Wednesday, May 2, 2018

3:57 PM

5 step process: (don't skip over steps, this has to be done in the sequence)
Step1: practice the exercises with the book or videos.
Step2: Get away from the book/video and read something real-life, random paragraph reading and
highlight the sound youre learning.
Find the sound and underline the sounds…read those line at least 10 times.
Step3: Speak to yourself in that sound, your thoughts in english and pay attention to that sound, if you
make a mistake, correct it and say it again a few times. You need no one to speak to, speaking to
yourself is the best practice.
Step4: Record yourself speaking naturally, and listen back for mistakes. If you think you made a mistake,
repeat the sound a few times.
Step5: Speak with people, you don't have to worry about how you're speaking. Be relaxed, but
occasionaly keep reminding yourself about that sound, that you have to pronounce it correcrtly. But
don't stress yourself too much.

Speak slowly, reduce words, use contractions,..don't speak fast to make up for reductions/contractions.
Speak in a relaxed manner, reduce, contract, intonate and stress important words.
Schwa replaces unstressed vowels.

For difficult words always break them down to the basic sounds and practise the basic sounds and
merge them slowly one after other.
Sometimes the tongue doesn’t have enough time to go to the ideal position, use the position tongue
naturally goes in that situation..eg cut the, apart from.

Focus on word stress and syllable stress.. Unstressed words and syllables are always shortened by
replacing the vowels by a schwa.

Statements always end with fading out pitched, questions mostly end with an up fading in and
increasing pitch…start with did..do..have…did you pick up the grocerieS..
Yes no questions go up in pitch..but other questions don’t go up in pitch in the end..the question that
don't have a straight yes or no answer, these are more open ended questions.

Words at the end should finish with lower in pitch in all the statements.
Main verbs are stressed, content verbs and nouns are stressed and not reduced in sentences.

For lists..the pitch increases and lowers at the last word in the list.
Eg. I'm driving you, cindy, Manny and Jemma to the party.

Pitch would be like up, up, up and down.

You know what I mean… Statement
You know what I MEAN question.. Don't stress on know..last word should be on higher pitch.
See you tomorrow… statement
See you TOMORROW question

Syllables count is important..feel should be pronounced as Fe-el..sales..Sal-es..tail..ta-il…smile sm-

ile..school..scho-ol
Word stress is important. Stress the content words, main verbs that have the most importance in a
sentence. You can always shorten/reduce the other helping or function verbs.

I SAW her at the MEETING…. Saw and meeting are important here, that convey the message, her can be
reduced to err sound. I SAW err ada Meeting
I GOT it for YOU.. Ferrr…
Sometimes words are just stressed for importance and draw attention to them
Important note on pronunciation of noun/verbs: nouns get first sylabble stressed, verbs get the second
normally. Eg (N)CONtrast , ConTRast(V). PREsent, PreSent..Estimate..EsimatE..UPGRADe, upGRADE..
In acronyms, the last letter is stressed… ibM, usA, tnT, cnN,
In most cases, there is a simple rule to help you.

If the word is a noun, stress the first syllable.

If the word is a verb, stress the second.

Word stress, intonation, speech break, word connection, linking,rythm and reduction are the most
important things in your communication. They're even more important than your accent or
pronuciation. You won't be understood by others if you lack word stress and correct rhythm.

You don't have to slow down a lot, if you speak fairly quickly with the correct intonation and word
stress. You would be understood better.

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.
Also like when you change your windows password, you keep entreing the old password for the first few
weeks and the systems reminds you of your mistake, then you correct and pass through.
It should be similar with your pronunciation mistakes, you have to keep reminding yourself in your head
of the mistakes you made, repeat and pronounce it the correct way.

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."

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
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.

tead 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,

o to lengthen your vowel

sounds, put them on two stairsteps instead of just one.
We're here. I
We
///////// 're
///////// ///////// he
///////// ///////// ///////// re.
///////// ///////// ///////// /////

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

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?

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.
When you replace the nouns with pronouns (i.e., old information), stress the verb.
As we have seen, nouns are new information; pronouns are old information. In a nutshell,
these are the two basic intonation patterns:

Bob sees Betty. 1. He sees her.

2. Betty knows Bob. 2. She knows him.
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.

2. Opinion
It sounds like rain, but I don't think it is.

It feels
like... It tastes like... These examples all give the impression that you mean the opposite of what your
senses tell you.
V 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.

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.

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.)

Word stress in a sentence:

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.

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.

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).

The ~cally ending is always pronounced ~klee..and not kaly.

