If you're studying English vocabulary for hours but still struggling to be understood on Zoom calls, you are likely trying to speak English using the muscle memory of your native language.
Most languages (like Spanish, Italian, or Hebrew) are spoken at the very front of the mouth. The lips move significantly, the tongue hits the teeth sharply, and the syllables are clipped and distinct.
American English does not work this way.
The "Lazy" Mouth Concept
American English is fundamentally a "lazy" language in terms of lip movement. The power and resonance actually come from the throat and the very back of the mouth.
If you watch a native American speaker closely, their lips barely move compared to a native Spanish speaker. The jaw drops lower, the vowels are elongated, and sounds bleed into one another.
Exercise 1: The Vowel Shift
Try saying the word "Water". If you hit the 'T' sharply (Wa-ter), you are speaking at the front of your mouth. Now, relax your jaw, drop your tongue, and turn the 'T' into a soft 'D' (Wah-der). Let the sound originate near your throat.
The Schwa /ə/
If there is one secret weapon to sounding American, it is mastering the schwa. It is the most common vowel sound in American English, and it sounds like a very relaxed, almost dumb "uh".
Americans delete vowels constantly, replacing them with the schwa.
- "About" becomes "uh-bout"
- "Family" becomes "fam-uh-lee"
- "Tomorrow" becomes "tuh-mar-oh"
Stop Studying, Start Mapping
You cannot learn an accent by reading a textbook. You have to mechanically map the sounds to your muscles. It's a physical exercise, like going to the gym.
At English Kosta, we specialize in identifying exactly which specific muscles you are incorrectly firing when you speak English, and we correct them in real-time through high-intensity roleplay.