American Accent

See, I knew there was something strange about my profile, thank you quidnunc for giving me 5 stars! And btw, I''m glad that helped! It''s my specialty!! J/K!

You got my vote, too, colours2mylife, thanks a million for your contribution. You know what, now I?Tm used to saving what I?Tve written before clicking on ?oAnswer? just like you because I encountered the same problem a few years ago. So everybody, for safety, you?Td better do this or you might have to rewrite your mail or post all over again. This technical fault even happens to Yahoo, a far more prestigious website than TTVN.
To quidnunc: Well, Mr. Longarm is the instructor of Neo System, whose main purpose is to help young Vietnamese adopt American Accent. I guess hê?Ts kind of busy at the moment, but sometimes I still see him log into English club.
Jugding from your post ?oHeLLO, where ARE you??, quidunc, I guess you know a thing or two about American accent, don?Tt you? Let?Ts share with us if you have any method or experience. Anyone here know what the difference between heLLO and HEllo is? It?Ts a very easy question huh, just write down a line or two and get 5* from me

Don't be afraid to open up your heartEverybody cries...

Thanks a lot, brit. You are really a super Mod. You''''''''ve got my 5 stars, too.
Well, I''''''''m surprised that you know me that well by just.... judging my language two cents. Yep, I knew how to speak American English before I know how to read and write and at that time which is, like, years ago I didn''''''''t know that I spoke American English until I met a whole bunch of old chaps from England. At that time, I thought those people come from the South (in America) because they speak rather slowly with weird pronunciation. You know, in America pronunication varies from region to region and the standard American accent comes from the Mid West. Therefore, most old Americans speak with some accent. Please note that the word "accent" means different things to different people. If you speak English with an accent, it would mean that you carry your own language with when speaking English, to a native speaker. For example, Americans living abroad often aquire a curious accent that sometimes shocks the native when they return home. And most non native speakers speak English with some local trace and very few can make it really nativelike.
However, if you''''''''re from vn and you can speak English with an American accent like the guy ''''''''Mr. longarm'''''''' says, that''''''''s really cool! But it might take years and lots of efforts.
Regarding your quizz, that''''''''s easy, but I think I won''''''''t join. I''''''''m sure a lot of people know the difference, so give it a try, guys
Stay cool
Được quidnunc sửa chữa / chuyển vào 23:23 ngày 28/03/2004
Được quidnunc sửa chữa / chuyển vào 10:07 ngày 29/03/2004

I''m not sure about what I''m saying below, but one of the rules that colours2mylife posted sounds wrong to me. Maybe you live in some part of America in which people speak American English with weird accent (I''ve heard of this in school, but never been to any other part of the country but New England), therefore you made up one rule that in my opinion is wrong (based on the standard American English):
We don''t make the "T" disappear in the word "hunting". "hunning" really sounds weird to me, also in "interesting", "advantage", "written" and "latin".
Last, I''ve found this forum really helpful and interesing. Many thanks to all of you who have contributed (spent a lot of time, energy and enthusiasm)
Cây cu'c đă'ng quên lo`ng mi`nh đang đă'ng
Trô* hoa va`ng do.c suô'i đê* ong bay.

Hi everyone,
Thank you for your interests in learning American accent in general and your contributions to the topic American Accent in particular. I''''''''m so glad to see the topic I started almost a year ago now back in action.
To Britneybritney, nooneknow and other members: I''''''''m sorry I''''''''ve been procastinating for too long though I''''''''ve got quite a few things to contribute to the Club. It''''''''s been really a long time since I last joined as a member. From now on, I''''''''m coming back with you guys and together let''''''''s make this club a better place. However, due to my heavy workload at NEO, I just can "meet" you guys online only once a week "at" the Club.

Brit and nooneknow: Both Jack and Lauren got scholarship to America and they are leaving for Connecticut this summer. Lauren''''''''s taking the senior year in Suffield Academy and Jack''''''''s becoming a sophomore at Taft for 3 more years. You are invited to our Easter Party at NEO and their Farewell parties. You both MUST come and join the Easter party. I really miss you guys, it''''''''s been quite a while! I''''''''ll send you the invitations at the end of this week.
longarm
Have a nice day!
Được longarm sửa chữa / chuyển vào 08:09 ngày 30/03/2004

