Aneil's English Pronunciation Handbook

Aneils English Pronunciation Academy

TopicPage

Introduction to Aneil's English Pronunciation course3

Introduction to Accent7

English is a non-phonetic language12

Introduction to speech sounds19

Classification of speech sounds22

Vowel sounds22

a. Monophthongs22

b. Diphthongs79

c. Triphthongs112

Consonant sounds123

a. Basis for classification of consonant sounds123

b. Plosives129

c. Fricatives150

d. Affricates180

e. Nasals188

f. Approximants194

Sounds requiring more attention209

Syllables219

Syllable Stress225

Linking255

Sentence Stress262

Pacing and Pausing273

Intonation282

Module 2: Reading and Speaking Techniques305

Reading techniques306

a. How to end sentences306

b. How to read slowly307

c. How to read with variation in your voice309

d. How to read with the correct sentence stress310

Speaking Techniques322

a. How to introduce yourself322

b. How to build vocabulary for fluency323

c. How to speak fluently on a topic325

d. Story Telling327

e. How to speak confidently328

Audio tracks on the CD

TracksContentPage

Track 1English Pronunciation - an introduction3

Track 2Audio Book - Aneil's English Pronunciation Course10

Track 3Identify the accent11

Track 4Identify the accent11

Track 5Identify words with the same number of sounds as letters18

Track 6Pronunciation of the speech sounds21

Track 7Pronunciation of the 12 Monophthongs74

Track 8Practice sentences for Monophthongs74

Track 9Pronunciation of the 8 Diphthongs110

Track 10Practice sentences for Diphthongs110

Track 11Pronunciation of words for Monophthongs115

Track 12Pronunciation of Consonant Sounds126

Track 13Pronunciation of Indian and the correct variants for /p/, /t/, /k/ 130, 137, 143

Track 14Pronunciation Journey - /p/ and /b/135

Track 15Pronunciation Journey - /t/ and /d/141

Track 16Pronunciation Journey - /k/ and /g/147

Track 17Pronunciation Journey - /s/ and /z/162

Track 18Pronunciation Journey - // and //177

Track 19Pronunciation Journey - / / and / /187

Track 20Pronunciation Journey - /v/ and /w/208

Track 21Pronunciation of the 24 Consonant Sounds211

Track 22Practice sentences for Consonant Sounds211

Track 23LA-la stress patterns228

Track 24Linking in sentences261

Track 25Sentence stress - dictation computer271

Track 26Poem recitation274

Track 27Can you guess the intonation?288

Track 28Passage reading - How to end sentences308

Track 29Read Slowly310

Track 30Read with variation in the voice311

Track 31Passage Reading313

Track 32How to introduce yourself324

Track 33BBC audio file on vocabulary325

Track 34BBC audio file on story telling329

Track 35BBC audio file on fluency and accuracy330

Track 36The Rainbow Passage 1331

Track 37Comma gets a cure 1331

Track 38The Rainbow Passage 2331

Track 39Comma gets a cure 2331

Track 40Songs for vowel sounds and consonant sounds 332

Track 41Listening Practice Stories Part 1332

Track 42Listening Practice Stories Part 2332

Track 43How to Series332

Track 44Better Speaking Series332

Aneils English Pronunciation Academy1. Introduction to Aneils English Pronunciation CourseHello and welcome to Aneils English Pronunciation Academy. My name is Raghavendra Ashok.

This course is aimed at correcting the most basic errors when English is spoken by people in India. For interested learners, this course will go beyond correcting the basic errors to training them on the way English is correctly read and spoken. By this I mean not only pronouncing individual words correctly, but also getting the music and rhythm of the English language right, using the correct pace of speech and pausing appropriately so that the listener is able to fully comprehend what youre saying.Learning must always be fun and entertaining. The exercises I have designed ensure that you learn everything about correct English pronunciation the fun way.

Lets begin!I invite you to listen to Track 1 on the CD at this stage, before you proceed further. Listen to me talk about the need for a pronunciation course. The track is titled English Pronunciation an introduction.The following will be covered in this course.

Introduction to accent English is a non-phonetic language Introduction to the speech sounds

Classification of speech sounds

Mastering the speech sounds through exercises Syllables and syllable stress

Rules for breaking up a word into syllables

Rules for pronouncing a word correctly Linking principles for fluent speech

Sentence stress the rhythm of English

Intonation the music of English We will look at the following reading techniques:

How to end sentences

How to read slowly

How to read with voice variation

How to read with the correct sentence stress

We will also look at some speaking techniques:

How to introduce yourself

How to build vocabulary for fluency

How to speak on a topic fluently

Story telling

How to speak confidently

Intensive practice and listening to good speakers reading and speaking

Fun exercises for all the topics to make learning non-stressful and entertaining.

A fully equipped original pronunciation handbook

An amazing original audio CD to supplement the handbook

Before we move on to the next topic, Id like you to read and record the following passages. Note the time you take to read the passages.

Passage 1: The rainbow passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colours. These take the shape of a long, round arch with its path high above and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is according to legend a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.Time taken: ____________ SecondsPassage 2: Comma gets a cureWell, here's a story for you: Sarah Perry was a veterinary nurse who had been working daily at an old zoo in a deserted district of the territory, so she was very happy to start a new job at a superb private practice in North Square near the Duke Street Tower. That area was much nearer for her and more to her liking. Even so, on her first morning, she felt stressed. She ate a bowl of porridge, checked herself in the mirror and washed her face in a hurry. Then she put on a plain yellow dress and a fleece jacket, picked up her kit and headed for work.

When she got there, there was a woman with a goose waiting for her. The woman gave Sarah an official letter from the vet. The letter implied that the animal could be suffering from a rare form of foot and mouth disease, which was surprising, because normally you would only expect to see it in a dog or a goat. Sarah was sentimental, so this made her feel sorry for the beautiful bird.Time taken: ____________ Seconds

Please preserve these recordings as you will be directed to listen to them as we progress in the course. These recordings will serve as a starting point and when you read and record these passages again at the end of the course, youd be able to notice the difference Aneils English Pronunciation course makes to your ability to read and speak correctly.2. Introduction to Accent

All of us speak with an accent. Everyone does! So, what is accent?

Lets explore that concept briefly, as it will be key to what follows. To master correct English pronunciation, we should understand what exactly accent means.

Read these sentences:

The probability that the woman over there goes to Church on Wednesdays is not very high. This information, however, is completely my opinion.So, did all of you read these sentences in exactly the same way?

Why? Write down the differences in the way the same two sentences were read by different readers.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.Well, now that we know that differences exist, can you tell me why there were so many differences?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

There you go!

Can you now define Accent?

Accent: It is a characteristic way of pronunciation influenced by the social, cultural, educational and the regional background of the speaker. It is of course, influenced by the mother tongue.

