Speaking American English Part I for DiWan University

1
Speaking American EnglishPart Ifor DiWan
University

• Presented by
• Dr. Lee Winters
• senior professor
• Northwestern Polytechnic University

2
Speech Mechanisms
3
Pronunciation Hints

• Pronunciation and intonation of your first
  language interferes in speaking a second
  language.
• Facial muscles are used more often in Standard
  American English than Chinese.
• Some English vowels require the speaker to open
  their mouth very wide as in lot, hot, spot, got,
  honest, lock, fond, apple, Ed.
• English vowels are longer than in Chinese.
• The th sounds require the tongue to show.

4
Pronunciation Hints

• The th (? and ?) sounds in English are pronounced
  as s by native Chinese speakers.
• l and r are often mixed up by native Chinese
  speakers.
• r and the r vowel are difficult for Chinese
  who make it into a schwa (?) sound. (river,
  brother, earth, restaurant)

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Pronunciation Problems

• The z (voiced consonant is a problem for some
  regions
• Also, adjectives ad juh tiv zzz
• are pronounced as ad juh tiv juh
• English pronounced eng uh leesh ee by Chinese
  speakers as four syllables.
• verb is pronounced as vervuh

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Pronouncing SAE by Native Chinese Speakers

• occur pronounced as ocar or ocore or ocall
• orange pronounced as oran-gee
• George, advantage
• cleaned cuh/lean uhd
• her not hore
• It is pronounced as eat or at
• relatives as rel a teev eazuh
• correct is rel uh tivz
• Practice
• For a lot of people it is fun to plan a
  picnic.

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Sounds in Standard American English

• There are 43 distinct SAE sounds, 15 are vowel
  sounds.
• Chinese has 37 sounds and 5 tones or (185
  possible words)
• Unique SAE sounds include th
• IPA, International Phonetic Alphabet is not used
  in the USA
• Dictionary pronunciation guides vary

8
SAE Alphabet
9
How to Improve Your English Pronunciation

• Watch American TV, DVDs, and movies,
• or listen to quality radio programs.

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How to Improve Your English Pronunciation

• Listen and speak to as many native speakers as
  you can.

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Word Stress

• Word stress does not exist in Chinese. English
  has stress within words and Chinese speakers must
  pay close attention to it.
• Nouns and verbs get the heaviest stress when
  English sentences are read. Generally, nouns are
  stressed on the first syllable and verbs on the
  second.

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Stress

• Word stress
• locate, occur, develop, engineer, laboratory,
  multiplication
• In speaking SAE, the stress is used
• to convey sentence meaning.
• Sally is studying science now?
• Sally is studying science now?
• Sally is studying science now?
• Sally is studying science now?
• Sally is studying science now?

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Sentence Stress Rhythm

• . . . ? .
• She doesnt like to hurry.
• . . . ? .
• Her father cleaned the basement.
• . . . ? .
• I didnt want to see her.
• . . . ? .
• He hasnt even tried it.

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... and more rhythm

• . . . . . ?
• He wanted to help her forget.
• . . . . . ?
• We needed to call them at ten.
• . . . . . ?
• Its better to hide it from John.

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Stress Problems for Chinese Speaking SAE

• - Sounds staccato too many syllables stressed. -
  - - - -
• - Joining / Linking words
• - Sentence rhythm
• - Reduced vowels weak forms
• - Surprise contrastive stress

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Linking Words

• One links consonant to vowel
• one apple (napple)
• Two links rounded vowel to vowel
• two apples (wapples)
• Three links spread vowel to vowel
• three apples yapples)
• Four links /r/ to vowel
• four apples (rapples)

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Linking Consonant Groups

• Sometimes adding ltedgt or ltsgt to the end of a
  word can result in a very long consonant
  sequence. Sometimes as many as four consonants
  are seen at the end and three at the beginning of
  a word pair in English.
• We glimpsed strangers.
• He exchanged scrapbooks.

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Linking Problems for Chinese Speakers

• No final voiced consonants are allowed in
  Chinese such as /b, d, g, th, v, z, zure, juh/
  so you tend to make them voiceless.
• This results in poor rhythm and grammar.

