With my experience learning english for years, i just want to share what i have been through to help you can learn enlgish more quickly and easier. At first, i should show up about me. I am living in a country which does not use english daily (weekly or even yearly). And the motivation i learn it is seeking a job, searching web and reading my major document. Before i entered University, my english score at school was always at the lowest of my class and i could not use it even i had been over 5 years teached by teachers. That time i found that the way learning english in school was not suitable for me, so i found another way. And my trying at university time was taken me into success (as i estimate) since i could use english as i wish, i can communicate with foreigner when i am working now.
And, i hope i can help you to find your own way to learn ENGLISH!
Find the way to do
There are many ways to educate you. If you got low enlgish score at class, it does not mean you are not good, it just means that class is not suitable for you. So, find another class more interested you. If not suitable again, find others. Find until you feel satisfy. OR, your wallet is so hurt as changing class by class, i suggest you should make a class by yourself (= learn by yourself). It is better than arranging time to attend class, and many complication due to a english class such as clothes chosing, transportation, text books, exercises, the way going to your class safety or not, etc. IF your learn it yourself, you can make it at any style you like, at any place you feel comfortable. It sounds interesting, right? BUT, learning alone is always boring and boring. In addition, how to do it when we are LAZY???
You should love it firstly
Let's think about one thing you love (i'm sure you do love at least one thing, don't you?). What happened when you do that? You will feel comfortable, excited, the time seems stop elapsing, you taste every enjoy when you do it. So why it is not happened to English learning? Because you don't like it (same as to me before). It will become good so much if we love Enlgish, right? So, how to love it, then we can learn it in excited? Find what things English can bring to you, for example: you can communicate with every foreigner in your country, you can search international web, it can help you to study oversea, many and many the good things English can bring to you, just imagining :)
One thing you should know is autosuggestion. If everyday you repeat in your mind some sentences like "I love english" or "I will be good at English", I am sure you will love it automatically. You do not belive? Just try!
Remember: You have to do everything to make you LOVE Enlgish. This is an important step to become good at English.
Learn Grammar
I have to inform you that, I really dont like grammar (that's why you can recognize that in this article some sentences are wrong in structure, the way using word. It is because i am still learning English haha). Anyway, grammar will help you how to make a sentence. There are not much law of using English. So you should try to learn grammar until you can not forget it.
Learn new Words
Vocabulary in foreign language is VERY important. It plays an important role in your successful. Keep in mind that, you should use English-Enlgish dictionary, it is very helpful to accelerate your english skill when you get familar with it.
Thinking by English
When you read any English sentence, do not translate it into your native language (i mean don't translate out lould or translate in mind). Otherwise, it will destroy all your effort. Step by step, you will think by english quickly.
Learn how to Speak
...
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Exercise 1-17: Staircase Intonation Practice
Draw one step of the staircase for each word of the paragraph. Start a new staircase for every
stressed word. There usually is more than one staircase in a sentence. New sentences don't have to
start new staircases; they can continue from the previous sentence until you come to a stressed word.
I'll read the beginning sentences. Check the first sentence against the example. Then put the words of
the second sentence on a staircase, based on the way I read it. Remember, I'm exaggerating to make
a point.
V Write out the rest of the staircases.
× Turn the CD back on to check your staircases with the way I read the paragraph. × Pause the CD again to check your staircases in the Answer Key, beginning on page 193. × Back up the CD, and listen and repeat my reading of the paragraph while following the staircases in the Answer Key.
Answer Key:
V Write out the rest of the staircases.
× Turn the CD back on to check your staircases with the way I read the paragraph. × Pause the CD again to check your staircases in the Answer Key, beginning on page 193. × Back up the CD, and listen and repeat my reading of the paragraph while following the staircases in the Answer Key.
Answer Key:
Exercise 1-16: Paragraph Intonation Practice
From your color-marked copy, read each sentence of the paragraph in Exercise 1-15 after me. Use
your rubber band, give a clear pitch change to the highlighted words, and think about the meaning
that the pitch is conveying.
× Back up the CD and practice this paragraph three times.
× Pause the CD and practice three times on your own.
× Back up the CD and practice this paragraph three times.
× Pause the CD and practice three times on your own.
How You Talk Indicates to People How You Are
Beware of "Revealing" a Personality that You Don't Have!
There is no absolute right or wrong in regard to intonation because a case can be made for stressing just about any word or syllable, but you actually reveal a lot about yourself by the elements you choose to emphasize. For example, if you say, Hello, this intonation would indicate doubt. This is why you say, Hello ? when answering the telephone because you don't know who is on the other end. Or when you go into a house and you don't know who's there because you don't see anyone. But if you're giving a speech or making a presentation and you stand up in front of a crowd and say, Hello, the people would probably laugh because it sounds so uncertain. This is where you'd confidently want to say Hello, my name is So-and-so.
A second example is, my name is—as opposed to my name is. If you stress name, it sounds as if you are going to continue with more personal information: My name is So-and-so, my address is suchand- such, my blood type is O. Since it may not be your intention to give all that information, stay with the standard—Hello, my name is So-and-so.
If you stress / every time, it will seem that you have a very high opinion of yourself. Try it: I'm taking American Accent Training. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. I think I'm quite wonderful.
An earnest, hard-working person might emphasize words this way: I'm taking American Accent Training (Can I learn this stuff?). I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible (I'll force myself to enjoy it if I have to). Although the only way to get it is to practice all the time (24 hours a day).
A Doubting Thomas would show up with: I should pick up on (but I might not) the American intonation pattern pretty easily, (but it looks pretty hard, too). I've been talking to a lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand (but I think they're just being polite).
There is no absolute right or wrong in regard to intonation because a case can be made for stressing just about any word or syllable, but you actually reveal a lot about yourself by the elements you choose to emphasize. For example, if you say, Hello, this intonation would indicate doubt. This is why you say, Hello ? when answering the telephone because you don't know who is on the other end. Or when you go into a house and you don't know who's there because you don't see anyone. But if you're giving a speech or making a presentation and you stand up in front of a crowd and say, Hello, the people would probably laugh because it sounds so uncertain. This is where you'd confidently want to say Hello, my name is So-and-so.
A second example is, my name is—as opposed to my name is. If you stress name, it sounds as if you are going to continue with more personal information: My name is So-and-so, my address is suchand- such, my blood type is O. Since it may not be your intention to give all that information, stay with the standard—Hello, my name is So-and-so.
If you stress / every time, it will seem that you have a very high opinion of yourself. Try it: I'm taking American Accent Training. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. I think I'm quite wonderful.
An earnest, hard-working person might emphasize words this way: I'm taking American Accent Training (Can I learn this stuff?). I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible (I'll force myself to enjoy it if I have to). Although the only way to get it is to practice all the time (24 hours a day).
A Doubting Thomas would show up with: I should pick up on (but I might not) the American intonation pattern pretty easily, (but it looks pretty hard, too). I've been talking to a lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand (but I think they're just being polite).
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Exercise 1 -15: Application of Stress
Mark every word or syllable with ' where you think that the sound is stressed. Use the first sentence
as your example. Check Answer Key, beginning on page 193. Pause the CD.
Hello, my’ name is______________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the American intonation pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's like walking down a staircase. I've been talking to a lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?
Listen and re-mark the stressed words with your marker. After you've put in the accent marks where you think they belong, take one of the colored translucent markers and as I read very slowly, mark the words that I stress. I am going to exaggerate the words far more than you'd normally hear in a normal reading of the paragraph. You can mark either the whole word or just the strong syllable, whichever you prefer, so that you have a bright spot of color for where the stress should fall.
Note If you do the exercise only in pencil, your eye and mind will tend to skip over the accent marks. The spots of color, however, will register as "different" and thereby encourage your pitch change. This may strike you as unusual, but trust me, it works.
* Pause the CD and practice reading the paragraph out loud three times on your own.
Answer key on page 193
Read the following with clear intonation where marked.
Hello, my name is__________________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the American intonation pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's like walking down a staircase. I've been talking to a lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?
Hello, my’ name is______________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the American intonation pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's like walking down a staircase. I've been talking to a lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?
