Oral Communication Skills - Server

7/29/2019 Oral Communication Skills - Server

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ORAL COMMUNICAT

ACCENT NEUTRAL


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OVERVIEWPURPOSE

This lesson focuses on pronunciation and how to improvetelephone communication so that the American Customer canclearly understand what the agent is saying. This lessonenhances conversational English Skills by incorporating

intonation, word liaisons, and proper English pronunciation.

OBJECTIVE

This module is designed to further enhance your communicationskills and teach you how to adjust from the commonly acceptedEnglish to the Global Language that we speak in the Call CenterIndustry, which is the typical American Accent..


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What is ACCENT ?A distinctive manner of expression i.e. an

individuals distinctive or characteristic inflection,tone, or choice of words, or way of speaking typicalof a particular group of people residing in a specific

region. (Webster Dictionary)

Is the combination of three main components:

intonation (speech music), liaisons (wordconnections), and pronunciation (the spokensounds of vowels, consonants, and combinations)


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TENSE VOWELS LAX VOWELS

Symbol Sound Spelling Example Symbol Sound Spelling Example

take [tak] eh get [gt]

ee eat [et] i ih it [it] i ice [is] ih+uh took [tk] ou hope [hop] uh some [sm] ooh smooth [smuth]

ah caught [k t] SEMIVOWELS + cat [k t] r er her [hr]o +o down [don] ul dull [d]


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TENSE VOWELS

long vowels

requires the use of a lot of facial muscles

especially lip and mouth muscles

LAX VOWELS

short vowels or reduced vowels

you relax your mouth and lip muscles


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MAJOR VOWEL SOUNDS

[ ] The A and E combination sound. Although not acommon sound, it is very distinctive to the ear & istypically American.

- To pronounce it, drop your jaw as far down as it will

go. The final sound is not two separate vowels, but

rather the end result of the combination. It is very

close to the sound that a goat makes: ma-a-a-a!

ex. Bat, cat, math, can, man

[ ] - the A and O combination sound.

- to pronounce, relax your tongue & drop your jaw.

Its the sound you make when the doctor wants

to see your tongue, so open up & drp your jw.

ex. Water, daughter, caught


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[ ] the Schwa Sound.- the most common sound in American english

- is a neutral sound. Its actual sound is uh- to make a Schwa sound, put your hand on your

diaphragm & push it until a grunt escapes.

Do not move your jaw, tongue or lips; just allow the

sound to flow past your vocal cords. It should

sound uh and not ah.

ex. Pun, Monday, can

photography [phuhtahgruhfee]

I can di it. [ I kn do it ]

I cant do it. [ I knt do it ]


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Vowel Sound Differentiation / Drills

Ou

1. Ann on un- own aint end2. ban bond bun bone bane Ben

3. can con come cone cane Ken

4. cat caught/cot cut coat Kate ketch

5. Dan Don/dawn done dont Dane den

6. fan fawn fun phone feign fend

7. gap gone gun goat gain again

8. hat hot hut hotel hate het up

9. Jan John jump Joan Jane Jenny

10. lamp lawn lump loan lane Len

11. man monster Monday moan main men

12. matter motto mutter motor made met

13. Nan non~ none/nun known name nemesis

14. Gnat not/knot nut note Nate net


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Ou 15. pan pawn pun pony pain pen

16. ran Ron run Roan rain/reign wren

17. sand sawn sun sewn/soan sane send

18. shall Sean shut show Shane Shen

19. chance chalk Chuck choke change check20. Tack talk tuck Token take tech

21. van Von vug vogue vague vent

22. wax want one wont wane when

23.Yam yawn young yo! Yea! Yen

24. Zap czar result zone zany zen


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The American I and E

There are ways of saying these twosounds depending on what the final

consonant is.

eat it They eat it.

deed did He did the deed.keys kiss Give me a kiss for the keys


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i i 1. It eat 12. Sim seem

2. Fit feet/feat 13. Dim deem

3. This these 14. Kin keen

4. Bit beat 15. Hill heal

5. Sit seat 16. Sill seal6. Nit neat 17. Pick peak

7. Pit peat 18. Gin Jean

8. Is ease

9. Sick seek10. Lick leak

11. Sin seen


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Reading the / / sound

The Tn MnA fashionably tan man sat casually at the bat stand,lashing a handful of practice bats. The manager,a crabby old bag of bones, passed by and

laughed, Youre about average, Jack. Cant youlash faster? Jack had had enough, so heclambered to his feet and lashed bats faster thanany man had ever lashed bats. As a matter of

fact, he lashed bats so fast that he seemed todance. The manager was aghast. Jack, youre amaster bat lasher! he gasped. Satisfied at last,Jack sat back and never lashed another bat.


