American accent training download pdf

Reviews 1. Quotes 0. Ann Cook is the author of the best-selling American Accent Training text, published by Barron's in , and Account link on the library. Close Ad. Browse without ads. Girls Garcia American accent. Mastered the American dialect Master American Accent. Payment of hybridity in Artdhakh Accent. Kuwaitis and beautiful accent. Payment of hybridity in Artdah Accent. Accent ete Khan. Audio and audio studies in Arabic morphological. Training the artist internally; Tips for writers, actors, artists, musicians and visual creativity of the first American coach.

When will Vick weigh the vegetables? Will we view the video on Wednesday? Studying the four basic rules below will also be helpful to you. CD 3 Track Rule 1 Rule 4 An extra syllable is added to words that end with certain consonant sounds followed by s. Memorize these very common words that have a final s. Do you still use this?

No, I have no use for it any more. Where will they house their guests? They have a guest house. Does he abuse drugs? Please excuse me. Would you close the door? You do it. Can you advise me on this? Sure, I can give you some advice. Say the following sentences quickly, making sure that you are not forgetting the s endings. A dishwasher washes dishes. A bus driver drives buses. A mechanic fixes cars.

A teacher teaches students. A watchmaker makes watches. A real estate agent sells houses. Make sure you are not pronouncing the words this and these the same way. I like these books. He takes two buses to work. He speaks with his colleagues and clients and conducts meetings. Trammell Crow. In American English, the final g in the word ending -ing should not be dropped, but it should not be over pronounced either. CD 3 Track 26 Words for Practice 1. I love running, skiing, and swimming.

They sell anything and everything in that clothing store. The back of the tongue is up, touching the soft palate which is located in the back of your mouth. Consonant Clusters Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Henry Ward Beecher. Therefore, when native speakers of these languages speak English, they tend to skip one or more of the consonants.

Make sure you pronounce every consonant sound! Also, many verbs that take -ed in the past tense consist of consonant clusters; for example: watched, stopped, picked. Words for Practice for x and cc 1. Word Contrasts for Practice Make sure you pronounce the words in the following pairs differently. Notice that the first word contains just an s sound; the second word contains a k and an s sound and is spelled with the letter x.

Practice Dialogue a. How did you do on the entrance exam? I expected to pass, but it was extra difficult. Did you study all the sections of the textbook? Yes, but I have to study harder on the next test and hopefully I will be successful.

When do you expect to take the next test? I will attempt it in September. There are three flights to the United States. She adds and subtracts the costs. Please give the dates to the courts. The applicants signed the contracts. He accepts the facts about the Democrats. Word Contrasts Make sure that you that you pronounce the following word pairs differently. She feeds the cats and cleans the yards. The brides got diamonds from their husbands. He accepts rides from friends.

He needs the facts about the debts. Stressed and unstressed syllables form the basis of the rhythmic pattern of English words. Many languages place the same amount of stress on each syllable. For example, in many lan- guages the word banana is pronounced as:.

The vowel within the stressed syllable is longer, louder and higher in pitch. It can be spelled with a, e, i, o, or u. All of the five vowels can sound the same if they are part of a reduced syllable.

As you can see, it is more important to know which syllable is stressed than how the word is spelled. Your dictionary may have differ- ent stress markers. CD 3 Track 31 Stressed and Reduced Vowels Listen to the following word pairs and notice the changes in the vowel sounds, depending on whether the syllable is stressed or reduced.

The first word of each pair has only one syllable, so the vowel must be fully pronounced. The second word has two syllables, with the second syllable reduced. The following words are great examples of why syllable stress is such an important component of the American accent.

Ask a colleague or classmate who is a native speaker to pronounce the words for you as you record them. Listen to the recording, carefully noting which syllable is stressed.

Keep in mind that there are many exceptions to these rules and that English syllable stress can be quite irregular. Get into the habit of using your dictionary or asking native speakers to pronounce new or confusing words for you.

Make sure you reduce the vowel in the unstressed syllable. First you will hear the noun, and then the verb. CD 3 Track 34 Practice Sentences Underline the stressed syllables in the verbs and nouns in bold letters.

To check your answers, listen to the audio. The singer wants to record a new record. The drug addict is addicted to heroin. He insulted me with a rude insult. I would like to present all of the present members. This permit permits you to park your car here. They protested in the protest. Do you object to this object? The convict was convicted again. I suspect that they caught the suspect.

They are going to contest the results of the contest. Practice Dialogue Once again, underline the stressed syllables in the bold words before listening to the audio. Have you heard? The police caught the suspect! Do you mean the one who is suspected of robbing the bank? Yes, I heard that he had a criminal record. Oh really? What crime was he convicted of? How many years do you think he will spend in prison? A maximum of ten years. But he might be released early on good conduct.

