/v/

1a. Save 2a. Very 3a. Vase 4a. VIN 5a. Grieve 6a. Van 7a. Vaux

vs.

/f/
1b. Safe 2b. Ferry 3b. Face 4b. Fin 5b. Grief 6b. Fan 7b. Fox

/p/
1a. Pat 2a. Pot 3a. Cap 4a. Perry 5a. Pup 6a. Lip 7a. Crap

vs.

/b/
1b. Bat

/v/
1a. Very

vs.

/b/
1b. Berry 2b. Base 3b. Ban 4b. Box 5b. Lib

2b. Bought 2a. Vase 3b. Cab 4b. Berry 5a. Pub 6b. Lib 7b. Crab 3a. Van 4a. Vaux 5a. Live

/ / or / / vs. / t /
1a. That 2a. Thor 3a. Bath 4a. Thought 5a. Teeth 6a. Third 7a. Those 1b. Tat 2b. Torn 3b. Bat

/t/
1a. Lit 2a. Mat 3a. Rot

vs.

/d/
1b. Lid 2b. Mad 3b. Rod 4b. Laid 5b. Ride 6b. Rode 7b. Said

//
1a. Hath 2a. Both 3a. Math 4a. Wrath 5a. Faith 6a. Wreath 7a. Cloth

vs.

/d/
1b. Had 2b. Bode 3b. Mad 4b. Rad 5b. Fade 6b. Read 7b. Clod

4b. Taught 4a. Late 5b. Teat 6b. Terd 7b. Toes 5a. Rite 6a. Wrote 7a. Set

/ /
1a. Chip 2a. Batch 3a. Chore 4a. Much 5a. Choose 6a. Crutch 7a. Chant

vs.

//
1b. Ship 2b. Bash 3b. Shore 4b. Mush 5b. Shoes 6b. Crush

/g/
1a. Bag 2a. Goo 3a. Lag 4a. Glass 5a. Big 6a. Gone

vs.

/k/
1b. Back 2b. Coo 3b. Lack 4b. Class 5b. Bick 6b. Con 7b. Rick

/ d / vs.
1a. Joke 2a. Jar 3a. Jip 4a. Large 5a. Oh Geez! 6a. Midge 7a. Jew

/ /
1b. Choke 2b. Char 3b. Chip 4b. Larch 5b. Oh Cheese! 6b. Mitch 7b. Chew

7b. Shant 7a. Rig

/ i: /
1a. Sheep 2a. Wheat 3a. Feet 4a. Leap 5a. Neat 6a. Seat 7a. Wean

vs.

/I/
1b. Ship 2b. Wit 3b. Fit 4b. Lip 5b. Knit 6b. Sit 7b. Win

/ eI /
1a. Mase 2a. Main 3a. Wane 4a. Trade 5a. Face 6a. Paid 7a. Pain

vs. / e /
1b. Mess 2b. Men

/ / vs.
1a. Lust 2a. Nut

/ a: /
1b. Loss 2b. Not 3b. Pop 4b. Rot 5b. Caught 6b. onto 7b. Mock

3b. When 3a. Pup 4b. Tread 4a. Rut 5b. Fess 6b. Pet 7b. Pen 5a. Cut 6a. unto 7a. Muck

1a. 2a. 3a. 4a. 5a. 6a. 7a.

1a. 2a. 3a. 4a. 5a. 6a. 7a.

1a. 2a. 3a. 4a. 5a. 6a. 7a.

1a. 2a. 3a. 4a. 5a. 6a. 7a.

1a. 2a. 3a. 4a. 5a. 6a. 7a.

1a. 2a. 3a. 4a. 5a. 6a. 7a.

__________ to the wind after dark makes my heart ______ like drums from a social revolution. I try to sit in ________ and absorb the moment but I create my own __________ . I hear the sound of the wind whispering __________the trees. I hear my symphony that compliments the ___________leaves. To allow yourself to completely ________ in the NOW is what we live for. At this _________ moment, I am the wind; I am the trees; I am the leaves_________ ; I am the whispering wind __________ down before dawn can break the __________sky. Often times, I __________where you are as I sit ________ this tree. Sometimes it gets so lonely beneath this______, but I am equally as strong and I will live like this oak: deeply _________ and waiting for a breeze to keep me _________. Listening to the wind after dark makes my heart beat like drums from a social revolution. I try to sit in silence and absorb the moment but I create my own symphony. I hear the sound of the wind whispering through the trees. I hear my symphony that compliments the trembling leaves. To allow yourself to completely melt in the NOW is what we live for. At this precise moment, I am the wind; I am the trees; I am the leaves trembling; I am the whispering wind winding down before dawn can break the speckled sky. Often times, I wonder where you are as I sit below this tree. Sometimes it gets so lonely beneath this oak, but I am equally as strong and I will live like this oak: deeply rooted and waiting for a breeze to keep me company

