Pronouncing Standard American English

1. Pronouncing Standard American English Part 2 Lee Winters, MD, MBA Senior Profesor Northwestern Polytechnic University

2. Improving Pronunciation Hints  Mastering pronunciation is the most difficult part of learning a new language.  It is very important for good communication. How long does it take to improve pronunciation? New pronunciation skills are acquired gradually. You must pay conscious attention while acquiring these skills. Is it possible to eliminate accent? You will not be able to hide all traces of your original language. Your goal is to change those parts of your pronunciationthat interfere with good communication.

3. Improving Pronunciation  What influences pronunciation the most? Motivation Aptitude     natural ability to hear     natural ability to imitate sounds you hear     how well can you monitor your own speech Nature of your native language Amount of English spoken outside of class Amount of time listening and communicating with native Speakers of Standard American English.

4. A Few More Points to Consider Pronunciation improves gradually, and not in a linear fashion. Mistakes are an expected and natural part of the process of improving pronunciation skills. There is a discrepency between rules and mechanics of speech. Drills are good for "speech memory bank" New skills of speaking require continued practice in many different contexts.

5. Tense Versus Lax Vowel Contrast i/I(long e, short i) beat -- bit             least -- list          meat -- mitt leap -- lip             deal -- dill            teen -- tin sheep -- ship      peal -- pill          seed Sid heel -- hill           leave -- live        neat -- knit leak -- lick           deed -- did         seep -- sip eat -- it               seek -- sick         reap -- rip seat -- sit             feast -- fist           fleet -- flit seen -- sin           ream -- rim          feet -- fit heat -- hit             lead -- lid            seen -- sin feel -- fill            sleep -- slip        peep -- pip

6. Tense Versus Lax Vowel Contrast i/I(long e, short i) 1.    We will see the movie soon. 2.    It will seem warmer soon. 3.    Sit in that seat please. 4.    Delia leaped from the hill to the valley. 5.    She was sick but continued to knit. 6.    He thinks she filled his coffee cup. 7.    His room was nice and clean. 8.    Jim hid the Easter eggs from Sid. 9.    The teacher spilled the ink. 10.  Each fishing trip was great. 11.  The team will drink milk.

7. Tense Versus Lax Vowel Contrast i/I(long e, short i) 1.  He will eat peas and beans at the picnic. 2.  It is a pity the money is hidden from Tim. 3.  The bee flew into the cream. 4.  Evil men keep a key to the city hall. 5.  Seize a wheel and push it eagerly. 6.  Even a big pill will tease him. 7.  Have you seen the pins and beads? 8.  We want a machine with a needle. 9.  Dena and Bill both asked Eva to go. 10.The stick hit Chris on the lip.

8. Tense/Lax vowels: [e] Long a, [E] Short e agent -- elephant ape -- any alien -- elm mate -- met late -- let same -- sell fail -- fell sail -- seven date -- deck wait -- wet

9. Distinguishing the Two "OO" sounds    1. Luke took his suit to the pool.   2. You should look for new shoes.   3. The lovely tulips were in full bloom.   4. Is it true that you plan to move?   5. This tatoo was covered with a full sleve.   6. These bushes grew a full foot last year.   7. Should the crew work until noon?   8. She pulled the loose tooth at school.   9. Whose tomb was he looking for? 10. Who pushed the door open?

10. Pronunciation Drill I watched it on TV. I've got a new watch. I found the fish on the beach. Thank you very much. She chipped the china. You can use a cheat sheet on the exam. Which watch is in the ditch?

11. Pay Attention to Endings  rose...roses                 wash...washes kiss...kisses                cause...causes dish...dishes                advise...advises watch...watches          change...changes judge...judges              mix...mixes box...boxes                  surprise...surprises

12. Pronouncing Endings Clearly  [s]                                [z]                            [ch] lace...laces                  nose...noses           bench...benches face...faces                 quiz...quizzes           lunch...lunches price...prices               praise...praises        speech...speeches juice...juices                cheese...cheeses    match...matches excuse...excuses        size...sizes               beach...beaches fence...fences             freeze...freezes        roach...roaches [dg]                             [sh]                           [ks] page...pages              wish...wishes            box...boxes edge...edges              flash...flashes           sex...sexes bridge...bridges          blush...blushes         six...sixes sponge...sponges      rush...rushes             fix...fixes stage...stages            crash...crashes         coax...coaxes age...ages                  crush...crushes         ax...axes

13. Tongue Twisters Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Did Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers? If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where's the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked? A tutor who tooted the flute, tried to tutor two tutors to toot. He said to the tutor: "Is it harder to toot, or to tutor two tutors to toot? Tina Taylor the ticket taker takes tea at ten past ten on Tuesdays. If Tina Taylor is taking tea, who's taking tickets at ten past ten on Tuesdays?

