Pronunciation Poems

These chinchillas' favorite day of the week is "Fun Friday" and they're ready to PARTY! (Image)

Good afternoon, and welcome to "Fun Friday"! As usual, I'd like to offer the disclaimer that "Fun Friday" is indeed fun for me, but maybe I'm a bit of a language nerd. If you don't think Fun Friday posts are actually fun, then I'm always open for suggestions!

So, today's post is about pronunciation. My mom recently sent me a poem that she found on the internet, and the basic premise is that English pronunciation is difficult. And that's true. These pronunciation poems are actually fairly common. You can find printed examples here, here, and here. And here's an example (with subtitles) of one of these pronunciation poems:

The one my mom sent me is a bit different, but it's got the same idea. The point is that in English, it's crucial to remember that spelling and pronunciation are two different --sometimes frustratingly different-- things. If you look at the words tough, though, thought, through, and thorough, all have the letters "ough" together, but each word is pronounced differently.

These are sometimes very "advanced" language points, but you can still use this advice even if you're a beginning English learner:

4 TIPS FOR IMPROVING PRONUNCIATION

1. When you learn a word, always try to learn how the word is spelled and pronounced at the same time. It will make things a lot less difficult in the future.

2. To learn pronunciation, it can help to group rhyming words together, especially if their spelling is different. For example, if you make a "Rhyming Words List," you could include groups of words like heard, word, bird, slurred, and herd --yes, they all rhyme, and they're all spelled completely differently! If you make lists of rhyming words, they're easier to remember than trying to learn them all individually.

3. It's often useful to learn some phonetic symbols (here's a complete list). Most online dictionaries now let you click on a word to hear it pronounced, but if you only have a paper dictionary, most of them use phonetic symbols for pronunciation. It's good to know basic, common symbols like:

- /I/ as in hit, sit, and fit

- /i/ as in heat, seat, and feet 
- /æ/ as in cat, fat, and Matt

- /ʃ/ (often spelled with the letters "sh") as in shock, shoe, and push
- /ʧ/ (often spelled with the letters "ch") as in check, chew, and Charlie
- /ʤ/ (often spelled with the letters "j" or "g") as in jelly, gin, and John
- /s/ (the basic "s" sound) as in silly, say, and Samantha
- /z/ as in zero, fuzz, and please (remember that the letter "s" is often pronounced like a "z" in English)
- /θ/ (a "th" sound with no vibration) as in think, thanks, and bath
- /ð / (a "th" sound with vibration) as in the, brother, and this
That may seem like a lot of symbols to learn, but if you learn at least these basic ones, they'll help you a lot in your pronunciation studies.

4. Actively try to practice pronunciation. You can do this by speaking with native speakers and asking them to comment if you say things incorrectly. You can also read books out loud, even if you're alone. You may not have feedback that way, but it will help you get used to speaking and pronouncing words in English.

What other ways can you think of to improve pronunciation? If you have any ideas or questions, I'd love to hear from you in the comments section below.

Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!

British and American English Differences Part 1: Pronunciation and Accent

A concept image combining British and American flags. Image Credit.

My former student Sharon recently suggested that I write a blog post about the differences between British and American English. I told her that I didn't actually know many of the differences, since I've spoken and taught American English all my life, and the only time I've been to a place that speaks British English was a single night I spent in London about 14 years ago.

But she said that didn't matter, and that I should do it anyway. And she's right; I realized that just because I don't speak British English, it doesn't mean that I'm clueless about the differences. So, this is just a very basic introduction, but I'd also like to refer you to resources that can give you more information if you're interested in this topic.

One website that I like is called "Separated by a Common Language." Lynne, the writer for that blog, is an American woman who's been living in Britain, and she talks a lot about this topic. Another resource --possibly my favorite-- is Bill Bryson's book The Mother Tongue: English And How It Got That Way. If you're interested in this topic and you're able to get access to this book, it's very interesting and entertaining.

