/ʤ/ Pronunciation Boost

Good pronunciation can positively impact job interviews, presentations, and other professional interactions.

Good pronunciation ensures that you can communicate clearly and be understood by native speakers. It’s like the key to unlocking effective communication. Proper pronunciation reduces the chances of misunderstandings. Imagine the difference between “ship” and “sheep” – small pronunciation tweaks can make a big impact on meaning! And by mastering pronunciation,  you gain a confidence boost. When you feel comfortable articulating words and sounds correctly, you’re more likely to engage in conversations without hesitation. Therefore, helping you to integrate into the cultural and social aspects of the language. It’s like the secret handshake that makes you feel more connected.

Overall, pronunciation is a fundamental aspect of language learning. It contributes significantly to overall language proficiency and fluency.

Pronunciation in Use

Boost your A1/A2 Pronunciation!

Below are the pronunciation areas that are covered at elementary level.

 

 

 

 

Sounds and spelling

  • How many letters, how many sounds? Spelling and pronunciation
  • Pizza for dinner /i:/ and /I/
  • A spoonful of sugar /u:/ and /ʊ/
  • Father and mother /ɑ:/ and /ʌ/
  •  A dog in the corner /ɒ/ and /ɔ:/
  • Bread and jam /e/ and /æ/
  • My birthday’s on Thursday /ɜ:/
  • Here and there /ɪə/ and /eə/
  • Have a great time! /eɪ/, /aɪ/ and /ɔɪ/
  • Old town /əʊ/ and /aʊ/
  • Pack your bags /p/ and /b/
  • Twenty days /t/ and /d/
  • Cats and dogs /k/ and /g/
  • November the first /f/ and /v/
  • Both together /θ/ and /ð/
  • It’s the wrong size, isn’t it? /s/ and /z/
  • Fresh fish, usually /ʃ/ and /ʒ/
  • Chips and juice /ʧ/ and /ʤ/
  • My hungry uncle /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/
  • How many hours? /h/
  • That’s life! /ɪ/
  • What terrible weather! /r/
  • What’s the news? /w/ and /j/
  • Sunglasses or umbrella? Consonant groups in the middle of words
  • Train in the rain Consonant groups at the beginning of words
  • Pink and orange Consonant groups at the end of words
  • Last week Consonant groups across words

Syllables and words

  • One house, two houses Syllables
  • Wait a minute – where’s the waiter? Strong and weak vowels
  • Single or return? Stress in two-syllable words
  • Begin at the beginning Stress in longer words
  • Where’s my checklist? Stress in compound words

Phrases, sentences and grammar

  • Phrases and pauses Reading aloud
  • Speak it, write it, read it Linking words together 1
  • Me and you, you and me Linking words together 2
  • Take me to the show, Jo Rhythm
  • Hey, wait for me! Strong and weak forms 1: Pronouns
  • And what’s his name? Strong and weak forms 2: Possessives, conjunctions, prepositions
  • There’s a spider Strong and weak forms 3: Articles, comparatives, ‘there’
  • Who was that? Strong and weak forms 4: Auxiliary verbs
  • They’re here! Contractions
  • It’s George’s birthday Pronouncing -s endings
  • I looked everywhere Pronouncing past tenses

Conversation

  • Not half past two, half past three Intonation for old and new information
  • And suddenly … Intonation in storytelling
  • Really? That’s amazing! Being a good listener
  • I know when it is, but not where Important words in conversation 1
  • Finished? I’ve just started! Important words in conversation 2
  • No, thanks, I’m just looking Intonation in phrases and sentences 1
  • Fine, thanks Intonation in phrases and sentences 2

Reference

  • Chart of phonemic symbols
  • Guide for speakers of specific languages
  • Sound pairs
  • From spelling to sound
  • The alphabet
  • Pronouncing numbers
  • Pronouncing geographical names
  • Homophones

Boost your B1/B2 Pronunciation!

Below are the pronunciation areas that are covered at intermediate and upper intermediate level.

 

 

 

Letters and sounds

  • From zero to hero Playing with the sounds of English
  • Plane, plan The vowel sounds /eɪ/ and /æ/
  • Back, pack The consonant sounds /b/ and /p/
  • Rice, rise The consonant sounds /s/ and /z/
  • Down town The consonant sounds /d/ and /t/
  • Meet, met The vowel sounds /i:/ and /e/
  • Carrot, cabbage Unstressed vowels /ə/ and /ɪ/
  • Few, view The consonant sounds /f / and /v/
  • Gate, Kate The consonant sounds /g/ and /k/
  • He. we. you The sounds /h/, /w/ and /j/
  • Kite, kit The vowel sounds /ai/ and /ɪ/
  • Sheep, jeep, cheap The consonant sounds /ʃ/, /ʤ/ and /ʧ/
  • Tent, rent The consonant sounds /l/ and /r/
  •  Car, care The vowel sounds /a:(r)/ and /ea(r)/
  • Some, sun. sung The consonant sounds /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/
  • Note, not The vowel sounds /əʊ/ and /ɒ/
  • Thick, they The consonant sounds /θ/ and /ð/
  • Shut, pull, rude The vowel sounds /ʌ/, /ʊ/ and /u:/
  • Shirts, shorts The vowel sounds /ɜ:(r)/ and /ɔ:(r)/
  • Toy, town The vowel sounds /ɔɪ/ and /aʊ/

