You practice one sound at a time, and each sound seems right. But when you say a whole sentence, it still does not sound quite American. Often the reason is not one sound. In this episode: • What is mouth posture? • The general american setting • Four warm-ups • The hesitation sound: a shortcut • Tense vs relaxed: home sentences • Practice • Self-check questions with answers Key phrases from this episode: Voice from the chest — the sound feels low and easy, not pushed from the throat. Uh, let me think. — a short thinking pause Um, I'm not sure. — a soft, closed-mouth pause Can I get some water? — relaxed: kun-eye GET sum WAH-der What time is dinner? — let the jaw drop on "time" I'm gonna take a shower. — soft lips, low voice Could you grab the mail? — relaxed jaw on "grab" Hot water's not working. — jaw drops on "hot" and "not" Turn the oven off, please. — tongue back for "turn" I'm heading to bed. — calm, low ending Is the pasta ready? — relaxed "uh" at the end of "pasta" (PAH-stuh) Season 2 · Real American English: the complete spoken course for learners worldwide — accent, everyday grammar, prepositions, articles, phrasal verbs, idioms, slang and real conversations at home. Listen, repeat out loud, then take the 52-question quiz. Audio voiced with AI from an original script by Dr. Rashmi R Nair.