Well this conversation is ancient, but maybe you get a tickler when someone replies adn will find this. The guy's accent is crap. I'm Canadian but I'm from Toronto where our accent is *almost* standard American (or what we called in the film

According to a book on American English pronunciation ('Lesson 12: Central and Back Vowels', page 136. I don't know the name of the book, though), /a/ is the vowel of father, box or calm. However, almost every dictionary out there establishes a

Englishuser wrote: What's interesting is that these changes are led by younger female speakers. Older speakers and male speakers adopt these kind of changes later. Yes, that really is interesting. Why are the changes led by younger female

The Western and Central Canadian English dialect does have several differences from conservative General American, although many dialects in the US have some or all of the same features that are found in Western/Central Canadian English.

So what's your definition of American English (or North American English, as some prefer)? I would probably define it mostly by its phonology. It would be pretty hard to define. Or why not just say, any dialect of English spoken in North

>> hat, bat, bad, bag, ad, add << In some dialects ad, add and or bag would not work. If you're learning North American English, you could use the Inland North pronunciation of for all instances of /æ/. Many dialects pronounce

To tell you the truth, I've never heard any foreigner (unless they learned English when they were very young, or had lived in an English speaking country for at least a decade, and had extensive, and personalized accent coaching) ever be able to

Englishuser wrote: Hi, Jaguar. In British English it is Jag-u-ar but I believe that in American English it is Jagwar Don't forget that there is a /j/-sound in there! /Jagwar/ is the most commonly heard pronunciation in the US, although

I hear and feel you. The difference between full and reduced 'i' sounds is one of the more difficult to master for many non-native English speakers, as is the unaccentuated 't' in between vowels in American English that becomes a soft 'd.' I also

GUSTAVO ZAPATA CONTRASTIVE PHONETICS CLASS UIVERSITY OF ANTIOQUIA (COLOMBIA) SOME OF THESE SITES MIGHT BE OF SOME HELP ENJOY! VOWELS PETER LADEFOGED USA