The Sound of English Free

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A Practical Course in

British English Pronunciation

Sound
FREE
SAMPLE
Chapter 1
pdf + mp3
The

of English by Joseph Hudson

Written & Produced at the Pronunciation Studio


Self Study or Classroom Use
9 Chapters with Full Answer Key
The Sound English of

Published by Pronunciation Studio Ltd. 2012


1 Euston Road, London, NW1 2SA
www.pronunciationlondon.co.uk

Copyright © Joseph Hudson 2011-12

All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or


transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written
permission of Joseph Hudson.

For all queries regarding reproduction of this work in schools,


please contact us via our website where a variety of licenses and
affiliate schemes are available.

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

3 29-30 Long Vowels 31-32 ɪ vs i: 33-34 Silent < r >


28 - 39

4 41-42 Plosive 43-44 Glottal Stop


45-46 < ed > Endings
40 - 51 Consonants vs /t/

5 53-54 Short Vowels


-
56 < h > Function
52 - 63 55 /h/ Fricative 57-58 Silent Letters

6 65-66 Approximant 67 Weak ə vs ɪ


69-70 < oo >
64 - 75 Consonants 68 Weak ɪ vs i

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

9 101-102 Affricate 103-104 Long vs 105-106


100 - 111 1Consonants
Introduction
Short Vowels Contractions

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

11 Function / Content 13 Patterns


15 IPA
12 Schwa Function 14 Usage

23-24 Schwa Function 25-26 Sentence Stress


27 Homographs
Words & Tonic Syllable

35-36 2 Syllable
37-38 Wh- Questions 39 Homophones
Words

47-48 3 Syllable 49-50 Yes/No


51 Silent Syllables
Words Questions

62-63 Verb/Noun
59-60 Joining 61-62 Prominence
Stress

71-72 Vowel Joining 73-74 Question Tags 75 ‘have’

83-84 Compounds 85-86 High-fall 87 ‘do’

95-96 Double Stress


97-98 Fall-rise 99 ‘are’
Compounds

107-108 Stress Shift 109-110 Adverbials 111 Phrasal Verbs

© Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


Introduction

English is a confusing language to pronounce. With its 19 vowels, 25


consonants, weak forms, linking and intonation it poses plenty of problems to
the non-native speaker. Not to forget the way its written form is so dramatically
different from its pronunciation.

‘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.

✦ Correct use of stress and intonation.

✦ The rules of joining and sound selection.

✦ To listen with accuracy to English speech.

✦ Phonetic symbols for all the sounds 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

Author & Teacher


The Sound of English

1 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


How to Use the Book
Every chapter is split into the following sections:
- Sounds: how to pronounce vowels and consonants.
- Sound Comparison: focus on difficult sounds that are often confusing.
- Spelling & Sound: how to turn written English into speech.
- Structure: how English joins together and the weak/strong structure.
- Intonation: the use of pitch and stress in speech.

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.

EXTRA MATERIALS & CLASSES


- Many of the exercises in ‘The Sound of English’ have extra practice activities available
to download from our website, visit: www.thesoundofenglish.org
- You can also find information about where to study the course with qualified teachers
on the website.

2 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


IPA Chart
✦ IPA is phonetic script, it shows us the sounds to pronounce rather than spelling.
✦ The script is very useful for improving accuracy in pronunciation.

✦ You will learn each sound and its possible spellings on the course.

3 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


Chapter 1



Sounds
- Consonants
-free
*Before beginning, download the Vowels
audio pack from www.thesoundofenglish.org/

Spelling & ‘ghoti’ ,, )/


/ ' \W
- ..-
f .'ll't't'
_
\-
:.r

Sound Schwa

Function &
Structure
Content :t1f

l+"16

Patterns
Intonation
Usage ↘↘↗↗
Postscript IPA /ˈpɜ:sənli/
Answer Key Pages 113-114
Before beginning, download the free mp3 audio pack from:
www.thesoundofenglish.org/free.html
Consonant Types | Sound

✦ Consonant sounds are produced by blocking air as it leaves the mouth.


✦ This course shows you how to pronounce all 25 consonant sounds of English.

✦ Below is an example of each consonant sound - listen and read them.

Type of Sound Sound Example 1 Example 2


1.1 1.3 p 1.3 pin cap

1.3b bag robe

plosive t time late

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

(constant flow of air “squeezed” s sight kiss


through a block, sounds like z zoo nose
friction)
ʃ shirt crash
ʒ - pleasure
h high -

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

5 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


Consonant Articulation | Sound
✦ We use the articulators: tongue, lips, & teeth, to block air.
✦ The places where we block air in English are shown below.

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.

θ/ð t/d/l/n f/v k/g/ŋ m/p/b h/ʔ

4. 5. 6.

- Check your answers in the answer key on page 112.