Listen and re-mark the stressed words with your marker. After you've put in the accent marks where you think they belong, take one of the colored translucent markers and as I read very slowly, mark the words that I stress. I am going to exaggerate the words far more than you'd normally hear in a normal reading of the paragraph. You can mark either the whole word or just the strong syllable, whichever you prefer, so that you have a bright spot of color for where the stress should fall.
Note If you do the exercise only in pencil, your eye and mind will tend to skip over the accent marks. The spots of color, however, will register as "different" and thereby encourage your pitch change. This may strike you as unusual, but trust me, it works.
* Pause the CD and practice reading the paragraph out loud three times on your own.
Answer key on page 193
Read the following with clear intonation where marked.
Hello, my name is__________________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the American intonation pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's like walking down a staircase. I've been talking to a lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?
Application of Intonation
There is always at least one stressed word in a sentence and frequently you can have quite a few
if you are introducing a lot of new information or if you want to contrast several things. Look at
the paragraph in Exercise 1-15. Take a pencil and mark every word that you think should be
stressed or sound stronger than the words around it. I'd like you to make just an accent mark (')
to indicate a word you think should sound stronger than others around it.
Reminder The three ways to change your voice for intonation are: (1) Volume (speak louder), (2) Length (stretch out a word), and (3) Pitch (change your tone).
* Pause the CD and work on the paragraph below.
Reminder The three ways to change your voice for intonation are: (1) Volume (speak louder), (2) Length (stretch out a word), and (3) Pitch (change your tone).
* Pause the CD and work on the paragraph below.
Exercise 1 -14: Make a Variable Stress Sentence
Now you decide which words should be emphasized. Write a normal, everyday sentence with at
least seven words and put it through as many changes as possible. Try to make a pitch change
for each word in the sentence and think about how it changes the meaning of the entire sentence.
1.________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________
4.________________________________________________________
5.________________________________________________________
6.________________________________________________________
7.________________________________________________________
1.________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________
4.________________________________________________________
5.________________________________________________________
6.________________________________________________________
7.________________________________________________________
Exercise 1-13: Variable Stress
Notice how the meaning of the following sentence changes each time we change the stress
pattern. You should be starting to feel in control of your sentences now.
1. What would you like ?
This is the most common version of the sentence, and it is just a simple request for information.
2. What would you like?
This is to single out an individual from a group.
3. What would you like?
You've been discussing the kinds of things he might like and you want to determine his specific desires: "Now that you mention it, what would you like?"
or
He has rejected several things and a little exasperated, you ask, "If you don't want any of these, what would you like?"
4. What would you like?
You didn't hear and you would like the speaker to repeat herself.
or
You can't believe what you heard: "I'd like strawberry jam on my asparagus. What would you like ?"
Turn off the CD and repeat the four sentences.
1. What would you like ?
This is the most common version of the sentence, and it is just a simple request for information.
2. What would you like?
This is to single out an individual from a group.
3. What would you like?
You've been discussing the kinds of things he might like and you want to determine his specific desires: "Now that you mention it, what would you like?"
or
He has rejected several things and a little exasperated, you ask, "If you don't want any of these, what would you like?"
4. What would you like?
You didn't hear and you would like the speaker to repeat herself.
or
You can't believe what you heard: "I'd like strawberry jam on my asparagus. What would you like ?"
Turn off the CD and repeat the four sentences.
Exercise 1-12: Create Your Own Intonation Contrast
Write a short sentence and indicate where you think the most normal intonation would be placed.
Then, change the meaning of the sentence slightly and change the intonation accordingly.
Normal intonation ___________________________
Changed intonation ___________________________
Normal intonation ___________________________
Changed intonation ___________________________
Exercise 1-11: Translation
Take the sentence I didn't say he stole the money and translate it into your native language. Write
it down below, using whatever letters or characters you use in your language.
Now that you have written your sentence down, try shifting the stress around in your own language by going through the stress patterns 1-7 in Exercise 1-9. Don't try to put on a particularly American or other accent; just concentrate on stressing a different word in the sentence each time you say it.
For example, if your language is German, Ich habe nicht gesagt daß er das Geld gestohlen hat, you would change the stress to: Ich habe nicht gesagt daß er das Geld gestohlen hat, or Ich habe nicht gesagt daß er das Geld gestohlen hat.
If you translated it into French, you would say, Je n'ai pas dit qu'il a vole l'argent, or Je n' pas dit qu'il a vole l'argent.
In Japanese, many people think that there are no intonation changes, but if you hear someone say, wakkanai, you'll realize that it has similarities to every other language. Watashi wa kare ga okane o nusunda to wa iimasen deshita. Or perhaps, Watashi wa kare ga okane o nusunda to wa ümasen deshita.
No matter how strange it may sound to you, stress each different word several times in your language. You may notice that with some words it sounds perfectly normal, but with other words it sounds very strange. Or you may find that in your language, rather than stressing a word, you prefer to change the word order or substitute another word. Whatever you do is fine, as long as you realize where your language patterns are similar to and different from the American English intonation patterns. Then, when you do it again, in English, it will be much easier.
Note An excellent exercise is to practice speaking your native language with an American accent. If you can sound like an American speaking your native language, imagine how easy it would be to speak English with an American accent.
Pause the CD and practice shifting the stressed words in your native language.
Intonation Contrast
Below are two sentences—the first is stressed on the most common, everyday word, book. Nine times out of ten, people will stress the sentence in this way. The second sentence has a less common, but perfectly acceptable intonation, since we are making a distinction between two possible locations.
Normal intonation Where's the book? It's on the table.
Changed intonation Is the book on the table or under it? It's on the table.
Pause the CD and repeat the sentences
Now that you have written your sentence down, try shifting the stress around in your own language by going through the stress patterns 1-7 in Exercise 1-9. Don't try to put on a particularly American or other accent; just concentrate on stressing a different word in the sentence each time you say it.
For example, if your language is German, Ich habe nicht gesagt daß er das Geld gestohlen hat, you would change the stress to: Ich habe nicht gesagt daß er das Geld gestohlen hat, or Ich habe nicht gesagt daß er das Geld gestohlen hat.
If you translated it into French, you would say, Je n'ai pas dit qu'il a vole l'argent, or Je n' pas dit qu'il a vole l'argent.
In Japanese, many people think that there are no intonation changes, but if you hear someone say, wakkanai, you'll realize that it has similarities to every other language. Watashi wa kare ga okane o nusunda to wa iimasen deshita. Or perhaps, Watashi wa kare ga okane o nusunda to wa ümasen deshita.
No matter how strange it may sound to you, stress each different word several times in your language. You may notice that with some words it sounds perfectly normal, but with other words it sounds very strange. Or you may find that in your language, rather than stressing a word, you prefer to change the word order or substitute another word. Whatever you do is fine, as long as you realize where your language patterns are similar to and different from the American English intonation patterns. Then, when you do it again, in English, it will be much easier.
Note An excellent exercise is to practice speaking your native language with an American accent. If you can sound like an American speaking your native language, imagine how easy it would be to speak English with an American accent.
Pause the CD and practice shifting the stressed words in your native language.
Intonation Contrast
Below are two sentences—the first is stressed on the most common, everyday word, book. Nine times out of ten, people will stress the sentence in this way. The second sentence has a less common, but perfectly acceptable intonation, since we are making a distinction between two possible locations.
Normal intonation Where's the book? It's on the table.
Changed intonation Is the book on the table or under it? It's on the table.
Pause the CD and repeat the sentences
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Exercise 1-10: Individual Practice
Now, let's see what you can do with the same sentence, just by changing the stress around to
different words. I'll tell you which meaning to express. When you hear the tone +, say the sentence as
quickly as you can, then I'll say the sentence for you. To test your ear, I'm going to repeat the
sentences in random order. Try to determine which word I'm stressing. The answers are given in
parentheses, but don't look unless you really have to. Here we go.
1. Indicate that he borrowed the money and didn't steal it. (5) +
2. Indicate that you are denying having said that he stole it. (2) +
3. Indicate that you think he stole something besides money. (7) +
4. Indicate that you were not the person to say it. (1) +
5. Indicate that you don't think that he was the person who stole it. (4) +
6. Indicate that you didn't say it outright, but did suggest it in some way. (3) +
7. Indicate that he many have stolen a different amount of money. (6) +
Overdo It
Practice these sentences on your own, really exaggerating the word that you think should be stressed. In the beginning, you're going to feel that this is ridiculous. (Nobody stresses this hard! Nobody talks like this! People are going to laugh at me!) Yet as much as you may stress, you're probably only going to be stressing about half as much as you should.
