English Pronunciation Exercises - A Diphthongs

From Kenneth Beare, The following series of pronunciation exercises combines words beginning with the same diphthong sound followed by similar diphthong sounds. Voiced and voiceless consonants are paired (b - voiced / p - voiceless, d - voiced / t - voiceless, etc.) to help students compare and contrast similar consonant formation. 1. Repeat each line slowly, listen for the minor differences between the vowel and consonant sounds. 2. Repeat each line three times. Each time repeat more quickly trying to keep the sounds distinct. 3. Find a partner and listen to each other repeat the lines. 4. Try to invent sentences using each sound at least once. For example: We ate cake and flew a kite on my birthday. - Don't worry too much about the sentence making much sense! 'ay' as in 'day' bay pay day table gay cake say zany shape Jake chase hey! 'ai' as in 'die' buy pie die tie guy kite sigh Zaire shy jive child hi

Vowel Sounds 'eh' - as in 'let', 'ih' - as in 'hit', 'ee' - as in 'see', and 'ae'- as in 'cat' 'long ah' - as in 'car', 'short ah' - as in 'got' 'long uh' - as in 'put', 'short uh' - as in 'up', 'oo' - as in 'through' Diphthong Sounds 'ay' - as in 'day', 'ai' - as in 'sky' 'ou' - as in 'home', 'ow' - as in 'mouse', 'oi' - as in 'boy' 'ieh(r)' - as in 'near', 'ehi(r)' - as in 'hair'

English Pronunciation Exercises - Long Vowels and Consonants

From Kenneth Beare, Your Guide to English as 2nd Language. Stay up to date! The following series of pronunciation exercises combines words beginning with the same consonant sound followed by similar vowel sounds. Voiced and voiceless consonants are paired (b - voiced / p - voiceless, d - voiced / t - voiceless, etc.) to help students compare and contrast similar consonant formation. 1. Repeat each line slowly, listen for the minor differences between the vowel and consonant sounds. 2. Repeat each line three times. Each time repeat more quickly trying to keep the sounds distinct. 3. Find a partner and listen to each other repeat the lines. 4. Try to invent sentences using each sound at least once. For example: The man at the bar bought drinks for all. - Don't worry too much about the sentence making much sense! 'long ah' as in 'heart' bar par dark tar Garth carpet sergeant Zagreb sharp John charred heart 'short ah' as in 'got' bought paw dot taught got caught saw Zola shawl jot chocolate hop

English Pronunciation Exercises - O Diphthongs

From Kenneth Beare, Your Guide to English as 2nd Language. Stay up to date! The following series of pronunciation exercises combines words beginning with the same diphthong sound followed by similar diphthong sounds. Voiced and voiceless consonants are paired (b - voiced / p - voiceless, d - voiced / t - voiceless, etc.) to help students compare and contrast similar consonant formation. 1. Repeat each line slowly, listen for the minor differences between the vowel and consonant sounds. 2. Repeat each line three times. Each time repeat more quickly trying to keep the sounds distinct. 3. Find a partner and listen to each other repeat the lines. 4. Try to invent sentences using each sound at least once. For example: The Pope went to the pow-wow and was very poised. - Don't worry too much about the sentence making much sense! 'ou' as in 'home' bowl Pope don't toe go cope soap zone show Jones chose home 'ow' as in 'house' bow pow-wow Dow towel gouge cow sour zowie! shower jowl ciao! howl 'oi' as in 'boy' boy poise doily toy goiter coy soy sauce (none) (none) join choice hoist

Vowel Sounds 'eh' - as in 'let', 'ih' - as in 'hit', 'ee' - as in 'see', and 'ae'- as in 'cat' 'long ah' - as in 'car', 'short ah' - as in 'got' 'long uh' - as in 'put', 'short uh' - as in 'up', 'oo' - as in 'through' Diphthong Sounds 'ay' - as in 'day', 'ai' - as in 'sky' 'ou' - as in 'home', 'ow' - as in 'mouse', 'oi' - as in 'boy' 'ieh(r)' - as in 'near', 'ehi(r)' - as in 'hair'