So, you see, there is nothing wrong with speaking with an accent, because everyone speaks with an accent. The problem is when you have to speak a different language, a language that is not your mother tongue.

Imagine that you are 12 years old. Your mother tongue is Hindi. You probably started speaking when you were 3, so you have been speaking Hindi for 9 years now! Wow! And you are an expert in verbalizing your thoughts in Hindi.

Lets say you also started speaking in English sometime in your childhood, though it is not your mother tongue. You probably started speaking English when you spent a year or two in School, which means you started speaking English when you were 5, or even 6. But you would only speak in classrooms, with teachers, not even your friends.

So, the situation is that you speak your mother tongue, Hindi, with almost everyone, almost all the time. And you do use English sometimes and with some people. But what happens when you try to speak English?

You will carry the music, pronunciation and rhythm of your mother tongue Hindi, into English. So, may be you are speaking English, may be you are speaking grammatically correct English but the chances are that your English pronunciation will be far from correct.

The formula is fairly simple. If you want to speak English with the correct pronunciation, learn all the sounds used in English correctly, start using English extensively and expose yourself to correct English from the internet or TV everyday, for as long as possible.

What this does is, even though your mother tongue is Hindi, because you are learning correct English pronunciation and keeping in touch with English spoken correctly, you will master the correct English pronunciation!

This needs technique, guidance, practice and perseverance. Only practice and repetition is not enough. You need to record your own voice and compare it to a model and then critically take feedback from your comparison and learn. Again, and again, and again.

I did just that. And even after several years into the practice, I still do it. I know that without practice and exposure to correctly spoken English, our mother tongue takes command over our English pronunciation. I know that practice makes perfect, and that everyday I learn to pronounce some word correctly.

So you see, speaking correctly and learning to read and speak correctly is a journey not a destination.At this point in the course, I invite you to listen to Tracks 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F AND 2G on the CD titled Aneils English Pronunciation Audio book. All the chapters in the Pronunciation Handbook are summarized in these tracks. You may listen to it as many times as possible, while driving, or relaxing at home or walking in the park. Listening to this track several times will help you remember the most important aspects of English Pronunciation, without having to go back to the book. As the audio book has been read professionally, you will also be able to gauge how words, phrases and sentences are read in order to sound effective.Exercises for this chapter:1. Indicate whether the following sentences are true or false.

a. All people speak with an accent.b. A persons pronunciation or accent is not influenced by the mother tongue.

c. Accent is influenced by the cultural, educational and social background of the speaker.

2. Listen to Tracks 3 and 4 on the CD. Can you correctly identify the accent in which the speaker is speaking?

Accent in track 3: _________________________

Accent in track 4: _________________________3. English is a non-phonetic language

How do you pronounce this word?

GHOTI

Did you get it right? The chances are that you didnt!

Its pronounced as Fish.

Well, still confused?

GH from LAUGH = F; O from WOMEN = I; TI from LOCATION = SH

Now, another exercise. How do you pronounce these words?

Write

Right

Read (Past tense)Red

Sighs

Size

What does this tell you about English?

Well, my guess is that you probably think that English is a funny language! Well, yes, but other than that, dont you see that in the exercises above, the words are not pronounced the way they are spelled?That is the feature common in a non-phonetic language. English is a non-phonetic language. It is a non-phonetic language because you dont pronounce the words the way they are written!

Hindi, on the other hand, is a Phonetic language. Check this out:

Choose a letter from the vowels: Lets say a

Lets write 5 words with letter a in them and pronounce them.

Fat

Fate

Father

Fault

Ago

Now choose e:

Get

Permission

Person

GateEffect

Extreme

Lets choose a consonant this time -s

See

Sugar

Measure

So you see, even though we have different words with the same letter, we dont have the same pronunciation for the same letter. Thats why English is a non-phonetic language. Thats why it is not straight-forward to get English pronunciation right, without knowing some secrets!

On the other hand, Hindi is a phonetic language: Choose a Swar and get five different words with the same Swar.

What did you notice?

Do it again by choosing a Vyanjan this time. What did you notice again?

You may have correctly noticed that the same letter in any word would still be pronounced exactly the same! Hence, Hindi is a phonetic language. Hindi is pronounced or spoken exactly the way it is written.Now, enough of Gyaan. Just remember the following rule when you are speaking or reading English:

Sounds, not letters.

Thats it! Thats the mantra for you. Thats the secret. Concentrate on sounds and not letters when you are speaking or reading English.

In my pronunciation classes too, you need to remember this rule: Sounds, not letters!

Now, try the following exercises.

1. Count the number of letters and number of sounds in the following words:

S.No.WordsNumber of lettersNumber of sounds

1Cat33

2Catch

3Caught

4Ant

5Wait

6Weight

7Heat

8Good

9Food

10Fish

11Free

12Another

13Percentage

14People

15Tongue

16Honest

17Walk

18List

19Sixteen

20Phone

2. Read a passage from your newspaper, magazine or novel. Get five words and write them down below. Count the number of letters and number of sounds.

S. No.Words Number of lettersNumber of sounds

1

2

3

4

5

3. Next to the letters given below, write two words each with the target letter in them. The pronunciation produced by the letter should be different in both the words.

Target LetterWord 1Word 2

A

E

I

O

U

4. Next to the letters given below, write two words each with the letter in them. The pronunciation produced by the letter should be different in both the words.

Target LetterWord 1Word 2

C

G

H

P

R

S

5. The feature of a Non-phonetic language is that the pronunciation of the word may not be the same as the spelling of the word. True or false?

6. Give an example of a Non-phonetic language.

7. Give an example of a phonetic language.

8. MTI is the short form of _____________________________.

9. What mantra should you remember while reading or speaking English?

10. Listen to Track 5 on the CD and identify those words which have the same number of sounds as they have letters.4. Introduction to speech sounds

Now that weve learnt about accent and about English language being non-phonetic and about the new mantra (Can you remember the mantra without turning back to the page?), it is time we learnt the a b c of sounds.

Just as we have to start with learning the English alphabet in order to write in English, we have to start with the International phonetic alphabet in order to read and speak English correctly.

The International Phonetic Alphabet is a collection of 44 symbols, each symbol representing a unique speech sound in English. This IPA is the gift of the International Phonetic Association. You may have noticed the funny symbols after every word in a good dictionary. Well, thats exactly what IPA is. You master these symbols, and you can pronounce any word under the sun (and beyond, if you please!) by just looking at the symbols for that word in that dictionary.

At this stage, Id like to recommend that you buy The Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary by Daniel Jones. It is the world standard for pronunciation of several thousand words. And the world relies on this dictionary for standard pronunciation.

So, if you ask me if a word has to be pronounced this way or that and I say I have no idea! who do you go to? Well, Daniel Jones of course, in the Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary!Just as there are 26 letters in the English Alphabet, there are 44 sounds in English. And each sound is represented by a unique symbol which corresponds to its sound.