+ Pause the CD and practice the sentences in random order ten times.
Another reason you must overexaggerate is because when you get tired, emotional, or relaxed, you will stop paying attention. When this happens, like a rubber band, you're going to snap back to the way you originally were sounding (10 percent). So, if you just stretch yourself to the exact position where you ideally want to be, you'll go back almost completely to the old way when you relax. For practice, then, stretch yourself far beyond the normal range of intonation (150 percent), so when you relax, you relax back to a standard American sound (100 percent).
We All Do It
Possibly about this time you're thinking, Well, maybe you do this in English, but in my language, I just really don't think that we do this. I'd like you to try a little exercise.
1. Indicate that he borrowed the money and didn't steal it. (5) +
2. Indicate that you are denying having said that he stole it. (2) +
3. Indicate that you think he stole something besides money. (7) +
4. Indicate that you were not the person to say it. (1) +
5. Indicate that you don't think that he was the person who stole it. (4) +
6. Indicate that you didn't say it outright, but did suggest it in some way. (3) +
7. Indicate that he many have stolen a different amount of money. (6) +
Overdo It
Practice these sentences on your own, really exaggerating the word that you think should be stressed. In the beginning, you're going to feel that this is ridiculous. (Nobody stresses this hard! Nobody talks like this! People are going to laugh at me!) Yet as much as you may stress, you're probably only going to be stressing about half as much as you should.
+ Pause the CD and practice the sentences in random order ten times.
Another reason you must overexaggerate is because when you get tired, emotional, or relaxed, you will stop paying attention. When this happens, like a rubber band, you're going to snap back to the way you originally were sounding (10 percent). So, if you just stretch yourself to the exact position where you ideally want to be, you'll go back almost completely to the old way when you relax. For practice, then, stretch yourself far beyond the normal range of intonation (150 percent), so when you relax, you relax back to a standard American sound (100 percent).
We All Do It
Possibly about this time you're thinking, Well, maybe you do this in English, but in my language, I just really don't think that we do this. I'd like you to try a little exercise.
Exercise 1-9: Inflection
Notice how the meaning changes, while the actual words stay the same.
1. I didn't say he stole the money. Someone else said it.
2. I didn't say he stole the money. That's not true at all.
3. I didn't say he stole the money. I only suggested the possibility.
4. I didn't say he stole the money. I think someone else took it.
5. I didn't say he stole the money. Maybe he just borrowed it.
6. I didn't say he stole the money, but rather some other money.
7. I didn't say he stole the money. He may have taken some jewelry.
[I]__ I didn't say he stole the money. Someone else said it.
It's true that somebody said it, but I wasn't that person.
[Didn't]__ I didn't say he stole the money. That's not true at all.
Someone has accused me and I'm protesting my innocence.
[Say]__ I didn't say he stole the money. I only suggested the possibility.
Maybe I hinted it. Maybe I wrote it. In some way, I indicated that he stole the money, but I didn't say it.
[He]__ I didn't say he stole the money. I think someone else took it.
I think someone stole the money, only not the person you suspect did it.
[Stole]__ I didn't say he stole the money. Maybe he just borrowed it.
I agree that he took it, but I think his motive was different.
[The]__ I didn't say he stole the money, but rather some other money.
We agree that he stole some money, but I don't think it's this money.
[Money]__ I didn't say he stole the money. He may have taken some jewelry.
We agree that he's a thief, but we think he stole different things.
Notice that in the first half of these sentences nothing changes but the intonation.
V Repeat after me.
1. I didn't say he stole the money. Someone else said it.
2. I didn't say he stole the money. That's not true at all.
3. I didn't say he stole the money. I only suggested the possibility.
4. I didn't say he stole the money. I think someone else took it.
5. I didn't say he stole the money. Maybe he just borrowed it.
6. I didn't say he stole the money, but rather some other money.
7. I didn't say he stole the money. He may have taken some jewelry.
[I]__ I didn't say he stole the money. Someone else said it.
It's true that somebody said it, but I wasn't that person.
[Didn't]__ I didn't say he stole the money. That's not true at all.
Someone has accused me and I'm protesting my innocence.
[Say]__ I didn't say he stole the money. I only suggested the possibility.
Maybe I hinted it. Maybe I wrote it. In some way, I indicated that he stole the money, but I didn't say it.
[He]__ I didn't say he stole the money. I think someone else took it.
I think someone stole the money, only not the person you suspect did it.
[Stole]__ I didn't say he stole the money. Maybe he just borrowed it.
I agree that he took it, but I think his motive was different.
[The]__ I didn't say he stole the money, but rather some other money.
We agree that he stole some money, but I don't think it's this money.
[Money]__ I didn't say he stole the money. He may have taken some jewelry.
We agree that he's a thief, but we think he stole different things.
Notice that in the first half of these sentences nothing changes but the intonation.
V Repeat after me.
Exercise 1-8: Meaning of "Pretty"
Native speakers make a clear distinction between pretty easily (easily) and pretty easily (a little
difficult). Repeat the answers after me paying close attention to your stress.
Question: How did you like the movie? Answer:
1. It was pretty good. (She liked it.)
2. It was pretty good. (She didn't like it much.)
Question: How did you like the movie? Answer:
1. It was pretty good. (She liked it.)
2. It was pretty good. (She didn't like it much.)
Exercise 1-7: Individual Practice
Practice saying the sentences after the suggestion and the beep tone +. You will be given only a short time in which to reply so that you won't have the leisure to overthink. Start speaking as soon as you hear the tone because I'll be saying the sentence only a few seconds later.
1. Convey the information that it really does sound as if rain is falling. +
2. Convey the opinion that although it has the sound of rain, it may be something else. +
3. Convey the different feelings that someone has about rain and snow. +
4. Convey the fact that rain is an impossibility right now. +
+ Pause the CD.
Practice the four sentences on your own ten times.
+ Once you're familiar with moving the stress around and feeling how the meaning changes, turn the CD on to continue with the next exercise.
1. Convey the information that it really does sound as if rain is falling. +
2. Convey the opinion that although it has the sound of rain, it may be something else. +
3. Convey the different feelings that someone has about rain and snow. +
4. Convey the fact that rain is an impossibility right now. +
+ Pause the CD.
Practice the four sentences on your own ten times.
+ Once you're familiar with moving the stress around and feeling how the meaning changes, turn the CD on to continue with the next exercise.
Friday, August 9, 2013
Exercise 1-6: Pitch and Meaning Change
Practice saying the four sentences after me. Pay close attention to the changes in pitch that you must make to convey the different meanings intended. The words to be stressed are indicated in bold face.
1. It sounds like rain.
2. It sounds like rain.
3. He likes rain, but he hates snow.
4. It can't rain on my parade! He can't do it. (See also Ex. 1-43 for negatives.)
1. It sounds like rain.
2. It sounds like rain.
3. He likes rain, but he hates snow.
4. It can't rain on my parade! He can't do it. (See also Ex. 1-43 for negatives.)
Exercise 1-5: Four Main Reasons for Intonation
Depending on the situation, a word may be stressed for any of the following reasons:
New Information Opinion Contrast "Can't"
1. New Information
It sounds like rain.
Rain is the new information. It's the most important word in that sentence and you could replace everything else with duh-duh-duh. Duh-duh-duh rain will still let you get your point across
Repeat: Duh-duh-duh rain It sounds like rain.
Make rain very musical and put it on two notes: ray-ayn. Duh-duh-duh ray-ayn / It sounds like ray-ayn.
2. Opinion
It sounds like rain, but I don't think it is.
In this case, intonation makes the meaning the opposite of what the words say: It looks like a diamond, but I think it's a zircon. It smells like Chanel, but at that price, it's a knock-off. It feels like... It tastes like... These examples all give the impression that you mean the opposite of what your senses tell you.
Practice the intonation difference between new information and opinion:
It sounds like rain. (It's rain.) It sounds like rain, (but it's not.)
3. Contrast
He likes rain, but he hates snow.
Like and hate are contrasted and are the stronger words in the sentence.
4. Can't
It can't rain when there're no clouds.
