50 Rules of Pronunciation

Pronunciation
Success
American English
Collected & Edited by Long Pham –
IZONE TEAM
Long Pham [Type text] IZONE

Module 0 – The 10 key towards improvement
Number 1 – Practice and listen
- When you listen to any recording/video, try to repeat them or speak along. Also, there will
be a lot of rules for you to remember, and therefore, practice and revise these rules on a
frequent basis, preferably after each half module.
Number 2 – Do not leave off word endings
- English words can change their meanings dramatically when you assemble a different
ending. E.g. : light, like, life….; file, fight, fire…..  Leaving off word endings often leads to
confusion and ambiguity
Number 3 – Make a list of frequently used words
- Come up with a list of frequently misspelled words and words that have slightly different
pronunciations (assess, asset, asset, ASET…)
- Some frequently misspelled words: business, adjust, general, graduate, specific, severe,
general, popular…..
Number 4 – Open your mouth when you speak English
- Proper English speaking involves a lot of mouth movements. If you watch the mouth of
native speakers when they speak, you’ll see that each sound produced will accompany a
particular mouth movement
- Practice speaking very slowly, out loud, in a strong voice and exaggerate the mouth
movements for best results.
Number 5 – Don’t be afraid to speak
- This may sound like a cliché. But if you don’t enjoy speaking English, you can never speak
well. It’s that simple
Number 6 Read aloud in English for 10 to 15 minutes everyday
- The materials you use for reading out loud should be the sentences in this handbook. After
you’ve completely mastered the techniques put forward here, move on to practice other
paragraphs as you like
Number 7 – Record your own voice and listen for pronunciation errors
- Of course you can hear yourself when you speak, but the sound coming to your ears will be
distorted. So, the best way to check whether you speak correctly is to record yourself and
listen again
Number 8 – watch the mouth movement of native speakers and imitate them

- Similar to point number 4, mimicking native speakers’ mouth movements is the best
practice to familiarize yourself with the way English sounds are produced
Number 9 – listen and repeat
- IELTS tests, especially the Cambridge set, always feature Listening test with available scripts.
After listening for the test, try LISTEN AND REPEAT. Compare them with the original scripts
to spot any major differences
Number 10 – Be patient
- Most importantly, be patient. Fixing your pronunciations involves a lot of time

commitment. It’s a challenge that cannot be completed overnight. So, stay patient and keep
practicing.

Module 1 (Rule 1 -10) – Video 1 - The 15 Vowel sounds of American English
- 1 /i:/ please, seat, meet, believe
- 2 /i/ this, difficult, if, dinner,
- 3 /ei/ late, gate, baseball, stay, okay,
- 4 /e/ bed, men, dress, friend
- 5 /ea/ apple, man, stand, angry.
- Group 1: from number 1 to number 5 – they’re called front vowel (your tongue is in front).
Your jaw opens wider on each vowel . (heat, hit, hate, het, hat)
- 6 /u:/ moon, shoes, room, blue
- 7 /u/ book, foot, full, push, took
- 8 /ou/ go, drove, slow, moment,
- 9 /o:/ always, tall, bought, thought
- 10 /a:/ hot, topic, office, modern
Group 2: from number 6 to 10 – they’re called back vowel (your tongue is in the back. Your jaw
forms a round shape and move back a bit with each vowel (boot, book, boat, bought, bot)
- 11 /ow/ & /^/ but, done, jump, love

- 12 /3:/ first, Thursday, girl, work
- 13 /ai/ time, while, nine, dining,
- 14 /au/ now, house, brown, announce
- 15 /oi/ enjoy, noise, boy, annoying
Group 3: the remaining words
- Rule 1 – the four relaxed vowels

- Voiced
o Tense: our tongue is tense and sometimes our lips are also tense
o Neutral/relaxed: our lips and tongues are relaxed in the back
o It is critical to know the difference between tense and neutral vowels. Otherwise, you
might be confused by words like fool or full, hot or hut, steel and still
o The four relaxed vowels are
 2 /i/,
 4 /e/,
 7/ow/ or /^/,
 10 /u/

- Rule 2 - /i:/ & /i/ (8 P.G.)
- E.g.: beach & bitch, sheet & shit
- It’s very important to discriminate these vowel sounds – this difference doesn’t exist in some
other languages like Vietnamese.
- The difference lies in fact that one vowel is tense /i:/ and the other vowel is relaxed /i/
- /i:/ please, steal & steel, me, see
o Usually spelt with ee, ea, ie, ei
o Your lips must be tense and your tongue must be tense in the back of your mouth.
o Put your fingers right in the back of your jaw on your throat; when you produce the
sound, your fingers should be moving a bit
o Another practicable way to practice this vowel sound is to smile (like when you say
“cheese”): sheep, sheet, lead, feet, feel
- /i/: if, different, this, think
o Usually spelt with I, y (in the middle of the word like system, gym)
o Your tongue and your fingers will not be moving. Also, your lips should be relaxed.
o Rather similar to the /i/ in Vietnamese
o When the sound is produced fast, it can sound like /ư/
- Vowel pairs - Differentiation
o Leave, live
o Sleep, slip
o These, this
o Sheep, ship
o Sheet, shit
o Lead, lid
o Beat, bit
o Steal, still
- Sentence practice:
- Differentiation
o Can you feel it?
o Can you fill it?
o Did you heat it?
o Did you hit it?
o He doesn’t want to leave
o He doesn’t want to live
- Sentence practice 2
o The beans have been cooking since six o’clock
o Sit in that seat by the window
o We ate our meal, by the mill

