Hi everybody! I'll be in New Brunswick at Rutgers Busch Campus today, but here's a quick one. If you are a Spanish speaker, you might have trouble with the "x" sound--you'll tend to pronounce "express train", "espress train". Or you'll say "masimum" instead of "maximum".

This is an easy fix because the "x" sound isn't really a sound on its own--it is a combination of two consonants--either "k" and "s", so "maximum" is actually pronounced, "maksimum" or "g" and "s", so "express" is actually pronounced "eggspress".

The only time this changes in English is when you have "X" at the beginning of a word, as in "Xavier" or "Xander"--both proper names of people. In this case, "x" is pronounced as "z"--as in "Zavier" and "Zander".

Clear as mud? (That's American humor. Mud is not clear.)

You folks take care. Feel free to call me at (732) 637-7398. I am an accent reduction specialist who teaches techniques to help you reduce your accent and be happier doing business and living in America. Call me today!

Hi I'm David Berlin, an ESL/Accent Reduction tutor from New Jersey. I work and travel to clients all over New Jersey and Manhattan, from the Jersey Shore to New Brunswick to Basking Ridge to Midtown. Check out my website at https://sites.google.com/site/davidberlinesl/. I'd love to work with you to help you reduce your accent and make your speech more intelligible to American speakers.

A quick tip for those of you who may not understand the difference between a "voiced" consonant and a "voiceless" consonant. Put the tips of your index finger and middle finger to the center of your throat. Hum a happy tune. Vivaldi's "La Primavera" would be nice, but it could also be Raag Maru Bihag or the Mittsu no Dansho. Even a sad, bittersweet Nanguan will do.

Feel that? No, not the music. Your throat. Do you feel how your throat buzzes against the tips of your fingers when you hum music? (If it doesn't, try humming something you recall from American radio or television). That humming is produced by your larynx (collquially called your "voicebox") and your vocal cords, which are bands of muscle in your throat that connect your windpipe, which leads into your lungs, to your diaphragm, which is the chest muscle that assists breathing. When your vocal cords vibrate and you feel that buzzing sound in your throat with the tips of your fingers, you are making a *voiced* sound. Examples of *voiced* consonants include:

• "v" as in Victor
• "g" as in gear
• "d" as in dear

When you make those sounds with your fingers at your throat, you can feel your vocal cords vibrate.

However, not all sounds in English involve the use of your vocal cords! The ones that don't are called *voiceless* consonants. They are made the same way (usually) as the voiced consonants except you produce them with your lips, oral cavity (mouth insides), and tongue and you don't use your vocal cords.

The corresponding *voiceless* consonants in English to the ones above are:

• "f'" as in "feel" (contrast against "v" as in "veal")
• "k" as in "kill" (contrast against "g" as in "gill", the bioapparatus a fish uses to breathe)
• "t" as in "tear" (contrast against "d" as in "dear').

Try saying this minimal pairs to get a sense of the difference between voiced and voiceless consonants. Pay attention to the first sound in each word--the first letter of each word pair (minimal pair) is voiced, the second is voiceless.

veal feel
gill kill
dear tear

I'll get an explicatory video up on YouTube as soon as I am able. Until then, good luck, stay safe, and for goodness' sake, *enjoy* America! We have so much to offer!