Improve Your Pronunciation with Gabriel Sowrian
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This is an actual MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan of a man’s head, side view, captured while talking. Observe closely the movements of the speech organs, especially tongue. This is what happens inside our mouth when we talk, shout, whisper or sing! It looks very interesting, doesn't it? You can see the image here on a slightly bigger scale. Also, watch similar MRI scans with voice on Video 1 and Video 2.
The following figure shows the sequence of changes in the shape of our mouth and lips when we pronounce the word 'funny'. Such changes occur because we say four different sounds swiftly in the process of pronouncing the word 'funny'.
/ f / / ʌ / / n / / i /
The next time when you converse with your friend watch carefully how his mouth, lips and even the tongue (visible during the making of some sounds) move while he is talking. This is a good way to identify the articulation of different sounds that are involved when a word is said. I do this all the time just for the fun of it!
Well! Do you see the importance of learning the phonemes in order to pronounce words appropriately? If your answer is 'yes', you've taken the very first step to improve your pronunciation. Congratulations!
of all the words in Standard British English.
Now, click Session 1 and begin your study. Once you are done with a Session, come to this contents page and continue with the next Session. Feel free to revise a session as many times as you want until you really feel satisfied. The key is, your active participation in every single exercise or activity that I have drawn up. Don't be shy - *record your voice and post your audio for each lesson so that we could help you to attain your goal. Let's do it!
.................Session 1: Introduction and the Sounds of English
.................Session 2: IPA - International Phonetic Alphabet
.................Session 3: Consonant sounds: voiceless /p/ - voiced /b/
.................Session 4: Consonant sounds: voiceless /t/ - voiced /d/
.................Session 5: Consonant sounds: voiceless /k/ - voiced /g/
.................Session 6: Consonant sounds: voiceless /f/ - voiced /v/
.................Session 7: Consonant sounds: voiceless /θ/ - voiced /ð/
.................Session 8: Consonant sounds: voiceless /s/ - voiced /z/
.................Session 9: Consonant sounds: voiceless /ʃ/ - voiced /ʒ/
.................Session 10: Consonant sounds: voiceless /ʧ/ - voiced /ʤ/
.................Session 11: Consonant sounds: voiced ./m/ - voiced /n/ - voiced /ŋ/
.................Session 12: Consonant sounds: voiced /l/ - voiced /r/
.................Session 13: Consonant sounds: voiced /w/ - voiced /j/
.................Session 14: Consonant sounds: voiceless /h/
.................Session 15: A recollection of consonant sounds
.................Session 16: Vowel sounds: short /ɪ/ - long /i:/
.................Session 17: Vowel sounds: short /ʊ/ - long /u:/
.................Session 18: Vowel sounds: short /ɒ/ - long /ɔ:/
.................Session 19: Vowel sounds: short /æ/ - long /ɑ:/
.................Session 20: Vowel sounds: short /ʌ/ - long /ɜ:/
.................Session 21: Vowel sounds: short /e/
.................Session 22: Vowel sounds: short /ə/
.................Session 23: A recollection of vowel sounds
.................Session 24: Diphthongs ss: /aɪ/, /eɪ/ and /ɔɪ/
.................Session 25: Diphthongs ss: / aʊ/ and /əʊ/
.................Session 26: Diphthongs ss: /ɪə/, /eə/ and /ʊə/
n
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What do you say?
I’d appreciate some feedback from you about phonemes. Do you think it is worth learning the phonemes? Do you really feel like mastering the speech sounds? Share your views in the comment box below. Thank you!
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My heartfelt thanks to EC for featuring this discussion today... July 14th, 2012
Don't forget to click the 'Like' button if you find the posting useful!
Replies
great suggestion ...
It's very useful to me to join this lessons. I think I should work on them very well as I'm so weak in them. I admit that I studied them in my university, but unfortunately, I didn't practice them by voice recording. So, I will start studying them from the first lesson.
Hi Gabriel,
I studied phonemic chart which also shows the differences between British and American. My sources are
uiowa (the sounds of American English) and Oxford Dictionary, I classified them in order to see the differences. Please have a look, if you find time, if you could, I would appreciate it.....
Thank you in advance.
Here is the excel file,
pronunciation group.xls
Oh my! Am I sooo late?!....Dear Teacher Gab, this is so exciting! From session 1 to 28..it means you've already laid down the path to our progress...And the best thing is....its for FREE!!
Please count me in here as your student. I'd like to study phonemes and pronunciation too as I know it's the ticket for a better speaking..
Thank you so much! It's priceless lessons..
Gabriel, I even can't find the words to express my feelings. I've just returned from my hometown and what a surprise I see here. You've done it!!! You posted your discussion devoted to pronunciation. Great! I completely agree with you that pronunciation should be one of the first things that you learn in English. When you talk to peple in real life, they may not notice your limited vocabulary or grammar mistakes. But they notice right away if your pronunciation is good or bad. If your pronunciation is poor, they will think about you as a person who speaks bad English, and good grammar and vocabulary won't help you. Even if you use correct grammar, people may simply not understand what you want to say. I always tell my students about the importance of pronunciation.I tell them that they should ask themselves two questions:
1. Is my English easy to understand?
2. Is my English pleasant to listen to?
And I again agree with you that the first step to good pronunciation is learning phonemes. We know that English has a lot of absurdities in spelling. So, without knowing phonemes and transcription we can't read and pronounce English words in a proper way.
Gabriel, thanks for mentioning my name here, but I think you've exaggerated my role in formulating your lessons. Anyway I'm always ready to help you if you need any help and I myself will learn with pleasure.
I'm very glad that this discussion was featured.
Dear Nida,
It’s music to my ears that you are quite enthusiastic about learning phonetics. This is the exact ‘sound’ I want to hear from EC members! It’s a pleasure to lend you a hand with the speech sounds. Let’s ring the changes with a set of phonemes, Nida! See you later!
~* GS *~
This is an important lesson . No one can read without learning the phonetics. the most important thing is to know the difference between symbols when we hear them.then we can read from the dictionary.In my opinion We can begin with Consonant which is easy to learn first. and then we take the vowels which are difficult . I can say again This is an important lesson
Hello, Ehab Nassif!
First of all, you’ve earned my respect with your pertinent and inspiring comments. Thank you very much for recognizing the need to learn phonetics. Hope EC members will heed to your valuable advice.
My friend, you’ve made your point. This is what I want to hear from the rest of you – constructive suggestions for the benefit of our learners. I have an open mind about conducting the class effectively. Let’s begin with consonants first, then! Thanks again. I’ll be seeing you, Ehab!
~* GS *~
OMG! Amazing!!!! I loved it! Thank you so much for posting this!!!
Hello, Oriani!
Don’t mention it! Thank you for paying a visit to my ‘virtual class’. Can I count you in?! Please feel free to drop in on us any time convenient to you. See you around, teacher.
~* GS *~
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