o The seal will live in the ocean.
o Tim’s team grinned after seeing the green field.
o Pip and Pete shipped the sheep cheaply
o Those bins are for Bill’s beans.
o Does Jim still steal Jill’s jeans?
o The girls put concrete on Jill’s sneakers.
o Pick cherries at their peak or you will eat the pits.
- Mix – Practice saying these sentences (a little slow for the first time and speed it up for the 2nd
time) – Concentrate on your mouth movements
o She was feeling sleepy after eating the big meal
o These three people speak Chinese
o We love the green fields and the beach breezes
o Steve believes he will see Peter this week
o I will leave the East Coast in three weeks
o There are six filthy dishes in the kitchen sink
o Mr. and Mrs. Smith lived in India for six years.
o Bill took some interesting pictures on his trip to Italy last spring.
o The winter wind will bring a big chill
o Do you think that this swimmer has the ability to win?
- Remember that the main difference between these 2 vowels is not that one vowel is long and
the other is short, but rather one vowel is tense and the other is neutral/relaxed.
- Even a relaxed vowel can sometimes be prolonged if the word is stressed. E.g.: wow, your house
is big
-
- Rule 3 - /a:/ & /ow/
- /a:/ can be a problem to a lot of people because sometimes /a:/ can be spelt with the letter /o/.
E.g.: hot, stop – these two are pronounced exactly the same as the /a:/ in father, army or watch
- The o and the a have similar sounds frequently, which is the /a:/
o To create the /a:/ sound, open your mouth wide. Keep your tongue at the bottom of
your mouth and keep your tongue at the bottom of your mouth touching the bottom
teeth.
o This vowel is usually longer than most non-native speakers tend to make it. E.g.: stop,
that’s impossible. Particularly, if it’s a verb or a noun, we prolong the “a:” in the
stressed syllable. E.g.: that’s impossible, that’s my new job.
- “O” words that are pronounced with /a:/ (these can be confusing, so take your time to get
used to them)
o Hot
o Top

o Stop
o Probably
o Follow
o Not
o Blob
o Sock
o Mop
o Product
o Solve
o Problem
- /ow/ & /^/ - neutral sound: lip & tongue neutral at the back. There is hardly any movement.
o Almost like you punch yourself in the stomach to make a tiny little noise.
o Commonly spelt with letter u (but, fun, number) ou ( cousin, country)
o Some other: love, son, other, done
- Vowel pairs – differentiation
o Shot, shut
o Don, done
o Lock, luck
o Cop, cup
o Not, nut
o Robber, rubber
- Sentence practice /a:/ sound
o The modern novel is very popular.
o Tom will watch hockey with his father.
o John will probably study biology in college.
o I will not bother to respond to Tom’s offer.
o If you gossip about your boss, you might lose your job.
o Bob opened the box and followed the instructions
o Tom put some cotton, rocks and doorknob in his locker
o His mom made a concrete model of a hockey rink
- Sentence practice /^/ sound
o We must discuss this with the other judges.
o My buddy Doug is a wonderful drummer.
o On Mondays he plays the drums in that club.
o On Sunday I had duck for lunch with my cousin
o He doesn’t study much and he loves to have fun.
- The spellings can be confusing at times, so, it’s best to look up for word meanings and
pronunciations in Oxford dictionary.

- Rule 4 – “pool” or “pull” (lesson 10 P.G.)
- /u:/ - tense
o Commonly spelt as oo (food, moon), ue (blue, true)
o For /u:/, your lips move forwards like you’re kissing someone.
o Blue o Loop
o Booth o Knew
o News o Tooth
o Juice o Smooth
o Ruler o Pool
o Food o Moon
o Choose o Shoes
o Mood o Zoo
o Moving o Grew
- /u/ - neutral -
o Common spelling pattern oo (look, took, shook), ould (would, could, should), u (push,
pull)
o Look at the good book
o Distinguish “food” & “foot”
o The following are words that have “oo” spellings but are produced with “u” sound
o Foot o Good
o Took o Look
o Cook o Book
o Shook o Wool
o Stood o Swoosh
- Note: lower vowels “uh” – don’t skip the w in these cases

o Wood
o Would you help me?
o Holywood, California
- Word pairs practice
o Food, foot
o Fool, full
o Pool, pull
o Push, pull
- Practice some sentences: the first slow, speed up for the 2nd time
- /u:/
o The report was due on Tuesday at noon.

o He knew the values of those 2 suits.
o The crew uses a lot of new tools.
o In the future, there will be new school rules.
o Susan wore her new shoes to school.
- /u/
o The woman in the wool pullover is good-looking
o You should walk in the woods
o It would be good if you could help me
o You should walk in the woods
o He took a good look under the hood
o He spent his childhood playing football
- Mixed
o He took a good look under the hood and found a flute
o Julie enjoys good book after school
o He put his foot in the new boot
o She took her students to the brook to wash their shoes
o We pulled him out of the swimming pool.
o The fool ate until he was full
- Rule 5 – /ae/ - as in “apple” & /au/ (10 P.G.)

/ae/
o Your lips are open, your tongue is down and tense
o Visualize you’re saying /a:/ with a smile (open your mouth wide)
o In British English, this sound very frequently resembles /a:/
o The common spelling pattern for this word is the letter a
 Apple, angry, man, fat, dance
 Los Angeles, class, random, answer,
o If it’s a noun or a verb, make sure that’s it is prolonged
 “I can’t stand that class”
 Last January, Adam travelled to Los Angeles, California
- Extra word practice
o Back o Jacket
o Dad o Taxi
o Fax o Apple
o Value o Catch
o Sat o Rabbit
o Hatch o Tack

