American English pronunciation errors made by speakers native to Germany

Common
American English
Pronunciation Errors

Vowel Errors

Germany

Pronunciation will be improved dramatically by correcting 3 or 4 critical Vowel errors.

Problem:

Vowel length is too short

i.e.

"mate” sounds like “met"

i.e.

“tone” sounds like “torn”

i.e.

“odd” sounds like “awed”

i.e.

"noun” sounds like “nine”

i.e.

“mat” sounds like “met”

Solution:
AAP Vowel Tutorial

Techniques Taught :

- Tongue Position
- Lip Position
- Jaw Position
- Tongue Tension
- Vowel Length
- Compound Vowels

Targeted Exercises

- Vowel Reductions
- Vowel Sounds
- Vowel Pairs
- Vowel Length Drills

Consonant Errors

Germany

Pronunciation will also be improved by correcting a few critical Consonant errors.

Problem:

Sounds mispronounced:

i.e.

"bay” is mispronounced as “pay”

i.e.

“of” is mispronounced as “off”

i.e.

“very” is mispronounced as “wary

i.e.

“clothe” is mispronounced as “close”

i.e.

“joke” is mispronounced as “yoke”

i.e.

“fade” is mispronounced as “fate”

Solution:
AAP Consonant Tutorial

Techniques Taught :

- Placement
- Airflow
- Voicing

Targeted Exercises

- Consonant Sounds

24 different sounds

- L Drills

Blends
Sound combinations

- R Drills

Beginning
Middle
Ending

Intonation Errors

Germany

Using the correct stress and rhythm will immediately improve your ability to be understood.

Problem:

Stress - weak

Pitch - too fast

Intonation - flat and low

Difficulties with "fall" - "rise" patterns

Unatural tonal sounds

Solution:
AAP Intonation Tutorial

Techniques Taught :

- Stress
- Pitch
- Steps and Glides
- Duration

Targeted Exercises

- Intonation Patterns
- Compound Nouns
- Heteronyms
- Word Reductions
- Sentence Level Intonation
- Contrastive Intonation
- Response Drills
- Tag Questions