Jobin and Jismi being a service company, it is part of our daily life to deal with customers. Our service excellence will act as one of the factors to create repeat customers.
With a vast majority of our customer base in North America, there is no doubt if you could speak in their accent, you will be able to service them better.
In a series of articles, I will provide some guidelines on how to speak like an American.
First things first – remember it is only with time and practice that you will master the art.
Learn the Unique Features of American English
1. The main feature that separates the American accent from a lot of other accents in English is rhotic speech. This means that most Americans pronounce the r in words such as “hard ” (har-d).
Non-rhotic speakers don’t pronounce the r, and would pronounce the word “hard” like hah-d: hard
2. The short a sound is used in words such as “man” and “cat.”
3. The use of an unrounded (relaxed) vowel in words such as “lot” (pronounced laht).
4. Dropping (not saying) words. American English speakers often use shortened sentences, suggesting words without actually saying them. In the UK, this is much less common. For example:
Jim: “Are you going to the store on your way home?”
Jane: “I could. What you need?” (I could go to the store. What do you need?)
The same letter can have different pronunciations based on where it is in a word, and words can sometimes have very unexpected pronunciations.