- Sentence practice
o Jack lacks cash because of a bad gambling habit
o I brought my black jacket on my trip to France
o My family understands that I can’t handle that matter.
o The fat cat wore a jacket
o Pack your sack and bring your magnet
o He sang about an actor named Jack
- /au/
o This is an important sound! If mispronounced, it can often make you misunderstood.
o Begin with the /ea/ sound as in “hat”. Then, slide your mouth forward to form a “w”
sound. E.g. downtown
- /AU/ practice
- Now - South
- House - Ounce
- Round - Rebound
- Loud - Mouth
- Gown - Bounce
- Sound - Flower
- Ouch - Thousand
- Out - Spout
- Found - Count
o The brown couch is downstairs.
o Her house is on the South side of the mountain
o I was proud of the sound that came out of my mouth.
- Rule 6 – “/o:/
o Your mouth forms an oval shape
o Don’t push your lips forward too much, don’t say “oo” (British speakers do this and it is
strictly not American English)
o In British English, this sound is very different from American English.
o For instance: tall, fall
o The common spelling pattern for this sound is
 “al” – tall, small, always
 “au” – automobile, August, audience, applaud
 “aw” – law, saw, awful
o Sentence practice
 He paused in the hall to talk with Paul
 The author talked to the small audience.

 We all thought you bought it at the mall
 It’s awful that he always breaks the law
 He’s exhausted because he has been walking all day long
- Rule 7 – “/ou/ as in most and /ei/ as in eight (9 P.G.)
o /ou/ combination of 2 sounds /o/ and /u:/, therefore you must move your mouth
forward
o E.g.: No, I don’t
o /a:/ hot, god, job
o /ou/ go, hole, ghost,
- Word practice:
o O: post, moment, go
o Ow: flow, slow, show
o Oa: road, boat, soap
o No, I don’t
o Don’t go
o So slow
o Almost over
o The lonely soldier wrote home.
o The wind mostly blows over the ocean
o Do you know who own most of those homes?
o Let’s watch the show in slow motion
o He sold both of this boats.
o I don’t know where the hole is on the coat
o Does Joe know how to drive on the road?
o I need to blow my nose when I have a cold.
- /ei/ imagine you start with an A and glide up to an E (AE)
- Word practice
o Age o Baby
o Aid o Gain
o Eight o Change
o Able o Gave
o Chain o Nation
o Date o Day
o Eighteen o Paper
o Fake o Angel
o Lazy o Basic
o Made o Face
o

- Sentence practice
o The ape gave the trainer a cane
o David began shaving when he was eighteen
o The rainbow appeared when daylight changed.
o The baby snake lived in a painted cage.
o My neighbor’s basement was changed from blue to beige
o Hey, take away the strain! Weigh the gains of a great break with Lazy Day Vacations.
- Rule 8 – “/owr/ & /3:/ as in “her”
o Produced with the /ow/ sound plus /r/
o The common spelling for this sound can be any vowel plus the “r”: er, ar, ear, ir, or.
 Er: her
 Ar: grammar
 Ear: learn, heard
 Ir: bird, first, girl
 Or: work, worry
 Ur: nurse, hurt,
- Word practice:
o Work early
o Learn the words
o Early bird
o Perfect world
- Sentence practice
o It’s your turn to work early on Thursday
o I’m certain that Mr. Turner has courage
o I heard that the first earthquake was the worst
o Don’t worry about learning those German words
o The early bird always get the worm
- If there is a vowel before the r, chances are the word is pronounced as “owr”
- Rule 9 – understanding stressed vowels (13 P.G)

- Vowel length: American vowels can sometimes sound very long and louder if the syllable is
stressed or if the word is stressed.
- Stressed words are often longer, louder and with a ’
- Aim to prolong the vowels in the following words
o E.g.: banana, Canada, biology, photography
- The same things happen when the word is stressed. Generally, we stress verbs and nouns –
often the key words.

- E.g.: I love my new class
o The word is class a noun, so we it must be prolonged and spoken a bit more loudly.
o I love it
o I have to call him
o You’re really tall.
o It’s hot.
o Let’s go to the park.
- Stressing 2 words:
o I got a job at the hospital
- English is a very musical language. As we speak, our words go up and go all the way down, much
like music does. Having proper stresses keep your speech interesting and easy to listen to,
- Listen to the following sentences:
o Many speakers of English use a flat intonation pattern or monotone, this can create
uninteresting and misunderstood speech. Everything is very flat
 Monotone speech can be very boring to listen to.
- Listen to the following advertisement:
o Have you ever tried one of Diane’s Donuts? They are so delicious. I have eaten many
different kinds of donuts, from all over the country? I have eaten many different kinds
of donuts, from all over the country. However, I have never tasted anything, quite like
Donuts made by Diane. I have been told that she uses the finest and freshest
ingredients that money can buy. The best flower, the best eggs and the best milk. I am
sure that once you taste these incredible donuts, you will run and tell all of your friends.
- Compare these sentences
o Joe drinks cheap wine
o Sue only drink expensive wine
o Don’t forget his birthday
o We would never forget his birthday
o She’s planning to leave tomorrow
o He made plans to leave a month ago
o The teacher’s meeting is at 9 a.m. tomorrow
o The students announced that they will never have a meeting.
- Rule 10 – understanding reduced vowels

- Contrary to the stressed vowels, many vowels are reduced in speaking
- Reduced vowels are not pronounced fully
- Many vowels can sound like /ow/ when it’s part of the reduced/unstressed syllable
o E.g.: symbol, local, record, record

- The same things happen when words are reduced within sentences. We stress the key words
like nouns and verbs, we reduced the little less important words like: prepositions, articles,
modal verbs.
o Preposition: in, on, at, for with, buy
o Modal: can, could, should, should have, has
- E.g.
o Look at me
o I’d like to talk to you
o I’m looking for you
o Let’s meet at two o’ clock
o I’d like to talk to the pilot
o Let’s meet for breakfast
o
I’d love to go for a walk
- Remember: reduced syllables regularly have the /ow/ sound (sometimes the /i/ sound)