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Consonant Problems for Native Chinese Speakers

• b / v
• d
• g / k
• th (? and ?)
• z / s
• zure
• juh

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b versus v

• Pronounce these words being careful to say the
  letter b with closed lips and an explosion of air
  and saying the letter v with your upper teeth on
  your lower lip.
• baste - best - vest berry - very boat - vote
  banish - vanish
• bail - vale base - vase bat - vat
  bowel - vowel

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t and d

• teen dean
• tear dear
• tame dame
• bat bad
• mat mad
• note node
• metal medal

22
g is voiced and k is voiceless

• kill gill keel steel/steal
• rack rag
• coat goat
• luck lug log
• core gore
• knack nag
• cap gap
• lack lag

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th ( voiceless and voiced)

• Initial Medial Final
• theme thimble nothing something bath breath
• thank thought ether author cloth both
• think thick faithful bathtub month oath
• thing three healthy pathetic south moth
• that this another brother
  bathe breathe
• the they father mother smooth clothe
• those these either rather tithe teethe
• them though without gather with loathe

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Pronounce z, not s

• whose easier pause praise
• desire design poise zeal
• museum poison rising noise
• polarize cause visit prize
• business hose close zero
• leisure pleasure closure vision

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? Zuh

• Zuh sound made by su, si, ug, ag, ig, zu, ge, zi,
  g
• Medial Final
• measure usual garage mirage
• regime vision beige rouge
• invasion pleasure prestige
• casual explosion camouflage
• azure brazier corsage

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Juh ? glide sound

• Initial Medial Final
• Jim gelatin wages bridges lodge
  age
• jar jay educate soldier orange
• juice joke adjoining region ridge
• gem jet adjust engine huge
• jam just
• Joe judge
• Jill George

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Consonant Cluster Problems

• pr price tr trace fr freeze
• th three sh shred br break
• gr grow dr dress pl play
• tl Atlanta cl clock fl fly
• sl sleep bl blue gl glue
• qu quit tw twin sw sweet
• wr wrist

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Making Consonant Groups Easier to Say in Fluid
Speech

• 1. Link the final consonant to a vowel.
• 2. Hold the final consonant sound.
• 3. Pronounce final /t/ as a stop when
• followed by a consonant.
• 4. Omit one consonant, but not the
• final ..ltedgt .or ltsgt.
• 5. Slow down and pause after the word.

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1. Link the final consonant to a vowel

• gets_up most_of them
• find_out first_of_all
• told her changed_his mind
• grabbed_it picked_up-his date
• thanks_him kept_her promise
• loves_it words_are hard

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2. Hold the final consonant sound longer and
go on to the next consonant sound. There
are three methods you can use

• Method 1. Same Place of Articulation
• A hard_day we watched_television
• Help_bob they served_dinner
• The first_time the birds_sing

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• Method 2. Different Place of Articulation
• answered _correctly works_fine
• called_Bill saves_money
• crisp_toast learns_German
• walks_slowly storms_threaten

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• Method 3. Linking onto voiced th /ð/
• since_then explained_that
• hits_them kept_them
• fails_the test failed_the test
• returns_the book returned_the book
• serves_the wine served_the wine
• change_the tires changes_the tires
• changed_the tires changing the tires

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3. Pronounce final /t/ as glottal stop when
followed by a consonant.

• it was nice sent one
• it shrank hurt the dog
• buiIt the house short sleeves
• felt fine doesnt think so
• cant remember arent closing
• dont need I want four

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4. Omit one of the consonants, but not final
grammatical ltedgt or ltsgt

• ducts ? ducks ? ducked
• acts ? axe ? axed
• ? asked
• guests ? guess ? guessed

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4. Omit one of the consonants, but not final
grammatical ltedgt or ltsgt

• Pronounce all the consonants, then try without
  the middle consonant
• acts accepts
• tests months
• asked consists
• lifts lengths
• fifths depths

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5. Slow down pause after the word.

• Not all consonant groups can be made easier to
  pronounce. You cant drop any of the consonant
  sounds in words like
• wasps, marched, changed, girls, world
• To make it easier to pronounce, you can pause or
  lengthen the end of the word.
• Dont rush through or chop off part of a word
  that is difficult for you to pronounce, this
  destroy the rhythm and makes it harder for people
  to understand you.
• If you really have a problem pronouncing a word,
  skip it and use a synonym you can say.