And just as we have vowels and consonants in the English Alphabet, we have Vowel Sounds and Consonant Sounds in English.

And the classification has a firm basis.

Vowel sounds are sounds which are produced without any obstruction to the flow of air.

Consonant sounds, on the other hand, require obstruction to the flow of air.

Its as simple as that. You master the vowel sounds and the consonant sounds, and youve mastered everything!

Now, try these exercises for reinforcement.1. What is the name of the famous English Pronouncing Dictionary that Daniel Jones wrote?

2. Speech sounds are also known as ___________________.

3. How many speech sounds are there in the English language?

4. What is the name given to the set of symbols used to represent the speech sounds in the English language?

5. Fill up the blanks

Sounds which are produced with no obstruction to the flow of air are called

_____________________________

Sounds which are produced with obstruction to the flow of air are called

_____________________________

6. Listen to Track 6 on the CD and repeat each sound after me. How many sounds did you count?5. Classification of speech sounds

We now know that the speech sounds, also known as Phonemes, are classified based on whether there is obstruction to the flow of air or not, when the sounds are produced.

Vowel sounds are sounds which are produced without any obstruction to the flow of air.

Consonant sounds, on the other hand, require obstruction to the flow of air.

Lets first look at Vowel sounds.

Vowel sounds:

There are 20 vowel sounds. Vowel sounds are further broken down for ease of learning into Monophthongs and Diphthongs.

Monophthongs:

Phthong means a sound. So, Monophthongs are the simplest vowel sounds, which can be produced in one go.

There are twelve Monophthongs.

You can find them in the table below:

Lips (Jaws

Fully stretched

Slightly Stretched

Slightly rounded

Fully rounded

Slightly open

Eat

It

Look

Cool

Half open

Egg

About

First

Law

Fully Open

Ant

Up

Car

Hot

Lets look at these one by one.

This sound is realized with slightly open jaws and fully stretched lips. It is a long sound, which means you pull it out for two beats.

Examples:

Seat, feet, beat, sleep, speak

Meeting, beaten, sleeping, sheepish

Nominee, employee, trustee, goatee, foreseeAppealing, revealing, impeachment, anterior, indecent

Practice Sentence:

The trustee had a goatee and the future he could foresee.

Exercise:

It is very important that we practice the sounds individually, within words and within words in sentences. In other words, after we practice the sounds individually and master them, we look at practicing these sounds embedded in words. Finally, these sounds should be practiced in context.

Read the following story I have created by using the words weve practiced for the sound /i:/. This will help you practice the sound in context and you will be able to master the sound better.

Dont speak! I will beat you if you put your feet on the seat! said the nominee in the meeting. He was a trustee. He suddenly glared at an employee who was sleeping and revealing all his teeth, he grinned at the sheepish employee who was sitting in the anterior of the room. How indecent of you to sleep in the meeting, he shouted!

For the next exercise, we need to know what a syllable is. When you break up a word while you pronounce it, you break it up into chunks called syllables. I will provide a definition for syllable a little later. For now, it is enough if we understand a syllable to be the broken bits of a word.

Before we begin the exercise, I need to tell you a secret. The secret to pronouncing a word correctly is to first be aware of the target sound in all positions of the word. It is not enough if we are able to get the target sound right, if it is at the beginning of the word. You should be aware of the existence of the sound even if the sound in somewhere in the middle of the word or even at the end of the word.The sound we learn can appear in what are called as Word Initial, Word Medial or Word Final positions. In order to accustom our ears to the sound appearing in these various positions, we have to do the following exercise.

Can you identify which categories the following three words fall into with respect to the sound /i:/?

Sleeper

Exterior

Extreme

In Sleeper, the /i:/ sound is in the first syllable. Hence we say that the target sound is in the Word Initial position in Sleeper.

In Exterior, the /i:/ sound is neither in the first syllable nor the last (final) syllable. It is in the syllable which is somewhere in the middle of the word. Hence we say that the target sound is in the Word medial position in Exterior.

In Extreme, the /i:/ sound is in the last syllable. Hence we say that the target sound is in the Word Final position in Extreme.

Can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?

Feast, speech, appeal, employee, three, needy, Meeting, beaten, impeachment, anteriorWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position

Lets now do an interesting activity: the sound maze.Navigate through the maze given on the next page so that you go though only those words which contain the target sound mentioned at the top of the sheet.

This sound is realized with slightly open jaws and slightly stretched lips. It is a short sound, which means you pull it out for one beat. Examples:

Sit, kill, entry, happy, insist, admittance, market, effect, pity, sentryPractice Sentence:

A country is nappy if you insist on happy.

I showed you how you can create a story with the words containing the target sound /i:/ in the previous section. Can you now try to create a short story from the examples given under the target sound we are looking at?

Write down the story below. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Sit, kill, entry, happy, insist, admittance, market, effect, pity, sentryWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position


Now that weve seen two very similar sounds, lets see if youre able to differentiate between the two sounds.Refer to the Pronunciation Journey game sheet on the next page.

There are four junctions that you need to go through to reach your final destination. At each junction, youll be given one word which will give you the clue whether to go left or right for the next junction.You need to go left if the word contains the /I/ sound. You need to go right if the word contains the / i: / sound.

Are you ready for the treasure hunt?

Junction 1: Slip

Junction 2: Sheep

Junction 3: Peal

Junction 4: MintWhere did you reach?

Now try two more levels:

Level 2:

Junction 1: Asleep

Junction 2: Meter

Junction 3: Morning

Junction 4: Intend

Level 3:

Junction 1: Employee

Junction 2: Optimum

Junction 3: Importance

Junction 4: Handicrafts

This sound is realized with slightly open jaws and slightly rounded lips. It is a short sound, which means you pull it out for one beat. Examples:Good, full, should, education, pullover, bully, hooker, look, would, sootPractice Sentence:

Good education should be full of coulds and woulds.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Good, full, should, education, pullover, bully, hooker, look, would, sootWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position


This sound is realized with slightly open jaws and fully stretched lips. It is a long sound, which means you pull it out for two beats.

Examples:

Fool, communicate, muse, super, prove, accuse, shoe, nuisance, zoo, rumour

Practice Sentence:

A fool can accuse but is of no use.

Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Fool, communicate, muse, super, prove, accuse, shoe, nuisance, zoo, rumour

Word Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position


Now that weve seen two very similar sounds, lets see if youre able to differentiate between the two sounds.

Refer to the Pronunciation Journey game sheet on the next page.

There are four junctions that you need to go through to reach your final destination. At each junction, youll be given one word which will give you the clue whether to go left or right for the next junction.

You need to go left if the word contains the /u/ sound. You need to go right if the word contains the / u: / sound.


Junction 1: fullJunction 2: foodJunction 3: bookJunction 4: moonWhere did you reach?