Contractions (shouldn't, wouldn't) and negatives (no, not, never) are important words since they totally negate the meaning of a sentence, but they are not usually stressed. Can't is the exception.
New Information Opinion Contrast "Can't"
1. New Information
It sounds like rain.
Rain is the new information. It's the most important word in that sentence and you could replace everything else with duh-duh-duh. Duh-duh-duh rain will still let you get your point across
Repeat: Duh-duh-duh rain It sounds like rain.
Make rain very musical and put it on two notes: ray-ayn. Duh-duh-duh ray-ayn / It sounds like ray-ayn.
2. Opinion
It sounds like rain, but I don't think it is.
In this case, intonation makes the meaning the opposite of what the words say: It looks like a diamond, but I think it's a zircon. It smells like Chanel, but at that price, it's a knock-off. It feels like... It tastes like... These examples all give the impression that you mean the opposite of what your senses tell you.
Practice the intonation difference between new information and opinion:
It sounds like rain. (It's rain.) It sounds like rain, (but it's not.)
3. Contrast
He likes rain, but he hates snow.
Like and hate are contrasted and are the stronger words in the sentence.
4. Can't
It can't rain when there're no clouds.
Contractions (shouldn't, wouldn't) and negatives (no, not, never) are important words since they totally negate the meaning of a sentence, but they are not usually stressed. Can't is the exception.
Exercise 1-4: Sentence Intonation Test
Pause the CD and underline or highlight the words that you think should be stressed. Check Answer Key, beginning on page 193.
1. Sam sees Bill.
2. She wants one.
3. Betty likes English.
4. They play with them.
5. Children play with toys.
6. Bob and I call you and Bill.
1. You and Bill read the news.
8. It tells one.
9. Bernard works in a restaurant.
10. He works in one.
11. He sees him.
12. Mary wants a car.
13. She likes it.
14. They eat some.
15. Len and Joe eat some pizza.
16. We call you.
17. You read it.
18. The news tells a story.
19. Mark lived in France.
20. He lived there.
Answer Key on page 193
1. Sam sees Bill.
2. She wants one.
3. Betty likes English.
4. They play with them.
5. Children play with toys.
6. Bob and I call you and Bill.
1. You and Bill read the news.
8. It tells one.
9. Bernard works in a restaurant.
10. He works in one.
11. He sees him.
12. Mary wants a car.
13. She likes it.
14. They eat some.
15. Len and Joe eat some pizza.
16. We call you.
17. You read it.
18. The news tells a story.
19. Mark lived in France.
20. He lived there.
1. Sam sees Bill.
2. She wants one.
3. Betty likes English.
4. They play with them.
5. Children play with toys.
6. Bob and I call you and Bill.
1. You and Bill read the news.
8. It tells one.
9. Bernard works in a restaurant.
10. He works in one.
11. He sees him.
12. Mary wants a car.
13. She likes it.
14. They eat some.
15. Len and Joe eat some pizza.
16. We call you.
17. You read it.
18. The news tells a story.
19. Mark lived in France.
20. He lived there.
Answer Key on page 193
1. Sam sees Bill.
2. She wants one.
3. Betty likes English.
4. They play with them.
5. Children play with toys.
6. Bob and I call you and Bill.
1. You and Bill read the news.
8. It tells one.
9. Bernard works in a restaurant.
10. He works in one.
11. He sees him.
12. Mary wants a car.
13. She likes it.
14. They eat some.
15. Len and Joe eat some pizza.
16. We call you.
17. You read it.
18. The news tells a story.
19. Mark lived in France.
20. He lived there.
Statement Versus Question Intonation
You may have learned at some point that questions have a rising intonation. They do, but usually a question will step upward until the very end, where it takes one quick little downward step. A question rises a little higher than a statement with the same intonation pattern.
Emotional or Rhetorical Question Intonation
If you know that your car is parked outside, however, and someone doesn't see it and asks you where it is, you might think that it has been stolen and your emotion will show in your intonation as you repeat the question. As your feelings rise in an emotional situation, your intonation rises up along with them.
Emotional or Rhetorical Question Intonation
If you know that your car is parked outside, however, and someone doesn't see it and asks you where it is, you might think that it has been stolen and your emotion will show in your intonation as you repeat the question. As your feelings rise in an emotional situation, your intonation rises up along with them.
Exercise 1-3; Noun and Pronoun Intonation
In the first column, stress the nouns. In the second column, stress the verb. Fill in your own examples at the bottom.
1. Bob sees Betty._____1. He sees her.
2. Betty knows Bob._____2. She knows him.
3. Ann and Ed call the kids._____3. They call them.
4. Jan sells some apples._____4. She sells some.
5. Jean sells cars._____5. She sells them.
6. Bill and I fix the bikes._____6. We fix them.
7. Carl hears Bob and me._____7. He hears us.
8. Dogs eat bones._____8. They eat them.
9. The girls have a choice._____9. They have one.
10. The kids like the candy._____10. They like it.
11. The boys need some help._____11. They need something.
12. Ellen should call her sister._____12. She should call someone.
13. The murderer killed the plumber._____13. He killed a man.
14. The tourists went shopping._____14. They bought stuff.
15. ______________________ 15. ______________________
16. ______________________ 16. ______________________
17. ______________________ 17. ______________________
18. ______________________ 18. ______________________
19. ______________________ 19. ______________________
20. ______________________ 20. _____________________
1. Bob sees Betty._____1. He sees her.
2. Betty knows Bob._____2. She knows him.
3. Ann and Ed call the kids._____3. They call them.
4. Jan sells some apples._____4. She sells some.
5. Jean sells cars._____5. She sells them.
6. Bill and I fix the bikes._____6. We fix them.
7. Carl hears Bob and me._____7. He hears us.
8. Dogs eat bones._____8. They eat them.
9. The girls have a choice._____9. They have one.
10. The kids like the candy._____10. They like it.
11. The boys need some help._____11. They need something.
12. Ellen should call her sister._____12. She should call someone.
13. The murderer killed the plumber._____13. He killed a man.
14. The tourists went shopping._____14. They bought stuff.
15. ______________________ 15. ______________________
16. ______________________ 16. ______________________
17. ______________________ 17. ______________________
18. ______________________ 18. ______________________
19. ______________________ 19. ______________________
20. ______________________ 20. _____________________
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Statement Intonation with Pronouns
When you replace the nouns with pronouns (i.e., old information), stress the verb.
____eat____
They___them
As we have seen, nouns are new information; pronouns are old information. In a nutshell, these are the two basic intonation patterns:
Dogs___bones.
____eat____
They___them.
They___them
As we have seen, nouns are new information; pronouns are old information. In a nutshell, these are the two basic intonation patterns:
____eat____
They___them.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Staircase Intonation
So what is intonation in American English? What do Americans do? We go up and down staircases. We start high and end low.
Every time we want to stress a word or an idea, we just start a new staircase. That sounds simple enough, but when and where do you start a new staircase?
Statement Intonation with Nouns
Intonation or pitch change is primarily used to introduce new information. This means that when you are making a statement for the first time, you will stress the nouns.
Dogs_________________bones
///////// eat ______/////////
///////// ///////// /////////
Exercise 1-2
Practice the noun stress pattern after me, using pitch change. Add your own examples.
1. Dogs eat bones.
2. Mike likes bikes.
3. Elsa wants a book.
4. Adam plays pool.
5. Bobby needs some money.
6. Susie combs her hair.
7. John lives in France.
8. Nelly teaches French.
9. Ben writes articles.
10. Keys open locks.
11. Jerry makes music.
12. Jean sells some apples.
13. Carol paints the car.
14. Bill and I fix the bikes.
15. Ann and Ed call the kids.
16. The kids like the candy.
17. The girls have a choice.
18. The boys need some help.
19. ________________________
20. ________________________
+ Pause the CD.
Practice the patterns five more times on your own, using your rubber band.
Every time we want to stress a word or an idea, we just start a new staircase. That sounds simple enough, but when and where do you start a new staircase?
Statement Intonation with Nouns
Intonation or pitch change is primarily used to introduce new information. This means that when you are making a statement for the first time, you will stress the nouns.
Dogs_________________bones
///////// eat ______/////////
///////// ///////// /////////
Exercise 1-2
Practice the noun stress pattern after me, using pitch change. Add your own examples.