If he conducts himself badly and insults the prison guards, I wonder if his sentence will be increased. Words Ending in -tion and -ate CD 3 Verbs that end with -ate have a stress on the first syllable. Nouns ending with -tion however, Track 35 have a stress on the syllable before the suffix. Examine the examples in the chart below. Verbs that end in -ate Nouns ending in -tion Stress is on the syllable that Stress is on the first syllable precedes the suffix -tion 1.

Word Pairs for Practice 1. The suffix is always stressed in these words 1. Japanese Chinese Here are a few examples. Note these common examples: 39 myself himself itself yourself herself ourselves. In the nouns, stress the prefix. In the verbs, stress the root word. The Protest The protesters gathered in front of the government building expecting to confront the elected officials.

They were protesting the recently uncovered corruption. It is believed that the officials were inside the building discussing the conflict. The crowds threatened to disrupt the meeting. Some workers complained about receiving threats from the protesters. The mayor confirmed that he would conduct an investigation and try to resolve the conflict. The sheriff will assist him to compile all the details of the investigation.

The mayor assured the public that he would make an effort to protect the citizens from further corruption. A B C Study Tip Practice reading aloud, underlining longer words and determining sylla- ble stress by looking in the dictionary. Your dictionary may come with an audio CD which will help you hear the correct word pronunciation.

CD 3 Track Syllable Stress Changes 40 When a word changes from a noun to a verb or to an adjective or adverb, frequently the stress placement changes as well. Listen to these common words that non-native speakers tend to mispronounce read across.

Canada Canadian To check your answers, He likes politics. He wants to be a politician. I love photography. Do you take a lot of photographs? He studied economy. He is an economical shopper. Do you know that family? He is a very good mechanic. He is fixing the mechanism.

Their opinions vary. There is a variety of opinions in the room. We celebrate Memorial Day. Do you know the origin of your name? He is a registered Democrat. He watched the democratic debate on TV. It is not necessary to do that. He likes to compete.

Practice Paragraph Underline the stressed syllables in the highlighted words. Check your answers by looking in the dictionary. American Declaration of Independence When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. You must remind yourself that one of the most important factors to a great American accent is the concept of stress and reduction. The vowel spelling changes, but the vowel sound is the same in all of these groups of words. Practice these words ending in American children person nation 3.

German dozen iron direction 5. Note: In this grouping of words the first syllables, rather than the last, are reduced. Words beginning with If you stress the right words your speech will have a natural rhythm and melody that is familiar to native speakers. The stress and reduction of words creates the music of English. If your sentences are difficult to understand, it could be that you are not stressing any words, or else that you are stressing the wrong words. If you are not emphasizing any words, your speech will sound flat and monotone, and the listener will not know where one word begins and another ends.

If you are stressing the wrong words, your speech will sound very foreign. So, if you have a ten- dency to speak too fast, learning to speak with correct word stress will automatically force you to slow down. They are part of one unit and have become a set phrase. In compound nouns, the first word is stressed, and the two words are said together, with no pausing in between the words.

Note that compound nouns can be writ- ten either as a single word or as two separate words. Words for Practice These professions are all examples of compound nouns. Practice Dialogue Leaving for Vacation a. Hi Christine. Are you all packed?

Did you remember to take everything? And reading material for the air- plane. How are you getting to the airport? The taxicab will take me. Do you have your flight information? Uh oh. I forgot my passport! The salesman was very helpful. He told me all about the hard drives and the operating systems. I decided to get a laptop even though it has a smaller keyboard.

He recommended a good webcam and a flash drive. I ended up also get- ting some software, headphones, a sound card, and a mouse pad. I also got a fax ma- chine, a few video games, and a navigation system for my car.

But when I got to the cash register and gave them my credit card, they said I went over my credit limit.

I was so embarrassed! I think I went overboard! When two adjectives precede a noun, stress the first adjective and the noun. The noun gets the most stress. CD 3 Track 48 Practice Sentences 1. The nice young man helped the little old lady. The big blue bus passed the little white car. The rich young man bought that big old house. CD 3 Track 50 Practice Sentences 1. They had a good time playing football. I bought some sunglasses at the new store.

My hairdresser has blond hair. The postman brought me an important letter. That salesman is a very nice man. Her large apartment is on the third floor of that apartment building. The meaning has been lost and has become a part of a fixed phrase or com- mon expression. Here are some other examples. White House 6.