Level 2:Junction 1: lookingJunction 2: UnitJunction 3: prudentJunction 4: coolantLevel 3:Junction 1: computerJunction 2: pronunciationJunction 3: communicationJunction 4: educate

This sound is realized with half open jaws and fully stretched lips. It is a short sound, which means you pull it out for one beat. Examples:Entry, bet, mention, westward, bend, leg, help, desk, breakfast, emblem

Practice Sentence:

Get set to net the rest.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Entry, bet, mention, westward, bend, leg, help, desk, breakfast, emblem



Only one sound in the IPA has a name Schwa and that sound is:

The symbol represented above is the symbol for the Schwa sound.This sound is realized with half open jaws and very slightly stretched lips. It is a short sound, which means you pull it out for one beat. This is the only vowel sound which is not stressed at all.

Examples:Another, ago, percent, permission, pardon, about, across, affair, motion, number

Practice Sentence:

Another number about the ocean motion.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Another, ago, percent, permission, pardon, about, across, affair, motion, numberWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position


This sound is realized with half open jaws and slightly rounded lips. It is a long sound, which means you pull it out for two beats.

Examples:

Murdered, bird, first, refer, prefer, murky, curly, burning, curve, word

Practice Sentence:

The curvy girl prefers murky curd.


Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Murdered, bird, first, refer, prefer, murky, curly, burning, curve, word






You need to go left if the word contains the // sound. You need to go right if the word contains the /3:/ sound.


Junction 1: TensionJunction 2: NumberJunction 3: AbortJunction 4: CurdWhere did you reach?

Now try two more levels:Level 2:

Junction 1: BurningJunction 2: PercentJunction 3: ConditionJunction 4: FirstlyLevel 3:

Junction 1: PreferJunction 2: PermissionJunction 3: CultureJunction 4: Surprise

This sound is realized with half open jaws and fully rounded lips. It is a long sound, which means you pull it out for two beats.

Examples:

Law, four, more, reward, award, walk, calling, talking, water, bought

Practice Sentence:

The law awards more rewards for walking and talking.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Law, four, more, reward, award, walk, calling, talking, water, boughtWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position


This sound is realized with fully open jaws and fully stretched lips. It is a short sound, which means you pull it out for one beat.

Examples:

Actor, handy, bad, anger, shatter, track, madder, add, impact, snack

Practice Sentence:

The bad actor was mad in anger.


Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Actor, handy, bad, anger, shatter, track, madder, add, impact, snack






You need to go left if the word contains the /e/ sound. You need to go right if the word contains the // sound.


Junction 1: MetJunction 2: MatJunction 3: CatJunction 4: BetWhere did you reach?


Level 2:

Junction 1: ActingJunction 2: BetterJunction 3: MatterJunction 4: EmperorLevel 3:

Junction 1: amendmentJunction 2: advertisementJunction 3: banditJunction 4: regret

This sound is realized with fully open jaws and slightly stretched lips. It is a short sound, which means you pull it out for one beat.

Examples:

Up, umbrella, understand, lovely, Monday, ugly, subtle, busted, rusty, luckPractice Sentence:

Up the umbrella went on a lovely Monday in Kent.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Up, umbrella, understand, lovely, Monday, ugly, subtle, busted, rusty, luckWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position





You need to go left if the word contains the // sound. You need to go right if the word contains the // sound.


Junction 1: UpJunction 2: AbortJunction 3: LoveJunction 4: MentionWhere did you reach?


Level 2:

Junction 1: UntilJunction 2: AnotherJunction 3: ConditionJunction 4: AdviceLevel 3:

Junction 1: LuckyJunction 2: UglyJunction 3: AppealJunction 4: Abandon

This sound is realized with fully open jaws and slightly rounded lips. It is a long sound, which means you pull it out for two beats.

Examples:

Car, father, password, artist, crafty, bartender, card, impart, pardon, darling

Practice Sentence:

The crafty bartender fathered the darling artist.


Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Car, father, password, artist, crafty, bartender, card, impart, pardon, darling


Lets now do an interesting activity: the sound maze.

Navigate through the maze given on the next page so that you go though only those words which contain the target sound mentioned at the top of the sheet.

This sound is realized with fully open jaws and fully rounded lips. It is a short sound, which means you pull it out for one beat.

Examples:

Oxygen, optimist, not, knowledge, knock, shopping, locked, socks, on, horrible

Practice Sentence:

Knock on the locked shop.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Oxygen, optimist, not, knowledge, knock, shopping, locked, socks, on, horrible






You need to go left if the word contains the / / sound. You need to go right if the word contains the / / sound.


Junction 1: HotJunction 2: OnJunction 3: CaughtJunction 4: LawnWhere did you reach?


Level 2:

Junction 1: ForwardJunction 2: BlockageJunction 3: BottleJunction 4: WaterLevel 3:

Junction 1: NotJunction 2: BallJunction 3: CallJunction 4: ShortWeve now looked at all the 12 monophthongs in detail.Remember that practice makes perfect.

Another important aspect while learning sounds is Sound awareness. You have to train your ears to become aware of a particular target sound within a word. Once you practice this and become more and more aware of the target sounds in different positions within the word (beginning, middle and end), you will then be in a position to produce these sounds well.On Track 7 on the CD, listen to me demonstrate the pronunciation of all the monophthongs.

On Track 8 on the CD, listen to me demonstrate reading all the practice sentences for monophthongs. Are you ready for a Quiz on Monophthongs?a. Only one sound has a name. Write the name of that sound and the symbol for that sound.

b. How many Monophthongs are there?

c. How many monophthongs are short sounds (one-beat sounds)?

d. How many Monophthongs are long sounds (two-beat sounds)?

e. Write down the symbols and pronounce any two sounds which are produced with slightly open jaws.

f. Write down the symbols and pronounce any two sounds which are produced by fully open jaws.

g. Write down the symbols and pronounce any two sounds which are produced with fully stretched lips.

h. Write down the symbols and pronounce any two sounds which are produced with fully rounded lips.

i. Pronounce the following words. Write down the symbol of the monophthongs present in them. Also write down whether the monophthongs are long or short..S. No. WordsIPALong sound or short sound

1It

2Speak

3Full

4Cool

5Nest

6About

7Bird

8For

9Act

10Love

11Bar

12Shot

13On

14Moon

15Eat

16First

17Brush

18Met

19Hand

20From

j. Can you identify and write down the two monophthongs that are present in each of the following words?

S. No. WordsMonophthong 1Monophthong 2

1Bending

2Murder

3Mother

4Actor

5Heated

6Percent

7Wealthy

8Ever

9People

10Mental

11Moral

12Indeed

13Decent

14Weakly

15Village

16Rusty

17Under

18Undo

19Proper

20Forward

k. Can you fill up this table with the missing monophthongs according to the manner in which they are produced? Write down one example below each Monophthong.