- Module 2 (Rule 11 -25) – Video 2 – Consonant sounds
o Some of the consonants may not exist in Vietnamese
o Even though some of the consonants may exist in Vietnamese, they are pronounced
slight differently with an American accent.
o The tongue is in a slightly different position or the lips move more firmly or softly; or the
vocal cords are vibrating slightly differently.
o All of these factors affect the American consonant sounds.
o Another reason could be the sound exist in Vietnamese, but it never appears at the end
of the word or the middle of the word. So when you say these letters, you don’t say
them the way you should with an American accent.
- Rule 11 – fully pronouncing each sound.
- You must fully pronounce each consonant sound. Don’t take any shortcut
- Most of us are not aware with what we are doing with our mouth when we’re speaking our
native language.
- When you learn English, it becomes very important to note mimic the mouth movement of
native speakers.
o E.g.: I need five dollars
- If you tend to speak quickly in your native language, be especially careful when you speak in
English (don’t mumble or your mouth still when speaking)
- It’s essential to develop an awareness of what reapply happens in the mouth when we speak
English.
- E.g.: p, b – you have to open and close your mouth when pronounce these consonants –
probably (lips open and close 3 times)  don’t take any shortcut
- E.g.2. l (la, la), n (nasal sound) – In general – your tongue must touch your upper teeth 3 times.
-
- Practice saying the following numbers (move your lips fully and try every consonant)
o Seven
o Twelve
- Rule 12 – voiced & voiceless
- Depends on the vibration of your vocal cords.
- Affect your pronunciation of your –ed ending, the –s ending and the vowel length.
- The best way to test whether a consonant is voiced is to put your fingers on your throat – you
can feel your vocal cords vibrating if it’s a voiced consonant.
o Paired consonants:
S Z
F V
Th (as in thing) Th (as in this)

P B
T D
K G
Ch D3
- Many words contain both voiced & voiceless consonants, therefore you must switch promptly.
E.g.: five. – Give me five dollars.
- Note the vowels before the voiced sound is longer: ice, eyes (the vowel sounds in ice are
shorter than in eyes) –
o Back, bag
o Safe, save
o Pick, pig
o Lock, log
o Safe, save
o Light, lied
o Leaf, leave
o Cup, cub
- Rule 13 – ‘th’ sound (3. P.G.)
- One of the most difficult sound for people to make because it doesn’t exist in most other
languages.
- When we produce the “th”, the tongue position is the most important thing you need to know.
- What is the tongue doing exactly? The tip of your tongue is lightly touching your upper teeth &
there is an airflow coming out when your tongue touches the upper teeth.
- Be careful that your tongue doesn’t touch too hard your upper teeth (which will block the air
friction)
- Common mistake - distinguish these:
o th (think), s & t
o Th (this) & z
- Note: for practice purpose, you can stick your tongue out fully to familiarize yourself with the
sound. Later on, you can just contacting your tongue with your upper teeth. Sticking your
tongue all the time is not realistic and will slow you down
o E.g.: thank you for the birthday present
- The “Unvoiced Th” sound: flat tongue protruding through your teeth. Maintain a steady air
stream. Stretch out the “Th” word.
o For practice purpose, think of the word thumb as having two beats
- Unvoiced “Th” practice words
Beginning Middle End

Thanks Anything Bath
Thick Bathmat North
Thunder Toothpick Beneath
Thursday Athletic Fourth
Think Mouthwash South
- Voiced “th”
Beginning Middle Practice phrase
- The (the book) - Smooth - This and that
- That (that house) - Bathe - A tablecloth
- They (they came - Breathe - Winter clothing
over) - Athens, Greece
- There (there it is) - That’s the one
- This (This is my nose) - Her skin is smooth
- Those (Those boys - Thirty days’ notice
are good) - A famous author
- These (these are my - Here and there
parents) - False teeth
- Thread and needle
- A thoughtful gift
- Thunder and lightning
- Thumbs up
-
- Sentence practice
o Therma arrived in town last Thursday
o I’m having troubles threading this needle
o I need 33 thick thermometers
o The thing they like best about Athens is the weather
o This thrilling novel was written by a famous author
o He will be through with his work at three thirty
o Now and then, she likes to buy new clothing
o They thought they were going to Northern Spain
o He’s revising the plan to travel to Southern Europe
o I’m thirsty. Is there anything to drink in this place?
o I thought it was on Thursday at three thirty
o This is my fourth month studying Math.
o Both my father and mother are healthy
o I think Mathew lives in the North
- After all, remember it is the position of your tongue touching your teeth lightly.
- THR blends
o Thread “thread the needle”

o Throw “Throw the ball”
o Throat “my throat is sore”
o Thrill “a thrilling ride”
o Three “give me three more days”
o Threw “he threw the balls”
o Throne “the King sits on a throne”
- Paragraph practice
- Nurse Thatcher was thankful it was Thursday. She knew that on Thursday she had to deliver
thirty three boxes of thermometers to the North American athletic club. They thought that
thermometers were necessary for testing the hydrotherapy baths. This was thought to benefit
the athletes with arthritis. The athletic trainers required authorization to provide hydrotherapy
to the youthful athletes with three bulletin boards with thumbstacks throughout the athletic
clubs.
- Rather than risk the health of the athletes, they thoroughly checked the thousands of
thermometers to insure their worthiness; otherwise they needed to be thrown away.
- Th exceptions – although the following words are spelled with “th”, they are pronounced as “t”
o Thomas
o Thompson
o Thailand
o Thames
o Esther
- Rule 14 – the American l sound
- Say “la, la, la, la, la”- your tongue should be going up and down your upper teeth
- When the l is at the end of the word, it’s a little bit more difficult than that. Your tongue is
relaxed and it touches right behind the upper teeth and it stays there. E.g.: I will call Bill
- Note that when placed at the end of words, “l” comes from the tongue movement, not
placement.
- The American “l” is prolonged – (softer and longer)
- Word practice:
- Lunch - Inflation - Will
- Local - Believe - Ball
- London - Volume - Tall
- Learn - Glue - Little
- Large - Elevator - Call
- Life - Solve - Small
- Lobby - Pulling - Control
- Library - Flood - Bowl
- Lucky - Delete - Apple
- Lift - Elect - Miracle

