American Accent Training | American T | Flap T

hi and welcome to the clear English corner I'm Kenan your personal American accent coach in this video lesson you're going to learn all about the American tea before we jump into today's lesson I want to make sure you know that there's more lessons coming on the clear English corner so be sure to subscribe and tap the bell so that you get a notification every time a new lesson is published so jumping into today's topic the American tea the tea found is one of the most common consonant sounds in the English language and Americans have a distinct way of pronouncing this sound depending on where it is in a word and what sounds come around it there's actually four different tea sounds in American English and today we're going to talk about all four we'll talk about the true tea the flap T the held tea and the vanishing tea so let's start first with the true teeth this is the sound you expect to hear when you see the letter T it's clear it's concise its distinct it's made by taking your tongue tip and tapping it on the ridge behind your top front teeth you hear this sound at the beginning of words like to take tell you're also going to hear this sound at the beginning of stressed or emphasized syllables in words like until hotel and return if you're not sure what I mean by stressed syllable make sure you check out my series on word stress where you'll learn exactly how to identify and pronounce the super-special emphasized syllables in English the true T also happens in consonant clusters a cluster is when two consonant sounds occur right next to each other and you say them both so for example s T as in stop Str as in street and TR as in tree consonant clusters also occur at the end of words in English you'll hear that true T sound in clusters like C T as in fact F T as in lift LT is in melt s T as in best and P T as in kept there's one final T cluster that doesn't follow along with the others and that's in T and I'm going to talk more about that one in just a second so a quick recap you're going to hear true T at the beginning of words at the beginning of stressed syllables and in consonant clusters that have T moving on to the flap T the flap T is really just a D sound and this flap T happens when T is in the middle of words in between two vowel sounds so for example take this word W a te R instead of water water water do you hear that flap T or the D sound water I need a drink of water city2 city city city i live in the city try this one with me l te are later I'll see you later one more B et te are better I hope you feel better flap T will also happen in between words when one word ends in a vowel sound and T and the next word starts with a vowel sound for example take what is instead of a true T what is you're gonna put in that D sound or flap T what is what is this another example but I instead of that true T at the end of the word but try the flap T but I but I but I said that a recap on flap T or the D sound you're going to hear this quick D sound when the T comes between two vowel sounds whether that's within a word or in between two words okay T number three this is the held T when you make the T sound there's actually three steps to this process step one the air comes up through your lungs and into your mouth then step two your tongue tip raises up to the ridge behind your top front teeth and stops the air and step three the air is released in an air puff for the held T you just skip step three you hold the tip of your tongue against the ridge behind your top front teeth and you don't release any air held T happens at the end of words in American English for example take the word about instead of that true T at the end most Americans are going to hold that T about my tongue tip goes to the ridge behind my teeth and just stays there about that the tongue tip stays up for the T and goes straight into the th sound the tongue tip goes under the front teeth for the th sound about that about that let's talk about that let's try another one together let's try it was it the tongue goes up for the T at the end of the word it holds there and then straight into the W sound for was it was it was it was awesome another time you're going to hear the hell T is at the end of a syllable when the next syllable starts with a consonant sound for example the word out side instead of out side out side the tongue stays up for the tea and goes straight into the S sound out side let's eat outside tonight try another one with me apartment instead of apartment apartment I love my new apartment and remember how I said that cluster in T at the end of words doesn't follow the true T like other consonant clusters it's because the NT at the end of words you're going to hear a held T for that cluster so for example the word student instead of student student my tongue stays up for the T sound after the N student I'm glad I'm not a student anymore another example president the President of the United States again that tea is held after the N in the NT cluster so to recap held T happens at the end of words and at the end of syllables when the next syllable starts with a consonant sound and in the NT cluster let's talk about vanishing T sometimes in American English that T just disappears completely it happens when the T comes after the mm or in sound in an unstressed syllable vanishing T after the n sound in words like internet so instead of internet you'll hear a native speaker say internet do you have internet access printer instead of that true t printer you'll hear a lot of native speakers say printer can I use your printer recap on vanishing T a lot of times that T just drops out with native speakers after the MM sound or in sound in an unstressed syllable the reason for this is because the and the sound are both made at the ridge behind your top front teeth it's easier to drop the T sound out instead of doing a double tap it's easier to say internet then internet overtime this easier pronunciation has just won out and that's why you'll hear a lot of native speakers just drop that T completely so there you have it for the scoop on the American T pronunciation now this is definitely an advanced lesson in the American accent if you use the true T in all of these instances you definitely won't be misunderstood however if you're at the point where you're really wanting to sound more natural and native in your American English pronunciation this sound is well worth your time when you use the true T in all instances it's a definite tell that American English is not your native language I hope you found this lesson helpful if you did please be sure to give me a thumbs up below and share the video with your friends remember there's more lessons coming on the clear English corner and you're not going to want to miss these so be sure to subscribe and click the bell so that you get notifications when new lessons are published that's a wrap for today thank you so much for tuning in and I'll see you next time

Channel: Clear English Corner with Keenyn Rhodes

Views: 1,320,196

Keywords: american accent training, american t, flap t, sound, how to say, what is, how to improve your american accent, how americans say t, american, accent, english, pronunciation, esl, toefl, training, lessons, learning, practice, learn, teacher, american english, american english accent, american english pronunciation, pronunciation american english, american english learning, american accent, american pronunciation, accent reduction, how to speak american accent, clear english corner, keenyn

Id: _3zbmyUu8-s

Length: 10min 9sec (609 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 11 2017