Lips (Jaws

Fully stretched

Slightly Stretched

Slightly rounded

Fully rounded

Slightly open

Eat

Look

Half open

About

Law

Fully Open

Car

Hot

Diphthongs:

Monophthongs are basic vowel sounds. Next in line are diphthongs, sounds made up of two monophthongs which gently glide into one another. The first sound making up the diphthong is always longer than the second sound of the diphthong. This is a very important rule to remember. Most Indians make the mistake of not elongating the first sound, which leads to incorrect pronunciation.

The following table and the sentence within illustrate the 8 diphthongs well.Here

Lay

Poor

Boy

Low

There

My

Cow

Learning the diphthongs and pronouncing them correctly gives a very nice quality and accent to the words, giving the listener an impression that you speak better English. Therefore its very important to learn the diphthongs correctly.

As always, we cant produce diphthongs without getting an awareness of them within words.

Lets look at the Diphthongs one by one.

Here, fear, appear, dear, near, real, ideal, surreal, fierce, disappeared

Come near and do not fear the real deer.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Here, fear, appear, dear, near, real, ideal, surreal, fierce, disappeared



Later, daily, Tuesday, yesterday, rainbow, made, great, hey, clay, playful

The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Later, daily, Tuesday, yesterday, rainbow, made, great, hey, clay, playful





You need to go left if the word contains the / e / sound. You need to go right if the word contains the / ei / sound.


Junction 1: RainJunction 2: TenJunction 3: GreatJunction 4: LetWhere did you reach?


Level 2:

Junction 1: ArrangeJunction 2: MentionJunction 3: TodayJunction 4: EightLevel 3:

Junction 1: MadeJunction 2: EmbeddedJunction 3: BakerJunction 4: Shaky

Poorly, sure, doer, moors, endure, curable, impure, assurance, endurance, tourHe endured the tour to the moor in search of a cure.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Poorly, sure, doer, moors, endure, curable, impure, assurance, endurance, tour



Toy, toilet, coin, soil, boil, oil, appointment, employ, annoy, voicelessThe noise from the toys annoys other boys.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Toy, toilet, coin, soil, boil, oil, appointment, employ, annoy, voiceless



Bungalow, so, know, no, ago, slow, dont, lonely, motor, over

She wont go home to Rome by boat alone.


Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Bungalow, so, know, no, ago, slow, dont, lonely, motor, over



Therefore, wherever, wear, rare, care, repair, stare, declare, affair, blare

The rare bear had an affair with the hare.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Therefore, wherever, wear, rare, care, repair, stare, declare, affair, blare



My, timely, mine, shining, I, fighter, height, buy, goodbye, shyMike likes bikes with spikes to ride on ice.


Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?My, timely, mine, shining, I, fighter, height, buy, goodbye, shyWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position




You need to go left if the word contains the / ei / sound. You need to go right if the word contains the / ai / sound.


Junction 1: MainJunction 2: mineJunction 3: LaneJunction 4: TimeWhere did you reach?


Level 2:

Junction 1: RefrainJunction 2: EntertainJunction 3: WhitenerJunction 4: SignLevel 3:

Junction 1: DieJunction 2: WednesdayJunction 3: BrideJunction 4: Shady

Cow, how, sounded, cloudy, now, allow, frown, noun, down, proud

Shout out loud if you see the cloud.


Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Cow, how, sounded, cloudy, now, allow, frown, noun, down, proud


Lets now do an interesting activity: the sound maze.Navigate through the maze given on the next page so that you go though only those words which contain the target sound mentioned at the top of the sheet



You need to go left if the word contains the /u / sound. You need to go right if the word contains the /au / sound.


Junction 1: LowJunction 2: FlowJunction 3: Bow (bending down)Junction 4: CloudWhere did you reach?


Level 2:

Junction 1: FlowerJunction 2: LowerJunction 3: SoundJunction 4: RoadLevel 3:

Junction 1: NoJunction 2: HowJunction 3: AgoJunction 4: AllowNow thats the take on the 8 diphthongs.

On Track 9 on the CD, listen to me demonstrate the pronunciation of all the diphthongs.

On Track 10 on the CD, listen to me demonstrate all the practice sentences for the diphthongs.

Let me now invite you to look at the following table with my version of words for the target sounds weve studied so far. Practice these words everyday to increase your awareness of the target sounds within words.Target soundWord InitialWord MedialWord Final

EastwardAppealingEmployee

ImportantCommitmentHappy

Booking EducateChildhood

TruthfulCommunicateInclude

EntryTogetherForget

AnotherInformationNumber

CertainlyAssertiveConvert

CallingImmortalInform

ActingEvaluateImpact

UmbrellaPronunciationUpfront

PasswordAlarmingApart

OrangeAllotmentUnlock

FearsomeAppearanceEndear

MaintainLocationComplaint

TouristUsuallyImpure

Ointment AnnoyingAlloy

OpeningRemotelyAgo

FairlyUncaringEverywhere

TimelyUntidyGoodbye

CountyAccountableAbout

We have to talk about 5 other sounds which are called as triphthongs. Of course these are not classified separately but for purposes of ease we can consider them as the third category of vowel sounds (do you remember the first two categories?)

Triphthongs are made up of three vowel sounds, the last sound always being the Schwa.

Having said that, we can see triphthongs as made up of a diphthong and a Schwa.

Triphthong = Diphthong + schwa

Can you identify the triphthongs in these words? Remember, awareness is the key. By now, you should have become aware of all the monophthongs and diphthongs and therefore be able to identify the triphthongs.

Layer

INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.antimoon.com/images/i.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET

INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.antimoon.com/images/uh.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET LawyerSlower


INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.antimoon.com/images/uh.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET

INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.antimoon.com/images/u.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET

INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.antimoon.com/images/uh.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET Fire

Flower


INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.antimoon.com/images/uh.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET

INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.antimoon.com/images/u.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET

INCLUDEPICTURE "http://www.antimoon.com/images/uh.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET Its time for more practice. Along with the exercises given in the book and the CD, its important that we start reading passages and getting the vowel sounds in the words correct. The more we read, the more we record our voice and listen to it, the better our chances of identifying our errors and correcting our vowel sounds. So, lets do it folks. At this phase, Id like to tell you that learning to speak with the correct pronunciation is a life skill. Like all life skills like swimming, cycling or driving, the pronunciation life skill may seem daunting but you learn it for life. Once learnt properly, you dont have to worry about it again. Just imagine, after youve learnt cycling, have you ever consciously tried to learn it again? You just hop on to the bicycle and start pedaling. Same with pronunciation. Once you master the sounds, you dont have to worry about them again.

Now that you have begun to master all the vowel sounds, I invite you to spend ten minutes everyday pronouncing the following words correctly. They are arranged according to their target sounds and the word initial, medial and final positions.