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A lt of lng, Ht walks in the gardenJohn was not sorry when the boss called off the walks in the

garden. Obviously, to him, it was awfully hot, and thewalks were far too long. He had not thought that walking

would have caught on the way it did, and he fought thepolicy from the onset. At first, he thought he could talk itover at the law office and have it quashed, but a smallobstacle halted that thought. The top lawyers always

bought coffee at the shop across the lawn and they didntwant to stop on Johns account. Johns problem was notthe office politics, but office policy. He resolved theproblem by bombing the garden.


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What must the Sun Above Wonder About?

Some pundits proposed that the sun wondersunnecessarily about sundry and assorted

conundrums. One cannot but speculate what cancome of their proposal. It wasnt enough totrouble us, but it was done so underhandedlythat hundreds of sun lovers rushed to thedefense of their beloved sun. None of this wasrelevant on Monday, however, the sun burnedup the entire country


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CONSONANTS

are sounds that cause two points of your mouth

to come into contact, in three locations - the lips,

the tip of the tongue, and the throat.

there two types of consonants:

VOICED the vocal folds in the larynx are

vibrating while sound is being made

VOICELESS the vocal folds are nor vibrating


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VOICELESS Consonants/ p, t, k, f, , s, , t , h /

example:/ p / - pot / / - think

/ s / - sun / t / - tea

/ / - she / k / - cat

/ t / - chat / h / - how

/ f / - if

VOICED Consonants

/ b, d, g, v, , z, 3, d3, m, n, , l, r, w, y /

example:

/ b / - bad / m / - man/ d / - did / n / - no

/ g / - gave / / - sing

/ v / - voice / d3 / - judge

/ / - that / l / - leg

/ z / - zoo / 3 / - vision/ r / - red / w / - went

/ y / - yacht


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PRONUNCIATION of someCRITICAL CONSONANT SOUNDS in

AMERICAN ENGLISH

The American T

is influenced very strongly by intonationand its position in a word or phrase

4 Basic Rules

[ T is T ] [ T is D ]

[ T is Silent ] [ T is Held ]


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[ T is T ]

If the T is at the beginning of the word, it is a strong T sound.

1. In the beginning of a word:

Table, Take, Tomorrow, Teach, Ten, Turn, Tired

It took Tim ten times to try the telephone.

2. with a stressed T in ST, TS, TR, CT, LT and sometimes NTcombinations:

STeak, traiTS, TRain, taCT, beLT, conteNT

3. In the past tense, D sounds like T, after an unvoicedconsonant sound f, k, p, s, ch, sh, th

picked [pikt], hoped [houpt], raced [rast], watched [wcht]


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[ T is D ]

If the T is in the middle of the word intonation changes thesound to a soft D. Letter sounds like [ledder].

Water, daughter, bought a, lot of, got a, later, meeting, bedder

Betty Bought a Bit of Better Butter

Betty bought a bit of better butter, Beddy b d bhida bedder budder,

But, said she, Bu(t), said she,

This butters bitter, This budderz bidderIf I put it in my batter, If I pdi din my bdder,

Itll make my batter bitter. Idll make my bdder bidder.


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[ T is Silent ]T and N are so close in the mouth that the [t] can disappear.

interview [innerview]international [innernational]

advantage [dvnj]

percentage [percenj]

center [cenner]

internet [innernet]

twenty [twenny]

[ T is Held ]If the T is at the end of the word, it is held back that you almostdont hear it at all.

put, what, lot, set, hot, sit, shot, brought

Thats quite right , isnt it?


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[ T is Held ]

Withtain, -tten and some TN combinations, the T is held. The heldT is, strictly speaking, not really a T at all. Remember, [t] and [n] arevery close in the mouth. If you have [n] immediately after [t], you dontpop the [t] the tongue is in the [t] position, but you release the air forthe [n] not the [t]. Make sure you dont put the Schwa before the [n].

An important point to remember is that you need a sharp upwardsliding intonation up to the held T, the a quick drop for the N.

Written, certain, forgotten, sentence, bitten, curtain, mountain,

mutant, button

Hes forgotten the carton of satin mittens.

