How to pronounce semester in American English

Stress falls on the second syllable — say "MEH" with a longer, fuller vowel and keep every other syllable short and quick. The respell "suh-MEH-ster" marks the stressed syllable in capitals so the rhythm is easy to read at a glance.

Unstressed syllables in American English collapse toward a schwa — a lazy, neutral "uh" sound. The full vowel is what textbooks teach, but in actual American speech every unstressed vowel reduces. The respell "suh-MEH-ster" shows the reduced form so you can hear the casual rhythm directly.

Americans use a relaxed retroflex R: the tongue curls back rather than rolling, and the R is one continuous sound with the vowel before it — not two separate sounds. Don't try to pronounce a separate vowel followed by a separate R. Treat them as a single shape.

American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "suh-MEH-ster" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.