- Laugh - Alive - Powerful
- Long - Colour - Control
- Financial
- People
-
- Sentence practice
o I”ll call Bill to tell him about the film
o I feel terrible about the political scandal
o I think I’ll be able handle it by myself
o You’ll do well at school
o The lollipop fell into the cool water
o Her driver’s license was pulled out of the blue golf bag.
o Blake’s bowling ball fell under his tools.
o Carl could not locate the lemons or the limes.
o The school was a mile away from the hill
o The golf club was made of steel.
o Al’s goal was to play baseball with Carol
o A certified letter was delivered for the enrollment list
o It was revealing to look at the smiling lawyer.
- “Fl” Blend poem
o A flea (chấy) and a fly, flew up in a flue
o Said the flea, “Let us fly”
o Said the fly “let us flea”
o So they flew through a flaw in the flue
- Using will
o Will you empty the garbage?
o Will you ask her to clean the kitchen?
o Will you prepare a meal for the children?
o When will you begin your studies at college?
o When will she purchase her dress for her weddings?
o Why will he ask them to stay late at work?
- Remember, prolong the l and keep it behind right behind the upper teeth.
- Rule 15 – the American R sound (1 P.G.) and R blend (link to Rule 24)
- Say the “R” in 2 different ways and define which one is the American R
o Four
o Here
o Teacher
o Robert

- The first thing you need to know is that the American R is never silent, even if it’s at the end of a
word.
- In British English, people don’t generally pronounce the final r at the end of words
o Teacher, four more
- How do you product the American r
o The tip of the tongue should never touch the top behind your upper teeth
o The rolling “r” is Russian, don’t do this – that sounds like American accent to foreign
speakers.
o Curl the tip of the tongue and pull it back
o Your mouth and lips move forward like you’re going to kiss.
o Also, the “r” is not silent even before another consonant. E.g. learn, German
- Word practice
- R at the beginning of words
o Rock o Rich
o Rip o Rome
o Reach o Raise
o Road o Robe
o Rain o Rice
- R at the end of words or after a vowel

o Car o Four
o Far o Air
o Star o Year
o Door o Turn
o Bear o Poor
-
- R in the middle of words
- Very - Hurry
- Direction - Zero
- Arrange - Marine
- Erase - Berry
- Correct - Operation
- Marry - Caring
- Garage - Arrive
- Original - Everyone
R blend
- R is the strongest sound of the blend.

- When the blend is at the beginning of a word, your mouth prepares for the “R”, by coming
forward even before you say the word.
- R blend at the beginning of words
- Training - Print
- Trust - President
- Trip - Product
- Great - Cracker
- Tropical - Crawl
- Bring - Break
- R blend in the middle of words

- Training
- Trust
- Trip
- Great
- Tropical
- Bring
o The story he read on the radio was incorrect
o Her career in the law firm was permanent
o Richard and Brooke took a ride in their brand new Ranger Rover truck
o Everyone will respect the royal family when they arrive at the airport
o There computer isn’t working.
o I gave her four other pictures
o Her fourth birthday is on Thursday
o There are many more over there.
o We were the first to arrive the park
- Remember – good strong R sound and curl your tongue back.
-
- Rule 16 – the “w” and “kw” sound (1 P.G.)

- The w sound is actually not the like the “g” in Vietnamese. It sounds more like “gườ”
- You need to round your lips and you need to have a lot of air coming through, so make sure
that your vocal cords are vibrating and there is air coming out of your lungs.
- You can practice with:
o First, say “OOOOOO”
o Then, go into “OOOOOWAWAWAA”
- Word practice:

- W at the beginning of words:
o Why
o Which
o When
o What
o Wipe
o Wish
o Weight
o Wing
- W in the middle of words:
o Always
o Away
o Beware
o Rewind
o Awake
o Someone
o Halloween
o Hollywood
- “W” practice sentences
o What will we do
o You’re always welcome
o The wind from the West was very wet
o We woke up and washed the white washcloth.
o We waited for the waitress to give us water
o We had a wonderful time In Washington and Wiscosin
.
- Kw sound
o When we have words that are spelt with qu (e.g. quiet, quick), they are pronounced as
kw
o Word practice:
o Quiet o Queen
o Question o Qualify
o Require o Qualification
o Quality o Quit
o Liquid o Quebec
o Quilt o Choir
- Sentence practice

o What do you want to do this weekend?
o I’m always required to work on Wednesdays.
o She will wear a white wedding dress on her wedding day.
o I have a quick question about the quality of the watch.
o There are always 12 women with the children.
o We wish we were with our wives
- Remember, round your lips and let the air flow through
- Review rule 16 & 17 – Quick review
- Ray - Norway
- Russia - Railroad
- Dreamed - Travelling
- Roller Coaster - Creative
- Grand Canyon - Perfect
- Arizona - Construct
- Friend - Everyone
- Fred
-
- Ray was born in Russia. He dreamed of building the perfect roller coaster at the Grand Canyon in
Arizona. He has a friend named Fred who lived in Norway. Fred’s profession was designing
railroad tracks and his career involved travelling around the world. Ray thought it would be
perfect if Fred designed his roller coaster ride. Fred was creative, brilliant and worked well with
railroad tracks. He would be the perfect engineer for the project. The ride took 2 years to
construct and was painted red and white. Everyone wanted to ride the brand new roller coaster.
- Rule 17 – the “f”, “v” and “w” sound (4 P.G.)
- To correctly product the v sound, your lower lip should touch your upper teeth.
- Don’t bite your lower lip too hard. Try to create the vibration of air and say “vvvv” – “have”
- “f” and “v” are identical in the sense that they are both produced by contacting your upper
teeth to your lower lip and produce an air stream.
- Word practice with “f”
o Foot
o Find
o Finally
o Family
o Freedom
o Laugh
o Telephone
o Symphony
o Rough

