!

My 5 Most Popular
Pronunciation Exercises
+ Worksheets To Use With Your Students

For Teaching The American Accent or

English Pronunciation

Jessica Kijowski, MS, CCC-SLP

www.theaccentchannel.com
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 !2

Hello Fellow Accent Instructor!

If you know me you have heard me say this a million times. And if you don’t
know me, I guess it should be one of the first things that you hear from me
because it is something that I passionately believe. Ready? Here it is.

You don’t need to know everything about accents and dialects to become
an accent expert. In fact, the best way to become an expert is to jump
right in and get some experience with real students.

To help you feel a bit more prepared to take that leap and take on your first
students, I’m sharing some of my favorite accent and pronunciation exercises.
These are the 5 practice sheets that I use most often with my own students.
Even after 20+ years as an accent and dialect instructor, these are still the goals
that I find myself including in almost all of my training programs.

With each sheet, I have included Instructor Notes to give you some guidance
on how to use them and specific things to listen for when working with a non-
native speaker of English.

Feel free to download, print, and share these sheets and definitely use them in
your sessions.

Starting an accent training business is easily done in stages. You can see as
many or as few students as you like so you don’t need to quit your day job.
There is very little investment to get started. All you really need is an internet
connection or wi-fi and you can work with anyone, anywhere in the world.

If you have ever thought that you would make a great accent instructor and
want to be the boss of your own small business, my hope is that you put any
doubt and fear aside, and just jump in. You can do this. You really have
nothing to lose and so much to gain!

www.theaccentchannel.com
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 !3

Teaching Tips

• Stick to one sound/concept at a time. That means one sound/concept

per session. Nothing sends a student running for the hills more than
overwhelm. Your job is break down the lesson plan into achievable
pieces. As each new piece is added, the accent changes step-by-
step. One sound/concept at a time is the only way to achieve
permanent improvement.

• What is second-nature to you as a native or advanced speaker of

English is brand-new to them. Don’t make it complicated. Don’t
overlook the common words that people use every day. Make your
lessons useful and practical.

• Be patient. Your students are learning a brand-new skill! Sometimes it

seems like you are saying the same things over and over but your
students need the repetition to get it right. Keep correcting them and
keep encouraging them.

www.theaccentchannel.com
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 !4

Teaching Tips

• Don’t freak out if you can’t answer a question. It’s ok to not have all
the answers. If you don’t know the answer to a question, tell the
student you will research it and get back to them. In fact, I often look
up pronunciations during a session right in front of my students. This
lets them know that even native speakers don’t know how to
pronounce every single word in English and that it is ok when they
make mistakes too.

• Don’t use childish activities for adult students. These are highly
intelligent, sophisticated people. Be sure your practice exercises and
homework assignments are just as sophisticated as your student and
always age appropriate. No childish pictures, elementary school word
lists, or silly stories. If you use a child’s book or nursery rhymes for a
practice activity (I sometimes use them to practice rhythm and
intonation) always explain that you know it is childish and will feel a
little silly, but we are doing this because simple sentence structure is
great for rhythm practice, exaggerated intonations can help you learn
them more easily, etc. Explain WHY you are doing it.

www.theaccentchannel.com
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Practice Sheets

These practice sheets are included as a PDF, with Instructor Notes.

Each sheet can be printed out individually for use in your in-person
sessions or screen shared during online sessions.

To download student copies of these same sheets without Instructor

Notes or to share digitally as separate worksheets, go to:

https://www.theaccentchannel.com/5-most-popular-accent-and-
pronunciation-practice-sheets

Visit the Teachers School at The Accent Channel for more expert
tips and free resources for teaching accents, dialects, and
English pronunciation.

https://www.theaccentchannel.com/blog

www.theaccentchannel.com
© The Accent Channel All Rights Reserved

TH

thought nothing ethical together

the wither enthrall pathetic
that plinth through math
this there within three
they their theme lather
them they’re threat Thanksgiving
theory although thicken enthusiasm
then bathe bath synthetic
month breathe feather deathly
path wreath loathing hypothesis
either clothes another mother
tooth throw leather brother
14th theater slather father
34th things truthfully atheist
rather thanks thread Athens
without thinks thaw Methodist
anything author thief south
something thousand thin worth
Thursday weather northern

thought about it on the job lock the door

down the street during the day nothing without you
on the train it was worth it something to work on
and then they left and then think about it
who said that on the bus another one
when they decide

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TH: Instructor Notes

• /TH/ is the most common consonant sound in English

• Doesn’t exist in most other languages so almost all non-native speakers
can to learn to pronounce this sound and hear improvement
• There are 2 different /TH/ sounds represented by different phonetic
symbols
o θ = Voiceless: No vibration in throat
o ð = Voiced: Vibration in throat
o I teach both of these sounds together as one concept and make
very little mention of the difference. Most non-native speakers have
a really good instinct about where to use the voiceless vs. the
voiced sound. Spending too much time trying to explain the
difference usually ends up resulting in more confusion than is
necessary.

