Improve Your American Pronunciation with Buildings & Places To Go

If you’re an English as a Second Language (ESL) student, improving your American pronunciation can be an intimidating task. But it doesn’t have to be! By practicing the names of buildings and places around you, such as restaurants and stores, you can easily improve your American pronunciation.

Understand the Basics of American Pronunciation

The first step to improving your American pronunciation is getting familiar with some key features of the American accent. The most important basics include understanding how to pronounce vowels and consonants, being aware of syllable stress rules, being able to identify silent letters, and knowing how to use intonation to express meaning. 

Familiarizing yourself with these concepts will make it easier for you to learn new words.  You can learn all of these concepts by watching more of our videos here at The Accent Channel.

Practice by Thinking About Places You Go in a Typical Day

Once you have a basic understanding of American pronunciation rules, it’s time to start practicing in common words that you actually use in a typical day.

One effective way to do this is by starting a list of the names of buildings and places in your town where you spend a lot of time. Think about where you go in a typical day...your office or workplace, restaurants, stores, banks, the gym, museums, parks, etc.

Once you have a list, practice out loud.  Say the name of the business or place clearly several times until you feel comfortable pronouncing it correctly. This will help cement the correct pronunciation in your mind and you'll build a better instinct for how each word should sound when spoken properly in American English.

Repeat & Practice Often

The key to becoming fluent in any language is repetition and practice.  Don’t forget to challenge yourself – try finding more complicated phrases or longer words that may contain silent letters or multiple syllables for extra practice!

You can also ask native speakers how they pronounce certain words so that you can compare how yours should sound compared to theirs.  Or practice with a speech pro by watching my video below!

Practicing the pronunciation of buildings and places near you is one easy way for ESL students to improve American pronunciation skills without feeling intimidated or overwhelmed by more formal learning methods.

Knowing the basics of American pronunciations, keeping track of words that you use often in a typical day, and repeating often are all great ways for ESL students to become more comfortable speaking English like native speakers do - so get started today!