English Pronunciation Exercises - Short Vowels and Consonants

From Kenneth Beare, Your Guide to English as 2nd Language. Stay up to date! The following series of pronunciation exercises combines words beginning with the same consonant sound followed by similar vowel sounds. Voiced and voiceless consonants are paired (b - voiced / p - voiceless, d - voiced / t - voiceless, etc.) to help students compare and contrast similar consonant formation. 1. Repeat each line slowly, listen for the minor differences between the vowel and consonant sounds. 2. Repeat each line three times. Each time repeat more quickly trying to keep the sounds distinct. 3. Find a partner and listen to each other repeat the lines. 4. Try to invent sentences using each sound at least once. For example: The big bat bet he could beat the others. - Don't worry too much about the sentence making much sense! ih pronounced 'ih' as in 'hit' big pig did tip gill kill sip zip ship gin chip hit ee pronounced 'ee' as in 'see' beat peep deal teeth gee! keep see zeal sheet jeep cheek heat eh pronounced 'eh' as in 'let' bet pet death tell get kept set zeppelin shelf jell chess help ae pronounced 'ae' as in 'cat' bat pat dad tap gap cat sat zap shaft jack chat hat

English Pronunciation Exercises - U Sounding Vowels

From Kenneth Beare, Your Guide to English as 2nd Language. FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now! The following series of pronunciation exercises combines words beginning with the same consonant sound followed by similar vowel sounds. Voiced and voiceless consonants are paired (b - voiced / p - voiceless, d - voiced / t - voiceless, etc.) to help students compare and contrast similar consonant formation. 1. Repeat each line slowly, listen for the minor differences between the vowel and consonant sounds. 2. Repeat each line three times. Each time repeat more quickly trying to keep the sounds distinct. 3. Find a partner and listen to each other repeat the lines. 4. Try to invent sentences using each sound at least once. For example: The butcher put on his boots but he forgot his hat. - Don't worry too much about the sentence making much sense! 'long uh' as in 'put' butcher put (none) Tokay good cook soot (none) shook (none) churn hook 'short uh' as in 'up' but pup duck tough gulp cup supper (none) shut jump Chuck hup! 'oo' as in 'shoe' boot poof! do tooth Google cool suit zoom shoot June choose who

Intonation and Stress: Key to Understanding and Being Understood

Try this short exercise Say this sentence aloud and count how many seconds it takes. The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance. Time required? Probably about 5 seconds. Now, try speaking this sentence aloud. He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening. Time required? Probably about 5 seconds. Wait a minute the first sentence is much shorter than the second sentence! The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening You are only partially right! This simple exercise makes a very important point about how we speak and use English. Namely, English is considered a stressed language while many other languages are considered syllabic. What does that mean? It means that, in English, we give stress to certain words while other words are quickly spoken (some students say eaten!). In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable has its own length). Many speakers of syllabic languages don't understand why we quickly speak, or swallow, a number of words in a sentence. In syllabic languages each syllable has equal importance, and therefore equal time is needed. English however, spends more time on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, less important, words. Let's look at a simple example: the modal verb "can". When we use the positive form of "can" we quickly glide over the can and it is hardly pronounced. They can come on Friday. (stressed words underlined) On the other hand, when we use the negative form "can't" we tend to stress the fact that it is the negative form by also stressing "can't". They can't come on Friday. As you can see from the above example the sentence, "They can't come on Friday" is longer than "They can come on Friday" because both the modal "can't" and the verb "come" are stressed. So, what does this mean for my speaking skills?

Well, first of all, you need to understand which words we generally stress and which we do not stress. Basically, stress words are considered CONTENT WORDS such as Nouns e.g. kitchen, Peter (most) principal verbs e.g. visit, construct Adjectives e.g. beautiful, interesting Adverbs e.g. often, carefully

Non-stressed words are considered FUNCTION WORDS such as Determiners e.g. the, a, some, a few Auxiliary verbs e.g. don't, am, can, were Prepositions e.g. before, next to, opposite Conjunctions e.g. but, while, as Pronouns e.g. they, she, us

Let's return to the beginning example to demonstrate how this affects speech. The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance. (14 syllables) He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening. (22 syllables) Even though the second sentence is approximately 30% longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to speak. This is because there are 5 stressed words in each sentence. From this example, you can see that you needn't worry about pronouncing every word clearly to be understood (we native speakers certainly don't). You should however, concentrate on pronouncing the stressed words clearly. Now, do some listening comprehension or go speak to your native English speaking friends and listen to how we concentrate on the stressed words rather than giving importance to each syllable. You will soon find that you can understand and communicate more because you begin to listen for (and use in speaking) stressed words. All those words that you thought you didn't understand are really not crucial for understanding the sense or making yourself understood. Stressed words are the key to excellent pronunciation and understanding of English. I hope this short introduction to the importance of stress in English will help you to improve your understanding and speaking skills. Make sure to come to our chat lessons on Monday and Thursday evening to discuss these and other ideas. Email for any suggestions or topics that you would like to work on in the future.