o Do you feel like a physical wreck? Are you fed up with feelings of fatigue? Have you had
enough of feeling rough? Why don’t you fight fever with Pharaoh’s Friend. A medicine
that is tough on flu.
o Pharaoh /‘feow rou/
- When people speak too quickly, the letter “v” tends to disappear. E.g. involved, five months
- The v (an important vowel) tends to be easily overlooked.
- Word practice
o Very well
o Vote
o Vest
o Oven
o Evaluate
o Voice
o Travel
o River
o Every
o Glove
o Alive
o Leave
- Comparing “f” and “v”
o Feel o Veal
o Safe o Save
o Fat o Vat
o Fine o Vine
o Face o Vase
o Fan o Van
o Foul o Vowel
o Proof o Prove
o Of
- When v is in the middle of a word, it’s a bit harder and people tend to neglect it.
o Eleven
o Seven
o Seven eleven
- Sentence practice
o A famous athlete o Husband and wife
o A food vendor o Very well done
o The foreign service o He’s very involved in their

o Summer vacation lives.
o Vocabulary test o I’ve been here from five to
o Over the rainbow seven hours
o Our fist victory o I will visit the village on my
o Harvard university vacation
o Her promotion was o Have you viewed the five
well deserved videos?
o There was only one o We will review their votes in
survivor on the island November
o Steve noticed that the o The street vendors were
olive juice must have selling souvenirs to tourists.
stained his sleeve.
- Word pair practice 2 (“v” and “w”)

o Vow – wow
o Vine – wine
o Vest – west
o Twelve vowels
o Five women
o Very weird
o West Virginia
o However you wish
o I’ll have wine with the veal (meat from a young calf)
- Remember lower lips touch the upper teeth and feel the vibration.
- Additional rule 1 – the “SH” sound (4 P.G.)
- To make the unvoiced SH (S) sound, bring your mouth and lips forward a little, teeth should be
slightly apart. Produce the airstream. Words beginning with SH begins with this sound
o Sugar (exception)
o Sure (exception)
o Chef
o Chicago
- Word practice
Beginning - Middle - End
She Nation Rush

Sugar Motion Dish
Sure Mission Establish
Shadow Special Splash
Sheep Reputation Irish
Shirt Official Fresh
Shoe Machine Finish
Shape Fishing
Chicago Insurance
Chef Sunshine
Ocean
Tissue
Addition
Subtraction
- Sentence practice
o The fishing trip was planned and we left to go to the ocean
o Was the chef ashamed to use the precious sugar?
o Sharon gave a special performance
o He will be stationed in Washington, D.C, the nation’s capital
o She went into a fashion show after taking a shower
o She sells seashells by the seashore.
o The social club was praised for the cooperation.
o Joe’s weather machine shows a sharp drop in air pressure, especially offshore. Ships in
motion on the ocean should be sure to use caution.
- The voiced “ZSH” /d3/ sound: is produced exactly like the “SH” except voicing is added. This is
an important sound in American English
- Word practice:
- Usual - Version
- Unusual - Division
- Usually - Casual
- Vision - Television
- Visual - Beige
- Conclusion - Massage
- Asia - Prestige
- Sentence practice
- It’s not unusual for people to study division in Asia
- I usually use a measuring cup to measure erosion
- The beige walls were the unusual colour in the treasury building
- List things that are appropriate for each column. Then say them out loud in full sentences for
practice

o It’s usually hot in the summer
o It’s unusual for me to be late for an appointment
Usually Unusual
Hot in the summer Late for appointments
-
- Rule 18 – the “s” and “z” sound (2 P.G.)
- Very often in English a word is spelled with the z sound but is produced with the z sound
 Has
 Bags
- One way to know is to check whether the consonant before the “s” is voiced or voiceless
o Books
o Laughs
o Lives
o Likes
o Cooks
o Lights
o Feels
- Case 1 Voiced accompanies voiced ( all vowels & voiced consonants) –
o 1 tree, 2 trees
o 1 day, 2 days
o 1 shoe, 2 shoes
o I fly, he flies
o 1 game, 2 games
o 1 head, 2 heads
o 1 train, 2 trains
o 1 song, 2 songs
- Case 2 Voiceless accompanies voiceless [p, t, k, f, th (thing)]
o One cup, two cups
o One cat, two cats
o I break, he breaks
o I stop, he stops
- Try to determine if the plural forms of the following word are pronounced as “s” or “z”

o Care – cares
o Doctor – doctors
o Mat – mats
- Case 3: if a word ends in any of these sounds “s, z, sh, ch, or j, when adding an “S” ending, add
…izzzzzzzzzz
- Examples:
o 1 Page, 2 pages
o 1 bus, 2 buses
o 1 lunch, 2 lunches
o I raise, he raises
o I brush, he brushes
o I push, he pushes
- In case the last letter off the word is a vowel (e.g. has), the sound is usually z though there some
exceptions
o Is o Those
o His o Easy
o As o Please
o Was o Always
o Because
o These
o
- Sentence practice
o He plays the drums on the weekends
o She has friends in many countries
o Does he always use those things?
o It rains and snows in these areas?
- When it’s a voiced consonant followed by an s, the “s” makes the sound /z/
- Paragraph practice
o Last week, Jim’s brothers were picked to represent their country in the Olympic Games.
Two of the brothers were swimmers, while the other two were long distance runners.
All of the brothers wore glasses. These athletes worked hard at qualifying for the games
and were hoping to come home with big prizes. Since the brothers go to the same
university, they often take the same courses. This makes studying easier and gives them
more time to do other things.
o On Thursday, I had a very lazy day. I woke up early and first squeezed oranges into juice.
I then got dressed and watched the sunrise come up over the mountains. It was so
beautiful that I took many pictures with my camera and I used three rolls of film. After
drinking two cups of coffee, I got dressed, left the house, and walked three miles home.