14. Diphthongs: complex vowels  Complex vowels have two sounds. The first is always strong and the second is the glide. The glide is weaker but it is also very audible, so you must never stop the glide. PRACTICE  beat      but              bought     but              bait      but  bit         but              boot         but              bite      but  bet        but              book        but              boy      but  bat        but              Burt          but              bout     but  bot        but              butter       but              boat     but  about    but

15. Pronouncing r-colored Vowels bar        but bore      but beer      but bear      but boor      but burr       but butter    but

16. Word Stress: the Syllable  A syllable is a"beat" in the rhythm of English. It has at least one vowel and may contain consonants. My, bed, tests are one syllable words. In Standard American English there are two types of syllables: open and closed. Long vowels and diphthongs can occur in both open and closed syllables: reading            mind            beat Short vowels occur only in closed syllables: pen                  faster Learning English requires knowing which syllable to stress and how many syllables there are in the word.

17. Figuring out the number of Syllables Two problems figuring out the number of syllables in an English word: First, you must know when the letter "e" is silent. Usually e" at the end of a word is siloent and therefore does not count as a syllable. type            note            damage            range In the word washes, there are two syllables, while in the word washed, there is only one syllable, because "e" is a silent letter.

18. Figuring out the Number of Syllables Secondly, in many English words, unstressed vowels are dropped:        family         chocolate         vegetable

19. Predicting Word Stress in SAE  1. Stress the first syllable of two syllable nouns.         brother        ceiling        climate        history 2. Stress the second part of the numerals from 13 to 19         thirteen    fourteen    fifteen    sixteen          seventeen    eighteen    nineteen      Stress the first syllable in the numerals from 30 to 90 thirty    forty    fifty    sixty    seventy    eighty    ninety

20. Predicting Word Stress in SAE  3. Stress reflexive pronouns on the second syllable.         myself    yourself    himself    herself    itself         ourselves    yourselves    themselves 4. Stress compound nouns on the first word gas station    credit card      bus stop    sun glasses baseball        tennis court    hot dog      laptop football          basketball       volleyball

21. Predicting Word Stress in SAE  5. Stress the last word in two-word verbs     drop out    pick up   turn off     go away    watch out    get up 6. Stress the first syllable in adjectives wonderful        beautiful        horrible        terrible useful               pleasant        jealous        different 7. Stress the first syllable in the verbs: offer        finish        punish        damage        suffer terrify      differ

22. Predicting Word Stress in SAE  8. Stress the second part of the compound in adverbs:         downtown            northeast            overseas 9. Stress the first syllables in nouns and the second syllable in      verbs: record            record object            object suspect         suspect conflict          conflict increase        increase export            export import            import

23. Lengthening Vowel Sounds in SAE  Exaggerate the length of vowels in the one-syllable words: moon      sky          hand         read        short mud        house      door         wise        see law          cone        shame     old          leaves book        pan          plate        long        vase

24. Extend the Length of the Words 1. The high mountain range stretched as far     as we could see. 2. The old horse moved slowly along the road. 3. The glow from the moon lighted the sceen     below. 4. A large white cloud drifted slowly across     the sky. 5. The smooth blue ocean was calm and     quiet.

25. Phonetic Sound of Plural Endings                      [s]        [z]        [Iz]        [schwa z] Dr. Anders speaks and her students repeat the sentenses.               [z]         [s]                        [s]                               [Iz] I've been to the circus seven times. Susan likes cats, dogs, and horses. The names of those flowers are hard to say. Everything grows in my garden: lilies, roses, zinnias, as well as weeds.

26. terminal s sounds of plurals  Charles watches all of the tennis games. Busses, trucks, and vans waited in a row. Jenny washes the dishes and dries the pots and pans. Potatoes, beans, peas, and carrots are in the soup. Your friends are in good businesses and make a lot of sales. Let's take the cookies to the movies with us. These paintings are unnecessary expenses.

27. terminal s sounds of plurals  Thousands of dollars of damages are expected. Claire admires and appreciates your thoughts. Pansies have pretty flower faces. Gusts of wind, flying papers, and dust discourage attendance. She listens, he speaks, then they exchange roles. The notices were pinned to the booths. The beliefs of these churches offer promises of life after death.

