The BEST way to sound like a native English speaker!

[@alevtina7403]

Your voice is terrific!!! You sound like a singer.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thanks, @alevtina7403! What a nice compliment! :)

[@araobrito4429]

Thanks for your great lesson! You are awesome ! Congratulations!!!!

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thank you, Arao! :)

[@patipedra]

Thanks im from Brasil i speak portuguese in Brazil

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hello! And thanks for your comment :) I'm glad you liked this video!

[@fighter_v2y]

Hi! Julie. It's excellent and great this theme Voice placement. It's really meaningful.I have love it.❤ My name is Elieser.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi @fighter_v2y! Thanks so much for your comment :) I'm so glad that my video on voice placement has helped you!

[@ramzy-6566]

Thank you so much.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Ramzy - Glad you liked it! :)

[@ШахинМамедов-я1с]

Thank you very much❤

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Шахин - You're welcome! Thanks for your comment :)

[@kathygordon9627]

Wonderful video. Thank you.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Kathy - Thank you! I'm glad you liked the video! :)

[@fayewu7505]

great!

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Glad you liked it, Faye! :)

[@trent7007]

Thank you !

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Samy - Awesome! I'm glad you liked the video! :)

[@TheJrussi]

Thank very important

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Jorge - Thanks for your comment! I'm glad you liked the video! :)

[@44nina44]

Question: æ is a front vowel, what does that exactly mean? Isnt the back of the tongue tensed? A as in father is a back vowel, for example, can you elaborate on what principle are vowels classified as front and back on the chart according to?

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Nina - Thanks for your question! AA /æ/ is considered a front vowel because the body of the tongue is positioned more forward in the mouth. The tongue can be forward in the mouth yet still have some tension in the back. The AH as in father vowel is a back vowel because the tongue is positioned more towards the back of the mouth. Think about sliding your tongue forward and backward, and this is the front-to-back plane that describes how vowels are organized based on "front" and "back". I hope this helps! :)

[@gdm649]

And where english language resonatig, head, chest or throat?

[@gdm649]

​@@SanDiegoVoiceandAccentand where english language placement avarege, head, chest or throat?

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

@@gdm649 I would say it's a balance between the upper chest, center of the mouth, and a little bit of nasal resonance on the nasal consonants and the vowels that come before the nasal consonants. I hope this helps! :)

[@山口シオマラ]

I live in Japan, and I think the vowels sounds are very alike to the Spanish language, that’s why It’s easier for them to speak Spanish. My husband speaks Spanish and English and it’s difficult for me to understand when he speaks English. But his Spanish is better.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi @山口シオマラ - Thanks so much for offering your insight into this topic - I appreciate learning from you! :)

[@RakanJass]

You rock keep going

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thanks! :)

[@naina09]

Thanks a bunch for this informative lesson!! I appreciate it!! I just wanna know how can I find out whether my voice placement is correct or not. Can diaphragmatic breathing help us to get that correct placement? Are deep voice and lower voice placement same ??Looking forward to your reply!! Thanks in advance!!

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Sh - Thanks for your question :) It's really challenging for me to answer your question in a comment! It would be best if I could listen to your speech and give you feedback and coaching on your placement. I offer private lessons on voice placement and vocal skills (sandiegovoiceandaccent.com/professional-voice-training) or you can join my live English class at Julie's Conversation Club (courses.sandiegovoiceandaccent.com/courses/julies-conversation-club). :)

[@Seraphina_Belle]

I feel like when I speak with more air in my throat and use force from my belly my accent is much better

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Estelle - Thanks so much for your comment! Yes, I agree completely. Using more airflow = a better sounding American accent! :)

[@davidrock65]

How do you pronounce words that end with ths, such as months, cloths and moths? My American friend told me to just say monts, clots and mots, and that most people don’t stick out their tongue to pronounce th. Is it true?

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Thanks for the question! This is a GREAT question, and for me to give you the best answer, I need to demonstrate the pronunciation for you. If you could come to my next live class at Julie's Conversation Club (courses.sandiegovoiceandaccent.com/courses/julies-conversation-club) I'd be happy to help you! :)

[@kirill2525]

thats not true lol ive never heard anyone say mots lol also clot/clots is a word that means blood that has become hard. do your best to practice the th sound. try saying ssssss like a snake and while doing so stick your tungue out slowly till it makes the "th" sound. when you retract it again back into your mouth, it will make the sssss sound again. So on words like moths, when uoi get to the "th" part just put your tongue in the possition that you did priviously for th e th sound and then pull your tongue back in your mouth to get the "ths" sound. now for words like cloths, the th is actually silent and we say it like "close" not sure why but i have never heard anyone actuallt pronounce it with a th or a t sound . months also works with how you would say moths. hope this helps

[@davidrock65]

@@kirill2525 cloths= close? It’s not clothes…

[@kirill2525]

@@davidrock65 in amrtican english, no one pronounses the "th" in cloths. click on some more videos from other people about how to speak like a native person

[@davidrock65]

@@kirill2525 cloths/close/ o as in mop or home?

[@edo7131]

I wonder if the placement is the same for men and women? Probably is it deeper for men? Placement is such a complex and abstract concept, I feel more research needs to be done to find a precise and concise method to achieve proper placement

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Edo - I agree, more research should be done in this area! And there's no doubt that placement is also related to gender/gender identity :) Thanks so much for the comment!

[@arti5musicc]

I’ve noticed female speakers tend to realize the CAT vowel as something resembling the COT vowel more often than male speakers do.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

@@arti5musicc Very interesting! I haven't noticed that, but this very well could be true! Thanks for the comment :)

[@pandaonlinehero]

I can't speak like a native untill i translate in my head

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Руслан - Thanks for your comment! Translating in your head is a very normal (and expected) process of learning a new language. If you keep practicing your English in conversations, this process will become much more fluent and automatic for you. Best of luck! :)

[@مصطفىإدريسي-ز1ك]

I feel "E" in my throat 🙄

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi! Thanks for your comment :) I'd be happy to help you with the placement of the EE vowel! I invite you to come to my next live English class at Julie's Conversation Club: courses.sandiegovoiceandaccent.com/courses/julies-conversation-club. I could listen to your placement and give you feedback during the class. I hope to see you there :)

[@kirill2525]

dont take this the wrong way, but your voice sounds too robotic. it feels like im getting a call by a survey bot or i just called some companies customer support and your about to tell me to press 1 for english. native speakers dont over express all the sounds like what your doing. sure its very clear and would be good for like recording a message that thousands could hear but it sounds a bit creepy if you were to speak like htat to me in a casual conversation

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi Kirill - thank you so much for your kind observation about my voice! I really appreciate and value your opinion! :)

[@antonioaugusto9872]

😅

[@perplexed76]

She speaks like this for us, non-native speakers, to understand.

[@山口シオマラ]

I love my teacher’s voice. It’s very clear and gentle.

[@jeffy141]

You speak too much. Please get to the point faster. Thank you for the video though.

[@SanDiegoVoiceandAccent]

Hi @jeffy141 - Hmmm, very interesting comment! Thank you so much for sharing your opinion on this matter!! I hope you have a wonderful day! 😊