1. Dogs eat bones.
2. Mike likes bikes.
3. Elsa wants a book.
4. Adam plays pool.
5. Bobby needs some money.
6. Susie combs her hair.
7. John lives in France.
8. Nelly teaches French.
9. Ben writes articles.
10. Keys open locks.
11. Jerry makes music.
12. Jean sells some apples.
13. Carol paints the car.
14. Bill and I fix the bikes.
15. Ann and Ed call the kids.
16. The kids like the candy.
17. The girls have a choice.
18. The boys need some help.
19. ________________________
20. ________________________
+ Pause the CD.
Practice the patterns five more times on your own, using your rubber band.
Exercise 1-1: Rubber Band Practice with Nonsense Syllables
Take a rubber band and hold it with your two thumbs. Every time you want to stress a word by changing pitch, pull on the rubber band. Stretch it out gently, don' t jerk it sharply. Make a looping ° ° figure with it and do the same with your voice. Use the rubber band and stretch it out every time you change pitch. Read first across, then down.
Read each column down, keeping the same intonation pattern
| A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | B | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|
Friday, May 31, 2013
Chapter 1 American Intonation
The American Speech Music
What to Do with Your Mouth to Sound American
One of the main differences between the way an American talks and the way the rest of the world talks is that we don't really move our lips. (So, when an American says, "Read my lips!" what does he really mean?) We create most of our sounds in the throat, using our tongue very actively. If you hold your fingers over your lips or clench your jaws when you practice speaking American English, you will find yourself much closer to native-sounding speech than if you try to pronounce every ...single ... sound ... very ... carefully.
If you can relate American English to music, remember that the indigenous music is jazz. Listen to their speech music, and you will hear that Americans have a melodic, jazzy way of producing sounds. Imagine the sound of a cello when you say, Beddy bada bida beader budder (Betty bought a bit of better butter) and you'll be close to the native way of saying it.
Because most Americans came from somewhere else, American English reflects the accent contributions of many lands. The speech music has become much more exaggerated than British English, developing a strong and distinctive intonation. If you use this intonation, not only will you be easier to understand, but you will sound much more confident, dynamic, and persuasive.
Intonation, or speech music, is the sound that you hear when a conversation is too far away to be clearly audible but close enough for you to tell the nationality of the speakers. The American intonation dictates liaisons and pronunciation, and it indicates mood and meaning. Without intonation, your speech would be flat, mechanical, and very confusing for your listener. What is the American intonation pattern? How is it different from other languages? Foa egzampuru, eefu you hea ah Jahpahneezu pahsohn speakingu Ingurishu, the sound would be very choppy, mechanical,and unemotional to an American. Za sem vey vis Cheuman pipples, it sounds too stiff. A mahn frohm Paree ohn zee ahzer ahnd, eez intonashon goes up at zee end ov evree sentence, and has such a strong intonation that he sounds romantic and highly emotional, but this may not be appropriate for a lecture or a business meeting in English.
American Intonation Do's and Don'ts
Do Not Speak Word by Word
Bob ... is ... on .... the .... phone
Connect Words to Form Sound Groups
Bä bizän the foun.
Use Staircase Intonation
Bä____________________________________foun.
/////////// bi___________________________/////////
////////// ///////// zän_________________/////////
////////// //////// ///////// the________/////////
///////// ///////// ///////// ///////// /////////
Start a new staircase when you want to emphasize that information, generally a noun.
+ Do not speak word by word.
If you speak word by word, as many people who learned "printed" English do, you'll end up sounding mechanical and foreign. You may have noticed the same thing happens in your own language: When someone reads a speech, even a native speaker, it sounds stiff and stilted, quite different from a normal conversational tone.
+ Connect words to form sound groups.
This is where you're going to start doing something completely different than what you have done in your previous English studies. This part is the most difficult for many people because it goes against everything they've been taught. Instead of thinking of each word as a unit, think of sound units. These sound units may or may not correspond to a word written on a page. Native speakers don't say Bob is on the phone, but say [bäbizän the foun]. Sound units make a sentence flow smoothly, like peanut butter— never really ending and never really starting, just flowing along. Even chunky peanut butter is acceptable. So long as you don't try to put plain peanuts directly onto your bread, you'll be OK.
+ Use staircase intonation.
Let those sound groups floating on the wavy river in the figure flow downhill and you'll get the staircase. Staircase intonation not only gives you that American sound, it also makes you sound much more confident. Not every American uses the downward staircase. A certain segment of the population uses rising staircases—generally, teenagers on their way to a shopping mall: "Hi,my name is Tiffany. I live in La Canada. I'm on the pep squad."
What Exactly Is Staircase Intonation? In saying your words, imagine that they come out as if they were bounding lightly down a flight of stairs. Every so often, one jumps up to another level, and then starts down again. Americans tend to stretch out their sounds longer than you may think is natural. So to lengthen your vowel sounds, put them on two stairsteps instead of just one.
We're here
We
///////// 're
///////// ///////// he
///////// ///////// ///////// re.
///////// ///////// ///////// /////////
Standard American
The sound of an American speaking a foreign language is very distinctive, because we double sounds that should be single. For example, in Japanese or Spanish, the word no is, to our ear, clipped or abbreviated.
No
///////// ou
///////// /////////
Unvoiced
When you have a word ending in an unvoiced consonant—one that you "whisper" (t, k, s, x, f, sh)—you will notice that the preceding vowel is said quite quickly, and on a single stairstep. When a word ends in a vowel or a voiced consonant—one that you "say" (b, d, g, z, v, zh, j), the preceding vowel is said more slowly, and on a double stairstep.
see
///////// eed
///////// /////////
Voiced
There are two main consequences of not doubling the second category of words: Either your listener will hear the wrong word, or even worse, you will always sound upset.
Consider that the words curt, short, terse, abrupt, and clipped all literally mean short. When applied to a person or to language, they take on the meaning of upset or rude. For example, in the expressions "His curt reply ...," "Her terse response...'' or "He was very short with me" all indicate a less than sunny situation.
Three Ways to Make Intonation
About this time, you're coming to the point where you may be wondering, what exactly are the mechanics of intonation? What changes when you go to the top of the staircase or when you put stress on a word? There are three ways to stress a word.
+ The first way is to just get louder or raise the volume. This is not a very sophisticated way of doing it, but it will definitely command attention.
+ The second way is to streeeeetch the word out or lengthen the word that you want to draw attention to (which sounds very insinuating).
+ The third way, which is the most refined, is to change pitch. Although pausing just before changing the pitch is effective, you don't want to do it every time, because then it becomes an obvious technique. However, it will make your audience stop and listen because they think you're going to say something interesting.
What to Do with Your Mouth to Sound American
One of the main differences between the way an American talks and the way the rest of the world talks is that we don't really move our lips. (So, when an American says, "Read my lips!" what does he really mean?) We create most of our sounds in the throat, using our tongue very actively. If you hold your fingers over your lips or clench your jaws when you practice speaking American English, you will find yourself much closer to native-sounding speech than if you try to pronounce every ...single ... sound ... very ... carefully.
If you can relate American English to music, remember that the indigenous music is jazz. Listen to their speech music, and you will hear that Americans have a melodic, jazzy way of producing sounds. Imagine the sound of a cello when you say, Beddy bada bida beader budder (Betty bought a bit of better butter) and you'll be close to the native way of saying it.
Because most Americans came from somewhere else, American English reflects the accent contributions of many lands. The speech music has become much more exaggerated than British English, developing a strong and distinctive intonation. If you use this intonation, not only will you be easier to understand, but you will sound much more confident, dynamic, and persuasive.
Intonation, or speech music, is the sound that you hear when a conversation is too far away to be clearly audible but close enough for you to tell the nationality of the speakers. The American intonation dictates liaisons and pronunciation, and it indicates mood and meaning. Without intonation, your speech would be flat, mechanical, and very confusing for your listener. What is the American intonation pattern? How is it different from other languages? Foa egzampuru, eefu you hea ah Jahpahneezu pahsohn speakingu Ingurishu, the sound would be very choppy, mechanical,and unemotional to an American. Za sem vey vis Cheuman pipples, it sounds too stiff. A mahn frohm Paree ohn zee ahzer ahnd, eez intonashon goes up at zee end ov evree sentence, and has such a strong intonation that he sounds romantic and highly emotional, but this may not be appropriate for a lecture or a business meeting in English.
