The Sounds of American English

If your students need to learn articulatory positions and practice sound discrimination, direct their attention to these sites and you'll see changes in their pronunciation pretty soon. These sites are excellent for autonomous, self-teaching learners. They contain practical information, audio, interactive activities, and much more. Check them out.

• Phonetics: The Sounds of American English (University of Iowa)
  This site offers animations that show what happens inside the mouth when sounds are produced.
• Sounds of English (Sharon Widmayer and Holly Gray)
  This site describes the sounds of English with diagrams and sound files. It has instructions for sounds, word and phrase stress, and intonation. Also see Holly's corner for interactive activities.
• American English Pronunciation Practice (Charles Kelly)
  This site offers practice activities for vowel and consonant sounds, endings, reduced forms, and the like.
• Okanagan University
  This site offers lots of activities, including audio and quick time movies, on different sound pair groups.
• Interlink Language Center
  This site offers audio for sound discrimination

Suggested Activities

1. Provide the links to these resources to your students so that they use them to practice sounds on their own and at their own pace.
2. Select specific activities on the basis of your students' needs for class practice or homework assignments.