Being so ________while the seasons pass, I sometimes forget about _______ animals who silently sit ________ me. Why me? I __________. What makes these ________ chose me to sit under? Ahhhh, here comes my favorite part of the day. ________ of spring air seem to always ________my worries away.__________, I pass them on to those ______________ souls that are trying to find ____________ in my shadow. Do they hear me __________ as the wind _________me? Do they hear at all? I have seen such a __________of individuals: crying, ___________, laughing, sleeping, meditating, ___________, touching me, hugging me, __________their names in me, painting me, caressing me, ___________in my death. I find it ________ interesting how my death fills their life with joy. Well, here comes fall. I suppose its time to ________ orange. Being so sturdy while the seasons pass, I sometimes forget about those animals who silently sit below me. Why me? I inquire. What makes these folks chose me to sit under? Ahhhh, here comes my favorite part of the day. Gusts of spring air seem to always wipe my worries away. Perhaps, I pass them on to those unfortunate souls that are trying to find solitude in my shadow. Do they hear me chuckle as the wind tickles me? Do they hear at all? I have seen such a myriad of individuals: crying, pondering, laughing, sleeping, meditating, sighing, touching me, hugging me, carving their names in me, painting me, caressing me, frolicking in my death. I find it quite interesting how my death fills their life with joy. Well, here comes fall. I suppose its time to turn orange.

Instructions on how to use the Minimal Pairs Worksheet.

* Some of the words will have to be changed to reflect regional dialects. This worksheet is based on American pronunciation. This exercise has been composed to address common pronunciation problems that my Spanish speaking students fall victim to. Throughout my 3 years of teaching in Mexico and Peru, I have noticed some common pronunciation errors that majority of my students, ranging from basic to advanced, continuously say. I would like to explain how I go about presenting this worksheet and how to use the following paragraphs. 1) Start the class off brainstorming the most difficult aspects of the English language. In most classes, pronunciation seems to be the biggest obstacle 2) For each aspect, try to come up with a couple of ways to help your students confront this difficulty. ( Most students dont have very good studying habits or methods, so this is a real help for them.) 3) Ask your students, Why do you think that English is so difficult/has so many irregulars? Answer: Due to the mixture of many other languages: Germanic, Celtic, Latin, Greek, Polish and many more. 4) To exemplify further the difficulty of English pronunciation, I write on the board the following words: Cough, Rough, Through, Bough Off Puff New Bow(the action of leaning forward to show respect)

I ask them to try and pronounce the first row of words followed by the second. Then after I pronounce the first row correctly and then pair them up with the second row, we all start talking about how confusing the English language can be. (-ough all with all different pronunciations) 6) First, isolate each sound that will be covered in the minimal pair wksht and work on its pronunciation. 7) Pair each sound up with its confusing counterpart. Preferably ones that arent found in the wksht. eg. Those / Toes Vun / Fun (Its ok to use words that arent actually words to create a minimal pair. The objective is not to build vocabulary but rather, to distinguish between confusing sounds.) 8) After a brief review and explanation of the articulation points and manner of articulation for each sound to be covered, pass out the wksht to each student. 9) Student A will start with the first box and RANDOMLY choose one of words in each pair. Student A can only say the word one time and must try and say it normally. Student A underlines the word that they chose.

10) Student B puts a dot next to the word that they hear and a dot with a circle if it was a guess. Student A finishes all the words in all the boxes in the same manner. Then, they switch.

11) Once they both have finished, they compare the words they said to the words their partner heard. 12) For each word that was heard correctly, the speaker receives one point. For each word that was guessed correctly, the speaker gets a half a point. Tally up the points at the end to see who has the most points. 13) If you would like to change this up a bit, after each box make your students chose a different partner. 14) Review answers and have a brief Q&A. I have left some blank spaces so you can add 6 more minimal pairs groups to the worksheet depending on the nature of your class. In addition, I used the IPA format so your students can learn some of the symbols to help them use their dictionary more proficiently.

Instructions on how to use the 2 paragraphs.

1) First make copies of each page and cut them into two, so you have the original paragraph on one piece of paper and the same paragraph with blanks on another. 2) Pair your students up and have Student A read to Student B. Student B must write the word s/he hears in the blank. 3) The first paragraph is from the perspective of a tree. The second is from the perspective of someone sitting underneath the tree. You should see if the students can figure this out just from reading. 4) After they finish, review the answers and talk about any abstract concepts that were difficult to understand or confusing words, which there will be.

I wrote these paragraphs one day because I was tired of doing boring reading assignments that were putting my students to sleep and demotivating them. These always produce conversation and the students seem to be more involved in the reading. I hope this can help you and make teaching pronunciation more fun and not such an intimidating topic to tackle.

Cheers to all,

Gitane Jazz