So, let's talk about some differences! Today we'll focus on pronunciation and accent, and in a few days we'll have a second part which will focus on vocabulary differences. 

PRONUNCIATION AND ACCENT

For many English learners, and even native speakers, this is the most noticeable difference between these two types of English. There are many, many sites and blog posts dedicated exclusively to this topic, but for me personally, the biggest differences I notice in pronunciation are in the vowels and in the R's at the end of words.

For example, in this song by the British singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, she sings, "If I can't dance...then I don't want any part of your revolution." You'll probably notice that the words "can't" and "dance" have a soft "A," which would likely be pronounced differently in most American English dialects. Most American English speakers would likely say the A's in this song like /æ/, in other words, like the A in "cat" or "hat." To my ears, when Sophie Ellis-Bextor says these words, the A's sound more like the O in "hot" or "got"; they seem softer. 

I also notice differences in words with an R sound near the end, such as "cards," "party," "heart," "turn," "darling," and "never." In each of these examples, the strong "American" R sound is absent; British English seems to "swallow" these sounds, or convert them to a soft "uh" sound in some cases. Notice that this doesn't happen with words that start with the R sound, though.

I was actually going to put up this Billy Bragg song as a British English example because Angela told me that for her, it didn't even sound like it was English. But then I had to admit that I didn't understand about 75% of the song, either! Still, in the first two lines you can (probably) hear the words "afternoon" and "warmest," which exhibit the "A" and "R" differences I mentioned above. So maybe it's not a good example to analyze, but you can definitely tell he's not from Los Angeles or Cleveland!  

If you compare these two songs with this song by Johnny Cash, you'll notice quite a bit of difference in the two accents --and you should also notice musical differences, since they're different genres, but all great! In Johnny Cash's song, almost all the R's in words like "hurt," "beer," and "first" are pronounced strongly. That's typical of country music, but it's also typical of much of the American English accent. You'll probably also hear some stronger vowel sounds, like the A in "half" and "laughing."

One thing that I think is interesting is how British Accents are perceived in the United States. There's a perception or stereotype in the U.S. that British accents are more "sophisticated" than American ones. British tourists tend to get a lot of attention in the U.S., and some Americans actually try to "adopt" a British accent. This usually doesn't work out well, though, since Americans who do that are usually considered to be "snobs" or "fakes." Additionally, many villains in American movies and TV shows seem to have British accents, even if the villains the actors are portraying happen to be British, German, French, or any other nationality. It makes me wonder if the villains in British TV shows  speak with American accents!

So which one is "better" or "more correct"? Well, I think they're both great, but I'll let you be the judge about which you think sounds better to your ear. American English obviously came from British English, but American English and its words and expressions have also played a role in the development of British English.

If you have any questions, comments, or anecdotes about your experience with British or American pronunciation, please feel free to leave a comment below. And check back in the next few days for the second half of this post, where we'll talk about differences between British and American vocabulary in English.

Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Two Recommended Websites For General English Practice

As I mentioned a while ago, I often have my students complete practice logs. It's a good way to encourage them to practice, and it's also a good way for me to find new language-learning resources that I can pass on to other students. 

This week my student Henry included two good websites in his practice log, and I wanted to mention them here. 

The first is apparently called Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab (although the URL is simply "esl-lab.com," which seems much easier). As the name indicates, it's got a lot of listening exercises with audio, partial scripts, quizzes, and vocabulary highlights. It's even got cultural tips in some of the sections, so the site is pretty great. The topics are very diverse, from pizza delivery to how to behave in a Japanese public bath. There seem to be between 200 and 300 different pages with different topics, and they're conveniently arranged according to difficulty. Check it out!

The second link my student visited was engvid.com. It's also got a self-explanatory name, as it's mainly focused on videos. If you scroll down on the home page, you'll see different topics like business English, grammar, pronunciation, and even my favorite, idioms. The grammar section alone has 105 videos, so there's plenty of material to keep you busy for a while! Check it out, and enjoy!

Thanks for reading, and if you have any additional suggestions for online practice, please leave a comment. Have a great day!