Remember that daily practice is the key to perfecting pronunciation. The use and disuse theory says that if you dont use something regularly, you lose it!

Target soundPositionWords

Word Initialeat, feel, eagle, eastward, eons, beach, beast, beaker, keeper, deeply, dream, feature, feeble, phoenix, geek, heat, heal, jeans, genes, liter, leap, league, lima, meter, meaning, meal, neat, need, peter, peanut, queen, region, seat, seed, seems, team, velum, veto, weeks, wheel, yeast, zeal

Word Medialupheaval, interior, superior, arena, amoeba, fatigue, bereavement, impeachment

Word Finalemployee, trainee, nominee, trustee, esteem, supreme, repeat, appeal, conceal, release, appease, delete

Word Initialit, is, imply, impart, internal, finger, fit, delete, bin, biggest, dimple, ditch, filth, give, his, guilt, ginger, gig, chill, chin, chip, kill, little, mint, mill, nil, pick, quick, rib, sit, slip, stick, spin, tip, victory, win, whiskey, zip

Word Medialentity, utility, ability, capability, probability, commitment, competition, addition

Word Finalhappy, country, beauty, empty, hungry, party, entity, economic, biologic, photographic, psychic, market, biscuit, bucket, message, village, advantage, disadvantages, encourage, manage

Word Initiallook, good, should, would, book, could, bull, cook, full, footage, hooker, hood, July, pulling, pushing, took, wood, wool, together

Word Medialeducation, articulate, particulate, erudite

Word Finalmistook, unhook, truthful, plentiful, spoonful

Word Initialfood, brood, boon, dude, duplicate, fool, hula hoop, June, cooling, cooper, loot, movie, movement, moody, nutrition, numerous, nude, puke, rude, rule, soothing, spoonful, stool, true, truthful, truth, university, universe, voodoo, woo, Zulu

Word Medialcommunicate, enthusiasm, enumerate, improvement, enthusiastic, seclusion, amusement

Word Finalinto, undue, improve, approve, disapprove, maroon, platoon, cartoon, balloon, aloof, seduce

Word Initialbetting, bed, Cedric, dead, death, fetch, Fletcher, get, gel, hell, head, jelly, lending, leg, mender, meddle, penning, member, bread, exercise, credit

Word Medialdevelopment, together, prevention, detention, extension, retention, recession, confession, attendance

Word Finalcomment, regret, effect, affect, content, consent, ascent, amend, pretend, address

Word Initialago, ability, above, address, another, absorb, abundance, appearance, admit, appeal, condition, percentage, permission, particular, permitted, aggressive, communicate, pronunciation, pronouncing, collection, correct, cathedral

Word Medialinformation, dictionary, fiberglass, membership, sportsmanship, laboratory, lavatory, paradise, filament, innocent, adorable, liberty

Word Finalnumber, member, carpenter, intonation, location, imagination, Edward, Oxford, westward, button, bottle, table, improvement, amendment, commandment, reluctant, Robert, Stewart, digital, dependence, emotional

Word Initialearning, earthling, hurt, bird, first, sir, burden, murder, curtain, flirty, shirt, learning, burning, churn, certainly

Word Medialascertain, preferring, referring

Word Finalreturn, discern, concern, prefer, refer

Word Initialawesome, lawful, authority, author, order, talking, walking, calling, called, call, tall, watering, more, four, caught, bought, thought, sporty, border, corner, ornament, short

Word Medialassorted, assaulted, awarded, insurance, security

Word Finalaward, reward, record, adore, insure, secure

Word Initialactor, tracking, lacking, carrying, cash, camp, calculate, crack, black-listed, rat, Saturday, Sally, shabby, shackles, shamrock, bat

Word Medialabandon, enactment, impactful, Italian, imagine, refraction

Word Finalenact, compact, react, interact, businessman, understand

Word Initialup, understand, umbrella, cup, love, lovely, button, sun, son, Sunday, luck, lump, cunning, brother, mother, butter, utter, shut-up, gun, bumpy

Word Medialpronunciation, enunciation, another, abundance

Word Finalbuild-up, shut-up, among

Word Initialfather, artist, Marshall, Margaret, bartender, heart, jar, cart, card, car, lather, partner, pardon, rather, parcel, part, target, Yardley, cardigan

Word Medialdeparture, apartment, Encarta

Word Finalimpart, depart

Word InitialOrange, oxygen, boxes, locking, mock, not, cot, hot, shot, prompt, opportunity, clockwork

Word Medialallotment, impromptu, economic, electronically

Word Finalpadlock, Belmont, bellhop, desktop, tabletop, laptop

On Track 11 on the CD, listen to me demonstrate the pronunciation of all the words in the table above.Here are a few more games on vowel sounds.The game on the following page 114 is called Four-sided dominoes. Cut the cards out and place them face down. Retain one card face-up at the center. This will be your start card.

The first player picks a card from the face-down-card file. He has to place it next to the card at the center such that the vowel sound in the word on his card matches with that in the centre.

The other players take turn building up the track.

Look at the next two games titled Ludo 1 and Ludo 2 on pages 115 and 116.Each number of the dice is assigned a vowel sound. The player should throw the dice and based on the number on the dice, he should identify correctly the word in his path which has that sound and move to that place.

The other players take turn throwing the dice and stepping forward to the word containing that vowel sound.

The player to reach home first is the winner.

The next game is called Battleships. You can find the game on two pages 117 and 118.One player marks a square and the opponent should pronounce the word so formed from the intersection of sounds. If the opponent gets the word correct, then the ship is sunk.

You can use any variation you like with this game.


Extensive training on English Pronunciation, Reading and Speaking Techniques.

We are not taught pronunciation at schools or colleges. We are only taught how to string words together grammatically.

Speaking English with the correct English Pronunciation, learning techniques for reading and speaking will boost your confidence and you will stand out from the rest.

Aneils English Pronunciation course is an activity-based and listening-based training program which blends fun with important concepts to help the trainee retain information on Pronunciation and eventually master it.

Aneils English Pronunciation course comes with an exhaustive English Pronunciation Handbook and English Pronunciation guide CD. Both of these are original designs suited for mastery over all aspects of English pronunciation.

Private tuitions/Coaching starts shortly.Separate batches for children and adults. Classes conducted in the evenings and weekends.For details, contact:

Aneil Ashok

9980801282

[email protected]








Aneil Ashok

9980801282

[email protected]








Aneil Ashok

9980801282

[email protected]

Lets now go to a rather interesting topic Consonant sounds. The classification itself is very interesting.

Consonant sounds:

We said that consonant sounds are produced by the obstruction to the flow of air. It is easier to learn consonant sounds if we take notice of:

1. The manner of articulation (The way the consonant sound is produced)

2. The place of articulation (The place that plays a crucial role in producing the consonant sound)

3. Whether the sound is Voiced or Voiceless

Ill explain later. Right now, visualize this scene. I will try to explain the classification of the consonant sounds through this scene.