American Intonation Do's and Don'ts
Do Not Speak Word by Word
Bob ... is ... on .... the .... phone
Connect Words to Form Sound Groups
Bä bizän the foun.
Use Staircase Intonation
Bä____________________________________foun.
/////////// bi___________________________/////////
////////// ///////// zän_________________/////////
////////// //////// ///////// the________/////////
///////// ///////// ///////// ///////// /////////
Start a new staircase when you want to emphasize that information, generally a noun.
+ Do not speak word by word.
If you speak word by word, as many people who learned "printed" English do, you'll end up sounding mechanical and foreign. You may have noticed the same thing happens in your own language: When someone reads a speech, even a native speaker, it sounds stiff and stilted, quite different from a normal conversational tone.
+ Connect words to form sound groups.
This is where you're going to start doing something completely different than what you have done in your previous English studies. This part is the most difficult for many people because it goes against everything they've been taught. Instead of thinking of each word as a unit, think of sound units. These sound units may or may not correspond to a word written on a page. Native speakers don't say Bob is on the phone, but say [bäbizän the foun]. Sound units make a sentence flow smoothly, like peanut butter— never really ending and never really starting, just flowing along. Even chunky peanut butter is acceptable. So long as you don't try to put plain peanuts directly onto your bread, you'll be OK.
+ Use staircase intonation.
Let those sound groups floating on the wavy river in the figure flow downhill and you'll get the staircase. Staircase intonation not only gives you that American sound, it also makes you sound much more confident. Not every American uses the downward staircase. A certain segment of the population uses rising staircases—generally, teenagers on their way to a shopping mall: "Hi,my name is Tiffany. I live in La Canada. I'm on the pep squad."
What Exactly Is Staircase Intonation? In saying your words, imagine that they come out as if they were bounding lightly down a flight of stairs. Every so often, one jumps up to another level, and then starts down again. Americans tend to stretch out their sounds longer than you may think is natural. So to lengthen your vowel sounds, put them on two stairsteps instead of just one.
We're here
We
///////// 're
///////// ///////// he
///////// ///////// ///////// re.
///////// ///////// ///////// /////////
Standard American
The sound of an American speaking a foreign language is very distinctive, because we double sounds that should be single. For example, in Japanese or Spanish, the word no is, to our ear, clipped or abbreviated.
No
///////// ou
///////// /////////
Unvoiced
When you have a word ending in an unvoiced consonant—one that you "whisper" (t, k, s, x, f, sh)—you will notice that the preceding vowel is said quite quickly, and on a single stairstep. When a word ends in a vowel or a voiced consonant—one that you "say" (b, d, g, z, v, zh, j), the preceding vowel is said more slowly, and on a double stairstep.
see
///////// eed
///////// /////////
Voiced
There are two main consequences of not doubling the second category of words: Either your listener will hear the wrong word, or even worse, you will always sound upset.
Consider that the words curt, short, terse, abrupt, and clipped all literally mean short. When applied to a person or to language, they take on the meaning of upset or rude. For example, in the expressions "His curt reply ...," "Her terse response...'' or "He was very short with me" all indicate a less than sunny situation.
Three Ways to Make Intonation
About this time, you're coming to the point where you may be wondering, what exactly are the mechanics of intonation? What changes when you go to the top of the staircase or when you put stress on a word? There are three ways to stress a word.
+ The first way is to just get louder or raise the volume. This is not a very sophisticated way of doing it, but it will definitely command attention.
+ The second way is to streeeeetch the word out or lengthen the word that you want to draw attention to (which sounds very insinuating).
+ The third way, which is the most refined, is to change pitch. Although pausing just before changing the pitch is effective, you don't want to do it every time, because then it becomes an obvious technique. However, it will make your audience stop and listen because they think you're going to say something interesting.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
A Few Words On Pronunciation
I'd like to introduce you to the pronunciation guide outlines in the following chart. There aren't too many characters that are different from the standard alphabet, but just so you'll be familiar with them, look at the chart. It shows eight tense vowels and six lax vowels and semivowels.
Tense Vowels? Lax Vowels?
In some books, tense vowels are called long and lax vowels are called short. Since you will be learning how to lengthen vowels when they come before a voiced consonant, it would be confusing to say that hen has a long, short vowel. It is more descriptive to say that it has a lax vowel that is doubled or lengthened.
Tense Vowels
Lax Vowels
Semivowels
Although this may look like a lot of characters to learn, there are really only four new ones: æ, ä, ə, and ü. Under Tense Vowels, you'll notice that the vowels that say their own name simply have a line over them: [ā], [ē], [ī], [ō], [ū]. There are three other tense vowels. First, [ä], is pronounced like the sound you make when the doctor wants to see your throat, or when you loosen a tight belt and sit down in a soft chair—aaaaaaaah! Next, you'll find [æ], a combination of the tense vowel [ä] and the lax vowel [ε]. It is similar to the noise that a goat or a lamb makes. The last one is [æo], a combination of [æ] and [o]. This is a very common sound, usually written as ow or ou in words like down or round.
A tense vowel requires you to use a lot of facial muscles to produce it. If you say [ē], you must stretch your lips back; for [ū] you must round your lips forward; for [ä] you drop your jaw down; for [æ] you will drop your jaw far down and back; for [ā] bring your lips back and drop your jaw a bit; for [ī] drop your jaw for the ah part of the sound and pull it back up for the ee part; and for [ō] round the lips, drop the jaw and pull back up into [ū]. An American [ō] is really [ōū].
V Now you try it. Repeat after me. [ē], [ū], [ā], [æ], [ä], [ī], [ō].
vii
A lax vowel, on the other hand, is very reduced. In fact, you don't need to move your face at all. You only need to move the back of your tongue and your throat. These sounds are very different from most other languages.
Under Lax Vowels, there are four reduced vowel sounds, starting with the Greek letter epsilon [ε], pronounced eh; [i] pronounced ih, and [ü] pronounced ü, which is a combination of ih and uh, and the schwa, [ə], pronounced uh—the softest, most reduced, most relaxed sound that we can produce. It is also the most common sound in English. The semivowels are the American R (pronounced er, which is the schwa plus R) and the American L (which is the schwa plus L). Vowels will be covered in greater detail in Chapters 3, 8, and 11.
Voiced Consonants? Unvoiced Consonants?
A consonant is a sound that causes two points of your mouth to come into contact, in three locations—the lips, the tip of the tongue, and the throat. A consonant can either be unvoiced (whispered) or voiced (spoken), and it can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a word.
You'll notice that for some categories, a particular sound doesn't exist in English.
Pronunciation Points
1. In many dictionaries, you may find a character that looks like an upside down V, [A] and another character that is an upside-down e [ə], the schwa. There is a linguistic distinction between the two, but they are pronounced exactly the same. Since you can't hear the difference between these two sounds, we'll just be using the upside-down e to indicate the schwa sound. It is pronounced uh.
2. The second point is that we do not differentiate between [ä] and []]. The [ä] is pronounced ah. The backwards C []] is more or less pronounced aw. This aw sound has a "back East" sound to it, and as it's not common to the entire United States, it won't be included here. 3. R can be considered a semivowel. One characteristic of a vowel is that nothing in the mouth touches anything else. R definitely falls into that category. So in the exercises throughout the book it will be treated not so much as a consonant, but as a vowel.
4. The ow sound is usually indicated by [äu], which would be ah + ooh. This may have been accurate at some point in some locations, but the sound is now generally [æo]. Town is [tæon], how is [hæo], loud is [læod], and so on.
5. Besides voiced and unvoiced, there are two words that come up in pronunciation. These are sibilant and plosive. When you say the [s] sound, you can feel the air sliding out over the tip of your tongue—this is a sibilant. When you say the [p] sound, you can feel the air popping out from between your lips—this is a plosive. Be aware that there are two sounds that are sometimes mistakenly taught as sibilants, but are actually plosives: [th] and [v].
6. For particular points of pronunciation that pertain to your own language, refer to the Nationality Guides on page 172.
Throughout this text, we will be using three symbols to indicate three separate actions:
V Indicates a command or a suggestion.
+ Indicates the beep tone.