Automatiklee..and not automatikaly..

stress will always fall naturally on the noun. In the absence of a noun, you will stress the
adjective, but as soon as a noun appears on the scene, it takes immediate precedence—and should be
stressed.
Exercise

Adjective Noun and Adjective

1. It's short. It's a short nail.

2. It's chocolate. It's a chocolate cake.

3. It's good. It's a good plan.

4. It's guarded. It's a guarded gate.

5. It's wide. It's a wide river.

6. There're four. There're four cards.

7. It was small. It was a small spot.

8. It's the best. It's the best book

Article "a" is pronunced as aah..and not aey…99% of the times, except when you wanna stress on the
sinuglarity of the word following it.
Different pronunciation for noun-verbs-adjectives
There're where're … wherer, therer.
A-- 98% reduced to schwa..uh….reduced..when stressed then A,,..Ay.
An- similar..uhn
At---similar ..uht
The-the---dee when before vowel or stressed..
On--uhn
Of--a..uh..a lota…this is said quick and quietly.
All the weak forms…
Em for them.
The--th
There--therr
L sound…V and W sound.
He hasn't tweeted it yet… he hasn't thweedididyt

Use your throat..completly get rid of the nasal style..just use your nose in the sounds that actually
involve nasal voice…get deeper vocal cord engagment.
Use yer jaw more..open yer mouth more..but in a relaxed way..
Pronpunce the important sounds like errr..ae..aa..etc
Packed, watched, erased, talked, washed, baked, flipped,missed, finsihed, locked, escaped,
accomplished, adopted ….t sound
D sound… called, rained, lived, robbed, stayed,saved, leaned, believed, turned, carried, bummed, shied
Id sound..wicked, waited, needed, landed, ended, punted, rested.

Stop, strain, tram, connect, soft, lilt, slept, first, Tap, top, telephone, test, attend, time, until, hotel,
reptile, erectile, stupid, tinder, terrible, toothache, stare, stair, fourteen, fifteen.
Between vowels…
Water, mutter, letter, butter, what about me, auto, matter, party, alerted, article, charter, mortified,
sorted, vertical, part of, sort of, expert in, airport on, a lot of, heater..

Certain, mountain, fountain

Interview, dispointed, sentence, intercompany, wanted, counter, entertain, accountable, seventy,
percentage, point, gentlemen
Dark and light Ls

Light L:before vowel or diphthong in a syllable. Beginning of words or begging of syllable.

Dark L: after vowel or diphthong in a syllable. End of words or end of syllables.

I love language lessonsa said the tall girl at the school.

Last fall we got a good deal on last minute flights when we flew to California.

-Ly sounds are changed to light l. Really, family, probably

-e sounds are dark, people, schedule, google, googles, beautiful, helpful, international,vulnerable,
Look at your rear in the mirror.. Lookach yer reer in the mi-reer.
Pay attention to pitch, word stress, tone and intonation while native speakers speak in
different emotions..try to imitate in the same way while you exercise:
Is that your lunch bag.. Izdachyer lunch bag
Don't stress too much about the TH sound, you just have to make the hindi the and tha sounds…check
your throat when you make these sounds..Just make sure your tongue is between the teeth.
Vay way
Vee we
Very. Well
Very wary
Viwer
Waiver
Weiver
Vodka whisky
However
Visit volleyball
White vodka
White wine
Vodka why
Verse worse
Veal wheel
Wail vail
Vest west
Vine wine
Went vent
We V
Wane vein
Always very away from network.
Viewed
Netweaver
Weave
We were
Well versed
Versed worst

Yet another funny thing Americans do with the T sound! In this American Accent lesson
you'll learn all about the Glottal Stop, or the Glottal T, which you hear when native
speakers pronounce words like certain, mountain and button.
Key Takeaways:
1) The Glottal Stop/Glottal T is pronounced in the throat, by bringing the vocal cords
together to stop the air flow.
2) The Glottal Stop occurs in words where a syllable ends in /t/ and the next syllable is a
syllabic N.
3) Using a True T instead of a Glottal Stop/T does not impact your clarity. Practicing the
Glottal Stop can be helpful if your goal is to sound more native.

20 Common Words Native Speakers

Pronounce with a Glottal Stop:
1. Certain: Are you certain about that?
2. Mountain: I have a mountain of laundry to fold.
3. Fountain: Let's meet at the fountain at noon.
4. Curtain: Can you close the curtain?
5. Threaten: Don't threaten me!
6. Written: When was this written?
7. Tighten: We need to tighten our security.
8. Eaten: I haven't eaten all day.
9. Gotten: I haven't gotten it yet.
10. Forgotten: It's already forgotten.
11. Brighten: I hope this brightens your day! (Makes your day better)
12. Kitten: What a precious kitten!
13. Frighten: I didn't mean to frighten you.
14. Rotten: That's a rotten deal. (A bad deal, not fair)
15. Mittens: I've lost my mittens!
16. Bitten: I was bitten by the neighbor's ferret.
17. Button: Don't press that button!
18. Cotton: I think this is made of cotton.
19. Manhattan: Have you ever been to Manhattan?
20. Important: It's not important.
Newton
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have same tongue position