Shes certain that he has written it.

Martin has gotten a kitten.


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The AMERICAN TH (Tee aich)

-the TH can either be voiced & unvoiced.

The VOICED TH is like a D, but instead of being in the backof

the teeth, its inch lower & forward, betweenthe teeth.

The UNVOICED TH is like an S betweenthe teeth.

***Most people tend to replace the unvoiced TH with an S or T &the voiced one with Z or D. Instead ofth ing, they say s ingor

t ing. Instead ofthat, they say zatordat.

Try this :

that thoughtthese think

those through

they thing

them threat

their thieves


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TH - Consonant Sound Pair

Voiceless / / & Voiced / /

/ / - thirty, thousand, thought, thundering, thumbs

/ / - clothing, though, the, they, there, this, clothes

Thirty thousand thoughtless boys,

Thought theyd make a thundering noise;

So with thirty thousand thumbs,

They thumbed on thirty thousand drums


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The American R

The American R is like a vowel because thetongue does not touch anywhere in the

mouth.r r er or eer or

Earn art air or ear hourHurt heart hair horse here power

Word lark flair course clear our


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The American L

The American L has different pronunciations in English.In the beginning of a word, the tongue tip touches justbehind the teeth on those hard ridges.

In the beginning of the word:

laugh, law, love

In the middle of the word:

belly, alley

At the end of the word (a little Schwa):

ball [b-uhl]

Silent L

Already Alright Almost


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Stressing the correct syllable is as important as pronouncingthe sounds correctly. Words & phrases can have differentmeanings depending on which syllable is stressed.

1. invalid - a sick person

invalid - not correct

2. August - the eighth month

august - majestic or grand

3. personal office - a private office

personneloffice - the office where you apply for a job

4. Trusty - reliable or can be trusted

trustee - a person who manages someone elsesproperty

5. console - control panel in front of the car

console - to make someone feel better


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Vowel Reduction Vowel in unstressedsyllables immediately before or immediatelyafter stressed syllables are usually reduced.

Stressed full vowel Unstressed reducedvowel

1. Ball balloon

2. Fast breakfast

3. Late chocolate

4. Men women5. Social society

6. Recorder a record


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Word type Where is the stress Examples

Two Syllables Nouns on the 1st syllable center, objectsVerbs on the last syllable release, admit, arrange

Compound Nouns on the first part desktop, pencil case,

(N+N) or (Adj.+N) bookshelf, greenhouse

Adjectives on the last part(verb part) well-meant, old-

(Adj.+P.P.) fashioned, hard-headed

Verbs on the last part(verb part) understand, overlook,(P+verb) outperform

Word with -ic the syllable before the economic, geometric,

added ending ending electric

-tion, -cian, -sion the syllable before the technician, graduation,

ending cohesion

-phy, -gy, -try, the third from the last photography, biology,

-cy, -fy, -al syllable geometry

-meter the third from the last parameter, thermometer

syllable barometer


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Stress & Vowel Reduction in Noun-Verb Pairs

Certain two syllable words are stressed on the first syllable

when they are nouns & on the last syllable when they areverbs

Example: Noun Verb

REcord reCORD

CONduct conDUCTPERmit perMIT

PROGress proGRESS

PREsent preSENT

SUBject subJECTRebel reBEL

PROject proJECT

SUSpect susPECT


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When nouns are used as adjectives (before other nouns),the stress is retained on the first syllable

Example:

1. Contract negotiations were completed last night.2. The project engineer has been waiting for two hours already.

When ingor edare added to verbs to make adjectives,stress remains on the second syllable

Example: 1. The recording studio is closed every Sunday.

2. He made the presented output.

When other endings are added, such as eror or, the

stress tends to be the same as the most closely relatedword.

Example: 1. The presenter is the one who presents the minutes ofthe meeting.


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Disappearing Syllables The vowel immediately after the stressed one is usually reduced. In

some very common words, when two or three unstressed syllables

follow a stressed syllable, the unstressed syllable immediately afterthe stressed syllable is dropped altogether. This is specially commonbefore .