Combining sounds

  • Dream, cream, scream Consonant groups at the beginning of words
  • Left, lunch, last Consonant groups at the end of words
  • Wins, weeks, wages Words with -s endings
  • Rested, played, watched Words with -ed endings
  • Pets enter, pet centre Consonant sounds at word boundaries
  • War and peace Vowel sounds at word boundaries

Stress

Word Stress

  • Saturday September 13th Introducing word stress
  • Forest, forget Stress in two-syllable words
  • Second-hand bookshop Stress in compound words
  • Unforgettable Stress in longer words 1
  • Public, publicity Stress in longer words 2

Stress patterns

  • Tea for two Introducing stress patterns
  • He asked her her name Pronouns in stress patterns
  • The place is clean The verb to be in stress patterns
  • What do you think? Auxiliary verbs in stress patterns
  • Some milk and eggs Pronouncing short words (a, of, or)

Intonation

  • // CHILDREN // DRIVE SLOWLY// Dividing messages into speech units
  • // His sister // who was clever // won Speech units and grammar
  • //Sorry to disturb you// Introduction to main stress
  • //He will win// Emphasising a contrasting opinion
  • //Schwartz//Pedro Schwartz// Emphasising added details
  • //What do you do? // Main stress in questions
  • //I think you’re in my seat// Main stress for contrasting information
  • // Fifty? // No // fifteen! // Emphasising corrections
  • Bear!↘ Bear?↗ Rising and falling tones

Understanding pronunciation in use

Speed

  • //Ehm… //Well… // Thinking time
  • //I mean//and just kind of// Unstressed words in conversation
  • Scuba diving course Listening to connected speech
  • White bread or brown bread? Connected speech sound changes
  • //Do you actually know // Fast and careful speech

Tone

  • // The kitchen↗ // the garden↗ // and the grounds↘ // Continuing or finishing tones
  • // It’s about four hours↗ // Sure and unsure tones
  • //Do I press ‘enter’ ?↗ // Intonation in instructions
  • //He’s quite rude↘ //isn’t he?↘ // Intonation in opinions
  • // It’s • absolutely • stunning↘ // Showing enthusiasm

Accents

  • Finders keepers Accent variation relating to R
  • We had a cat Vowel sound variation in different accents
  • Rita’s writing a book Consonant sound variation in different accents
  • Hello. I’m from… English from around the world
  • Fairtrade Pronunciation objectives; clarity or speed?

Reference

  • Introduction to phonemic symbols
  • Pronunciation test
  • Guide for speakers of specific languages
  • Sound pairs
  • English as a Lingua Franca

 

Boost your C1/C2 pronunciation!

Below are the pronunciation areas that are covered at the advanced levels.

 

 

 

Getting started

  • Accents (1): Varieties of English
  • Accents (2): English as an international language
  • Finding out about pronunciation (1): dictionaries
  • Finding out about pronunciation (2): online resources
  • Pronunciation in slow and fast speech (1)
  • Pronunciation in slow and fast speech (2)
  • Pronunciation of words and phrases

Consonant clusters

  • play, grow, splash Consonant clusters at the beginning of words
  • jump, next, glimpsed Consonant clusters at the end of words
  • abstract, next Friday Consonant clusters within and across words

Stress in words and phrases

  • | contro |versial and controVERsial Word stress and prominence
  • |comfort and |comfortable Suffixes and word stress (1)
  • ac |celerate and ac| cele |ration Suffixes and word stress (2)
  • ex |treme and ex |tremity Suffixes and word stress (3)
  • dis |organised and |recon |sider Prefixes and word stress (1)
  • |subway and |super | power Prefixes and word stress (2)
  • |news paper and | absolute |zero Stress in compound nouns
  • |hair- | raising and | hard-|working Stress in compound adjectives and in abbreviations
  • | closed-circuit |television and |sell-by date Stress in longer compound nouns
  • |dream of and |live for One-stress phrasal verbs
  • | hang a |round and | look |up to Two-stress phrasal verbs

Stressed and unstressed syllables

  • some, the, from, etc. Weak forms of function words
  • Well, YOU do it then! Prominent function words
  • calcu/ʊ/late and calcu/ə/late Vowels in unstressed syllables in content words
  • listen, bottle, politician, etc. Syllabic consonants