Imagine that you've parked your car in the driveway and that you want to wash it. You get a long length of a hose tube, connect one end to a tap inside the house and start dragging the other end to the driveway where your car is.

Now, your 5-year-old daughter, who likes to play pranks with you turns the tap on and giggles, even as you are stepping out of the hall into your verandah. The water from the tap starts moving through the hose and is ready to flow out of it. You don't want the water to spill in your house, so what do you do?

You immediately close the end of the hose with your thumb, blocking the flow out. Then you start moving towards your car. Your daughter now wants to join the fun, so she comes out too.

Once near the car, you remove your thumb from the end of the hose. What happens?

The water gushes out of the hose with great force, because it is no longer restricted. It is like an explosion a sudden and strong outburst. You see, there are 6 consonant sounds which are produced in a very similar manner. The manner is an explosion of air, after the air is restricted by something in the mouth and let loose suddenly.

We call such consonant sounds as 'Plosives'. They are / p /, / t /, / k /, / b /, / d /, / g /.Okay. Your daughter has been watching you clean the car. She now wants to try it herself, so you hand over the hose to her. What she does is, she closes the hose with her thumb and then gently pulls only a little bit of the thumb away from the hose so that there is just a very thin gap for the water to flow through. What happens?

The water now flows out with some kind of a hissing or a shushing sound, the sound produced by the difficult passage of water through a narrow opening. Friction, in other words. You see, in English, we have 9 consonant sounds which are produced by a similar restriction where the air is allowed only a narrow gap to escape. These sounds caused by friction are soft and are called 'Fricatives'.

They are / f /, / v /, / /, / /, / s /, / z /, / /, / /, /h/.

Your daughter is very happy with what's happening!

Now she thinks of playing a bit with the hose. She uses her thumb to block the hose and then releases it and suddenly closes it with the thumb but maintains a narrow gap for the water to flow. There are two consonant sounds which are called 'Affricates', which are produced by explosion quickly followed by friction. They are / /, / /.You are annoyed that she is playing instead of washing the car and so snatch the hose back from her. She looks very cross now. But suddenly she hears Himesh Reshammiya on the radio crooning 'Jhalak Dikhlaaja' and so runs in to enjoy the song.

You see, Himesh has a nasal voice, just like three consonant sounds /m/, /n/ and / /, which are called Nasals.Well, you now feel like playing a little with the hose yourself. So you get a small stick and position it in the hose at the end so that the water has to flow around the solid stick which is blocking the path in the middle. Such consonant sounds which have obstruction to air flow but not too much are called 'Approximants'. They are 4 in number. They are / j /, / r /, / l / and / w /.And now you have washed your car and you have played around. So you go in and enjoy a hot cup of coffee with your wife (So here's the classification of consonant sounds.

1. Plosives - / p /, / t /, / k /, / b /, / d /, / g /2. Fricatives - / f /, / v /, / /, / /, / s /, / z /, / /, / /, /h/3. Affricates - / /, / /4. Nasals - /m/, /n/ and / /5. Approximants - / j /, / r /, / l / and / w /On Track 12 on the CD, listen to me demonstrate the pronunciation of all the consonant sounds.

Whats not shown in the table is the pair of Affricates. Affricates as you know are palate-alveolar.

So, that makes it 24 consonant sounds. And now we know that the classification of the consonant sounds was done based on the 'Manner' of articulation.

But we haven't looked at how we can differentiate between the individual sounds in each of the categories, have we? For that we need to look at the 'Place' of articulation. We will also use the concept of 'voiceless' and 'voiced' sounds to help us learn the individual sounds.Let's begin.

Look at the picture above.

I have depicted the articulators that help us in producing consonant sounds. The picture aids us in understanding the place of articulation of sounds.

Articulators are active and passive. Examples of active articulators are lips (labia), tongue, vocal chords, velum and the lower jaw. Examples of passive articulators include the upper jaw, teeth, the alveolar ridge, the hard palate, the nasal cavity and the oral cavity. It is important that we understand which are which to be able to enunciate the consonant sounds correctly.

Let's now get back to the classification of consonant sounds using the place of articulation, and whether the sound is voiced or voiceless.

The first category is plosives.

Plosives:

/ p /This sound is bilabial - meaning by the lips. Or rather, the restriction of air by the lips. It is an explosive sound. Hence the place of articulation is 'labial' or lips and the manner of articulation is 'plosion' or 'plosive'.

/p/ is therefore a bilabial plosive.

I would now want you to touch your throat with four of your fingers and say /p/. Do it again.

Did you notice some sort of a vibration from the throat? I'm not talking of the up-down movement. I'm talking of the vibration.

There was no vibration when you produced /p/. In other words no vibration means no 'voice' and so we call /p/ a voiceless sound.

So, /p/ is a voiceless, bilabial plosive.Take a thin strip of paper and hold it in front of your lips and say /p/. The strip bends almost completely due to the extra puff of air driving it. We call this extra puff of air as 'aspiration'.

So /p/ is a voiceless, aspirated, bilabial plosive! That's the complete definition. And if we understand the importance of each of these elements, our /p/ becomes a perfect reproduction.

Notice that the Indian /p/ is not aspirated, and is also voiced. This is why it is an incorrect pronunciation when the same is used for the English /p/. And this is also one of the most common errors that Indians make while producing words with /p/.On Track 13 of the CD, I have demonstrated the pronunciation of the following words the Indian way and the correct way. Have a listen.Pen - Pen

Could you make out the difference?Examples:

pin, paper, potter, appear, apple, pencil, poor, tap, nap, entrapPractice Sentence:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?pin, paper, potter, appear, apple, pencil, poor, tap, nap, entrapWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position

/ b /This has the same place and manner of articulation as /p/. The difference then is that /b/ is not aspirated (no 'extra' air, just a little will do) and more importantly, /b/ is voiced.

Rest your fingers on your throat and say /b/. You will notice a vibration from your throat.

So, /b/ is a voiced, non-aspirated, bilabial plosive.

Examples:Bad, butter, abort, cab, lab, brad, bought, bind, bingo, bootPractice Sentence:

Betty bought some bitter butter.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Bad, butter, abort, cab, lab, brad, bought, bind, bingo, boot




You need to go left if the word contains the / p / sound. You need to go right if the word contains the / b / sound.


I have included two levels. Its very easy if the words are written on paper to distinguish between the two sounds. Therefore I have included these words in the voice files.For this reason, I have read the words in Track 14 of the CD so that you can listen to the four words, one for each junction and navigate yourself only by ear.

Lets see how you do.

Listen to Track 14 on the CD and play the game on the next page./t/

Can you analyze this sound as we did /p/? Try. Get the place of articulation, manner of articulation and check whether the sound is voiced or voiceless.

/t/ is a voiceless, aspirated, alveolar plosive.

