and it was a lot of fun i didn't have much money
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but i had enough to enjoy the moment that was excellent
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so what i want you guys to do in your own
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free time is to continue to practice i keep telling you practice makes perfect.
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All right, keep practicing, keep getting better,
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and over time, you will see progress.
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Don't forget to subscribe and share this video with someone else.
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Thank you for watching, and I'll see you next week.
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Context & Background
In the quest to perfect your American accent, understanding vowel sounds is essential. The speaker in this video emphasizes that mastering the pronunciation of these sounds can significantly enhance clarity in speech. With the right techniques, you can articulate your thoughts effectively, making communication smoother and more natural. This lesson will focus on the unique characteristics of American English vowel sounds and how they differentiate this dialect from others. Gaining a solid understanding of these phonetic elements will greatly enrich your English speaking practice.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
Incorporating practical phrases into your daily conversations is a vital part of language learning. Here are some examples referenced in the video that can be used for effective communication:
- This year is my year and I am going to become excellent at speaking English.
- Can you say that again?
- I don’t understand what you mean.
- Could you please help me with this?
- What do you think about this idea?
These phrases not only aid daily interactions but also serve as excellent material for IELTS speaking practice, allowing you to prepare for common conversational scenarios.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
To harness the power of the shadowing technique effectively, follow these steps:
- Listen Intently: Start by watching the video and listen carefully to the pronunciation of vowel sounds. Pay attention to how words are pronounced differently by American speakers.
- Repeat the Sounds: After listening, pause the video and try to imitate the vowel sounds. Focus specifically on the differences, such as how 'A' in 'cat' is pronounced compared to other languages.
- Practice Shadow Speech: Use the shadow speak method by repeating phrases immediately after the speaker. This technique will help you internalize the accent and improve your pronunciation.
- Record Yourself: Record your voice as you practice. Listening to your recordings will help you identify areas for improvement and assess your progress.
- Engage Regularly: Make this practice a daily habit. Consistency is key to mastering sounds and enhancing your overall English speaking practice.
By following this structured approach, you can significantly improve your mastery of American vowel sounds, leading to a more authentic accent. Incorporate shadowing into your learning routine, and watch your confidence grow as you communicate in English.
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.
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