Samara State Aerospace University

 

Samara State Aerospace University

   

Introduction

“Practical Guide to English Pronunciation” consists of 10 modules, each containing three sections. Section A aims to cover the sounds of English and… The course is accompanied by a recording of all the practice material on a CD.…  

Well said!

Very well then…   Better late than never but still better never late.

Can you imagine that?

Ann chatters like a magpie.   A black cat sat on a mat and ate a fat rat.

Kiki cannot take a joke.

Chris came to ask if you’d come to play cricket. We agreed to go there together.

Come! Come! Come now!

Don’t trouble trouble until trouble troubles you.    

Is it as easy as that?

Rose always dramatizes things. My reasons are as follows…  

What a lot of nonsense!

A cup of coffee hot in a proper copper coffee-pot.   Call me at a quarter to four.

O o O

What’s your name? pronouns (your)

Tom was right. the verb be (was)

Dogs can swim. auxiliary verbs (can)

Close the door! articles (the)

Wait and see. conjunctions (and)

Go to bed. prepositions (to)

 

Ex 14. Put one of the unstressed words from the box in the middle of each phrase or sentence below. Then say the phrases or sentences with this stress pattern: OoO.

 

 

1. Bring ________ here!

2. Mel’s ________ nurse.

3. Whales _______ big.

4. Jane _________ drive.

5. Lots _________ eggs.

6. Pass _________ fail?

7. Have _________ bread.

8. Where’s _______ bike?

 

Ex 15. Listen to the sentences. How many unstressed words are there between the stressed ones in each sentence? Write 0,1,2 or 3. (B61)

EXAMPLE Drink … milk (3).

1. Eat … cheese. ( )

2. That … man. ( )

3. What … name? ( )

4. What … for? ( )

5. Go … shops. ( )

6. Go … home. ( )

7. Turn … right. ( )

 

Introducing tones.

Every sentence in the English language has a melody, or tone. According to the meaning of what you say, your voice can go up (/) or down(). Listen to the following conversation, paying special attention to the tone of every sentence (C63).

Sid: Shhhh!

Joe: What?

Sid: Bear!

Joe: Bear? /

Sid: Bear!

Joe: Where?

Sid: There!

Joe: Far? /

Sid: No!

Joe: Near? /

Sid: Yeah!

Joe: Run? /

Sid: Run!

 

Ex 16. The responses to the pairs of sentences aand bbelow are the same, but the speaker uses a different tone. Listen and draw a line in the box to show if the voice goes up or down. (C65)

EXAMPLE

a) Let’s go for the weekend. Where?

b) Let’s go to Llantisiliogogogoch. Where?

 

1. a) I know who stole your glasses. Who?

b) It was Mickey Mumpkin. Who?

 

2. a) I’ve got some bad news for you. What?

b) I’m afraid your house has burnt down. What!

 

3. a) Excuse me, can you help us? Yes?

b) Can you take a photo of us

with this camera? Yes.

 

4. a) We’re going for a picnic if you want to come. When?

b) At midnight tonight. When?

 

 

Ex 17. You will hear just the responses from ex.16. Listen and decide if it is the response to a) or b). (C66)

EXAMPLE _b__ 1. ___, 2. ____. 3. _____. 4. _____.

 

In conversation we often refer back to something we said before. This is ‘old’ information, and the voice normally goes up in the end. We also tell the listener things we haven’t mentioned before. This is ‘new’ information, and the voice normally goes down at the end.

 

Ex 18. The responses to the pairs of sentences a) and b) below are the same, but the speaker uses a different tone in each response. Draw lines to show if you think the voice will go up or down. Then listen and check. (C80)

EXAMPLE

a) The train’s cheap. The bus was cheaper.

b) Why did you take the bus? The bus was cheaper.

1. a) Was the movie good? The book was better.

b) Why did you read the book? The book was better.

 

2. a) What time’s lunch? Lunch is at two.

b) Let’s go swimming at two. Lunch is at two.

 

3. a) I’d like a leather one. They are all leather.

b) Why are they so expensive? They are all leather.

 

4. a) Let’s go tomorrow. It’s closed tomorrow.

b) When is it closed? It’s closed tomorrow.

 

5. a) Where’s menswear? Menswear is upstairs.

b) What’s upstairs? Menswear is upstairs.

6. a) The fish is expensive. The steak’s more expensive.

b) Why didn’t you have steak? The steak’s more expensive.

 

7. a) What happens if one of them breaks? They all have a guarantee.

b) This one has a guarantee. They all have a guarantee.