Phoneme Chart: English Vowel and Consonant Sounds

showing the symbols for phonemic transcription of English

Index to number references and vowel / consonant sounds Vowel Phonemes 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 pit pet pat pot luck good ago meat car door 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Consonant Phonemes pit bit time door cat get fan van think that

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

girl too day sky boy beer bear tour go cow

31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44

send zip man nice ring leg rat wet hat yet shop leisure chop jump

Phonetic Transcription
For students who have mastered the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) phonetic transcriptions can help improve their understanding of the importance of connected speech when speaking English. Dictionaries give single word phonetic transcriptions which can greatly improve students pronunciation skills. However, when speaking to native speakers, students are often surprised at how the phonetic transcriptions seem to not always match pronunciation used in connected speech. This is in great part due to the fact that English is a time stressed language, as opposed to a syllabic language (See "Stress and Intonation: Key to Understanding"). This manner of speaking greatly influences, and sometimes even changes, the pronunciation of single words. The following lesson provides students with an opportunity to examine how connected speech can change pronunciation. Aim: Greater understanding of influence of connected speech on pronunciation through the use of phonetic transcription. Gaining experience in the use of the IPA to transcribe speech. Activity: Comparison of written text with example of IPA transcription of text as it would be spoken Level: Advanced Outline: If necessary quickly review the IPA, ask students to transcribe various words written on the board. Lead a short discussion about the difference in pronunciation between various words spoken by themselves and in phrases. Examine worksheet of text transcribed in IPA Ask students to note differences between what the single word pronunciation should be and the manner in which it has been transcribed. Discuss the various changes, by giving aural examples as well as written descriptions on the board. Have students break up into small groups of 3-4. Give groups text to be transcribed into the IPA - stress that they should practice speaking each phrase before they begin the transcription process. Have groups compare their work with the transcribed text handout. Discuss differences and problematic areas as a class.

IPA Phonetic Transcription

Example Text

Frustration is a burst hot-water bottle, or loathing every moment of a holiday you're paying a fortune for. It's using the wrong side of the Sellotape, forgetting what you were going to say, or locking yourself out. Frustration is other people parking in front of your garage, or a stranger reading a riveting letter on the bus and turning over before you get to the bottom of the page. Text To Transcribe

The weather today will be warm for the time of year and fine on the whole. There will be showers here and there though some places will miss out completely. The good spell should hold over the next two days but there may be fog over low ground in the early mornings. That is the end of the general forecast.

Phonetic Transcription Key

Practice for Spanish language backgrounds

Interlanguage Explorer has found 26 common English pronunciation problems
FIX PROBLEM Voiceless. Friction. Front of tongue to palate. // ENGLISH SOUND "sherry" // COMMON ERROR "cherry" PRACTICE MATERIALS "Headway Pronunciation EL" Unit 13 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 34 "Pronunciation Tasks" Unit 14 "Headway Pronunciation INT" Unit 9 "English Pronunc. Illustrated" pp. 21 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 5 "Pronunciation Tasks" Unit 4 "Headway Pronunciation EL" Unit 9 "Headway Pronunciation PREINT" Unit 11 "Headway Pronunciation INT" Unit

Keep tongue front & low and jaws apart.

//

"ran"

//

"run"

Practice for Spanish language backgrounds

Interlanguage Explorer has found 26 common English pronunciation problems
FIX PROBLEM Tongue low, back & fixed. Jaws together. ENGLISH SOUND /:/ COMMON ERROR "bought" // PRACTICE MATERIALS "boat" "Ship or Sheep" Unit 20 "Pronunciation Tasks" Unit 2 "Headway Pronunciation EL" Unit 12 "Headway Pronunciation PREINT" Unit 15 "Headway Pronunciation INT" Unit 11 "Headway Pronunciation UPPINT" Unit 6 "English Pronunc. Illustrated" pp. 29 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 10 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 11 "Pronunciation Tasks" Unit 3 "Headway Pronunciation PREINT" Unit 8 "Headway Pronunciation INT" Unit 13 "English Pronunc. Illustrated" pp. 31 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 12

Back of tongue high. Lips rounded but relaxed. // Short.

"full"

/u:/

"fool"

Fix tongue in central position. Long.