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Linking Words

• Where__ are__you?
• Thats__kind__of nice__of your_relatives.
• For__a lot__of people its fun to plan _a picnic.
• Have__an _apple.
• Whos__it?
• Are__all__your__relatives rich?
• Shes__not one__of your__relatives.
• Shes rented__a car.

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More Word Linking

• Will_it_open_at _ten?
• Bob_ate_all _of the fish_soup.
• Where_are_you?
• I want a bath_after dinner (th-linking)
• Both_of them came. (th-linking)
• When_is the store_open?
• (continuant sound vowel)

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Schwa /?/ Linking

• ? ? ? ?
  ?
• My uncle, Allen Martin, will arrive at seven.
• ? ?
• There are only eleven students in our class.
• ? ?
  ?
• It is quite common to hike across the
• ?
• countryside.

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Schwa /?/ Linking

• ? ?
  ?
• They probably will come if we stay awake
• ?
• for another hour.
• ? ? ?
  ?
• A medical attendant agreed to utilize the
• ? ?
• second telegraph.
• ? ? ? ?
• Dont complain about the problem.

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Schwa /?/ Linking

• My favorite color is lavender, and I like banana
  sodas.
• Zebras, pandas, and elephants are my favorite
  animals.
• Which country is closest China, Cuba,
  Australia, or America?

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Phrasing

• Chinese use shorter sentences than in American
  English.
• Both English and Chinese use pauses for meaning.
  Phrasing is not a problem for native Chinese
  speakers of English.

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Timing

• Chinese and American English both blend a lot of
  sounds together.
• In American English some of the sounds of words
  are omitted in speaking, and sentences are
  shortened by blending sounds.
• SAE prolongs the sounds m, n ,ng which gives it
  its characteristic sound. Chinese speakers need
  to sustain these sounds, especially at the end of
  words.

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Timing continued

• Some English vowels are very long sounding for
  Chinese such as leek, moon, lay.
• No vowels in Chinese are said as long as in
  English.
• The i, u, and ei in Chinese are much shorter than
  in English.

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Personal Tips

• Try to learn to think in English. If you think in
  Chinese and then translate to English, you lose
  the fluency or smoothness that conveys much
  meaning (rhythm and stress).
• Listen to radio, TV, and movies in English. These
  are professionals who must speak clearly so they
  are great role models for improving pronunciation.

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More Personal Tips

• Be careful not to add the schwa sound to words
  that end in consonants such as dog, bark, job.
  (dog?, bark?, job?) and between words as last
  uh for or last uh session
• Chinese speakers add oh to the l sound as
  sell, ball, meal
• When you are tired or just got through speaking
  Chinese, you will encounter greater interference.

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Silent Letters and syllables

• bomb bombard
• crumb crumble
• thumb thimble
• damn damnation
• condemn condemnation
• sign signify
• design designation
• know acknowledge
• muscle muscular

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Silent Letters in English

• chords cords
• comfortable comterbul
• cupboards cubards
• deliveries delivries
• evening evning
• mechanical mecanical mechanism
• nursery nursry
• sign sine
• superficial superfical

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SAE Vowels

• 15 Vowels in English 9 are stressed
• Confusing for Chinese speakers are short a and
  long e.
• Mid-front vowels short and long a and short e
  give Chinese speakers the most problems.
• Also, low back vowel long o such as
• lot, hot, spot, honest, lock, fond.

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Tongue Position for Vowel Sounds

• Can be high or low
• ex see and cat, too and hot
• (high)
  (low) (high) (low)
• Can be front or back
• ex see and cat, too and hot
• (front)
  (front) (back) (back)
• Practice apple - hot, big - you
• Can be central
• ex sit, up, good, us, of, does,
• but, luck
• The tip of the tongue is usually down, but in
  some it is raised up and pulled back as for r.
  
