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Pronunciation and Intonation Exercise

A GUIDE TO SPEAKING AND PRONOUNCING COLLOQUIAL AMERICAN ENGLISH (American Accent ) ( Some exercises taken from : American Accent Training by Ann Cook ) PRONUNCIATION AND INTONATION WHAT IS INTONATION : Intonation is the rise and fall of how you speak. Without intonation, your speech would be flat, mechanical and very confusing to your listener. People whose first language is English, like the Americans have a melodic, jazzy, way of producing sounds. Guides to proper accent: 1. Native speakers

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1K views5 pages

Pronunciation and Intonation Exercise

A GUIDE TO SPEAKING AND PRONOUNCING COLLOQUIAL AMERICAN ENGLISH (American Accent ) ( Some exercises taken from : American Accent Training by Ann Cook ) PRONUNCIATION AND INTONATION WHAT IS INTONATION : Intonation is the rise and fall of how you speak. Without intonation, your speech would be flat, mechanical and very confusing to your listener. People whose first language is English, like the Americans have a melodic, jazzy, way of producing sounds. Guides to proper accent: 1. Native speakers

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A GUIDE TO SPEAKING AND PRONOUNCING COLLOQUIAL

AMERICAN ENGLISH (American Accent )

( Some exercises taken from : American Accent Training by Ann Cook )

PRONUNCIATION AND INTONATION

WHAT IS INTONATION :

Intonation is the rise and fall of how you speak. Without intonation, your
speech would be flat, mechanical and very confusing to your listener.

People whose first language is English, like the Americans have a melodic,
jazzy, way of producing sounds.

Guides to proper accent:

1. Native speakers do not speak Word by Word.


Example: BOB IS ON THE PHONE.
2. They connect words to form Sound groups
Example: BOB IS ON THE PHONE would sound like BA BIZAN THE
FOUN.
3. They use the staircase intonation. ( up and down )

What exactly is Staircase Intonation?

Example:
No
No ou
Clipped Standard American or native speakers

see
Seat eed

Exercise 1 : intonation exercise


Objectives of these exercises :
1. To be able to identify which sound to use in a sentence.
2. For student’s to get used to applying the Native/American sound when
they speak, for them to be better understood by the native Americans.

Direction: Repeat after your Tutor. Listen to the up and down sound. All colored
words should go up.
Syllable Exercises :

A B

Pattern 1: Pattern 2:
Duh duh duh La La La
( up ,down, up ) ( down, down, up )

Repeat after your tutor using Repeat after your tutor using
the pattern 1: the pattern 2:

1. Dogs eat bones. 1. They eat bones.


2. Mikes likes bikes. 2. A big house.
3. 1 2 3 3. You are good.

Pattern 3 : Na Na Na

Repeat after your Tutor using pattern 3:

1. She wants one.


2. They eat them.
3. We like them.

Exercise 2:

Direction : Repeat after your Tutor. Stress on the RED colored words by going
up. For the pronoun chart, stress on the “verb.”

Noun Pronoun / verb

1. Jeff sees Linda. 1. He sees her.


2. Gina knows Bill. 2. She knows him.
3. Beth and Bob love their 3. They love their kids.
kids. 4. He sells cars.
4. Jan sells cars. 5. They eat them.
5. Dogs eat bones. 6. They have a choice.
6. The boys have a choice.

Direction: Repeat after your tutor. Colored red words should go up.

1. He jumps high.
2. Gina sings well.
3. They eat fast.
4. We play badminton.
5. She bikes everyday.
Exercise 3 : Reading with staircase Intonation and connecting words

Hi! my name is _________________________. I am taking English Lessons ,


there’s a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I
should pick-up on the English pattern pretty easily, although the only
way to get it is to practice all the time. I use the up and down,
intonation more than I used to. It’s like walking down the staircase. I’ve
been talking to a lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I’m easier
to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing is
to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I ?

Exercise 4
Practice conversation with Tutor. Try to use the Up and Down
Staircase sound and try to connect words.

Objective of this exercise:


For student to feel confident in using the American sound.
For student to get used to conversing the everyday English language.

Tutor: how was your day?

Student : It was good.

Tutor : Did you feel nervous coming to class?

Student: No, I felt confident. It’s good to know I can speak the

English Language better now.

Tutor: That’s good. For you to feel more relaxed, try to practice

speaking the English language with your friends and try

using the American sound all the time ,

and it will get easier for you.

Student: Yes, I know I only have to practice it, then I don’t have to

be nervous anymore.

Tutor: Don’t worry, you are doing a great job. Im proud of you!

Student : Thank you so much!


Acronym Intonation and pronunciation exercise:

IBM Eye Bee em


MIT Em Eye Tee
LA eh lay
USA You Ess ei
Tv Tee Vee
ASAP ei Ess ei Pee
FBI eff Bee Eye

Exercise 6 ; pronunciation
Directions : repeat after your tutor
Actually ( ac’tlly)
She actually believed what I said.
Average (av’rge)
I got an average score in math.
Aspirin ( as’prin)
I need some aspirin right now.
Business ( bizness)
How’s your business doing today?
Camera ( cam’ra)
She left her camera at home.
Comfortable ( com’ftble)
This sofa is so comfortable.
Chocolate ( chak’let)
Do you like chocolate?
Diaper ( daiper)
My baby needs her diaper right now.
Different ( diff’rent)
I can’t tell the difference between her
clothes and yours.

Vegetable ( veg’tble)
I love vegetable more than meat.
Beverage ( bev’rage)
Are there any beverages around
here?
Interest ( intr’st)
I have an interest for antiques.
Restaurant (rest’rnt)
We love going to a restaurant to have
a good meal.
Separate ( sep’rate)
I think you have to separate the
black clothes from the white.
University ( univ’rztee)
What university did you come from?
Finally ( fyn’lee)
I finally know the answer to your
question.
Exercise 7 : Read the sentences using the staircase intonation.

1. He’s a nice guy.


2. Hes’ an American guy from San Francisco.
3. The cheerleader needs a rubber band to hold her ponytail.
4. The executive assistant needs a paper clip for the final report.
5. The law student took an English test in a foreign country.
6. The policeman saw a red car on the freeway in Los Angeles.
7. My old dog has long ears and a flea problem.
8. The new teacher broke his coffee cup on the first day.
9. His best friend has a broken cup in his other office.
10.Let’s play football on the weekend in New York.

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