/:/

"bird"

Practice for Spanish language backgrounds

Interlanguage Explorer has found 26 common English pronunciation problems
FIX PROBLEM ENGLISH SOUND COMMON ERROR PRACTICE MATERIALS "Pronunciation Tasks" Unit 5 "Headway Pronunciation INT" Unit 8 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 45 "Listening Comp: Pronunciation" Unit 4 "English Pronunc. Illustrated" pp. 40 "Headway Pronunciation EL" Unit 11 "Headway Pronunciation INT" Unit 14 "Headway Pronunciation UPPINT" Unit 6 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 47 "Listening Comp: Pronunciation" Unit 5 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 37 "Headway Pronunciation INT" Unit 11 "Headway Pronunciation UPPINT" Unit 9

Tongue central. Then tightly round lips.

//

"note"

//

"not"

Voiced. Vibration. Trap air with lips.

/b/

"bet"

/v/

"vet"

Practice for Spanish language backgrounds

Interlanguage Explorer has found 26 common English pronunciation problems
FIX PROBLEM Voiced. Friction with top teeth & bottom lip. /v/ ENGLISH SOUND "vet" /b/ COMMON ERROR "bet" PRACTICE MATERIALS "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 2 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 37 "Headway Pronunciation INT" Unit 11 "Headway Pronunciation UPPINT" Unit 91 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 9 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 11 "English Pronunc. Illustrated" pp. 63 "English Pronunc. Illustrated" pp. 66 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 42 "Pronunciation Tasks" Unit 13 "Headway Pronunciation EL" Unit 5 "Headway Pronunciation PREINT" Unit 7 "English Pronunc. Illustrated" pp. 53 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 27 "Pronunciation Tasks" Unit 11

Voiced. Friction. Tongue between lips.

//

"clothe"

//

"cloth"

Tip of tongue behind top teeth.

/d/

"laid"

//

"lathe"

Practice for Spanish language backgrounds

Interlanguage Explorer has found 26 common English pronunciation problems
FIX PROBLEM ENGLISH SOUND COMMON ERROR PRACTICE MATERIALS "Headway Pronunciation PREINT" Unit 3 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 4 "Listening Comp: Pronunciation" Unit 9 "Headway Pronunciation UPPINT" Unit 8 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 14 "English Pronunc. Illustrated" pp. 15-16 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 2 "Pronunciation Tasks" Unit 6 "Headway Pronunciation EL" Unit 7 "Headway Pronunciation PREINT" Unit 9 "Headway Pronunciation INT" Unit 6 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 32 "Headway Pronunciation PREINT" Unit 8 "Headway Pronunciation UPP-

Voiceless: tip of tongue behind top teeth. Friction. Relax the mouth and keep sound short.

/s/

"mass"

//

"mash"

//

"sit"

/i:/

"seat"

Voiceless. Friction. Front of tongue to palate.

//

"push"

/s/

"puss"

Practice for Spanish language backgrounds

Interlanguage Explorer has found 26 common English pronunciation problems
FIX PROBLEM ENGLISH SOUND COMMON ERROR PRACTICE MATERIALS INT" Unit 8 "Listening Comp: Pronunciation" Unit 9 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 16 "English Pronunc. Illustrated" pp. 78 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 40 "Headway Pronunciation EL" Unit 10 "Headway Pronunciation UPPINT" Unit 1 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 23 "Listening Comp: Pronunciation" "English Pronunc. Illustrated" pp. 57 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 35 "Headway Pronunciation EL" Unit 8 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 19 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 35 "Pronunciation Tasks" Unit 14 "Headway Pronunciation UPP-

Quickly push air from throat out of mouth.

/h/

"hot"

"ch" in "loch"

Voiced: Tip to alveolar. Front to palate.

//

"wage"

Voiced: Tip to alveolar. Front to palate.

//

"Jerry"

//

"sherry"

Practice for Spanish language backgrounds

Interlanguage Explorer has found 26 common English pronunciation problems
FIX PROBLEM ENGLISH SOUND COMMON ERROR PRACTICE MATERIALS INT" Unit 11 "Listening Comp: Pronunciation" Unit 10 "Headway Pronunciation INT" Unit 4 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 28 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 29 "Pronunciation Tasks" Unit 10 "Headway Pronunciation INT" Unit 4 "Headway Pronunciation UPPINT" Unit 6 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 5 "English Pronunc. Illustrated" pp. 55 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 29 "Pronunciation Tasks" Unit 10 "Headway Pronunciation INT" Unit 4 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 6 "Listening Comp: Pronunciation" Unit 7

Voiceless stop: back of tongue to back roof. Voiceless stop: back of tongue to back roof.

