Hi guys and welcome to another accent video. If you've joined me on any of my
previous accent videos you'll know that I normally cover UK regional accents for
example the Liverpool accent or the London accent the Manchester or even
West Country accent and if those the accents you're interested in you can
find them in the description box below however today we are going international
we're crossing the pond and looking at the American accent. Lots of you have
asked me for this video in the past and looking at America it's huge and that
means the accents vary vastly so what we're going to do now is look at the
general aspects of a general American accent. So who are we meeting today?
This is Gabby. Gabby is from Minnesota that means she is an American. Hello Gabby.
Hey guys. Thank you Gabby for joining us. My pleasure Anna. So you might recognize
Gabby if you've been studying English specifically because Gabby is an English
teacher on YouTube channel Go Natural English. Do you want to tell the guys a
little bit about what you offer on your channel? Sure if you want to learn
American English pronunciation vocabulary and fluency then you should
watch Go Natural English. So you can find the link to Gabby's channel in the
description box below but before you go over there do stay with us and look at
the differences between the American accent and the British English accent. So
as I said Gabby is from Minnesota but you have quite a neutral American accent.
Correct I moved around a lot so I kind of standardized my English especially
teaching English too. Okay fantastic so let's first of all have a look at some
of the words that are commonly different between American and British English.
So the first word that's different is the word rubbish. I would say rubbish but
Gabby would say trash. Put out the rubbish or take out the trash. Next is
the word mobile. My mobile phone but Gabby would refer to it as cell phone. So
I need to buy a new mobile phone or give me your cell phone number. Cool. Full stop.
The little punctuation mark which is a dot we call a full stop but you call
period. So I'm not doing this. Full stop. I'm not doing this period. And last but
not least candy floss. Cotton candy. I did think for a minute. So what you would buy
at the fun fair or the carnival a lovely big fluffy cloud of candy floss. In
America it would be referred to as cotton candy cotton candy. Okay there are
so many words that are different between American and British English that we
could be here all day and in fact we've had so much fun in the last few hours
discussing. Yeah going back and forth discovering them. And some of them are
hilarious and if you want to know more then you can check out the video which
we've just made for Gabby's channel and the link for that will be in the
description box below and on the end of this video. So just stay to the end and
then jump over and check out those very funny differences but right now we're
going to break down the actual sounds. The sound differences in pronunciation.
Firstly and most famously one of the biggest differences between American
English and British English is the R sound. In British English as I'm always
telling you on my videos we have to flatten the R and in most cases we
ignore it all together if it's not at the beginning. Far far far far. I live far
away. I live far away. You do live far away. Or. Or. Or. Or. This or that. This or that.
There. There. There. There. There over there. There over there. There over there.
There over there. Good. In British English these two words are the same.
Aren't and aren't. But in American English they are different so for example I
would say you aren't my aunt but Gabby would say you aren't my aunt.
Aren't aunt. Aren't aunt. Cool very very different. The next time we're going to
look at is the T sound particularly when T appears in the middle of the word
in some cases you'll hear it sounded like a D in America so for example the
word water would sound water or better better or letter letter good so I might
say I spilt water on your letter you spilled water on my letter sometimes
the T sound is emitted all together so for example in the word interested
interested mountain mountain and international international so I'm
interested in international mountain climbing I am interested in
international mountain climbing I'm interested in international mountain
climbing I'm interested in international mountain climbing and sometimes if
there is a double T the T might actually be gloss analyzed in American for
example in the word written written button button I've written the word
button. I've written the word button. Good. And while we're here, Gary, this is your
second visit to London. That's right. What do you think of London? London is such a
pretty city. It's a pretty city? A pretty city. So in British English we would have
said London is a pretty city but with the American T's taken down, pretty city.
Beautiful. Well I'm glad you like it. Thank you. Something else you'll notice
in the American accent is when the words end with I-L-E. In British English we say
I'll but in American English these tend to be uhl. Yeah. So like in the word agile.
Agile. Or fragile. Fragile. Or fertile. Fertile. Mobile. Mobile. Moving on to vowels.
The short vowel O has a slightly different placement in American English
and sometimes is completely different depending on the word. So for example if
I say lot, Gabby would say lot. So it's more forward placed like an A. Lot. Lot.
