Learning the American accent is simpler than you think.

If you have ever tried improving your American accent on your own, you know how much information is out there. From pronouncing the “th” sound correctly to the number of syllables in a word, the sheer volume of tips and tricks for mastering an American accent can feel overwhelming. 

But how do you decide what to focus on? Are there some things that matter more than others?

Actually, all the tips and tricks for learning the American accent can be grouped and organized into a simple framework. This post provides an overview for understanding the American accent and recommends where to start so that your practice can have the most impact.

The 4 key elements 

The skills to learning an American accent can be boiled down to 4 key elements. Each of these elements are important, but when thinking in terms of impact, one element is a clear winner.

I’ll introduce each element, provide a brief overview, and explain why I ranked it the way I did. Let’s start out with the element that get’s the most attention but is perhaps the least impactful to clarity.

Fourth place: Sounds

Sounds are the most obvious contributors to an accent. Indeed, the word pronunciation is usually referring to specific sounds. Generally speaking, English has two types of sounds: vowel sounds and the consonant sounds, with more specific categories in each. However, there is a reason it’s ranked the least important element in the American accent. 

First of all, American sounds vary by regional dialect. Although the general American accent is the most commonly taught, it is not a true accent in the sense that no one speaks with all its features. All Americans have regional features that can indicate geographical location, race, class, or socioeconomic status. However, despite this sound variation, these dialects are still easily understood to an American ear. So clearly, a difference in sounds alone does not necessarily make a person’s speech more difficult to understand. 

Second of all, the individual sounds in a word can vary greatly depending on their position in the sentence. This means that what sounds natural in an individual word can sound awkward or unclear in a sentence or paragraph. Consider the word “going.”This word is made of two easy syllables: go-ing. The spelling of this word is straightforward, so it should be very easy to pronounce. Right? 

But now let’s put it in the sentence: “I’m gonna go to the store.” Most native English speakers using this sentence in conversation are not going to pronounce “going” as “go-ing” Instead, they will merge the words “going” and “to” into “gonna”(common in texting). Combining “going”and “to” is not something taught in school, and it is not an official grammar rule, but English speakers do it all the time. So learning how to pronounce individual letter-sound correspondence will not necessarily translate into more native-sounding English. This is why I ranked it in fourth place, least important to overall clear speech. This leads us to the next key element.

Third place: Connection

Connection, or linking, is the way that words blend into each other during connected speech. Connecting the ends of one word to the beginning of the next word to maintain smooth speech without breaks is important to prevent sounding “choppy” or “stacotto.” Lack of connecting words is an instant identifier that a speaker is not a native English speaker. 

Connection requires speakers to look outside of the individual word and consider the context of the phrase. Consider the phrase “Come over.” In the General American Accent this is pronounced as “CUH MOH-VER,” and the phrase “Come here” is often pronounced “CUH MERE” (See how the “h” in “here” while not silent by spelling rules, is skipped over in a sentence? That’s why knowing connection matters more than knowing sounds.) 

On the other hand, the phrase “Come down stairs” does not carry over the last letter to the following words. The rules of connection are not usually known or even consciously performed by native US English speakers, but they are very easy to identify when they are not followed and are a large source of sounding “non-native” with potential for misunderstanding. However, as important as connection is, it only ranks in third place. There is another factor that makes an even bigger impact. 

Second place: Intonation

Intonation is a change in pitch that conveys meaning and emotion. It is the melody of the sentence that indicates the speaker’s intent. In American English, intonation changes for a variety of reasons such as the meaning of the sentence (e.g., question or statement) who the speaker is speaking to (e.g., child vs adult) and the emotion of the message (e.g., sarcastic vs serious). Intonation gives a richer meaning to the words that are spoken. 

For example, let’s look at the simple phrase, “Really?” The intonation of this word can change its meaning from a genuine question to a sarcastic comment. This variability is why mastering intonation is so crucial. 

In American English, intonation patterns also help to structure information. For instance, falling intonation is commonly used at the end of statements and wh-questions (who, what, where, when, why), signaling completion of a thought. Rising intonation, on the other hand, typically occurs in yes/no questions, indicating expectancy of an answer.

Understanding and practicing these intonation patterns is key sounding natural and engaging. But, as important as intonation is for communication clarity, the last element is the most vital for impact.

The Winner: Stress

Stress, in the context of American English pronunciation, is the emphasis placed on certain syllables within words and certain words within sentences. This emphasis is achieved through a combination of making one syllable (i.e., the stressed syllable) longer, louder, and higher than the others. 

In contrast to syllable-timed languages where each syllable gets equal length of time, English is a stress-timed language, meaning that the timing of the sentence depends on the number of stressed syllables, with weaker syllables filling the space between stressed syllables.

 Consider the word ‘photography.’ In American English, the stress falls on the second syllable: pho-TO-gra-phy. The stressed syllable ‘TO’ is louder, longer, and at a higher pitch compared to the other syllables. This stress pattern is crucial for clarity understanding. Misplacing stress cannot only change the meaning of words but may also confuse listeners, as they rely on these patterns to predict and process spoken information.

Furthermore, stress is interlinked with the other elements of pronunciation. For instance, vowel sounds in unstressed syllables are often reduced to a schwa (ə), the most common sound in American English. This reduction is a key characteristic that non-native speakers often miss, resulting in speech that sounds unnatural to American ears.

Given its complexity and overarching influence on speech rhythm, stress is undoubtedly the most impactful element in mastering American English pronunciation. However, its intricacy also makes it one of the most challenging aspects to master.

But Which Should You Start With?

The order of the 4 elements of the American accent from most to least impactful are: 

Stress

Intonation

Connection

Syllables

Based on this ranking, the element that would be the most helpful to master is stress. However, given its complexity and the interplay with other aspects of pronunciation, beginning with stress might be overwhelming. Because of this, it can be discouraging to start with the stress. 

If you are skeptical of whether or not accent modification can work and need a quick win, I recommend starting with sounds and working towards stress. But, if you want to invest the time and energy into making the biggest impact in the least amount of time, I recommend learning to incorporate correct word and sentence stress into accent modification right from the beginning. 

Let’s get started

If you want to practice American stress patterns from day one then download this Stress Patterns Quickstart guide.

In my one-on-one coaching, I often do start with sounds, but I introduce American stress patterns from day one so that you can begin noticing them in American speech. If you would like to improve your American accent, book a free consultation call here.