C O N F I D E N T C O M M U N I C AT O R 2 0 1 8

A C C E N T R E D U C T I O N

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J E F F R E Y D AV I S

A G E N D A

• Housekeeping • Introduction • Class Structure • Review Class Syllabus

How is speech formed?

Articulators

•Listen! • Which articulators do I use? • Which do I relax? • Repetition for muscle memory • Focus on how it feels, not how it sounds

H O W T O C H A N G E A P R O B L E M S O U N D

H O W M A N Y S O U N D S A R E T H E R E I N W E L L S P O K E N E N G L I S H ?

• Always voiced • Uninterrupted flow of air • Oral

V O W E L S A R E …

• Voiced or voiceless • An interrupted flow of air • Oral OR nasal

C O N S O N A N T S A R E …

• Pause slightly at the end of thought groups or at the punctuation

• Focus on your consonants

W H AT I S T H E S I M P L E S T WAY T O C H A N G E Y O U R A C C E N T ?

Syllable Stress

W H AT I S A S Y L L A B L E ?

A syllable is a unit of SOUND centered around the VOWEL sound

•Primary - vowel sound is loud and clear •Secondary - vowel sound is loud and clear

•Unstressed - vowel sound is soft but clear •Reduced - vowel sound is soft but unclear

T Y P E S O F S Y L L A B L E S

Sentence Stress

•Content words are stressed •Structure words are unstressed

R U L E S O F S E N T E N C E S T R E S S

Content Words are Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs

Structure Words are Articles, Pronouns, Prepositions and

Conjunctions

Linking The Language Together

• Vowel to vowel blend • Consonant to consonant hold and connect

• Look for same consonant blends • Weak forms of “and” and “the”

T I P S F O R L I N K I N G

• She asked for no ice • Hot dog • Wash shelves, this sample, with those

L E T ’ S P R A C T I C E

Tips for Chinese, Indian, and Spanish Speakers of English

The TH, L and V sound are often problematic

Let’s Practice!

T H S O U N D W O R D S

•think Smith thunder • with tenth throat • those thing pith • these teeth cloth • thank faith moth • that thin math • the thrill arithmetic • thought other father • through leather mother

L S O U N D W O R D S

•lake school sail •love waffle bell •let waddle grill •lamb pencil waddle •solve seal lipstick •lime mail ladybug •leaf thrill lion •nail late animal •sandal line

V S O U N D W O R D S

•vail vase vain •vat van vote •vapor vulture voice •detective volcano never •shave vest river •development village giving love vortex moved

•shovel glove brave • vampire vacuum wave • cave vine hive

A P P E N D I X

Simplified Linking Rules

List of Weak Form Words

Intonation

Great poems to read out loud

Shel Silverstein Poems

VOA - News in American English

A P P E N D I X

Vowel and Consonant Sounds:

All the Sounds of American English!

Great “Th” Sound Worksheet

Past Tense Pronunciation

T and D Worksheet

"R" Diphthong Sounds

A P P E N D I X

Foot and Fool Sounds

Vowel Contrast #1

Vowel Contrast #2

Vowel Contrast #3

L and R Consonant Sounds

A P P E N D I XApps for Grammar and Pronunciation:

Text to Speech App

Mobile Speech Recognition App

Read and Write for Google Chrome

Grammar:

The Different Tenses of English

Article usage

Idioms