- Additional rule 2 – the “CH” (tS) sound, the American d3 sound,
consonant h
- The Ch (tS) sound
o Is a combination of the t sound and the “SH” (S) sound
o Is an unvoiced sound
- Word practice
China Key chain Detach
Cherry Lunch box Teach
Charge Richard Porch
Chocolate Picture March
Challenge Teacher Patch
Cheese Fortune Wrench
Chunk Nature Coach
Chairman Beach ball Approach
- “Ch” sentence practice

o Chop-chop, children, it’s Charlie’s Kitchen adventure!
o Today, Chuck will be teaching future champion cooks how to make a chocolate
cheesecake.
- If you add voicing, to Ch (tS), it becomes (d3) – “t” turns into “d” and “S” switches to “3”
- Word practice
Juice Algebra Age
Jump Legend College
Juggle Magic Postage
Jury Subject Stage
Japan Digest Pledge
Giant Rejoice Village
Genetic Objective Average
Junior Majesty Page
German Educate Courage
Suggestion Knowledge
- “d3” sentence practice
o A German judge and jury have charged and jailed a strange giant, who sat on the edge
of a bridge throwing jelly onto large barges
- Consonant “h”
- When an “h” is at the beginning of a word it is pronounced with a strong, loud air stream
- Practice
o Ha…. ha… ha
- Word practice

- Word pair
- Old - Hold
- Is - His
- It - Hit
- At - Hat
- Arm - Harm
- Ill - Hill
- Ate - Hate
- As - Has
-
Beginning Middle
- Hand - Ahead
- Hide - Behave
- Hope - Anyhow
- Hair - Inhale
- House - Downhill
- Harvard - Dehydrate
- Honey - Wholehearted
- Happy - Overhaul
- Who -
- Whole
- Assembling these 2 phrases
- He thought that he should
o Wash the car
o Thank the teacher
o Watch television
o Use the telephone
o Shut the door
o Breath deeply (voiced th)
o Tell the truth
- Henry the hungry hippo, who hogged a huge heap of one hundred hamburgers, has had hiccups
for one whole week.
-
- To make the unvoiced SH (S) sound, bring your mouth and lips forward a little, teeth should be
slightly apart. Produce the airstream. Words beginning with SH begins with this sound
-
- Rule 19 – stops and continuants
- Another way to categorize consonants aside from being voiced or voiceless is whether they are
“stops” or “continuants”

- A “stop” is a consonant we produce when stopping the air flow. E.g. Job (you cannot continue
the sound b – it’s not “b”, “b”, “b”)
- A continuant is a sound we can continue as long as we have air in our lungs. For instance, when
you say the word “yes”, you can say “yessssssssssssss” (prolonging that s for quite a long time).
So the s is a continuant.
- Why is it important to know if it’s a “stop” or a “continuant”?
- Mistake with continuants
- When we have a continuant, a lot of people make this mistakes to treat it like a stop, they’ve cut
the consonants in half and they rush through the words
o E.g.: sometimes – s & m are continuants in this case, so take your time and fully
pronounce the continuants – a lot of people make the mistake to rush through the
continuants and make them too short
- Feel the sounds and extend the letters if you can, especially if it’s a continuant. E.g.: have
- Mistake with stops
- Pop music – when we have a stop in front of a consonant, don’t release the stop before the
consonant.
o If we release the stop, it sounds like we are adding an extra syllable.
o Make sure you hold the stop “Job market”, “had this”
o Job hunting
o Top model
o Good boy
o That day
o Not now
- Note that the last two have a “t” ending. And so, the “t” is not always released at the end of
words or sentences because that’ll make your accent sound different from American style.
o E.g. No, it’s not (hold the t at the end of a word – tongue behind top teeth)
o I’m not that hot.
o You’re quite right
- Fully pronouncing the t-ending would make you sound like British English or other foreign
accents. You need to hold the t at the end to have a more American accent. That’s why people
have a hard time understanding “can” and “can’t” - very often American would say “I can’t go”
with the teeth being held.
o I want that blue hat.
o Robert, you might be right.
o It’s not that different.
o What did you eat last night?
o I can’t wait for that flight

- Remember, hold the final stop by either holding your tongue for the “t” or the “d” (e.g. but &
end) or closing your lips and say up & job. Don’t release the puff of air.
- Rule 20 – “t” between two vowels (3 P.G.)
- Practice another American style “t” sound. Say one word in 2 different ways (ask yourself which
one sounds American)
o Water
o Better
o Butter
o City
o Ability
o Better
o Water
o It is
- If you notice, all the words said have a “t” in it, but the “t” doesn’t really sound like “t”. It
sounded more like a “d”
- Rule: when the t is between 2 vowels, it sounds like a fast “d” (e.g. better - remember, it is not a
strong d sound)
o That’s a better city.
- This also happens when the “t” is between 2 vowels even when the words are separate (e.g. it
is)
o Yes, it is
o Water
o Better
o Butter
o Auto
o Metal (sounds exactly like medal)
- Sentence practice
o Betty bought a bit of better butter
o This butter’s bitter
o If I put it in my batter
o It’s make my batter bitter
o I got up at 11 o’ clock
o Do you want to get in or get out?
o I bought it at a computer store
o What a nice day it is!
- By the way, this is not considered lazy, sloppy or casual speech. This is the standard American
accent.