It is important to note the place of articulation as the alveolar ridge. Refer to the picture of articulators on page 20.On Track 13 of the CD, I have demonstrated the pronunciation of the following words the Indian way and the correct way. Have a listen.Again observe ten and ten. Examples:

Table, time, intimate, actor, sort, bucket, lost, toffee, taught, shortPractice sentence:

Ten teaspoons tossed about in the teapot.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Table, time, intimate, actor, sort, bucket, lost, toffee, taught, shortWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position

/d/

This is easy now.

/d/ is a voiced, non-aspirated, alveolar plosive.

Examples:Door, dead, bed, heading, beady, death, addition, abandon, done, broadPractice Sentence:Dr. Dolittle dealt with donkeys and dogs.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Door, dead, bed, heading, beady, death, addition, abandon, done, broadWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position



You need to go left if the word contains the / t / sound. You need to go right if the word contains the / d / sound.


I have included two levels. Its very easy if the words are written on paper to distinguish between the two sounds. Therefore I have included these words in the voice files.

For this reason, I have read the words in Track 15 of the CD so that you can listen to the four words, one for each junction and navigate yourself only by ear.


Listen to Track 15 and play the game on the next page.

/k/

Did you try and analyze? You should, because that way you'll never forget how the sound is produced, and chances are that you'll never make a mistake with that sound.

/k/ is a voiceless, aspirated, velar plosive.On Track 13 of the CD, I have demonstrated the pronunciation of the following words the Indian way and the correct way. Have a listen.Kiss and kiss.

Examples:

Cake, kick, back, lock, courtesy, click, according, akin, king, cobbler

Practice Sentence:

Kids crave for candy sticks and cuppy cakes.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Cake, kick, back, lock, courtesy, click, according, akin, king, cobblerWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position

/g/

This is the last plosive.

You may have correctly identified the definition as:

/g/ is a voiced, non-aspirated, velar plosive.

Good.Examples:

Go, gate, agree, bag, target, goody, golf, great, Hogwarts, green

Practice Sentence:

Green grass grows on good grounds.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Go, gate, agree, bag, target, goody, golf, great, Hogwarts, greenWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position



You need to go left if the word contains the / k / sound. You need to go right if the word contains the / g / sound.






Bingo! That's six sounds done!

Before we exit 'Plosives' I want to point out an important observation. A concept called 'Minimal Pairs'.

Analyze /p/ and /b/ for similarities. They are almost identical with just a small difference, which is one of the reasons why people get confused when you interchange /p/ and /b/ or pronounce them incorrectly.These two are sounds of a minimal pair, a pair of sounds with minimal difference between them. And we have to be very careful with minimal pairs!

The other minimal pairs in plosives are:

/t/ and /d/

/k/ and /g/

The concept of minimal pairs also makes it easier for us to study the sounds.

Brilliant! It's time to go to Fricatives and analyze each sound for the place of articulation, manner of articulation and whether the sound is voiced or voiceless.

Fricatives

Please remember that these sounds are soft and are produced by friction. There are minimal pairs in fricatives, which means we have to be careful in enunciating each sound distinctly and correctly./f/ - Voiceless labio-dental fricative

You need to kind of bite your lower lip with the upper set of teeth to produce the /f/ sound. It is fairly simple.

Forest AfterExamples:

Forest, father, few, afraid, after, often, staff, left, trough, laughPractice Sentence:

Fifty four friends had forty five foes.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Forest, father, few, afraid, after, often, staff, left, trough, laughWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position

/v/ - Voiced labio-dental fricative.

This sound is one of the most challenging sounds for the people of India. This requires vibration of the vocal chords as this is a voiced sound, and the biting of the lower lip. Only practice, and more practice can help you achieve mastery over this sound.

Very EnvyExamples:

Very, victory, v, volume, velocity, veronica, vow, everlasting, never, have

Practice sentence:

Never ever vie victory very much.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Very, victory, v, volume, velocity, veronica, vow, everlasting, never, haveWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position

Lets now do an interesting activity: the sound maze.Navigate through the maze given on the next page so that you go though only those words which contain the target sound mentioned at the top of the sheet. V

/s/ - Voiceless alveolar fricative.Hissing sound.

Sea Horse RiceExamples:So, rice, price, see, feast, horse, house, bust, rest, seek

Practice sentence:

The price of rice is so very nice.Note that in the above sentence is does not have a /s/ sound. Can you guess what sound it has?


Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?So, rice, price, see, feast, horse, house, bust, rest, seekWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position


/s/

/z/ - Voiced alveolar fricativeBuzzing sound.

Zoo Rise - IsThe important thing about this sound is the voiced quality of this sound. Without the voice, it would sound like /s/.Examples:

Zoo, rays, prize, houses, rise, is, maze, buzz, crazy, lazy

Practice sentence:

The citys high rise is the great prize.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Zoo, rays, prize, houses, rise, is, maze, buzz, crazy, lazy



/z/



You need to go left if the word contains the / s / sound. You need to go right if the word contains the / z / sound.






/ / - Voiceless post-alveolar fricative.This sound is the shhhh sound we use to ask someone to be quiet.

This sound is produced in the region after the alveolar ridge and hence the description post-alveolar.

Ship WishExamples:

Shoe, sugar, sure, crash, should, sheep, washing, shop, dash, information

Practice Sentences:

She showed the shoe to the shocked crew.

She sells sea shells on the sea shore.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Shoe, sugar, sure, crash, should, sheep, washing, shop, dash, information



/ / - Voiced post-alveolar fricative.A tough one but if you know that its very similar to / / it is easy. Just that its a voiced variation of / /.Measure garageExamples:Measure, pleasure, fission, seizure, fusion, garage, closure, version, vision, enclosurePractice sentence:

Please treasure leisure for its immeasurable pleasure.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Measure, pleasure, fission, seizure, fusion, garage, closure, version, vision, enclosure



/ / - Voiceless interdental fricative.Imagine you are trying to tease your friend by getting your tongue out of your mouth and between your teeth. This is how you need to produce / /. And it is a very soft sound. Again the sound should be similar to /s/ but the tongue jutting out between the teeth will give it a quality of / / and not /s/.

The sound requires lots of practice for mastery. Once mastered, it sounds very professional to produce this sound correctly in words. Almost all Indians make an error with this sound. So, if you master it, you will stand out from the millions who cant get this right!

Thank Breath BirthdayExamples:

Think, thank, breath, birthday, wealth, bath, North, thought, truth, depthPractice sentence:

Wealth at birth is ill for health.Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.

Well done!

Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?Think, thank, breath, birthday, wealth, bath, North, thought, truth, depthWord Initial positionWord Medial positionWord Final position


/ / - Voiced interdental fricative.Similar to the previous sound and voiced.

This the breath

Aneil's English Pronunciation Handbook

Documents

Transcript of Aneil's English Pronunciation Handbook