Stop Speaking Like An American

So you want to sound more British. Let's turn your tomatoes into tomatoes and your potatoes

into potatoes. Potatoes.

Welcome to Eat Sleep Dream English, if you haven't met me before my name is Tom and teach

fresh modern British English so that you can take your English to the next level and achieve

your life goals. Now today we are looking at the five ways to avoid sounding American.

That is I'm guessing if you want to sound more British. Let's get to our first sound.

Alright here we go, there it is. In American English Tuesday. Now in British English it's

not /tu:/ it's /tjuːTuesday. So we use the tj sound for the Tu. Take this platform, YouTube

in American English, YouTube. In British English YouTube so the tju: sound. Take the fish in

American English Tuna, in British English Tuna. So you can see there, those two different

sounds. Now as a YouTuber myself, I always find it quite funny when someone is like 'I'm

a YouTuber', I'm like oh 'I'm a YouTuber' anyway yeah a little difference. Guys before

we go any further make sure you subscribe to Eat Sleep Dream English and hit the notification

bell. Alright subscribe button and notification bell. Also guys I've done several other videos

looking at the difference between British and American English. I'll link them right

above. Right next sound. Take the /æ/ and /a:/ Take the famous painting Picasso. In

British English that A is /æ/ so Picasso. In American English Picasso, so it's the /a:/

sound there Picasso. What about pasta? Pasta in British English pasta in American English.

What about the country? Sri Lanka in British English, Sri Lanka. What about the city Milan

in British English, Milan in American English. Take the food, kebab and kebab in American

English so you can see the difference there. Alright how are you doing? Is this making

sense? Cool, aright let's get to number three. Number three I've always thought is a really

distinct difference between the two different Englishes. It's the Du combination so for

example the word during. Now in British English that du is /dʒ/ during but in American English

it's during so it's a /d/ sound. British English /dʒ/ sound. What about the word produce,

ok the verb produce. So in British English produce, in American English produce so the

/d/ sound there. Reduce ok, reduce British English, reduce in American English. So you've

got that /dʒ/ and /d/ very distinctive sounds. Remember as we go, you guys should be practising.

Ok so stop the video and practise whichever one you want to learn. If it's American English

or British English practise that sound. Maybe even practise the contrast between the two

so that you can say it and hear it yourself. In British English it's really common for

us to use the /ə/ sound, the schwa sound. In American English it's not as common. So

in these set of words British English uses the schwa the /ə/ and American English uses

/a:n/. So the huge river in Brazil and the world famous website Amazon. Amazon in British

English, Amazon. In American English Amazon the /a:n/ there. The snake python in British

English, in American English python. So the /a:n/ there again. The place where all the

big tech giants are based in British English Silicon valley, the -on is with the schwa

sound. In American English it's Silicon valley so the /a:n/ there again. Python, Silicon,

Amazon you've got the /a:n/ sound in American English. Have you ever tried to do a marathon?

In British English marathon with the schwa sound there. In American English marathon.

So as you can see the -on changes from the schwa to /a:/. if you like MMA you'll hear

the commentator going 'Welcome to the Octagon' In British English octagon. It doesn't sound

quite so exciting 'welcome to the octagon'.

Ok and the last one. In British English vitamin, in American English vitamin so the vi sound

there. So /i/ in British English /aɪ/ in American English. Simultaneous in British

English, simultaneous. In American English simultaneous. So the si there. So this I sound

changes from /i/ to /aɪ/. Privacy in British English, in American English privacy. Actually

that one I've heard privacy said in British English as well. What about the country Iraq

in British English /i/ Iraq. In American English Iraq. So as you can see there the I sound

can change between the two Englishes. Alright guys there are so many other examples that

I could teach you. Obviously this video isn't really about avoiding speaking in an American

English accent, you can speak in the accent you want. There's no right, there's no wrong

there's just the accent that you want to speak. I personally love American English, I think

it's incredible. There's some amazing variety, interesting vocabulary so yeah you choose

the English you want to speak and then go with that, ok? Obviously on this channel I

teach British English because that's what I speak, I speak British English. I hope you

enjoyed that one guys. If you can think of any other differences between the two different

Englishes let me know in the comments below. Alright guys thank you so much. Remember I've

got new videos every Tuesday and every Friday helping you take your English to the next

level. Check me out on Instagram, check me out on Facebook where I put daily English

content but until next time guys this is Tom, the Chief Dreamer, saying goodbye.