Confident English pronunciation is probably the most powerful skill you could ever learn. That's because the need for comprehensible spoken English is everywhere, in job situations from call centers to management, in schools and universities, and in social situations.

Imagine the new opportunities you would have if you could improve your American English pronunciation! Fluency in spoken English opens the doors of opportunity. By improving the way you speak you could gain new respect from your boss and your coworkers. You could get a better job and earn more money. You would be able to communicate confidently and effectively with customers, colleagues and friends from around the world!

People who are able to speak English clearly and confidently will be the ones who will advance and achieve personal and professional success in our global economy.

However, spoken English can be mysterious. That's because the written language and the spoken language don't always seem to work together very well. Since English is not a phonetic language there is not always a one-on-one relationship between the letters in the English alphabet and spoken sounds. This can cause problems when you want to pronounce English words.

For example, did you know that:

In spoken English the words are linked together and that many sounds many sounds are deleted or reduced?
The 26 letters in the English alphabet make up to 52 different sounds?
The spoken sound of a vowel or consonant changes according to its position in a word?
The way a syllable is stressed determines the meaning of a word?
Sentence stress & intonation, which are so vitally important to comprehensible spoken English, are not represented in the written form of the language?

Many people understand that they need to improve their English pronunciation in order to achieve their goals. They know that they have a foreign accent when they speak English, but they don't know exactly what their pronunciation problems are. That's how an accent assessment can help you.

An accent reduction professional can listen to and analyze your speech to isolate the specific problems you have when you speak English. Then he or she can recommend specific areas you need to study in order to improve your pronunciation.

If you are really serious about improving your American English pronunciation, taking an accent assessment will help you understand the specific reasons why people don't understand you when you speak English. Then you can focus on these specific areas to improve quickly and efficiently!

Susan Ryan is an American English pronunciation and accent reduction teacher in Washington, D.C. Check out her Accent Reduction Assessment or her American English Pronunciation blog to find more tips and lessons that you can use to improve your American English communication skills http://www.confidentvoice.com/blog/.