Many people get overwhelmed with the idea of sounding like a native in studying a foreign language. Speaking with an accent seems like a normal state. However, with a few tips on being aware of how our mouth makes sounds, a little concentration can produce great results. I made this video series to show you how to increase your awareness of all the parts of your speaking apparatus. Speaking a language feels wonderful as you work to move your mouth like a native.
This video focuses on vowels. English speakers tend to pronounce vowels in a peculiar way, differently from speakers of many European languages, such as German and Spanish. Watch so you can hear and imitate the vowels of these languages.
Dr. Thomas Coates blew my mind. He taught me how my tongue, lips, jaw, and teeth create language. Like a Chinese calligrapher learns how each finger holds a brush, like a yogi breathes with specific depth and stretch of her diaphragm, I took the first steps towards mastering language: losing my accent.
Enjoy!
Photo credit: Beverly & Pack / Foter.com / CC BY
Loving Language 
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This is brilliant! I’m scottish and have a very “e” like “a” even in English. I listen and repeat news stories (tiny fragments at a time) to try to improve my accent, but this has been a really good help, thanks for sharing.
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Glad it helped! I learned that good awareness of how it *feels* to sound the way we do really helps.
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I just started learning German and that is very helpful. I would never have thought about this on my own but now I can really hear it.
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