Improving your accent: Drop your JAW more

A pattern I've noticed with non-native English speakers is that we don't drop our jaw enough which makes it hard to understand what we're saying sometimes.

If you didn't know...English was my 3rd language, so this was something I had to practice every day to improve my accent and articulation.

_________________________________
Follow me on social!

[孫-悟空]

that clearly is a jaw dropping information

[cyphersuites]

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH!"

[AmbiCahira]

Singing along to songs is what helped my pronunciation the most because when singing you make "larger" vowels and you get instant feedback in your ears where you sound different from the singer. Working on my pronunciation was truly the steepest hill to climb in my English journey but so rewarding. Vowel placement makes a huge difference!

[seema]

I'm following your idea of overdoing mouth movements and it's really working for me. I'm even reading more overdoing it. It's really helpful Vinh

[askvinh]

Access my FREE 3 part series on communication skills:
gifts.vinhgiang.com/youtube

[CadetChicken]

This is actually very helpful. I work in retail and customers have a hard time understanding me sometimes. As a child i was interuppted a lot (my family still does this and even to each other to this day) so to compensate, I would talk faster in hopes to finish my statements.

[Funkiam]

...not the hero we need but the hero we deserve !

[giladfadel]

As a non English native trying to do my best at English speaking, This was one of the best tips I've ever got!
Thank you!😁❤️

[peaklegacy]

As someone who grew up very shy and tried to be very unnoticed, this advice is super valuable

[tatyanaganeli]

Love what you do! Dropping the jaw actually is fundamental for voice projection and speaking clarity not just in English but for majority of European languages. ❤

[Slackinjacko]

I’m gonna write a comment that is honest. I have been having antisocial issues due to me not being clear in conversations. And just now I’ve taken aware of my jaw opening. It has helped me immensely. I thank you social media for helping me see this.
It is common sense but I didn’t know that was what needed to happen.
As well as using my lips correctly.

[ethanmerritt]

I need this. I don’t really have any problems with my speech, but I have an issue with not sounding clear enough, as if i’m slurring my words, i’m also a soft speaker. I’d say it’s mostly due to having a smaller jaw structure and having dental issues (just got my braces off and now wearing retainers), as well as from early childhood being punished for speaking too loudly, which apparently I used to do.

Anyways, I really appreciate this video, Vinh’s platform comes across my feed a lot, but this is definitely one that thankfully caters to my issues.

[fockewulf]

this totally improved my speech, i can drop my jawr more than ever now

[sketchman]

I work with a few Vietnamese people who struggle with English. This may help, I'll share it tomorrow when i see them.

[jackkovar]

This is really good for native English speakers like myself I think too. I often notice my speech is not as clear as I would like. Also probably why speech can be less clear when tired.

[saxiroth]

Even for myself, who’s a sometimes unclear native English speaker, this is great!

[sagemin]

This is very simple and effective tip! When I use my mother tongue, it's very monotone which I don't need to use my tongue a lot! But in english, if i do so, I cannot secure enough room for my tongue! Thanks!

[matthewbos]

It's probably helpful to add that the phonemes /æ/ and /ɑ/ are the ones that require the jaw to be dropped most in English. Many vowels don't require dropping the jaw much. In fact, on the high vowels like /i/ and /u/, it will be unclear if you drop the jaw, because they are high vowels.

[JennySimonArt]

So true I am from Germany and dropping my jaw is literally still extra work but I can always hear how much clearer I sound. Thanks for this!

[Just_Stranger_]

This is perfect for vocal training for songs as well. I struggle with mumbling and this helps a ton