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 R

rest read rapture right rare

revive red ripe robust raid
replenish reply rhyme resistance restoration
reaction rhetorical reside reservation rich
revolting recharge reciprocity rip reference
revile rental restaurant return Rome
restriction recipe reverberate wrote ruin
really ransack resonate rabbit room
royalty reach radical regimented
wrap reasonable ramifications remove
realistic rub reason rascal

red roses take a ride on road rage

roasted red peppers the reality of the situation is quick response
take an early retirement price reduction rye bread
turn right stop at a red light no rhyme or reason
it’s happening right now get roped into doing this ripe tomatoes
quarterly reports in the refrigerator take a risk
medium rare rough surface ranch dressing
go on a retreat red robin strict requirements
dance recital a sprained wrist

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 R: Instructor Notes

• /R/ is probably the most difficult sound to pronounce so encourage your

student to be patient and give them lots of practice
• To pronounce /R/ with an American Accent, the tip of the tongue does
not touch anything at all.
• This practice sheet only targets /R/ when followed by a vowel. There are
other Vowel + R combinations like /ER/, /AR/, and /OR/ and I cover each
as a separate sound in my accent training programs.

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 EEE vs. IH

EEE IH EEE IH EEE IH

seat sit leafed lift leave live
neat nit read rid team Tim
beat beet bit peak/peek pick meal mill
bean bin reek Rick week wick
teal till sleep slip sheep ship
field filled deep dip teak tick
steel/steal still reap rip seek sick
deem dim keep Kip leak lick
eat it meek Mick deal dill
reach rich gene gin keen kin
peel pill leap lip queen Quinn
keel kill sleek slick peace piss*(vulgar)
ream rim least list scheme skim
seen/scene sin bleep blip seeks six
deed did feet fit wheel will
seal sill tweet twit scream scrim
Pete pit beater bitter lead lid
green grin heat hit sleet slit
heal/heel hill cheap chip fleet flit
mean minute eager ignorant ceased cyst

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 EEE vs. IH: Instructor Notes

• A problem for almost EVERY non-native English speaker

• Mispronouncing (usually reversing or only using one of them) these
vowels can result in some embarrassing speech mistakes!
• Some of these examples are not exact word pairs. That’s ok. They are
still great practice.

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OUR

“Our” is a word that we usually weaken, reduce, or rush in The American Accent.
"Our" will be pronounced as /ahr/ almost all of the time. If you just say the word by
itself, you would want to say /OW-wuhr/ but we very rarely say the word “our” all by
itself with no other words around it.

So, "our" is a word that is usually reduced and pronounced as /ahr/ because that
pronunciation is a better fit for the rhythm of English.

PRACTICE BEFORE A CONSONANT

one of our friends part of our plan

started our vacation needed our help
send our condolences worked with our company
that’s our boy! what happened to our deal?
our favorite restaurant proud of our commitment
lost our motivation invited them over to our house
ate our lunch drove our jeep

PRACTICE BEFORE A VOWEL

Use Connection Rule #2 (scoot final consonant to beginning of word that begins with a vowel)

updated our address closed our account

tripled our earnings enjoyed our evening
on our own consider all our options
never our intention offer our opinion

PRACTICE BEFORE AN R
This is hard!! Use Connection Rule #1 (consonant to same consonant) to make it easier.

sell our red car missed our ride

cleaned our refrigerator beyond our reach
plan for our retirement save our receipts


Instructor Notes:

Connection Rule #1: Consonant to Consonant

When a word ends with a consonant sound and the next word begins with the same
consonant sound, connect so much that the two consonants become one. So
encourage your students to connect the final and initial /R/ sounds here:

Example: “our receipts” = /ahr_ruh-SEETS/ (should feel like you are doing one long /R/
not two separated sounds.

Connection Rule #2: Final Consonant to Initial Vowel:

When a word ends with a consonant sound and the word after it begins with a vowel
sound, connect and scoot the consonant over.

Example: “our own” = /ah-ROWN/



JOB HUNTING AND INTERVIEWS

application qualification proficiency education

employment success skills salary
experience interview strengths requirements
field resume weaknesses leader
organization expert team strategies
qualified industry hobbies career
occupation profession aptitude certification
accomplishment detail-oriented effective efficient
motivated enthusiastic initiate negotiate
challenges

PHRASES

1. problem-solving skills

2. highly qualified for the position

3. education and certifications

4. fill out an application

5. Let’s set up an interview.

6. an expert in my profession

7. My resume lists my related work experience.

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8. a leader my industry

9. technical proficiency

10. are you proficient in

11. strong communication skills

12. know your strengths and weaknesses

13. build relationships and work as part of a team

14. my hobbies include singing, dancing, and yoga

15. job requirements

16. career path

17. previous occupation

18. aptitude test

19. selected accomplishments

20. a detail-oriented person

21. an effective and efficient manager

22. initiate positive changes at the organization

23. successfully negotiated a higher salary

24. a motivated and enthusiastic worker

25. assess the challenges and implement strategies

Now, practice pronouncing your own job title, skills, and qualifications. For
homework, write a short script and practice out loud every day until our next
session.

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Instructor Notes:

Using lists of common words and phrases is a great way to practice pronunciation,
but it is an even better time to help your student with syllable stress, rhythm,
intonation, linking, vocabulary, and idioms. Give corrections and suggestions in all
of these areas when working with common words.

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