American English Pronunciation Course – American Accent Training

Would you like to learn to speak American English? We offer private accent reduction training Live Online and in person in Amsterdam, Den Haag and at corporate locations.

What is your favorite English accent? Most people think of the English world as divided into two (or maybe three) big groups: British, American and – some would say – international. When a client wants to learn American English, including an American accent, that means learning American spelling, idiom, punctuation and pronunciation. We help people learn American English and to learn to speak with an American accent.

The last bit, American English pronunciation and accent, is actually fun, but also challenging, because pronunciation is all about habit.

If learning American English is your goal, you need a North American English native-speaker teacher to model and teach the American sound. 100% of our teachers are native speakers.

While British English was long considered the “gold standard,” American English is no longer a second tier language. The trending popularity of the American accent sound is no doubt influenced by Hollywood, American music and international business. And while many of our clients learned British English in school, they now have an international, blended way of using English that contains both American and British pronunciation, idiom, spelling and punctuation. And while that is often fine for speaking, it can be a problem with writing or test taking.

So while we love the modern international mash-up of British and American English, we know that some of you need or wish to choose a style and stick with it.

And what about Rhoticity (Rs) in American English?

Rhoticity refers to the way Rs are spoken in a given language. You may have noticed that English speakers with British accents place a schwa or “uh” sound where Americans place a clearly spoken R. Think of words like “mother” and “father.” With a British accent, the final R is absent and becomes “uh”, thus, “mothuh, fathuh.” Do yoo hear it? But Americans clearly express the final R on those words. Some people say it’s a pirate R. Personally, I like to compare American Rs to a growling dog. Grrrrr!

Learn American English – Our American accent training

At the moment we recommend online training, but we also offer in-person appointments at our outstanding locations in Amsterdam – in the beautiful, artistic Museum Quarter close to the Vondelpark and Van Gogh Museum, and at a historic Binnenkant canal house just minutes from Amsterdam Centraal Station. Plus we see clients in Den Haag, Amstelveen and at in-company locations. Please note that a surcharge may apply for on-location training.

Request your free teacher consultation appointment. Let us help you decide if the American accent training course is right for you. +31 20 823 0569. Ready to start? Enroll now!

Would you like some tips for developing an American Accent?

• Do more listening and less reading
• Try our Interactive Video App and get weekly personal feedback from a teacher.
• Choose American news, TV and podcasts to keep up with world events. But be sure you are listening to an American journalist. Rachel Maddow and Anderson Cooper have great American sounds.
• For an outstanding FREE American podcast, try This American Life. 
• Visit Rachel’s English on YouTube
• Add the Stitcher Podcasts app to your phone
• Listen FREE to National Public Radio from Chicago, WBEZ.
• Watch classic American series on Netflix. Avoid series set in parts of the US with strong regional accents. That means that The Sopranos and Ozark is out, but Breaking Bad and Suits is in. Look for series in which the characters speak perfect SAE (Standard American English).
• If music is your thing, turn on Spotify. Try an old crooner like Frank Sinatra, or fast forward to someone contemporary.
• Do not roll your Rs
• Develop a rhotic R. While initial Rs in British and American English are the same, mid and final position Rs are different. In the latter, American like to use the hard “pirate” R.

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