General american accent course - Cape Town

I developed this course, because I found that many students/artists find it difficult to understand how to produce an American accent which sounds “natural” and not too “over the top”. I found that the General American English or General American (abbreviated GA or GenAm) is known as the umbrella accent of American English, which is spoken by a majority of Americans. This is the best GA accent to teach as it is lacking in any distinctly regional, ethnic, or socioeconomic characteristics. The GA accent contains a myriad of accents rather than a single unified accent. This course focuses on establishing a General American sounding voice. I have trained many actors, including private individuals who work abroad, seeking to broaden their Accent Skills so as to adapt and be better understood.

Benefits:
• Increased Confidence
• Better pronunciation and presentation skills
• Be more easily understood
• Career Advancement
• Effective communication
• Listening skills
• Positive social interactions
Students Learn:
• Consonant Phonology - Rhoticity (full pronunciation of all /r/ sounds),
T-glottalization (with satin pronounced [ˈsæʔn̩], not [ˈsætn̩]),
T- and D-flapping (with metal and medal pronounced the same, as [ˈmɛɾɫ̩]),
L-velarization (with filling pronounced [ˈfɪɫɪŋ], not [ˈfɪlɪŋ]),
• Vowel Phonology - Various vowel mergers before /r/ (so that, Mary, marry, and merry are all
commonly pronounced the same),
Yod-dropping (with new pronounced /nu/, not /nju/),
Raising of pre-voiceless /aɪ/ (with price and bright using a higher vowel sound
than prize and bride),
Weak vowel merger (with affected and effected often pronounced the same),
LOT vowel mergers (the LOT–PALM merger is completed among virtually all
Americans and the LOT–THOUGHT merger among nearly half).
• Long/Short Vowels - Vowels of GA are short [ɪ, i, ʊ, u, eɪ, oʊ, ɛ, ʌ, ɔ, æ, ɑ, aɪ, ɔɪ, aʊ] when they
precede the fortis consonants /p, t, k, tʃ, f, θ, s, ʃ/ within the same syllable and
long [ɪː, iː, ʊː, uː, eːɪ, oːʊ, ɛː, ʌː, ɔː, æː, ɑː, aːɪ, ɔːɪ, aːʊ] elsewhere.
Schwa /ə/ (which is typically very short [ə̆]),
• Learning about Pure GA Vowels - [æ] [eə~ɛə~æ], [ɑ~ɑ̈], [ɑ~ɔ̞], [oʊ~ɔʊ~ʌʊ~o̞], [ɛ], [e̞ɪ~eɪ], [ə], [ɪ̞],
[i~ɪi], [ɐ~ʌ̟], [ʊ̞], [u̟~ʊu~ʉu~ɵu]
• Learning about GA Diphthongs - [äɪ] [äɪ~ɐɪ~ʌ̈ɪ], [aʊ~æʊ], [ɔɪ~oɪ]
• Learning about GA R-Colored Vowels - [ɑɹ], [ɛəɹ] [ɛɹ], [ɚ], [iəɹ~ɪəɹ] [iɹ~ɪɹ], [ɔɹ~oɹ], [ʊəɹ~oɹ~ɔɹ]
[ʊɹ~oɹ~ɔɹ]
• Understanding Intonation – nouns vs verbs