Example:

1. Interesting intresting

2. Temperature tempreture3. Favorable favrable

4.Miserable misrable

5. Laboratory labratory

6.Separate seprate

7. Elementary elementry8. Favorite favrite

9. Beverage bevrage

10.Restaurant restrant


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The adverb ending inically is usually pronounced as/ikli/

Example: 1. Physically physiclly2. Practically practiclly

3. Economically economiclly


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STRESS PATTERNS

ACRONYMS

- Stress is on the last letter

IBM BCC MI5

CIA FBI ASPCA

TWO-PART WORDS

2-PART NOUNS

-Compound Nouns stress the first parta tkeover milman

a gtup grenhouse

a ltdown freman

a lftoff htdog

a prntout rommate


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TWO-PART WORDS

2-PART VERBS

-Phrasal verbs stress the prepositionto take ver to get p to print ut

to let dwn to lift ff

2 SYLLABLE NOUNSNOUNS

-90% stressed on the first syllable

nswer sthma cstle chos

slmon cho nighbor chckenChrstmas ktchen clmate sland

chrus chir dughnut hnor

knwledge mther stdent


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Compare -ainVerbs Nouns

to complan muntain

to entertin funtain

to explin

to maintin

to remin

NOUNS

-Foreign borrowingsstressed on the last syllable-French Origin

Silentt ch geballt champgne barrge

bufft crocht corsge

fillt chatau grarge

gourmt chiffn massge


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HOMOGRAPHS1. The farm was used to produce produce.

2. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

3. The soldier decided to desert in the desert.

4. This was a good time to present thepresent.

5. I didnt objectto the object.6. I had to subject the subjectto a series of tests.

7. The drug addictwas addicted.8. His conductwas awful. We hope hell conduct himself better in

the future.

9. They signed the contract. They contracted to do 3 jobs.

10. The convictwas finally caught &convicted.

11. He projected that his projectwould be done by next year.

12. He recorded his newrecord.

13. The rebelsrebelled against the government.

14. They were insultedby the mans insult.


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HOMOPHONESsame pronunciation

different spelling

different meaning

a

air heir ere aisle isle Ill ate eight

bbalm bomb base bass been bin berth birth bedding betting

billed build bite byte blew blue board bored bough bow born borne brake break bridal bridle buy by bye

C

cache cash cast caste cell sell cent sent scent cereal serialcheck cheque Czech chews choose choral coral

coarse course colonel kernel core corps coup coo


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d

dam damn dear deer dew do due doe dough ducts ducks

eearn urn

f

flea flee fill Phil find fined flea flee flew flu flour flower for four fore forth fourth freeze frees frieze

g

groan grown

h

hair hare heard herd here hear heed hed hi high him hymn higher hire hole whole hoarse horse hour our


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k

Knight night knit nit knot not know no

l

lead led liar lyre

mmeat meet moan mown mode mowed morning mourning

n

need kneed night knight Nome gnome none nun not knot

o

oar or ore one won


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p

pain pane pear pair pare peace piece peak peek pique per purr peer pier pudding putting

r

rain reign rap wrap read reed read red right rite write road rode rose rows rote wrote

s

sea see seas sees seize scene seen sell cell shone shown shoe shoo sight site cite slay sleigh some sum stair stare

stationary stationery steal steel straight strait

t

taught taut their there theyre threw through thru throne thrown to too two


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u

u ewe you

v

vale veil vial vile

wwail whale wait weight war wore ware wear where warn worn way weigh whey weal wheel wine whine

wrote rote

y

Your youre


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WORDS WITH SILENT LETTERS

Silent P

Pneumonia pseudonym psychiatrist

Corps coup cupboard

Raspberry psalm

Silent B

Crumb dumb numb

Thumb plumber tombLamb climb bomb

Comb debt doubt


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Silent K

Knee kneel knelt know

knew known Knowledge knife

Knight Knot

Silent G

Gnome gnu gnash Campaign

reign foreigner Sign diaphragm

Design resign

Silent T

Castle whistle catch

Watch kitchen chestnut

Fasten listen oftenSoften mortgage mustntBallet buffet crochet

Gourmet valet depot

debut


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Silent H

Heir Honest Honor Hour

Oprah exhibition Graham

Linking him, her They called h/im They called h/er

Afghanistan aghast Ghana ghetto

Rhetoric rheumatism Rhode Island rhyme

Silent L

Calf half balm palm

Chalk walk talk

Could would should

Colonel folks Lincoln

Almond salmon


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Silent M

Mnemonic

Silent NAutumn damn government solemn hymn

Silent S

Aisle Island Arkansas bourgeois debris

Silent TH

Asthma

Silent W

Answer sword toward two

Whole who whom whose

Wrote written writing wrap

Wrestle wrist

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