6 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


Vowels | Sounds
✦ A neutral English accent has 19 vowel sounds.
✦ There are 3 types of English vowel sound - short, long and diphthong.
✦ English spelling does not always show us which sound to pronounce.
✦ We will learn how to pronounce each individual vowel sound on this course.

Type of Sound Sound Spellings Examples


1.3
ə a,1 e, o, u alive, the, today, supply

ɪ i thin, sit, rich


short ʊ u, oo, ou put, look, should

(single mouth e e, ea, ie went, bread, friend


position) ʌ u, o fun, love, money
æ 2 a cat, hand, fan

ɒ o, a rob, top, watch

i: ee, ea need, beat, team

long u: ew, oo, o_e few, boot, lose


ɜ: ir, ur, wor third, turn, worse
(single mouth
position) ɔ: al, aw, or, our, oor talk, law, port

ɑ: a, al, ar glass, half, car

eɪ ay, ea, ae, ai pay, great, maid

ɔɪ oi, oy noise, toy, choice

diphthong aɪ ie, i_e, i, y fine, like, might


əʊ o, o_e, oa no, stone, road
(double mouth
position) aʊ ou, ow round, how, brown
ɪə eer, ear beer, hear, steer

eə are, ere, ea, ai care, there, bear

7 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


Vowel Articulation| Sounds
✦ A vowel sound is made by shaping the mouth as air flows out.
✦ Articulators used to shape the mouth are: tongue, lips and jaw.

✦ The chart below shows examples of mouth positions in English.

Position

Example tongue lips jaw


front spread close

1.4 i: (keep)

mid relaxed mid

ɜ: (bird)

back rounded open

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.

- Which sentence contains only rounded vowels?

8 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


Introduction | Spelling & Sound

1.6 - English spelling does not always indicate pronunciation.


- It was famously claimed that the word ‘fish’ could be spelt ‘ghoti’ because:

‘gh’ in ‘enough‘ is pronounced /f/ ,, )/ - ..-


\-

‘o’ in ‘women’ is pronounced /ɪ/


/ ' \W f .'ll't't'
_ :.r

‘ti’ in ‘motion’ is pronounced /ʃ/


so ‘ghoti’ could be pronounced /fɪʃ/!

✦ The pronunciation of many English sounds can be predicted by their spelling.


✦ The ‘Spelling & Sound’ section shows you how to select sounds accurately by :t1f
interpreting spelling.
l+"16
EXERCISE
- Each group of words contains an identical spelling.
- Circle the word that you think is pronounced differently from the others.

1. goose loose choose


2. nose rose lose
3. played stopped liked
4. father author Northern
5. paid maid said
6. put but hut
7. none done gone
8. foot book food
9. slow now cow
10. word work worn
11. watch wall was

1.7 - Listen and check your answers.

9 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


Schwa | Spelling & Sound
- Match the words below with the IPA transcription on the right:

Word IPA Transcription

1.8 around ˈmænə


6
manner ˈseɪlə

sailor ˈkæktəs
fe?)x)/
cactus əˈraʊnd

- Which sound appears in every IPA transcription?

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

- Think of any word in English with 3 syllables or more.


- How many schwa sounds does it contain? Check in a dictionary.

EXAMPLE: ‘conspiracy’ = 2 schwa sounds.

10 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


Function & Content | Structure

- Listen to the sentence below:

1.11 “Shall we go for a walk?”

- Which words are stressed? Why?

✦ Spoken English is divided into function and content words.


✦ Function words carry only grammatical meaning, such as:

Word Type Examples


prepositions to from for of with by

auxiliaries are was do have could would shall can

articles a an the

quantifiers some any few all

pronouns he she it you I this that


✦ Content words carry real meaning such as:

Word Type Examples


nouns car wedding James table joy

verbs move drink turn enjoy think

adjectives big interesting quiet slow bright

adverbs quickly quietly fortunately often again

EXERCISE
- In the sentences below, underline the function words:

1.12 1. Can we go for a swim in the sea?


2. It’s a beautiful day in the South of England.
3. How do you want to pay for this, sir?
4. Jessica Smith is required in ‘Arrivals’ immediately.
5. When you get to the station, give me a call.
6. Would you like some of my carrot cake?

11 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


Schwa Function Words | Structure

- 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)

1.14 1 to /tu:/ I went to work early. /tə/

2 are /ɑ:/ What are you doing? /ə/

3 was /wɒz/ Was it warm in Greece? /wəz/

4 from /frɒm/ This cardʼs from my family. /frəm/

5 there /ðeə/ There werenʼt enough drinks. /ðə/

6 can /kæn/ Where can we buy a map? /kən/

7 her /hɜ:/ Her carʼs broken down. /hə/

8 for /fɔ:/ Iʼll repeat for the last time! /fə/

12 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


Introduction | Intonation
- Listen to the following question being answered in three different ways:

1.15 A Johnny, have you finished


your homework?

1. ↘Yes
B 2. ↘↗Yes
3. ↗Yes

- Which answer (B) means i) maybe ii) definitely iii) why are you asking me?

