There’s one sound that’s the most prominent sign of the American Accent. If you master this sound, you’ll make an enormous progress in sounding like the native speakers of American English.
So what’s this important sound and why is it so popular?
It’s “Schwa”.
And the phonetic symbol for it is ǝ .
So how do you make the schwa sound? Here’s an example:
Take the word “different” for instance. The “e” that’s highlighted in yellow is actually a schwa, and here’s how you pronounce it…
Break the word “different” into 2 parts, “diff” and “rent”. Say the first part, “diff”. Then say the second part, “rent”. Now say both parts back-to-back, “diff-rent”.
When you join 2 parts, you use a very soft and unstressed sound. That’s schwa.
Try the same with the words, “separate” (sep-rate), “support” (s-pport), or “money” (m-ney).
This is extremely important in American Accent.
If you notice, schwa eliminates a syllable from the word and makes it easier.
As you get deeper into American Accent, you’ll realize that’s actually much easier to speak English with American Accent. When you get a hang of it, you realize Americans talk in a way that’s the easiest. And what’s easier than removing a syllable all together?
So, when it comes to American pronunciations look for schwas. You’ll find them everywhere.