Hey there invincible dude! I''m back again to correct ya and also to clear up any misunderstanding...
First of all, in America, like in every other country, people tend to get lazy when it comes to speaking, you know, especially when they speak fast, that explains all the linkages between words as well as some minor sounds disappearing, trust me, it''s not as weird as you think instead if you pay enough attention, you''ll see it''s very common... They don''t make it hard unless they absolutely HAVE to speak properly and clearly...
Second, I don''t make up that rule, and in fact I never make a statement over something without being absolutely sure of it... Hmmmm, how can I make make this clear without some example? Heh... I hope ya''ll listen to Eminem, yeah? You''ll see what I mean when you listen to this song "Without me" by Eminem, the way he says these words like "polutin", "enter", "splinter", "center", "winter", and of course "interesting"... Yeah, I know this example may not sound very convincing... You don''t have to take my words for it thou, since you''re in America, you may wanna ask some people like, your teacher or professor or even your American friends to say those words, the fast way that is...
Lastly, has anyone ever wondered why we say "wanna", "gonna", "dunno", "gotta" like the American? (Especially "wanna", you see what I mean if you''ve read my previous posts about "T" & "N")... I hope I''ve made my point clear, heh heh...
American accent, gotta love ''em!

Oh and Brit, thank you for voting! I really appreciate it, look, I now have like, 10 stars!

Thanks colours2yourlife! I''ll try to figure that out
People tend to say "wanna, gonna, gotta, dunno" because it''s "easier" to speak them out of your mouth. I''ve been living here not for a long time but these words seem to come out "smoother" than "want to, going to, have to...". It''s really natural that way!
Also, I think, part of the reason of saying that is the "intonation" (a very very narrow meaning of intonation is understood here)....I don''t really know how to explain here ..Hope somebody like longarm and brit will help me clear this up
Cây cu'c 'f'ng quên lo`ng mi`nh 'ang 'f'ng
Trô* hoa va`ng do.c suô'i 'ê* ong bay.

Well, you don''''''''t have to be a language wizard to answer the questions above, do yah! However there are some typical American sounds we need to have a little bit of specialized knowledge to figure out and here it is.
In Standard Spoken American English, the American T is somehow not really a T at all. Many people have posed the same question regarding some of the most difficult sounds such as: the American R and the American L. The problem is that those sounds are not too hard to recognize, but troublesome enough for a lot people including American children to acquire. I know lots of American kids pronounce the R like a W or skip over it altogether and only pick it up after they?Tve learned all other sounds. If you have trouble learning those sounds, don?Tt worry, you are not alone.
It would have been better and easier if you?Td taken a professional training on Standard Spoken American English to first understand the American sound system then to master those difficult sounds as you proceed along with the natural language acquisition process. However, the good news is that you can do it by yourself through series of practice, mostly by listening and reproducing the sounds with a tape recorder or a computer or even a digital MP3 player with recording capability. Experts say it?Ts best to practice when you are comfortable and eager to learn.
Regarding the American T, its position in a word determines whether it?Ts
1. fully T (such as T in Time),
2. reduced to a soft D (such as T pronounced d in better),
3. held at the end of a word (such as hot or hurt),
4. held before N in -tain and -tent endings (such as mountain or written), or
5. completely silent after N with lax vowels (such as printer or want to pronounced exactly as prinner and wanna)

Please feel free to leave any questions if you wanna learn more about American Accent and pronunciation.
Have a nice day,
longarm
Được longarm sửa chữa / chuyển vào 22:37 ngày 31/03/2004

Hi longaturn, thanks for sharing with us!
I find that the rules are just fine since they''re not so hard to remember. But trouble is how to acquire what we call "speech music"??? When I try to pronounce a word in isolation with others in a sentence, it''s just fine, be it R, L, or so to say, but when it comes to speaking a whole sentence of, say, 10 or 20 words together, I just find it rather hard to make the sentence flow just in a fluid way. How come??? To get over it, is it just a matter of practice??? On the whole, if we read a sentence running our eyes on it written down on a piece of paper, it''s a lot easier. But when we meet, let''s say, a foreigner, we just can''t keep the new habit of running our tongue smoothly over the words that make up the sentence, thus going back to the way the sentence is spoken the British way. Why so???
As a person so conversant in American English, how long do you think it takes us learners of English to adopt American accent by ourselves??? Of course, it depends on each person''s language ability but can you just give a general idea of how long it takes to get close to American accent (I mean speaking so smoothly, forming sound units so nicely, etc....), given that we''re already able to pronounce words in isolation pretty well???
You hear that? That is the sound of inevitability...