• Practice her, hurt, were, sir, bird, better

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Lip Position

• The lips can be
• rounded,
• such as in too, you
• un-rounded, smiling
• such as in see
• Practice eat
• neutral,
• such as in bus, up, the

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Minimal Pairs of Vowels

• Words differ by one vowel sound (phoneme)
• toes toast, west waste house horse hose, tack
  tag take, towel tower, ship sheep, glass grass,
  glade grade, bill beer, grad glad, cancel cancer
• First listen to the sound, then repeat it.
• The following are the only vowels Chinese
  speakers have problems with in Standard American
  English

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Minimal Pairs for stressed SAE vowels

• /iy/ /I/
• sheep ship
• green grin
• least list
• deed did
• meet mitt
• seat sit

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Minimal Vowel Pairs Practice of Difficult Sounds
for Chinese Speakers Speaking American English

• Repeat the following
• green least meet deed seat peat sheep
• grin list mitt did sit pit
  ship

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Syntactic DrillsContrast Within a Sentence

• - Dont sit in that seat.
• - Did you at least bring the list?
• - Is that a sick sheep?
• - Do you have six sheep?
• - Do you have six sick sheep on the ship?
• - What did you do with dads deed?
• - In the green grotto the gray gremlin grinned
  and growled at the grown ups.

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Now lets practice some paradigmatic drills with
strong vowel sounds that Chinese speakers have
particular difficulty with. Column I (spread)
Column II (neutral)
1. Dont sleep on the floor. Dont
slip on the floor. 2. The peach was
excellent. The pitch was excellent.
3. He beat them again. He
bit them again. 4. Are they leaving there?
Are they living there? 5. They
skied on the ice. They skid on
the ice. 6. The son has reason.
The sun has risen.. 7. Thats a high
heel. Thats a high hill.
8. It was a terrible scene. It
was a terrible sin. 9. They always heat
their food. They always hid their food.
10. It was beyond our reach. It was
beyond our ridge. 11. Do you see the peak?
Do you see the pig? 12. Is that a
black sheep? Is that a black ship?
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• The mouth only opens a little for the vowel
  sounds
• in Column I, whereas it opens a lot for Column
  II.
• cut cot
• Column I
  Column II
• 1. He had good luck.
  He had a good lock.
• 2. They made a hut.
  They made it hot.
• 3. That color is beautiful.
  That collar is beautiful.
• 4. Are the cups over there? Are
  the cops over there?
• 5. Shes standing by the duck. Shes
  standing by the dock.
• 6. Is that done?
  Is that Don?
• 7. He tried to rub them.
  He tried to rob them.
• 8. I think theyre stuck.
  I think theyre in stock.

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• Column I has central vowel sounds. The lips
  are neutral or
• slightly rounded. For Column II, push the
  tongue high and
• back and round the lips strongly.
• U u
• Column I
  Column II
• 1. His foot was dirty.
  His suit was dirty.
• 2. The birds could.
  The birds cooed.
• 3. Do you think hes full? Do
  you think hes a fool?
• 4. They stood it on the stove. They
  stewed it on the stove.
• 5. It was a long pull.
  It was a long pool.
• 6. They should again.
  They shoot again.
• 7. That looks wonderful.
  That Lukes wonderful.

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/er/
60

• r Sound as a Vowel
• For the vowel sounds in Column I, the back of
  the
• tongue is bunched up and pulled back, and the
  tip
• of the tongue is slightly raised but never
  touches the
• roof of the mouth. The lips are slightly
  rounded.
• Column I
  Column II
• A new bird is on that branch. A new bud
  is on that branch.
• Its worth a turn.
  Its worth a ton.
• The hurt is terrible. The
  hut is terrible.
• I saw a beautiful girl. I
  saw a beautiful gull.
• She made a shirt. She
  made it shut.
• She worked all night. She
  walked all night.
• They were unusual dresses. They wore
  unusual dresses.
• Thats an iceberg. Thats a nice bug.

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Vowel Length

• Hold a vowel sound longer before a voiced
• consonant than before a voiceless consonant.
  
• eyes ice said set doze dose
• save safe lied light leave leaf
  log - lock
• I rode every day. I wrote
  every day.
• He needs a cab. He needs a
  cap.
• We like to serve. We like to
  surf.
• My bed is wide. My bed is
  white.
• Look at his bag. Look at his
  back.