Foreign words

  • déjà vu, angst, tsunami Foreign words in English

Pronunciation in conversation

Features of fluent speech

  • one evening, stop now, go away, etc. Linking sounds
  • I’ll get it, These’re mine Contracted forms
  • I’m not sure, Not sure, ’m not sure Ellipsis and ‘near ellipsis’
  • last night, I haven’t seen her Leaving out consonant sounds (1): /t/
  • an old car, a bottle of water Leaving out consonant sounds (2): /d/, /h/, /l/, /v/
  • average, novelist, happening Words that lose a syllable

Organising information in conversation

  • // we stuck a picture// of an elephant// Breaking speech into units
  • // It’s BLUE// DARK blue// Prominent words in speech units (1)
  • // I’ve always been terrified of SPIders// Prominent words in speech units (2)
  • // I’ll beLIEVE it when I SEE it// Fixed phrases and idioms in speech units
  • She’s got an ESSay to write Non-prominence on final ‘empty’ content words
  • I can’t STAND the stuff Non-prominence on final vague expressions
  • Just help yourSELF; Throw it to ME Prominence in reflexive and

personal pronouns

Intonation in telling, asking and answering

  • I’m quite busy↘ at the moment Falling and rising tones
  • They taste great↘, these biscuits Tails
  • Great film↘, wasn’t it ? Question tags
  • What I don’t understand↘↗ is how it got there↘ Cleft sentences
  • Finding out or making sure? Questions (1)
  • Wasn’t it terrible↘ ? Are you crazy ↗ ? Questions (2)
  • ‘I paid £200,000 for it.’ ‘How much ↗ ?’ Repeat questions
  • Although I was tired ↗ , I couldn’t get to sleep↘ Comparisons and contrasts
  • ‘You were asleep in the class!’ ‘I WASn’t asleep↘ .’ Contradictions
  • You couldn’t carry it upSTAIRS for me ↘ ↗ ? Requests and reservation
  • On the whole ↘↗  , it went very well Attitude words and phrases (1)
  • She just forgot, presumably ↗ ? Attitude words and phrases (2)
  • How embarrassing↘! Exclamations

Intonation in managing conversation

  • Mhm, Right, I see Keeping conversation going
  • On top of that… ↘↗  ; Anyway… Adding information and
  • changing topic

Pronunciation in formal settings

  • Before she left school// she started her own business Dividing prepared

speech into units (1)

  • One of the paintings// he left to his sister Dividing prepared speech

into units (2)

  • Lima – as I’m sure you know↘ ↗ is the capital of Peru Pronunciation

of inserts

  • We expected profits to drop, but they ↑ rose Step-ups – contrasts and

new topics

  • The headteacher, Mr ↓ Lee, will be talking to parents Step-downs – adding

information and ending topics

  • Small, medium, and large Tones in a series of similar items
  • ‘Politicians are the same all over…’ Level tone in quoting and

building suspense

Reference

  • The phonemic alphabet: Practice
  • Consonant clusters: Further practice
  • Word stress: Further practice

 

One World Learning use the best-selling English Pronunciation in Use. English Pronunciation in Use is a 3-levelled series is a comprehensive reference and practice book for learners of elementary, intermediate, and advanced level. The books contain 60 easy-to-use two-page units covering all aspects of pronunciation, including sounds, stress and intonation. Of particular use is the ‘Understanding Pronunciation in Use’ focuses on the skill of understanding pronunciation in fast speech. This shows the student how people speak naturally, blending sounds together and how word stress affect meaning. The course  offers invaluable insights to the way English is spoken.

How can pronunciation practice help me?

Pronunciation practice can be helpful for honing your English skills in a few key ways:

Accurate pronunciation also aids in cultural integration. It helps you feel more comfortable when interacting with native speakers, as you can communicate more naturally and effectively.

Clear pronunciation reduces the chances of misunderstandings. Properly pronounced words are less likely to be misinterpreted, leading to smoother communication.

Pronunciation practice goes hand in hand with listening skills. As you work on your pronunciation, you become more attuned to the nuances of spoken English, helping you understand native speakers better.

 In a professional context, good pronunciation is often associated with competence. It can positively impact job interviews, presentations, and other professional interactions.

What materials do I need?

One World Learning provide you with an online folder with your course material available for download. However, there are several essential requirements to ensure a smooth and effective learning experience.

  • A personal computer or laptop with up-to-date hardware and software is necessary.

  • Classes contain video and audio playback so a stable and high-speed internet connection is recommended for attending online classes.

  • A webcam and microphone are essential for participating in virtual classes and discussions. Most computers come equipped with built in webcams and mics.

  • Headphones or earphones can help reduce background noise and provide a better audio experience during online classes.

  • Set up a dedicated and quiet study space where you can focus on your online classes without distractions.

  • Have digital or physical note-taking tools ready. This could be a notebook, digital note-taking app, or any other method you find effective.

By ensuring that you have these essentials, you’ll be well-prepared for a positive and productive online learning experience.