American English Pronunciation, American Pronunciation, American Accent

American English Pronunciation
Different kinds of English have different pronunciation.
For example, the pronunciation (the accent) in British English is different from the pronunciation in American English.
    You have a choice between British English and American English, because these are the most important kinds of English in the world. Which one should you choose? Probably the kind that you like the most. Whether you choose British or American pronunciation, people will understand you wherever you go. Of course, you don't have to decide: you can learn to speak both kinds of English.
Learn about both American and British Pronunciation:
    Even if you choose to speak one kind of English, you should learn about both kinds. Let's suppose you want to speak pure British English. You don't want to have an American accent at all. Should you pay attention to the American pronunciations in your dictionary? You may want to speak British English, but you will hear some American English, too. You may go see an American movie, visit the United States, have an American teacher, etc. You may want to speak only British English, but you need to understand both British and American English.
    Also, consider what happens if you (a student of British English) hear a new English word from an American? You may learn the American pronunciation of the word. And you may start using that pronunciation in your own speech. So your British English will no longer be pure.
    For example, if you hear the word nuke on American TV, it will be pronounced [nu:k]. If, all your life, you have been reading only British phonetic transcriptions, you will not know that many words which have the sound [ju:] in British English, have [u:] in American English. So you will probably learn that nuke is pronounced [nu:k]. But if you learn it like this, you will make your pronunciation "wrong", because a Briton would pronounce the word [nju:k].
    Of course, the same advice is true if you're learning American English. In such a case, you should be interested in both British and American pronunciations, too.