Placement and American English Pronunciation
In this American English pronunciation video,
We’re going to talk about aa, aa, aa, and
placement in American English.
I’ve found myself talking about placement
a lot recently in my online course, and with
my private students. This is because placement
can effect the quality of a vowel, the sound
of a vowel. Take, for example, AH and UH.
The difference in the tongue position, in
the lip position, jaw position, is very subtle.
The sound is effected as much by the placement
as by the change in the mouth position. AH
– I feel that vibrating more here in the
mouth. Ah. But UH, uh, I feel that more here.
Ah, uh. The core sound of American English
is, uh, very grounded here in the chest. But
for other languages, there’s some manipulation
in the throat, in the neck, that causes the
placement, uh, to rise further up into the
face. So if you’re trying to speak American
English but all of your placement is here,
you’re going to lack some of the quality of
the vowel, uh, uh, that we need.
If you’ve never thought about placement before,
this can be a pretty confusing concept. It’s
not something you can see, like adjusting
a lip position. But, it can make a big difference
in your sound. As a first step, I invite you
to just play around with placement like I
did in the introduction of the video. AA.
Point, ah, and try to feel the vibration there.
Uh. Pay attention to what subtle differences
are changing. Maybe there’s some tension in
the neck and then a relaxation as you move
from one placement to another.
Keep in mind we’re not changing the pitch
of the sound, we’re changing the placement.
Aa, aa. Same pitch, same vowel, different
placement. Once you’ve been able to start
feeling your voice in different places in
your mouth, start trying to think about getting
it down here. This requires a full relaxation
of the throat. No muscles here should be engaged.
Uh, uh. So when the throat relaxes and opens
up, it allows the voice to settle down here.
Uh, uh. If you’ve always spoken with a high
placement, it might feel like your throat
is already relaxed because that is what is
natural and normal to you. So, try to push
your placement really far forward. And see
what changes happen to make that sound move
forward. Aa. If I make that sound, I feel,
aa, a tightening here, in my throat. So I
know if I want to bring it back, I have to
relax that. Aa, aa.
If you have a hard time hearing the difference
between between Ah and Uh, ah, uh, thinking
about placement may help.
As you work on your speech, think about the
fact that the core sound of American English
is uh, placed here, uh, uh. You may find that
the quality of your vowels improve, and that
you start to sound more American.
That’s it, and thanks so much
for using Rachel’s English.
I’m excited to announce that I’m running another
online course, so do check out my website
for details. You’ll find on there all sorts
of information about the course, who should
take the course, and requirements. I really
hope you’ll check it out and consider signing
up. I’ve had a blast with my first online
course, and I’m looking forward to getting
to know you.
Don’t stop there. Have fun with my real-life
English videos. Or get more comfortable with
the IPA in this play list. Learn about the
online courses I offer, or check out my latest
video.