The Sound of English Free
The Sound of English Free
The Sound of English Free
Sound
FREE
SAMPLE
Chapter 1
pdf + mp3
The
ISBN 978-0-9573836-0-9
www.thesoundofenglish.org
Index
1 Introduction
2 How to use the book.
3 IPA Chart
Chapter/ Sound
Sounds Spelling & Sound
Page Comparison
1 5-6 Consonants
-
9 ‘ghoti’ Introduction
4 - 15 7-8 Vowels 10 Schwa
2 17-18 Fricative
19-20 θ vs ð 21-22 < s > Endings
16 - 27 Consonants
7 77-80 Diphthong
- 81-82< o >
76 - 87 Vowel Sounds
8 89-90 Nasal
91-92 ŋ vs ŋg 93-94 < a >
88 - 99 Consonants
2 HowKey
112 -130 Answer to use the book.
3 IPA Chart
131-132 Glossary
133 Acknowledgements & Further Reading
134 About the Author, Voices & School
Structure Intonation Postscript
35-36 2 Syllable
37-38 Wh- Questions 39 Homophones
Words
62-63 Verb/Noun
59-60 Joining 61-62 Prominence
Stress
‘The Sound of English’ takes you step by step through these tricky areas,
covering the sounds, structures and melodies of English in a logical way.
Through studying the course you will learn:
✦ How to pronounce every vowel and consonant sound of English.
The course will show you how to experience English as a native does:
instinctively through listening and sound production.
The course and book were designed, written and recorded through years of
teaching experience at the Pronunciation Studio speech school in London. The
method is modern and user-friendly, based on introducing, drilling and
exercising all the key areas to gradually build students’ confidence and
knowledge.
As you go through the course you can download extra materials and read tips
on the course website: www.thesoundofenglish.org. You will also find useful
information about teachers and contact information if you have any questions.
We hope you enjoy the course, let us know how you get on with improving
your English pronunciation!
Joseph Hudson
Most activities come with audio files to practise with. These are indicated with the
following symbol in the left margin: 9.3
Every page of the course contains up to three parts: NOTES, EXERCISES and
DRILLS as follows:
NOTES
✦ All notes appear in grey boxes like this one.
✦ Here you will find the rules and production notes for each section.
EXERCISES
- Complete the exercises and check your answers with the audio or answer key.
- The answer key is found in the back of the book on pages 113-130.
DRILLS
- Repeat drills regularly with the recording until they become easy to produce.
- There is space on the recordings to repeat after each sentence or sound.
✦ You will learn each sound and its possible spellings on the course.
Sound Schwa
Function &
Structure
Content :t1f
l+"16
Patterns
Intonation
Usage ↘↘↗↗
Postscript IPA /ˈpɜ:sənli/
Answer Key Pages 113-114
Before beginning, download the free mp3 audio pack from:
www.thesoundofenglish.org/free.html
Consonant Types | Sound
d door feed
(complete block of air followed
by explosion) k cash sock
g girl flag
ʔ - football
f full knife
v vest cave
θ think earth
fricative ð those bathe
tʃ chose catch
affricate
(plosive followed by fricative) dʒ joy stage
m mood calm
nasal
n now turn
(air is released through the nose) ŋ - bang
w wall -
approximant
j yellow -
(vowel-like consonant, no full r room -
block of air occurs) l/ɫ law pill
alveolar ridge
lips velum
teeth
palate
tongue glottis
EXERCISE
1.2 - Listen to the recording and match the sounds in the boxes with their articulation
diagrams (the first one has been done). The arrows point to the place of articulation.
1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6.
Position
1.4 i: (keep)
ɜ: (bird)
ɒ (watch)
DRILL
- Repeat the following sentences. Notice your jaw opening each time.
1.5
1. Keep this red bag. 2. Who took Paul’s watch? 3. The bird runs fast.
sailor ˈkæktəs
fe?)x)/
cactus əˈraʊnd
1.9 ✦ The schwa sound /əә/ can be spelt as < a >, < e >, < o > and < u >.
✦ The schwa is the most common vowel sound in English.
✦ The schwa is weak - it can never be stressed.
✦ The production of the schwa is neutral: lips, jaw and tongue are relaxed
EXERCISE
- Every word in the box below contains one schwa sound.
- Listen to the recording and underline the schwa in each word.
1.10 servant
_ persist
_ bacon
_ picture commit alive
jumper sublime London salad Peru structure
suggest soldier persuade combine balloon
terror cushion scripture tighten sofa Russia
articles a an the
EXERCISE
- In the sentences below, underline the function words:
- Read and listen to the passage below, the schwa sound is written in IPA:
1.13 I’d like təә go shopping fəәr əә pair əәf shoes, bəәt thəә
shops əә closed becəәse thəәs əә weathəәr əәlert. əәparrəәntly
lots əәf snow is coming in frəәm thəә Highləәnds so thəә
govəәrnməәnt həәv əәdvised peopəәl təә stay əәt home.
- Which function words are pronounced with a schwa sound in the passage?
✦ Many function words are pronounced with schwa when they are weak.
✦ If a function word is stressed, it can not be pronounced with schwa.
✦ Function words are always strong when said alone.