 

 

 

Letters and sounds

Consonants: [m – n - ŋ]

To make the sound [m]: Stop the gap with the lips, so air goes through nose.

To make the sound [n]: Stop the gap with tongue and tooth ridge, so air goes through nose.

 

To make the sound [ŋ]: Stop the gap with back of your tongue and top mouth, so air goes through nose.

 

Ex.1 Listen and repeat.

[ m ]

 

mouth mouse marmalade jump autumn

 

smoke comb

 

 

[ n ]

nose night snow win dinner

 

listen open

 

[ ŋ ]

 

king sing bank sink finger

 

ring strong

Ex.2 Listen and repeat the words paying special attention to sounds [m - n - ŋ].

me – knee

mine – nine

comb – cone

win – wing – wink

sin – sing – sink

ban – bang - bank

Ex.3 Practise saying the tongue twisters.

No nonsense now.

Nick is no genius.

Any news? - No news. - No news is good news.

No offence intended. – No offence taken.

I’m melting!

  Everything’s going wrong. Stop fidgeting, it’s annoying!

OooO

What do you think?

Where do you live?

What does she mean?

Where does he work?

What did he say?

Why did you go?

Ex.13 Write the questions in this conversation and give the stress patterns. Then listen and check. (B79)

EXAMPLE

A: What do you do? ___OooO_____

B: I’m a doctor.

 

1. A: __________________? __________

B: I live in Kingston, Jamaica.

 

2. A: __________________? __________

B: I work in the University Hospital.

 

3. A: __________________? __________

B: Yes, I’m married. My husband is a teacher.

 

4. A: _________________? ___________

B: He teaches History and Geography.

 

5. A: __________________? __________

B: At the Grove Road Secondary School.

 

6. A: __________________? __________

B: I met him when I was in holiday in Florida.

 

7. A: __________________? __________

B: We got married in 1999.

 

Auxiliaries are stressed in negative contractions and at the end of sentences. Listen to these examples. (B76)

Yes, I do.

I don’t know.

Yes, I will.

We won’t say.

Yes, I have.

I haven’t done it.

Yes, I can.

I can’t help.

 

 

 

Tones in asking for information

Questions can be pronounced with the voice going up at the end or going down at the end. You can hear the difference in this conversation. Two people are fixing a place to meet. Listen to the way A pronounces his three questions (C67).

A: Where? (A’s voice goes down at the end)

B: Here.

A: Where? (A’s voice goes up at the end)

B: Here.

A: Here? (A’s voice goes up at the end)

B: Yes, here.

A’s first question is an ‘open’ question. The answer could be any place; he has no idea. A’s question 2 and 3 are ‘check’ questions. He thinks that he knows the answer and he just wants to check. The voice usually goes down at the end of ‘open’ questions and up at the end of ‘check’ question.

 

Ex.14 Listen to the dialogue below, are the questions in it open or check? Draw a down or an up line. (C72)

A: What’s your name?

B: Sonia.

A: And where were you born?

B: Surinam.

A: Is that in South America?

B: Yes, that’s right.

A: And how long have you lived here?

B: Five years.

A: I see. Are you married?

B: No, I’m not.

A: And what do you do?

B: I’m a boxer.

A: You’re a boxer?

 

Ex.15 Listen to the questions below. Draw a down or an up line to mark an open or a check question. (C74)

 

EXAMPLE

Are you a student?

1. Have you been to America?

2. What do you study?

3. What time is it?

4. Are you over eighteen?

5. Can you drive?

6. Where is he going?

7. Do you like it?

 

Ex.16 Look at the questions in bold below. Underline the word you think the speaker will emphasize. Then listen and check (C76).

EXAMPLE

a. So, your sister’s a teacher? Where does she work?

b. Oh, so she doesn’t work here? Where does she work?

 

1. a. So, you’re married? Do you have any children?

b. I have two daughters. Do you have any children?

 

2. a. So, French is your second language? What’s your first language?

b. My first language is Urdu. What’s your first language?

 

3. a. So, you work Mondays to Saturdays? What do you do on Sundays?

b. So, your favourite day is Sunday? What do you do on Sundays?

4. a. I know how he did it, but… Why did he do it?

b. She was going to do it, so… Why did he do it?

5. a. My glasses aren’t here, so… Where are my glasses?

b. Here are your glasses, but… Where are my glasses?

Letters and sounds

Consonants: [ j ], [ h ]

To make the sound [j]: Make a small gap at the top of mouth, move the tongue down to open the gap. Move the lower jaw down a little.

To make the sound [h]: Push the air out very quickly. Do not touch the top of your mouth with the back of your tongue.