+ Indicates that you need to turn the CD on or off, back up, or pause.
Tense Vowels? Lax Vowels?
In some books, tense vowels are called long and lax vowels are called short. Since you will be learning how to lengthen vowels when they come before a voiced consonant, it would be confusing to say that hen has a long, short vowel. It is more descriptive to say that it has a lax vowel that is doubled or lengthened.
| Symbol | Sound | Spelling | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol | Sound | Spelling | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Symbol | Sound | Spelling | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
A tense vowel requires you to use a lot of facial muscles to produce it. If you say [ē], you must stretch your lips back; for [ū] you must round your lips forward; for [ä] you drop your jaw down; for [æ] you will drop your jaw far down and back; for [ā] bring your lips back and drop your jaw a bit; for [ī] drop your jaw for the ah part of the sound and pull it back up for the ee part; and for [ō] round the lips, drop the jaw and pull back up into [ū]. An American [ō] is really [ōū].
V Now you try it. Repeat after me. [ē], [ū], [ā], [æ], [ä], [ī], [ō].
vii
A lax vowel, on the other hand, is very reduced. In fact, you don't need to move your face at all. You only need to move the back of your tongue and your throat. These sounds are very different from most other languages.
Under Lax Vowels, there are four reduced vowel sounds, starting with the Greek letter epsilon [ε], pronounced eh; [i] pronounced ih, and [ü] pronounced ü, which is a combination of ih and uh, and the schwa, [ə], pronounced uh—the softest, most reduced, most relaxed sound that we can produce. It is also the most common sound in English. The semivowels are the American R (pronounced er, which is the schwa plus R) and the American L (which is the schwa plus L). Vowels will be covered in greater detail in Chapters 3, 8, and 11.
Voiced Consonants? Unvoiced Consonants?
A consonant is a sound that causes two points of your mouth to come into contact, in three locations—the lips, the tip of the tongue, and the throat. A consonant can either be unvoiced (whispered) or voiced (spoken), and it can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a word.
You'll notice that for some categories, a particular sound doesn't exist in English.
1. In many dictionaries, you may find a character that looks like an upside down V, [A] and another character that is an upside-down e [ə], the schwa. There is a linguistic distinction between the two, but they are pronounced exactly the same. Since you can't hear the difference between these two sounds, we'll just be using the upside-down e to indicate the schwa sound. It is pronounced uh.
2. The second point is that we do not differentiate between [ä] and []]. The [ä] is pronounced ah. The backwards C []] is more or less pronounced aw. This aw sound has a "back East" sound to it, and as it's not common to the entire United States, it won't be included here. 3. R can be considered a semivowel. One characteristic of a vowel is that nothing in the mouth touches anything else. R definitely falls into that category. So in the exercises throughout the book it will be treated not so much as a consonant, but as a vowel.
4. The ow sound is usually indicated by [äu], which would be ah + ooh. This may have been accurate at some point in some locations, but the sound is now generally [æo]. Town is [tæon], how is [hæo], loud is [læod], and so on.
5. Besides voiced and unvoiced, there are two words that come up in pronunciation. These are sibilant and plosive. When you say the [s] sound, you can feel the air sliding out over the tip of your tongue—this is a sibilant. When you say the [p] sound, you can feel the air popping out from between your lips—this is a plosive. Be aware that there are two sounds that are sometimes mistakenly taught as sibilants, but are actually plosives: [th] and [v].
6. For particular points of pronunciation that pertain to your own language, refer to the Nationality Guides on page 172.
Throughout this text, we will be using three symbols to indicate three separate actions:
V Indicates a command or a suggestion.
+ Indicates the beep tone.
+ Indicates that you need to turn the CD on or off, back up, or pause.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
American Accent Training
Welcome to American Accent Training. This book and CD set is designed to get you started on your American accent. We'll follow the book and go through the 13 lessons and all the exercises step by step. Everything is explained and a complete Answer Key may be found in the back of the text.
What Is Accent? Accent is a combination of three main components: intonation (speech music), liaisons (word connections), and pronunciation (the spoken sounds of vowels, consonants, and combinations). As you go along, you'll notice that you're being asked to look at accent in a different way. You'll also realize that the grammar you studied before and this accent you're studying now are completely different.
Part of the difference is that grammar and vocabulary are systematic and structured— the letter of the language. Accent, on the other hand, is free form, intuitive, and creative— more the spirit of the language. So, thinking of music, feeling, and flow, let your mouth relax into the American accent.
Can I Learn a New Accent? Can a person actually learn a new accent? Many people feel that after a certain age, it's just not possible. Can classical musicians play jazz? If they practice, of course they can! For your American accent, it's just a matter of learning and practicing techniques this book and CD set will teach you. It is up to you to use them or not. How well you do depends mainly on how open and willing you are to sounding different from the way you have sounded all your life.
A very important thing you need to remember is that you can use your accent to say what you mean and how you mean it. Word stress conveys meaning through tone or feeling, which can be much more important than the actual words that you use. We'll cover the expression of these feelings through intonation in the first lesson.
You may have noticed that I talk fast and often run my words together. You've probably heard enough "English-teacher English"—where ... everything ... is ... pronounced without having to listen too carefully. That's why on the CDs we're going to talk just like the native speakers that we are, in a normal conversational tone.
Native speakers may often tell people who are learning English to "slow down" and to "speak clearly." This is meant with the best of intentions, but it is exactly the opposite of what a student really needs to do. If you speak fairly quickly and with strong intonation, you will be understood more easily. To illustrate this point, you will hear a Vietnamese student first trying to speak slowly and carefully and then repeating the same words quickly and with strong intonation. Studying, this exercise took her only about two minutes to practice, but the difference makes her sound as if she had been in America for many years.
(*) Please listen. You will hear the same words twice. Hello, my name is Muoi. I'm taking American Accent Training.
You may have to listen to this CD a couple of times to catch everything. To help you, every word on the CD is also written in the book. By seeing and hearing simultaneously, you'll learn to reconcile the differences between the appearance of English (spelling) and the sound of English (pronunciation and the other aspects of accent).
The CD leaves a rather short pause for you to repeat into. The point of this is to get you responding quickly and without spending too much time thinking about your response.
Accent versus Pronunciation Many people equate accent with pronunciation. I don't feel this to be true at all. America is a big country, and while the pronunciation varies from the East Coast to the West Coast, from the southern to the northern states, two components that are uniquely American stay basically the same—the speech music, or intonation, and the word connections or liaisons. Throughout this program, we will focus on them. In the latter part of the book we will work on pronunciation concepts, such as Cat? Caught? Cut? and Betty Bought a Bit of Better Butter; we also will work our way through some of the difficult sounds, such as TH, the American R, the L, V, and Z.
"Which Accent Is Correct?" American Accent Training was created to help people "sound American" for lectures, interviews, teaching, business situations, and general daily communication. Although America has many regional pronunciation differences, the accent you will learn is that of standard American English as spoken and understood by the majority of educated native speakers in the United States. Don't worry that you will sound slangy or too casual because you most definitely won't. This is the way a professor lectures to a class, the way a national newscaster broadcasts, the way that is most comfortable and familiar to the majority of native speakers.
"Why Is My Accent So Bad?" Learners can be seriously hampered by a negative outlook, so I'll address this very important point early. First, your accent is not bad; it is nonstandard to the American ear. There is a joke that goes: What do you call a person who can speak three languages? Trilingual. What do you call a person who can speak two languages? Bilingual. What do you call a person who can only speak one language? American.
Every language is equally valid or good, so every accent is good. The average American, however, truly does have a hard time understanding a nonstandard accent. George Bernard Shaw said that the English and Americans are two people divided by the same language!
Some students learn to overpronounce English because they naturally want to say the word as it is written. Too often an English teacher may allow this, perhaps thinking that colloquial American English is unsophisticated, unrefined, or even incorrect. Not so at all! Just as you don't say the T in listen, the TT in better is pronounced D, bedder. Any other pronunciation will sound foreign, strange, wrong, or different to a native speaker.
Less Than It Appears ... More Than It Appears As you will see in Exercise 1-21, Squeezed-Out Syllables, on page 18, some words appear to have three or more syllables, but all of them are not actually spoken. For example, business is not (bi/zi/ness), but rather (birz/ness).