/k/ /k/

"could" "come"

/w/ /g/

"would" "gum"

Voiced stop: back of tongue to back roof.

// + /g/

"thing"

// + /k/

"think"

Practice for Spanish language backgrounds

Interlanguage Explorer has found 26 common English pronunciation problems
FIX PROBLEM Tongue touches alveolar ridge. Nasal. /n/ ENGLISH SOUND "sun" COMMON ERROR PRACTICE MATERIALS "English Pronunc. Illustrated" pp. 71 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 44 "Pronunciation Tasks" Unit 18 "Headway Pronunciation EL" Unit 11 "Headway Pronunciation PREINT" Unit 6 "Headway Pronunciation UPPINT" Unit 3 "thin" + k or "English Pronunc. Illustrated" pp. g 72 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 45 "Pronunciation Tasks" Unit 18 "Headway Pronunciation EL" Unit 11 "Headway Pronunciation PREINT" Unit 6 "Headway Pronunciation INT" Unit 12 "Sir Ivor" "Ship or Sheep" Unit 49 "Headway Pronunciation UPP-

Back of tongue to back roof. Nasal.

// + /k/

"think"

// + /g/

British "r" is weaker & usually silent unless followed by a vowel.

silent

"survivor" /r/

Practice for Spanish language backgrounds

Interlanguage Explorer has found 26 common English pronunciation problems
FIX PROBLEM ENGLISH SOUND COMMON ERROR PRACTICE MATERIALS INT" Unit 3 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 27 "English Pronunc. Illustrated" pp. 79 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 39 "Headway Pronunciation EL" Unit 14 "Headway Pronunciation INT" Unit 14 "Listening Comp: Pronunciation" Unit 10 "Pronunciation Tasks" Unit 1 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 38 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 10 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 11 "Ship or Sheep" Unit 38 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 10 "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 11< "Pronunciation Tasks" Unit 12; "Headway Pronunciation EL" Unit 3; "Headway Pronunciation PRE-

Glide /j/(i:) the tongue quickly to next sound

/j/

"yam"

//

"jam"

Start with lips tightly rounded. Unround & glide. Start with lips tightly rounded. Unround & glide. Voiceless: tip of tongue behind top teeth. Friction.

/w/

"win"

"(g)win"

/w/

"will"

/b/

"bill"

/s/

"rice"

/z/

"rise"

Practice for Spanish language backgrounds

Interlanguage Explorer has found 26 common English pronunciation problems
FIX PROBLEM ENGLISH SOUND COMMON ERROR PRACTICE MATERIALS INT" Unit 2; "Headway Pronunciation INT" Unit 1; "How Now Brown Cow" Unit 14;

Reference and Introduction to Phonetic Symbols

As you probably know, phonetic symbols are a great help when it comes to learning to pronounce English words correctly. Any time you open a dictionary, you can find the correct pronunciation of words you don't know by looking at the phonetic pronunciation that follows the word. Unfortunately, learning the phonetic alphabet is not always the easiest thing to do. This week's feature includes a phonetic chart with the majority of basic sounds in English. In English, as you certainly know, many words can have the same pronunciation but be written differently with different meanings. For example "to, two, and too" which all have the phonetic transcription /tu/. Sometimes, words can be written similarly but have different pronunciations as in the "ough" combinations thought, though, bough, and through. Another factor in pronunciation is the how the word is stressed. Understanding the phonetic alphabet can greatly simplify the learning process, especially for students who do not have the opportunity to work with a teacher. Following the chart is an example of a text that has been transcribed in to phonetics. Notice how the text, as it would be spoken, differs from how each word might be transcribed individually. This is principally due to two factors; elision and unstressed syllables. I will discuss these two factors in an upcoming feature. For now, becoming familiar with the phonetic alphabet is plenty

This text is the following: There is a police message for motorists in the Barnet area of London. A lorry has shed its load at the Apex Corner roundabout on the A1. You are asked to avoid the area as much as possible. Southbound traffic will be diverted for the next two hours. That is the end of the message.

As you can see, the phonetic alphabet seems like another language entirely, however, with patience, it can serve you well in improving your pronunciation.

Reference Guide to Phonetic Symbols and Applied Pronunciation Terminology

This guide provides the terminology used for describing the various English phonemes. For an explanation of the terminology used, refer to the Glossary of Pronunciation Terms and Terminology