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One and Two Vowel Rules

• 1-vowel rule 2-vowel rule
• Lax Vowels Tense
  Vowels
• A at ate
• E slept sleep
• I kit kite
• O Ron rode
• U cup cute
• Three consecutive vowels follows the 2-vowel
  rule
• juice, cheese, please, lease

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Adding oh vowel sound at the end of words
ending in l

• veil veil oh
• veal veal oh
• sail saill oh
• seal seal oh
• hill hill oh
• sell sell oh
• ball ball oh
• meal meal oh

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Native Chinese speakers add the ? (schwa sound)

• Our plane takes off at? 333 and? lands at? 950.
• I made? the reservation.
• Could you help? me with my bags?
• My first? job? was in sales.
• What time is? the coffee shop? open for
  break?fast??
• Does Bob? have a plant? for his mom?

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Vowel Stress

• photograph photography photographic
• telegraph telegraphy telegraphic
• democrat democracy democratic
• diplomat diplomacy diplomatic
• politics political politician
• personal personify personality
• competent competitor competition
• family familiar familiarity

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Contextualized Minimal Pairs

• Get the meaning from the context.
• The blacksmith is shoeing a horse or heating
  the horseshoe in the forge.
• The blacksmith hits the shoe.
• The blacksmith heats the shoe.
• The blacksmith hides the shoe.
• The blacksmith had the shoe.
• The blacksmith hates the shoe.

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Long a with various spellings

• sane
• sale
• aid
• gauge
• steak
• veil
• obey
• fiancée
• entrée
• risqué
• sleigh

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Long e with various spellings

• Me
• Meet
• Eat
• Ski
• Caesar
• Receive
• Believe
• People
• Key
• phoenix

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long a and long e

• sane scene
• Maine mean
• ace ease
• veil veal
• hay he
• sail seal
• pay pea
• crane cream

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oo

• school food you boot fool stool
• drew crew few flew cruel jewel
• gruel two due brew screw
  new
• OO
• book cook shook brook good
• crook nook took look rook
• should soot foot

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Comparison of oo and oo

• Brooke took her tool book to school.
• Drew should look in the nook for the
  cookbook before she prepares the gruel.
• Food is the fuel for groovy students.
• A smooth layer of film covered the booth.

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Consonants

• Consonants vary in sound depending on their
  location in the word
• Initial church change
• Medial achieve archer
• Final reach bleach
• Confusion article

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(No Transcript)
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Consonants

• Voiced and Voiceless Consonant
  Sounds
• Place two fingers on your throat and say the
  sound /s/.
• Now say the sound /z/. Do you feel a
  difference? When you say /z/, you should feel a
  vibration of the vocal cords. You should not feel
  any vibration when you say /s/.
• Voiced
  Voiceless
• lengthen stressed vowels
• before a voiced consonant
• boy walk job
  pen thin
• day sing ten house she
• go red come
  cat kid
• voice cone like
  food child
• zoo the see which
• pleasure

75
Consonant Linking in words and across word
boundaries

• PT pop tart
• PK pumpkin
• CC face cloth
• TN cat nap
• DN and now
• PP hip pack

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Group Practice

• (Voiceless) (Voiced)
• I think its cold. I
  think its gold.
• Do you have the time? Do you have
  the dime?
• I need to go pack. I need to
  go back.
• Her curls are lovely. Her girls
  are lovely.
• Hes going to tie it. Hes
  going to diet.
• The peas are terrible. The bees
  are terrible.
• Theyre in town now. Theyre down
  now.
• Hes quite a pig. Hes
  quite big.

77
Consonant sounds that Chinese speakershave
particular difficulty with.

• /s/ voiceless /z/ voiced
• Whats the price?
  Whats the prize?
• Its a nice place to go to.
  There are nice plays to go to.
• Id like some peace. Id
  like some peas.
• It cost him a lot of worry. It caused
  him a lot of worry.
• Do you have any plants? Do you have
  any plans?
• I think theyre false. I
  think theyre falls.
• His niece received some His knees
  received some
• cuts in the crash.
  cuts in the crash.

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Consonants th and t th and s

• 1. Its thin.
  Its tin.
• 2. They want thanks. They
  want tanks.
• 3. He thought about the war. He taught
  about the war.
• 4. Those are good themes. Those are
  good teams.
• 5. Whats his faith?
  Whats his fate?
• Wheres your thumb? Wheres your
  sum?
• I never thought it. I never
  sought it.
• They went over the path. They went over
  the pass.
• Her mouth is pretty. Her mouse
  is pretty.
• Hes the tenth child. Hes the
  tense child.