Just when you get used to eliminating whole syllables from words, you're going to come across other words that look as if they have only one syllable, but really need to be said with as many as three! In addition, the inserted syllables are filled with letters that are not in the written word. I'll give you two examples of this strange phenomenon. Pool looks like a nice, one-syllable word, but if you say it this way, at best, it will sound like pull, and at worst will be unintelligible to your listener. For clear comprehension, you need to say three syllables (pu/wuh/luh). Where did that W come from? It's certainly not written down anywhere, but it is there just as definitely as the P is there. The second example is a word like feel. If you say just the letters that you see, it will sound more like fill. You need to say (fee/yuh/luh). Is that really a Y? Yes. These mysterious semivowels are explained under Liaisons in Chapter 2. They can appear either inside a word as you have seen, or between words as you will learn.
Language Is Fluent and Fluid Just like your own language, conversational English has a very smooth, fluid sound. Imagine that you are walking along a dry riverbed with your eyes closed. Every time you come to a rock, you trip over it, stop, continue, and trip over the next rock. This is how the average foreigner speaks English. It is slow, awkward, and even painful. Now imagine that you are a great river rushing through that same riverbed—rocks are no problem, are they? You just slide over and around them without ever breaking your smooth flow. It is this feeling that I want you to capture in English.
Changing your old speech habits is very similar to changing from a stick shift to an automatic transmission. Yes, you continue to reach for the gearshift for a while and your foot still tries to find the clutch pedal, but this soon phases itself out. In the same way, you may still say "telephone call" (kohl) instead of (kahl) for a while, but this too will soon pass. You will also have to think about your speech more than you do now. In the same way that you were very aware and self-conscious when you first learned to drive, you will eventually relax and deal with the various components simultaneously. A new accent is an adventure. Be bold! Exaggerate wildly! You may worry that Americans will laugh at you for putting on an accent, but I guarantee you, they won't even notice. They'll just think that you've finally learned to "talk right." Good luck with your new accent!
What Is Accent? Accent is a combination of three main components: intonation (speech music), liaisons (word connections), and pronunciation (the spoken sounds of vowels, consonants, and combinations). As you go along, you'll notice that you're being asked to look at accent in a different way. You'll also realize that the grammar you studied before and this accent you're studying now are completely different.
Part of the difference is that grammar and vocabulary are systematic and structured— the letter of the language. Accent, on the other hand, is free form, intuitive, and creative— more the spirit of the language. So, thinking of music, feeling, and flow, let your mouth relax into the American accent.
Can I Learn a New Accent? Can a person actually learn a new accent? Many people feel that after a certain age, it's just not possible. Can classical musicians play jazz? If they practice, of course they can! For your American accent, it's just a matter of learning and practicing techniques this book and CD set will teach you. It is up to you to use them or not. How well you do depends mainly on how open and willing you are to sounding different from the way you have sounded all your life.
A very important thing you need to remember is that you can use your accent to say what you mean and how you mean it. Word stress conveys meaning through tone or feeling, which can be much more important than the actual words that you use. We'll cover the expression of these feelings through intonation in the first lesson.
You may have noticed that I talk fast and often run my words together. You've probably heard enough "English-teacher English"—where ... everything ... is ... pronounced without having to listen too carefully. That's why on the CDs we're going to talk just like the native speakers that we are, in a normal conversational tone.
Native speakers may often tell people who are learning English to "slow down" and to "speak clearly." This is meant with the best of intentions, but it is exactly the opposite of what a student really needs to do. If you speak fairly quickly and with strong intonation, you will be understood more easily. To illustrate this point, you will hear a Vietnamese student first trying to speak slowly and carefully and then repeating the same words quickly and with strong intonation. Studying, this exercise took her only about two minutes to practice, but the difference makes her sound as if she had been in America for many years.
(*) Please listen. You will hear the same words twice. Hello, my name is Muoi. I'm taking American Accent Training.
You may have to listen to this CD a couple of times to catch everything. To help you, every word on the CD is also written in the book. By seeing and hearing simultaneously, you'll learn to reconcile the differences between the appearance of English (spelling) and the sound of English (pronunciation and the other aspects of accent).
The CD leaves a rather short pause for you to repeat into. The point of this is to get you responding quickly and without spending too much time thinking about your response.
Accent versus Pronunciation Many people equate accent with pronunciation. I don't feel this to be true at all. America is a big country, and while the pronunciation varies from the East Coast to the West Coast, from the southern to the northern states, two components that are uniquely American stay basically the same—the speech music, or intonation, and the word connections or liaisons. Throughout this program, we will focus on them. In the latter part of the book we will work on pronunciation concepts, such as Cat? Caught? Cut? and Betty Bought a Bit of Better Butter; we also will work our way through some of the difficult sounds, such as TH, the American R, the L, V, and Z.
"Which Accent Is Correct?" American Accent Training was created to help people "sound American" for lectures, interviews, teaching, business situations, and general daily communication. Although America has many regional pronunciation differences, the accent you will learn is that of standard American English as spoken and understood by the majority of educated native speakers in the United States. Don't worry that you will sound slangy or too casual because you most definitely won't. This is the way a professor lectures to a class, the way a national newscaster broadcasts, the way that is most comfortable and familiar to the majority of native speakers.
"Why Is My Accent So Bad?" Learners can be seriously hampered by a negative outlook, so I'll address this very important point early. First, your accent is not bad; it is nonstandard to the American ear. There is a joke that goes: What do you call a person who can speak three languages? Trilingual. What do you call a person who can speak two languages? Bilingual. What do you call a person who can only speak one language? American.
Every language is equally valid or good, so every accent is good. The average American, however, truly does have a hard time understanding a nonstandard accent. George Bernard Shaw said that the English and Americans are two people divided by the same language!
Some students learn to overpronounce English because they naturally want to say the word as it is written. Too often an English teacher may allow this, perhaps thinking that colloquial American English is unsophisticated, unrefined, or even incorrect. Not so at all! Just as you don't say the T in listen, the TT in better is pronounced D, bedder. Any other pronunciation will sound foreign, strange, wrong, or different to a native speaker.
Less Than It Appears ... More Than It Appears As you will see in Exercise 1-21, Squeezed-Out Syllables, on page 18, some words appear to have three or more syllables, but all of them are not actually spoken. For example, business is not (bi/zi/ness), but rather (birz/ness).
Just when you get used to eliminating whole syllables from words, you're going to come across other words that look as if they have only one syllable, but really need to be said with as many as three! In addition, the inserted syllables are filled with letters that are not in the written word. I'll give you two examples of this strange phenomenon. Pool looks like a nice, one-syllable word, but if you say it this way, at best, it will sound like pull, and at worst will be unintelligible to your listener. For clear comprehension, you need to say three syllables (pu/wuh/luh). Where did that W come from? It's certainly not written down anywhere, but it is there just as definitely as the P is there. The second example is a word like feel. If you say just the letters that you see, it will sound more like fill. You need to say (fee/yuh/luh). Is that really a Y? Yes. These mysterious semivowels are explained under Liaisons in Chapter 2. They can appear either inside a word as you have seen, or between words as you will learn.
Language Is Fluent and Fluid Just like your own language, conversational English has a very smooth, fluid sound. Imagine that you are walking along a dry riverbed with your eyes closed. Every time you come to a rock, you trip over it, stop, continue, and trip over the next rock. This is how the average foreigner speaks English. It is slow, awkward, and even painful. Now imagine that you are a great river rushing through that same riverbed—rocks are no problem, are they? You just slide over and around them without ever breaking your smooth flow. It is this feeling that I want you to capture in English.
Changing your old speech habits is very similar to changing from a stick shift to an automatic transmission. Yes, you continue to reach for the gearshift for a while and your foot still tries to find the clutch pedal, but this soon phases itself out. In the same way, you may still say "telephone call" (kohl) instead of (kahl) for a while, but this too will soon pass. You will also have to think about your speech more than you do now. In the same way that you were very aware and self-conscious when you first learned to drive, you will eventually relax and deal with the various components simultaneously. A new accent is an adventure. Be bold! Exaggerate wildly! You may worry that Americans will laugh at you for putting on an accent, but I guarantee you, they won't even notice. They'll just think that you've finally learned to "talk right." Good luck with your new accent!
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