Bluetooth 5. CD 3 Track Phrasal Verbs Phrasal verbs are idiomatic; they cannot be translated word-for-word. For example, turn on, turn off, turn down, and turn up, are all phrasal verbs. These types of words are very common in English and are often more frequently used than their one-word synonyms. He lifted the box. He put out his cigarette. He extinguished his cigarette. He looked over the material He reviewed the material. Turn it off. The music sounds good.

Turn it up. Turn it on. That turns me off. The music is too loud. Turn it down. Did he ask her out? She turned him down. Did you ask for help?

They turned me away. The car was tuned up. My car needed a tune-up. I worked out yesterday. I had a great workout. The papers were handed out. We got some interesting handouts. They covered it up well. I heard about the cover-up. A lot of food was left over. We ate leftovers for lunch. That really turns me off! They let me down. It was a big letdown. The order was mixed up. He dropped out. I need to sign up for the class. Where is the sign-up sheet? More Words for Practice Stress the first word in these phrasal nouns within compound nouns.

Practice Sentences Stress the highlighted words. I found out that my pickup truck needs a tune-up. The marriage was called off because the couple broke up. He called me up to tell me about the holdup at the bank. We dressed up for the sit-down dinner. We found out that the check-in time was put off.

I am trying to cut down on eating out. I looked it over and gave him the printout. There was a mix-up at the drive-through window. Abbreviations for Practice 1. MBA 4. CNN 7. FBI 2. UCLA 5. USA 8. PhD 3. JFK 6. IBM 9. Numbers for Practice 1. Practice Sentences CD 3 Track 57 1. We arrived in the USA in My class starts and and ends at Names of Places and People CD 3 Track 58 When pronouncing a name—whether of a person or place—always stress the last word.

Place Names for Practice 1. New York 5. Las Vegas 2. Central Park 6. Palm Springs 3. South Africa 7. North Dakota 4. Venice Beach 8. Mount Everest. Names of People for Practice 1. George Washington 4. John F. Kennedy 2. Bill Clinton 5. Martin Luther King 3. Tom Cruise 6. Julia Roberts. Stress the words in bold letters. The items you have studied in this chapter—such as com- pound nouns, names of people and places, phrasal verbs, abbreviations—are in italics. I will take United Airlines flight I hope I get over my jetlag pretty quickly.

After I check in at the hotel, I will call a taxicab to pick me up and take me to Universal Studios. I also plan to visit Palm Springs and San Diego.

For now, just keep in mind that we generally stress words that carry the most meaning. CD 3 Track 62 Lengthening the Main Vowel in Stressed Words When the stressed word has only one syllable, just prolong the word and make the vowel higher in pitch.

If the stressed word has more than one syllable, make sure that the stressed syllable of the word is prolonged and emphasized more than usual. CD 3 Track 63 Practice with Vowel Length Make sure you raise your pitch and prolong the underlined vowel in the stressed words below.

I got it. I got a new job. I think I got a new job. I have a new class. How do you feel? When did he leave?

How did you feel when he had to leave? That awful novel is too long. I listen to the recordings and write down the mistakes. Track These words are usually nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and sometimes question words such as when, why, or where.

If we removed the surrounding words and just spoke using content words, the general idea of what we were trying to say would still be understood. Also, content words are like key words that you would use when searching a topic on the internet.

Notice how the stress changes as more information is added to the end. The underlined word gets the most stress. I like bacon. I like bacon and eggs. Do you want salt? Do you want salt and pepper? I need it. I need to go. I need to go home. I saw him. I saw the man.

I saw the man you told me about. He drove it. He drove the car. He drove the car he bought yesterday. He drove the car that he bought from his friend. We emphasize main verbs more than the participles or gerunds that come before them. I have to go. Practice Sentences CD 3 Track stressed nouns: reduced pronouns: He told John.

He told him. I like that car. I like it. I need a job. If it is followed by a noun, stress the noun more. That was good. That was a good film. John is nice. John is a nice man. I can wait for you. I am waiting for you. Tell her. They include distinguishing between casual and formal speech, homophones e.

A native language guide references problematic accent issues for 13 different language backgrounds. The compact discs include spoken dictations for each of the book's ten chapters. Students start by writing out what they hear, and then comparing what they have written with the book's printed version. In the process, they begin learning the elements of grammar, staring with the simple present tense of the verb "to be" and progressing to all other tenses and parts of speech.

Students gradually learn how to use English words and pronounce them properly in grammatically correct sentences. Following each chapter's introductory sentence, they are given a brief story.

A short test at the end of each chapter helps them determine their learning progress. The dictations start out quite simple and become progressively more difficult from one chapter to the next. The book is filled with charts and illustrations to facilitate students' learning progress.

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