Weekend Words: Loanwords, Part 2

Is this a Chevrolet? Maybe--but I don't care, since this isn't an automotive blog.
The important question for us today is: 'How do you pronounce Chevrolet?'

Last weekend we had a quick introduction to loanwords, so this past week I've been thinking about how common they really are in English. Today I want to focus on a few loanwords that originally come from French. The reason I'd like to call your attention to them is because my students often have problems pronouncing them. For example, in yesterday's class we talked about the word "bouquet," which is a word that means "a bunch of flowers," like a bride has in a wedding.

Notice the spelling of the word "bouquet," and that it ends in the letters "-E-T." A few other examples  of similar French loanwords are filet, buffet, bouquet. The interesting thing about these words is that when you pronounce them in English, the T at the end is silent. You can click on the words to go to the Merriam Webster dictionary to hear their pronunciation, but basically the "-et" is pronounced like the letter "A," so "filet" is pronounced "fill-A," and so on.

Now, note that not all words that end in "-et" are loanwords from French--think of words like "bet," "tweet," or "mallet"--so for non-French words, you'll probably pronounce the "T." But if you can recognize the French loanwords that end in "-et," you can use this pronunciation rule.

Knowing that, how would you pronounce the following common French loanwords in English?

(Click on any of the words for definition and to check your pronunciation):

ballet

beret

bidet

Cabernet

chalet

Chevrolet

crochet

Can you think of any more that follow this pattern?

Later we'll look at more loanwords, so check back soon. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Vocabulary: "Procrastinate"

Are you the type of person who waits until the last minute
to do something important? If so, you're a procrastinator!

I've wanted to focus on some vocabulary words on this blog for a while, so today's post will be the first one. I wanted to call it "Vocabulary ____," but there's no day of the week that starts with "V," at least not in English. So, I decided to call this feature "Word Wednesday"! So today's word is:

PROCRASTINATE

(click on the word for definition and pronunciation)

I noticed that even some of my higher-level students hadn't heard this word, but it's a great one. It sounds vulgar, but it's not. As a verb, procrastinate means to avoid doing something, usually something important. The idea or concept is procrastination, and the person who procrastinates is a procrastinator.

Here are some examples of these words in use:

"I'm disappointed with John's presentation. I heard that he was procrastinating and planned it at the very last minute."

Pete: "Hey Sally, I thought you had an English test tomorrow. What are you doing?"

Sally: "I do, but I can't focus on studying. I really prefer to chat with my friends on Facebook."

Pete: "Wow, you're a real procrastinator! You should start studying or you might fail the test!"

"I know that I should clean the toilet, but it's such a terrible job and I keep finding other, more interesting things to do. Still, sooner or later, I'll have to stop procrastinating and actually clean it."

So, that's it for today. If you have other suggestions for new vocabulary words to talk about, I'd love to hear them. But be sure to tell me soon--don't procrastinate! Thanks for reading, and have a good day!

Great Pronunciation Site

The words Bag and Back: A minimal pair
that's difficult for some language learners. 

I was going to do a common error today, but I decided to share a link to a great website instead. Honestly, I'm running low on ideas for common errors, so if you have a suggestion for one, I'd love to hear from you.

Anyhow, the site is called "shiporsheep.com," and it focuses on minimal pairs. If you don't know what a minimal pair is, it's basically two words that are pronounced exactly the same, except for a single sound. Some examples of minimal pairs are words like bag and back, chip and cheap, chip and ship, pig and pick, and, of course, ship and sheep.

shiporsheep.com is great because after you click on the sounds you want to focus on, it'll open a page with all sorts of examples of the sounds you want to practice. Then you only need to put your mouse over a word to hear it pronounced.

One disadvantage of the site is that there's no feedback. You can pronounce the words after you hear them, but there's no one or nothing to indicate if you're actually pronouncing them correctly. Still, it's a cool site, so you should check it out!

That's all for today, but later this week I'll try to give you a few more language-learning resources. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!