I could say the word on. On. On. On. So it's also more, it's got more length, hasn't it?
How about the word got? Got. Got. Got. So let's try those words in the sentence
I've got a lot of work going on. I've got a lot of work going on. I've got a lot of
work going on. I've got a lot of work going on. And finally the word what which
for us has the same vowel O, what but in America changes completely to what? What?
What. So that sounds almost like a U. What. Like a schwa. Say what? Say what?
Okay but for us it's O. What. What. What. What are you doing? What are you doing?
Great. Let's move on to the long vowels now. Now the long vowel R which in
standard British English is long and open but in northern English where I
originate from it's the short ah most of the time. In America it's the same as
northern English so that's a good way to remember it. So for example in the word
bath northerners would say bath and Americans would say bath. So if you're
northern English this is going to be an easy and easy change for you. It's time
for your bath. It's time for your bath. It's all in the past. It's all in the
past. Great. And one word which is constantly brought up in my English
lessons is the word can't. In America you say can't. Can't. Can't. So you have to be
very careful with this word. If you mispronounce it it can sound like a very
naughty word. Okay so it's still long in America and it's just in forward place.
Can't. Can't. Can't. But in standard British English open and long. Can't. Can't.
Okay I can't stand it. I can't stand it. Great. Okay the next long vowel we're
going to look at is the uh vowel common in words such as work work work work I'm
going to work I'm going to work bird bird bird bird I can hear a bird I can
hear a bird girl girl girl girl hey girl hey girl I'm world world world world
where in the world are you from where in the world are you from in the United
States of course and the final vowel sound that we're going to look at is the
or vowel in British English this is a huge space inside the mouth the lips
are rounded and the vowel doesn't move or or but in America is slightly
different so for example if I say the word caught you would say court cut I'm
going to teach you how to speak American English. I couldn't even understand. In British English I would say caught but
Gabby would say cart I would say bought but have you caught him yet have you
caught him yet did you have you bought it have you bought it and law law don't
break the law don't break the law he was caught breaking the law he was caught
breaking the law okay that covers some of the most common differences between a
general American accent and a standard British English accent of course there
are many variations which I will cover in future episodes don't forget that
Gabby and I have spent some time finding out some hilarious differences between
British words and American words which you must go and check out the link for
that is in the description box below and at the end of this video but before I
let you go Gabby I'm going to ask you to read the passage comma gets a cure so
any of you out there who want to have a good old listen to the American accent
in full swing then this is for you otherwise thank you very much for
joining us today my pleasure and don't forget to check out Gabby's channel okay
I'll leave it to it thank you
well here's a story for you Sarah Perry was a veterinary nurse who had been
working daily at an old zoo in a deserted district of the territory so
she was very happy to start a new job at a superb private practice in North
Square near the Duke Street Tower that area was much nearer for her and more to
her liking even so on her first morning she felt stressed she ate a bowl of
porridge checked herself in the mirror and washed her face in a hurry then she
put on a plain yellow dress and a fleece jacket picked up her kit and headed for
work when she got there there was a woman with a goose waiting for her the
woman gave Sarah an official letter from the vet the letter implied that the
animal could be suffering from a rare form of foot and mouth disease which was
surprising because normally you would only expect to see it in a dog or a goat
Sarah was sentimental so this made her feel sorry for the beautiful bird before
long that itchy goose began to strut around the office like a lunatic which
made an unsanitary mess the goose's owner Mary Harrison kept calling comma
comma which Sarah thought was an odd choice for a name comma was strong and
huge so it would take some force to trap her but Sarah had a different idea first
she tried gently stroking the goose's lower back with her palm then singing a
tune to her finally she administered ether her efforts were not futile in no
time the goose began to tire so Sarah was able to hold on to comma and give
her a relaxing bath once Sarah had managed to bathe the goose she wiped her
off with a cloth and laid her on her right side then Sarah confirmed the
vets diagnosis almost immediately she remembered an effective treatment that
required her to measure out a lot of medicine Sarah warned that this course
of treatment might be expensive either five or six times the cost of penicillin
I can't imagine paying so much but mrs. Harrison a million or I can't imagine
paying so much but mrs. Harrison a millionaire lawyer thought it was a fair
price for a cure
you