 

Ex.1 Listen and repeat.

[ j ]

 

yolk yak yam Europe university

 

view music

NB!In American English, the [j] is dropped from words like new, student, tune, so for example newspaper [‘nju:speıpә] sound like noose paper [‘nu:speıpә].

 

[ h ]

 

hill heel hand horse house

 

heart hair

NB!Many speakers, mostly in Great Britain, do not pronounce the H, so hair [heә] sounds the same as air [eә].

 

Ex.2 Practise saying the tongue twisters.

Yes, your face is familiar.

I’m a year Daniel’s senior.

He is hard of hearing.

Hilda is head over heels in love with him.

With my hand on my heart I hoped to look holy.

Ex.3 Add one of the sounds [h] or [j] to the start of the words to make other words, as in the example. Think of sounds, not spelling.

 

EXAMPLE air ___hair__

1. ear___________ 4. all ___________ 7. eat ____________

2. or ___________ 5. ill ___________ 8. eye ____________

3. eight _________ 6. art __________ 9. old ____________

 

Ex.4 Each sentence contains several examples of sounds [j] and [h]. Count these sounds in the following questions as in the example.

EXAMPLE Harry had the habit of helping hitch-hikers. (6)

1. We didn’t use euros in Europe a few years ago.

2. Haley’s horse hurried ahead.

3. A fusion of Cuban and European music.

4. Your uniform used to be yellow.

5. The hen hid behind the hen house.

6. The New York University students’ union.

 

Ex.5 In these groups of words, three of the words begin with the same consonant sound and one of the words begin with the different sound. Underline the one with the different sound.

 

1. hour half home high

2. union used under university

3. when who where which

4. year euro uniform untie

5. how honest healthy happy

 

Vowels: Diphthongs [au], [ı]

 

Ex.6 Listen and repeat.

[au]

 

house ground town cow mountain

 

mouse couch

 

[ı]

 

boy oil toy coin point

 

boil Rolls Royce

 

Ex.7 Listen and repeat the words paying special attention to sounds [au], [ı].

 

all - oil

ball - boil

corn - coin

 

tore - toy

car - cow

bar - bow

grass - grouse

 

Ex.8 Listen and repeat the phrases paying special attention to the sound [ı].

- a loud voice

- a spoilt boy

- an awful noise

- a noisy toy

- an annoying voice

 

Practise in pairs.

EXAMPLE

A: That voice is very loud, isn’t it?

B: Yes, that’s a loud voice.

 

1. That boy is very spoilt.

2. That noise is really awful.

3. That toy is very noisy.

4. That boy is very noisy.

5. That voice is very annoying.

 

Ex.9 Listen and repeat the sentences paying special attention to the sound [au]. Match the sentences with the pictures.

1. Put it down. a) b) c)

2. Take it out.

3. Throw it out.

4. Turn it down.

5. Work it out. d) e)

Ex.10 Practise saying the tongue twisters.

Count Brown out.

How, how, brown owl!

Why d’you frown down

At the mouse on the ground?

What’s the boiling point of oil?

Ex.11 Listen to the text. Find the words which have the sound [au] or [ı]…   I enjoy living down town. Well, it’s very noisy, of course. The traffic is loud, and the young people…

Shake hands, we shall never be friends; all’s over.

I only vex you the more I try,

All’s wrong that ever I’ve done or said

And nought to help it in this dull head.

Shake hands, here’s luck, good-bye.

But if you come to a road where danger,

Or guilt, or anguish, or shame’s to share

Be good to the lad that loves you true

And the soul that was born to die for you

And whistle and I’ll be there.

CLASSIFYING

(by Judith Nichols)

Phillip and Annie wear glasses

But Jim and Sue have freckles And Tracey and Sammy, too. Phillip and Jim are in boy’s group

Oh, when I was in love with you

And miles around the wonder grew How well did I behave. And now the fancy passes by

WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO LULU?

What has happened to Lulu, mother? What has happened to Lu? There’s nothing in her bed but an old rag doll

One fine day in the middle of the night

Two dead men got up to fight

Back to back they faced each other,

Drew their swords and shot each other.

A paralyzed donkey passing by

Kicked a blind man in the eye,

Knocked him through a nine-inch wall

Into a dry ditch – and drowned them all

 

 

THE DAFFODILS

(by William Wordsworth)

 

I wandered lonely as a cloud

When all at once I saw a crowd – A host of golden daffodils. Beside the lake, beneath the trees

I KNOW AN OLD LADY

  I know an old lady who swallowed a fly, I don’t know why she swallowed a fly.