Pronunciation

It is often very difficult for adult learners of English to change their pronunciation. Together we can explore where improvements are possible. Combining your aptitude with great effort over time, you may modify your pronunciation to achieve speech that is closer to an American-English accent.

The Process:

Assessment

First we will assess your specific areas for improvement. There are many assessment tools that we can use. These include sentence sets to be read aloud to check for specific vowel and consonant sound pronunciation, to open-ended questions for more natural conversation evaluation. We can also use your speech remarks for an upcoming presentation or reports you've written for work to read aloud for assessment so that we can quickly target improving pronunciation of vocabulary and phrases that you need to use most in your career.

At your request, we can record your voice as you perform the assessments to serve as a baseline for better empirically measuring your progress.

Overview

Some of my clients ask for an overview of all the American-English vowel sounds and consonant sounds (including consonant clusters) so that they can feel oriented. So that you do not have to memorize more complicated symbols from the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), I use a simplified, intuitive, phonetic transcription system, which can be further personalized for your practice.

I can also provide overviews of the elements of stress and the principles of word linking, which are more advanced topics that are essential for achieving improved American-English pronunciation. 

Instructions  

After identifying your areas for improvement, I will explain to you in necessary detail how to fix your mouth positions.  For particular sounds you may need to open or close your jaw more, widen or purse your lips, or change the position of your tongue.  I will demonstrate with my own mouth, show you easy-to-understand diagrams, and even use cool MRI scans to show you tongue positions, such as seen here!

Drills

As we correct your pronunciation, you will repeat, repeat, repeat the correct sound forms. This repetition is very important for building your brain and mouth memory for the new mouth positions. I can also create customized audio recordings for you so that you can practice on your own between our sessions for faster progress. These clips are normally made during the last segment of the session in collaboration with the client, providing a useful summary review. 

Here are some real audio recordings I have made with clients:

Bridge Exercises

So now you can pronounce the corrected form of the target single sound or word. But how can you take this new knowledge and put it back into your normal conversation? This is achieved through bridge exercises. These exercises bridge the gap between single word practice and more complex conversation.

These exercises include:
~ pairing the target sound(s) word with a word commonly used before it and after it.
   Example: "applying Agile", "Agile framework"
~ practice saying challenging yet creative and fun sentences with multiple target words.
   Example: "Exogenous assistance is needed to achieve alleviation of the tumultuous effects of the referendum.")
~ rehearsing useful sentences that you would apply in your daily conversation, presentations, and other real-world settings
   Example: "It's practically done already."  "Here is a diagram of the sample's molecular composition.")
~ hearing me ask a question or make a statement and you choosing between 3 realistic sentences with the target sound/word to say that would be the most logically appropriate response. 
    Example:   Q: How are your travel plans coming along?
    + The referendum itself went smoothly.
    + I finalized my itinerary yesterday. *
    + Three main exogenous factors are involved.
This last exercise especially helps with combining your new pronunciation knowledge with the other cognitive processes that occur during real conversation.

Application

We will have our natural conversation practice during sessions, during which if you slip back to the earlier pronunciation form instead of your new form, I will first give you a silent visual signal or say the phrase leading to the target word, so that you have an opportunity for self-correction. If you are still not quite sure what what the slip was, I will share with you the corrected form and we can do on-the-spot drilling to reinforce your learning.  Then we will continue with the conversation for opportunities for you to practice your improved pronunciation.

Outside of our sessions, whether during daily conversation or your presentation, it will be crucial for you to add an extra layer of awareness when you are speaking, to slow down (something many of clients need to do anyway to improve their American accent) and anticipate when you are about to say a target word so that you can say the new corrected form. It is natural that during the learning process you may slip and not be able to say the corrected word form the first time.  I encourage you to immediately correct yourself when you feel comfortable doing so in that conversation or presentation setting, and with continued diligence you will develop your ability to pronounce the correct form the first time!

The chart below lists several topics on pronunciation that you can explore with me.

• Voiced TH this, that, weather

• Unvoiced TH think, thought
  

• Letter T as glottal stop

• Letter T as "d" water, city
  

• S as "s"

• S as "z" is, was, busy
  

• Letter C as "k"

• Letter C as "s" ceiling, space
  

• Letter G as "g"

• Letter G as "j" change, gem
  

• Letter Y as "y"

• Letter Y as "ee" city, copy

   NG evening, hungry, talking

• B vs. P

• W vs. V vs. F

• R vs. L

• M vs. N

• N vs. NG

    QU quick, quiet, liquid

• CH chair, choose, much

• SH share, dishwasher, cash

• "ZH" usual, vision, pleasure
  
  DU and D + Y as "j"
  Word Ending ED as "ed" & "t"

Vowel sounds
Short I  it, is, in
Short E  end, get, said
Long E "ee"  eat, ski, he  
Short A  at, as, has
Long A  came, paper, day  
 "Ah"  saw, father, lot
"oo/u"  book, took, put
Long O  no, so, road
Long U/"oo"  to, do, food
Short U  until, of, was

Diphthongs sky, out, choice

Consonants
  Voiced -
m, n, l, r, w, y
b, d, g, v, th, z, j, 
Unvoiced/Voiceless – 
p, t, c, k, f, th, s, h, sh, ch
Continuants – 
m, ng, n, r, l, f, v, h, w, 
wh, th, s, sh, z,  zh
Stops –
p, b, k, g, t, d
 

   Word Linking

• Consonant to Consonant

• Consonant to Vowel

• T to Vowel

• Vowel to Vowel – hidden "y"

• Vowel to Vowel – hidden "w"

Stress
Pitch/Intonation

   Contractions

  Consonant Clusters
    BL  blank, blend, publish
    BR  break, brief, library
    CL  clear, clothes, include
    CR  create, increase, sacred
    FL   floor, flow, reflect
    FR  from, fresh, proofread
    GL  glad, globe, English
    GR  grow, great, program
    PL  play, place, apply
    PR  product, provide, print

    SC  scope, rescue, disc
    SCR  screen, ascribe, scrap
    SK  sky, skill, ask
    SL  sleeve, legislate, piously
    SM  smile, smart, transmit
    SN  snow, sneaker, unsnap
    SP  speak, inspire, grasp
    SPR  spring, spray, spread
    ST  stay, lasting, cost
    STR  street, instruct, pastry
    SW switch, swivel, sweet

     XT  text, extend, external
     CT  fact, practice, select
     TS   its, sets, benefits

• TR as "chr" trip, train, country

• DR as "jr" drink, draft, laundry
  

You can email me at contact@englishtutordia.com to schedule your first (free!) video chat consultation.