DRILL
- Say the word on the left alone (strong), then say it in the sentence on the right using
the schwa sound (weak):
Word Sentence
(STRONG) (WEAK)
1. ↘Yes
B 2. ↘↗Yes
3. ↗Yes
- Which answer (B) means i) maybe ii) definitely iii) why are you asking me?
DRILL
- Repeat after the recording:
EXERCISE
- Listen to the conversations and circle the answer you hear:
EXERCISE
1. ATTITUDE
2. IMPLICATION
1.19 A “What did you think of the film?” B “It was good.”
3. REPETITION
- Person A says the same question twice, but the intonation is different the second time.
How does it change and why?
personally /ˈpɜ:sənli/
- What differences do you notice between the spelt and the IPA versions?
EXERCISE
i) Write the words from the box below into the chart next to their IPA transcription.
ii) Write the silent consonant from each word into the 3rd column.
cupboard island half often write know light lamb handbag autumn
2 half hɑ:f l
3 læm
4 nəәʊ
5 ˈaɪləәnd
6 laɪt
7 ˈkʌbəәd
8 raɪt
9 ˈɒfəәn
10 ˈhænbæg
1.21 - Listen to the recording to check your answers and practise saying the words.
EXERCISE
1. f/v 2. t/d/l/n 3. m/p/b 4. k/g/ŋ 5. θ/ð 6. h/ʔ
EXERCISE
- sentence 2 ʻWho took Paulʼs watchʼ uses only rounded vowels.
EXERCISE
1. choose 2. lose 3. played 4. author 5. said 6. put 7. gone 8. food 9. slow
10. worn 11. wall
EXERCISE
servant persist bacon picture commit alive
jumper sublime London salad Peru structure
suggest soldier persuade combine balloon
terror cushion scripture tighten sofa Russia
EXERCISE
1. Can we go for a swim in the sea?
2. Itʼs a beautiful day in the South of England.
3. How do you want to pay for this sir?
4. Jessica Smith is required in ʻArrivalsʼ immediately.
5. When you get to the station, give me a call.
6. Would you like some of my carrot cake?
- Function words pronounced with schwa in the passage: ʻtoʼ, ʻforʼ, ʻaʼ, ʻofʼ, ʻbutʼ, ʻtheʼ, ʻareʼ,
ʻthereʼ, ʻaʼ, ʻhaveʼ, ʻatʼ.
EXERCISE
1. ↘ 2. ↘↗ 3. ↗ 4. ↗ 5. ↘ 6. ↘↗
Usage | Intonation
EXERCISE
1. ATTITUDE
i) In the first version, the father is excited and interested, in the second he is uninterested
and a little rude.
ii) The fatherʼs intonation is falling in both examples, the main difference is that he starts
from a much higher pitch in the first example. This shows more emotion. In the second
version, he starts his phrase quite low, showing disinterest.
2. IMPLICATION
i) In the first version, we understand that person B really felt the film was good. In the
second version, he is not entirely sure, he is showing reservation, we are expecting him to
say something less positive now.
ii) In the first version, person B uses falling intonation on ʻit was goodʼ, whereas in the
second version he uses fall-rising intonation, known as an implicational fall-rise.
3. REPETITION
- The first question is asking for new information, person A does not know the answer and
uses falling intonation. The second time she asks, she already knows the answer, she is
repeating the question and for this reason uses rising intonation.
IPA | Postscript
- The IPA version shows us a silent < r >, a long vowel /:/ and a silent < a >. It also
indicates the pronunciation of the vowels /ə/ and /i/.
2 half hɑ:f l
3 lamb læm b
5 island aɪlənd s
6 light laɪt gh
8 write raɪt w
9 often ɒfən t
10 handbag hænbæg d
Now you have completed the free sample, you have started on the road to improving
your English pronunciation. Here are some options for continuing:
1. Download the full course 9 Chapters (140 pages + full audio) and study the
course yourself. The full course pack costs £15.00 and can be downloaded
instantly, visit:
www.thesoundofenglish.org/shop.html
3. Study with expert IPA Certified teachers at the Pronunciation Studio speech
school in London both individually and in small groups.
The school offers accent reduction, elocution, voice and advanced courses.
Visit www.pronunciationlondon.co.uk for full details.
THE AUTHOR
Joseph Hudson (BA/CELTA/IPA Cert) is a teacher and writer
based in London. He founded the Pronunciation Studio Speech
school in 2007. His early career was as a general English
teacher, where he learnt the rudiments of language learning.
He is the author of the courses ‘An English Accent’ and ‘The
Sound of English’.
THE RECORDINGS
The audio pack features the voice of Erica Buist (BA/CELTA/IPA
Cert) alongside the author. Erica is an experienced and vibrant
classroom teacher. She has taught general English and
pronunciation in Central America and England and joined the
Pronunciation Studio in 2009. Her voice skills are notably
clear and warm.
THE SCHOOL
Pronunciation Studio London provides education in all aspects
of speech from phonetics, pronunciation and accent reduction
to voice coaching and acting classes. Over 10,000 students
have passed through its doors since 2007. Creative teaching,
exciting materials, a passion for language learning in general
and phonetics in particular are central to its popularity.