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Explore Maine! American English Pronunciation

In this American English pronunciation video, you’re going to learn a little bit about one of America’s 50 States. Can you guess which state this is? A rocky coast, and very cold Atlantic water! Also, beautiful pines.

This is Maine. Maine is at the very top of the east coast of the United States. Its pronunciation is quite straight forward. The M consonant, the AY as in SAY diphthong, do drop your jaw for the first sound of that diphthong … and a final N, Maine. Some of my students who are Spanish, Portuguese, and Mandarin speakers, among others, have difficulty with an ending N. The tongue should be relaxed and flat, very forward, with the tip lifted so the the front part is at the roof of the mouth. Maine, Maine.

I spent six days this summer at Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, just off the coast. While camping in Acadia, we enjoyed exploring the coast and some beautiful hikes.

So foggy!

Looks like someone left their lobster cage.

Makes me want to have lobster for dinner.

Did you notice? Both ‘lobster’ and ‘foggy’

are spelled with the letter O, and they’re making the AH as in FATHER sound. Look at how much my jaw drops for those sounds. Foggy, lobster.

Another word with the O that has the AH as in FATHER vowel, rock. And, dog.

That was not planned. I don’t even know whose dog that is.

Another word where the letter O spells the AH as in FATHER vowel is ‘moss’. And I’m noticing, moss is all over the place here on the coast of Maine, I guess because it’s so damp. But this is an example of moss.

I’m spending most of my time here on the coast of Maine. The capital of Maine is Augusta, and that’s inland. Let’s take a second to look at the word ‘inland’. It looks like it should be in-land. But actually, there’s a schwa in that second syllable. It’s unstressed, and in this particular case, we do reduce the vowel. Inland, inland. This is just like island, island, where again, we have a schwa in that second, unstressed syllable. Also notice, the S is silent in that word. Island, inland. Now, let’s take a look at the pronunciation of ‘Augusta’.

Augusta. This is a three-syllable word with stress on the middle syllable. da-DA-da. The first syllable, unstressed, can be either the AW as in LAW vowel, or the schwa. The second, stressed syllable, begins with the G consonant, has the UH as in BUTTER vowel, Augu-, and the ST consonant cluster followed by the schwa, -sta, -sta. Augusta, Augusta.

You can’t come to Maine without trying its seafood, like this New England Clam Chowder.

Very good.

Or this lobster roll, where lobster meat is mixed in with other ingredients to make a salad and served on a roll. Maine is also known for its blueberries, so don’t miss blueberry pie if you visit.

I loved Maine and its slippery coast. Have you ever been to Maine? If so, tell me about it in the comments section, or better yet, practice speaking and record a video, and upload it as a video response to this video on YouTube.

That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.