28. Pronouncing Plural Endings  s-        [s]        [z]        [Iz]        [schwa z] employs            churches            watches             damages brags                adds                    paints                Mary's repeats            avoids                  melts                  balls falls                  buries                  breaks                cleans dolls                 listens                  discusses          shouts crosses            needs                  locks                  stops

29. Pronouncing Plural Endings  s-        [s]        [z]        [Iz]        [schwa z]  wipes               studies               loves                 cats wraps                reveals              promises            bowls stalls                 pleases             encourages        wishes swims                pronounces      dresses              travels enjoys                runs                  knocks               cries cleans                races                drinks                news

30. Pronouncing Plural Endings  s-        [s]        [z]        [Iz]        [schwa z] children's            publishes            boats            omits deletes                recognizes           closes          changes judges                anchors                 mixes           notices  A's                      raise                        buzz              sees

31. Final /dz/ and /ts/  1. There were no plates in the place 2. There've been some nice nights recently. 3. In this course you learn about the courts. 4. I'd like a piece of pizza. 5. There were sighs on both sides of the courtroom. 6. She needs bandages on her knees. 7. Doing homework aids you in getting A's in your courses.

32. Final /dz/ and /ts/  8. Rows of trees lined the roads to town. 9. Liz bought a dozen lids for canning vegetables. 10. The news was all about the nudes show on TV. 11. The bees landed on her shiny beds. 12. They go for bike rides after sunrise in the spring. 13. Those cats are hard to catch. 14. Each of us eats in the cafeteria.

33. Final /dz/ and /ts/  15. It was so cold that the coach wore two coats. 16. Can you match the color of those matts? 17. The Ritz Hotel has rich customers. 18. The peaches were better than the pizzas. 19. Their heads were hidden behind the hedge. 20. They were in a rage about the police raids. 21. They're going to change those gold chains.

34. Pronouncing Word Ending Sounds 1. The books were left on the table. 2. The student chooses a subject for research. 3. He speeds down the raceway each week. 4. The judges' decision is final. 5. The churches will have special Easter services. 6. The boy safely grabbed the golden apple. 7. Julius filled his mug with a Starbucks coffee.

35. Pronouncing Word Ending Sounds   8. Leslie rolled the rock down the hill.   9. The student needed help with mathematics. 10. The nurses rushed over the mountain pass. 11. The astronauts landed safely on Mars. 12. The girls laughed loudly at the boy's joke. 13. Jeff uses his computer daily. 14. The dog hides all his bones in the rose bed.

36. Pronouncing Word Ending Sounds 15. The hops crops were to be gathered. 16. She always chooses red and blue ribbons. 17. The limbs of the tree were broken by the storm. 18. They crowded into the small log cabin to rest. 19. Drop the coins in the parking meter. 20. The teacher talked the entire hour about Fez. 21. Amy saved the old dress in her rag bag.

37. Pronouncing Word Ending Sounds 22. Janice waited an hour for the number four bus. 23.The dog barked at the passing cars. 24. The wages were too low for the workers. 25. The cat scratched the little girl's arm. 26. All of the bridges were built by a company of engineers. 27. The minister preached a worthwhile sermon every Sunday. 28. Lois knew the hedges needed trimming.

38. Pronouncing Word Ending Sounds 29. The machine crushed rocks for the road. 30. The pitcher tossed the ball to the shortstop. 31. Ms. Sears was interested only in riches. 32. Each of the dancers watched the director. 33. All of the children brought their lunches to school. 34. The matches were always kept in the metal box. 35. The small child amuses his parents with stories.

39. Pronouncing Word Ending Sounds 36. Roland and Jay place the wood carefully on the fire. 37. The wind blows in the evening until dusk. 38. Changes were made during rehearsals. 39. She runs a mile each day and exercises in the gym. 40. Put the coats on the bed and the bags on the floor. 41. the man needed help with his car. 42. Amy faces some changes when she starts working.

40.  [th] made into [s] by Chinese speakers this             thin            thank              those           threw    brother       tooth         thank              nothing        weather month         these        method           other            through there           with          Thursday        father           thing both            weather    anything         toothache    throw theme         them          thirsty            bathing        bathe death          that            south              feather        thousand

41.  th practice in context   1. This Thursday I must see the dentist about my toothache. 2. My grandmother bequeathed thirty thousand dollars to     my Aunt Beth. 3. My mother and father say nothing is too difficult if you try. 4. These three feathers were found in an ancient cave. 5. Although it is a thousand miles to my stepmother's house,     my brother made it in a day and a half.