• Spoken English uses 3 intonation patterns - fall, fall-rise & rise.


• Intonation shows us the speaker’s attitude to what they are saying.

DRILL
- Repeat after the recording:

1.16 1. a)↘Yes b)↘↗Yes c)↗Yes


2. a)↘No b)↘↗No c)↗No

EXERCISE
- Listen to the conversations and circle the answer you hear:

1.17 1. Are you married? Yes ↘ ↘↗ ↗


2. Did you enjoy the film? Yes ↘ ↘↗ ↗
3. Can you afford this meal? Yes ↘ ↘↗ ↗
4. You’re drunk, aren’t you? No ↘ ↘↗ ↗
5. Is this your first class? No ↘ ↘↗ ↗
6. Did you eat all the chocolate? No ↘ ↘↗ ↗

13 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


Usage | Intonation

✦ Intonation shows us a speakers’ attitude to their words.


✦ This course will show you how to produce English intonation in your speech.

✦ Some important examples of intonation usage are displayed below.

EXERCISE

1. ATTITUDE

- Listen to the following conversation twice:

1.18 A “Dad, I’ve got some news, I’m getting married!”


B “Excellent”

i) How is the father’s reaction different in each case?


ii) How does he show this with intonation?

2. IMPLICATION

- Listen to the following conversation twice:

1.19 A “What did you think of the film?” B “It was good.”

i) What is the difference in meaning between the two versions?


ii) How is the intonation in the word ‘good’ different the second time?

3. REPETITION

Listen to the following conversation:

1.20 A “Who are you meeting tonight?” B “Nicole Kidman”.”


A “Who are you meeting tonight?” B “Not the Nicole Kidman!”

- Person A says the same question twice, but the intonation is different the second time.
How does it change and why?

14 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


IPA | Postscript

- Look at the dictionary entry for the word “personally”:

personally /ˈpɜ:sənli/

- What differences do you notice between the spelt and the IPA versions?

✦ IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) shows the way we pronounce words.


✦ In English, the pronunciation of a word often differs from its spelling, making IPA a

very useful study tool to improve your pronunciation.


✦ Stress is marked in IPA using the following symbol / ˈ/

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

Word IPA Silent Consonant(s)


1 autumn ˈɔ:təәm n

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.

15 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


Answer Key
Chapter Pages
1 113 - 114
2 115 - 116
3 117 - 118
4 119 - 120
5 121 - 122
6 123 - 124
7 125 - 126
8 127 - 128
9 129 - 130

112 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


Answer Key | Chapter 1

Consonant Articulation | Sounds

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.

Introduction | Spelling & Sound

EXERCISE
1. choose 2. lose 3. played 4. author 5. said 6. put 7. gone 8. food 9. slow
10. worn 11. wall

Schwa | Spelling & Sound

- around /əˈraʊnd/, manner /ˈmænə/, sailor /ˈseɪlə/, cactus /ˈkæktəs/


- /ə/ appears in every IPA transcription (in bold above).

EXERCISE
servant persist bacon picture commit alive
jumper sublime London salad Peru structure
suggest soldier persuade combine balloon
terror cushion scripture tighten sofa Russia

Function & Content | Structure

- ʻgoʼ and ʻwalkʼ are stressed because they carry meaning.


- The other words ʻshallʼ, ʻweʼ, ʻforʼ, & ʻaʼ are all grammatical words used to gel the
sentence.

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?

Schwa Function Words | Structure

- Function words pronounced with schwa in the passage: ʻtoʼ, ʻforʼ, ʻaʼ, ʻofʼ, ʻbutʼ, ʻtheʼ, ʻareʼ,
ʻthereʼ, ʻaʼ, ʻhaveʼ, ʻatʼ.

113 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


Answer Key | Chapter 1
Introduction | Intonation
- i) ʻMaybeʼ = ↘↗yes ii) ʻDefinitelyʼ = ↘yes iii) ʻWhy are you asking?ʼ = ↗yes.

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/.

EXERCISE 1 autumn ɔ:təm n

2 half hɑ:f l

3 lamb læm b

4 know nəʊ k (and w)

5 island aɪlənd s

6 light laɪt gh

7 cupboard ˈkʌbəd p (and r)

8 write raɪt w

9 often ɒfən t

10 handbag hænbæg d

114 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


What to do now?

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

2. Join ‘The Sound of English’ Group Classes in central London, daily


17:30-19:00 and Saturdays 10:00 - 13:00. The entire course book is covered,
classes cost:

£25 / 1 Class | £90 / 5 Classes | £175 / 10 Classes | £300 / 20 Classes

Visit www.thesoundofenglish.org/classes.html for dates and booking.

Intensive 1 week and 1 weekend courses are also available.

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.

Visit the Pronunciation Studio at www.pronunciationlondon.co.uk.

134 © Joseph Hudson 2011-2012


www.thesoundofenglish.org

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