79
(No Transcript)
80

• Consonants
• Theyre sheep. Theyre
  cheap.
• He shows nice pictures. He chose
  nice pictures.
• Theyre washing my car. Theyre
  watching my car.
• He put it in the dish. He put
  it in the ditch.
• You should cash it. You
  should catch it.
• Ill shave more. Ill
  save more.
• It was a shock. It
  was a sock.
• His leash is very long. His
  lease is very long.
• Who showed it? Who
  sewed it?

81

• Consonants
• /ts/
  /s/
• The rates kept getting worse. The race
  kept getting worse.
• They dont have any rights. They
  dont have any rice.
• I want a pizza pie. I
  want a piece of pie.
• The courts convinced us. The
  course convinced us.
• He lost his plates.
  He lost his place.
• /dz/
  /z/
• The roads were dirty. The
  rows were dirty.
• Her needs are unusual. Her
  knees are unusual.

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• Consonants
• /v/ is voiced /f/ is
  voiceless
• Id like a view.
  Id like a few.
• A van would be nice. A
  fan would be nice.
• She thinks its a vine.
  She thinks its fine.
• I got a dollar of gas.
  I got a dollar off gas.
• Its alive.
  Its a life.
• The service was pretty good. The
  surface was pretty good.
• They want to leave now.
  They want a leaf now.
• We had to save time.
  We had a safe time.
• Do you need to prove it? Do
  you need proof of it?
• I want to have an apple.
  I want half an apple.

83

• Consonants
• /v/ and /b/
• She made a vest of it.
  She made the best of it.
• Theyve all gone voting. Theyve
  all gone boating.
• The curve is dangerous. The
  curb is dangerous.
• Did he make a vow to her? Did he
  make a bow to her?
• /v/ and /w/
• Thats a nice vine.
  Thats a nice wine.
• The veil was enormous. The
  whale was enormous.

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• /r/ The tip of the tongue points to, but never
  touches, the
• roof of the mouth. The lips are
  slightly rounded.
• /l/ The tip of the tongue touches the tooth
  ridge. The lips
• are not rounded.
• /r/
  /l/
• She bought a red pencil.
  She bought a lead pencil.
• Theres a rake behind the house.
  Theres a lake behind the house.
• Hes a dangerous pirate.
  Hes a dangerous pilot.
• Are you sorry?
  Are you Sally?
• Thats a big rock.
  Thats a big lock.
• They often pray there.
  They often play there.
• It was a terrible crime.
  It was a terrible climb.
• I saw a huge crowd.
  I saw a huge cloud.
• Its growing brighter.
  Its glowing brighter.

85
Multiple Consonants

• Digraphs
• Beginning church, shop, this
• Middle archer, cashier, angle, Bethany
• Final dodge, edge, ring, bath
• Glides with vowels
• Initial slip flow
• Final blue glow

86
Problem Consonant Blends for Chinese Speakers

• glue grew
• class crass
• explain praying
• flowers free
• brown blankets
• floor screen
• clock crock

87
Problem Consonant Blends for Chinese Speakers
(cont.)

• Pr pl proud plume
• Br bl brown bloom
• P versus B
• Pearl Bailey performs blues magnificently.

88
Noun and Verb Word Stress

• record contract
• conduct object
• progress subject
• permit convict
• increase insult
• conflict suspect
• present produce
• project display
• digest consent
• invalid program

89
Tongue Twisters

• She sells seashells by the seashore.
• The shells she sells are surely seashells.
• So if she sells shells on the seashore,
• Im sure she sells seashore shells.
• Which wristwatches are Swiss wristwatches?
• We surely shall see the sun shine soon.
• Three gray geese in the green grass grazing.
• Gray were the geese and green was the grass.
• Betty better butter Brads bread.
• Freshly fried fresh fish.

90
Bitter Tongue Twister

• Bright Betty Bradbury bought a bit of Benny's
  butter but the butter was bitter so Betty bought
  a bit of better butter to make the bitter butter
  better.

91
SAE Pronunciation Part One

• End of Part I