- Rule 21 – “t” followed by “n”
- The final rule about the t sound in American English. Say one word in 3 different ways, you have
to ask yourself which one sounds like American accent.
o Written /’ri : town/ /’ri down/ /’ri tn/
o Button /’b^ town/ /’b^ down/ /’b^ tn/
o Forgotten /fow got town/ /fow got dn/ /fow got tn/
- When we have a /t/ followed by an “n” (written), the ‘t’ is held, so we hold our tongue behind
our upper teeth and we don’t release it. We directly go the “N” sound without moving our
tongue down, just move your tongue forward to go directly to the “n” (so, basically it’s the “t”
and the “n” that are next to each other)
- The air flow associated with the t will come out of your nose.
o Written
o Mountain
o Button
o Curtain
o Carton
- It is like the vowels in the middle of “t” and “n” disappear,
o I’m certain that’s the tallest mountain.
o My cotton shirt has buttons.
o I have forgotten when the book was written.
o Martin was born in Great Britain
- When a “t” is followed by an “n”, keep your tongue up – don’t release it.
- Rule 22 – the “ing”, “m” & “n” the nasal sound (6 P.G.)
- So many verbs take the ING form. E.g. I’m going, I’ve been working, what have you been doing?
- Let’s learn how to correctly pronounce that sound
- 3 different ways of pronunciation
o Going /gou ‘in/ /’gou ink/ /’gou ing/
o Doing
o Thinking
- When you produce the “ng” sound, the g is at the back, your tongue is touching in the back (g, g,
g, g, g), but the “g” is not released very much.
- When you produce the “g”, let the “g” stays there.
- At the same times, some Americans might not produce the “g” E.g. Going /’gou in/, doing /’do
in/, but it’s considered sloppy street language. Educated people don’t say this.

- Remember, raise your tongue up in the back and try to keep it up there, do not release the “g”.
If you do, just release a bit because ing is a nasal sound.
o Thinking
o Working
o Practicing
o Interesting
o Ring
o Sing
o Thing
o Bring
- Sentence practice
o I’m thinking about buying the ring.
o Who are you bringing to the wedding?
o I love swimming, running and playing tennis.
o I have a feeling that she’s working too much
o She has been wearing a hearing aid so that she could sing
o He is looking forward to speaking at Thanksgiving celebration.
- Don’t release your tongue and don’t produce the end just in front. It’s a sound in the “back”.
- “m” and “n” sounds – are the two remaining nasal sounds. You can’t possibly produce the
sound while closing off your nose.
- M sound word practice (mouth closed, sounds like “ummmmmm”)
o Mice, some, swim, ham
o Miss, more, make
o Smoke, jump, harmed
o Comb, autumn, film
- N sound word practice (mouth open, tongue behind top teeth)
o Night, warn, win, ran
o Now, new, know
o Snow, dinner, against
o Gone, open, listen
- Rule 23 – the ‘tr’ and ‘dr’ sounds

- Sometimes, when we have 2 consonant sounds and we put them together, they create a brand
new sound, so the combination of two individual sounds create a brand new different sound.
This is true with the letter “t” and “d” when they’re followed by the consonant “r”
o Try
o Travel
o Tradition

o Introduction
o Control
o Dry (sounds like d3rai/
 The dr sorts of become the letter j /d3/
 Use the tip of your tongue a bit
o Similarly: drama, drop, drastic, address, one hundred, Sandra
- Sentence practice
o Is it true that you took a trip to Detroit?
o That was an interesting trick
o Children, don’t drop your drinks
o I hope my dream comes true.
- Remember, dr sounds like d3r
-
- Rule 24 – the ‘tu’ and ‘du’ sounds
- Let’s talk about happen when the “t” and “d” is followed by the “s” sound
- When the “t” is followed by an “u” (e.g. actually), t becomes “tS” sound, so the “t” and “u”
combined become “tSu”
o Statue
o Nature
o Picture
- This also happens when the “t” is followed by an “u”, the change also happens but in a slightly
different way, but this time it sounds like “dzu”
o Educate & education
o Individual
o Graduate & graduation
o Schedule
- When we have the word “you” that follows a “t” (e.g. can’t you), the t also becomes a tS sound,
so we say can’t you.
o Can’t you ? Why can’t you do it?
o Aren’t you? Aren’t you hungry?
o Won’t you? Why won’t you help me?
o Shouldn’t you?
o DIdn’t you?
- Similarly, when we have the word “you” that follows a “d” (e.g. did you), most Americans would
say “did you” creating a “tS” sound
o Did you do it?
o Could you?
o Would you like something to eat?
o Would you like to see the schedule?
o Aren’t you graduating in the spring?

o Can’t you see the statue?
o Did you get a college education?
- When both “t” and “d” are followed by “you”, “you” becomes /tSiu/
- Rule 25 – “ed” endings “t” & “d” (6 P.G.)

- Let’s talk about the “ed” ending that forms that past tense of regular verb
- Look at the three following words
o Waited /id/
o Stopped /pt/
o Robbed /d/
- There are 3 different ways to pronounce the /ed/
- The rule changes according to the consonant before the “ed”.
- Rule #1 If the last letter of a verb is either “t” or “d”, we add the extra syllable “id”
o Wait - Waited
o Paint - Painted
o Need - Needed
o Complete - Completed
o Attend - Attended
o Count – counted
o Invite – invited
- Example sentence
o Today, I lift the ball. Yesterday, I lifted the ball.
o I heated up my dinner.
o He voted this morning.
o He handed me his report.
o I traded in my old car.
o She added some information.
- Rule #2 If the last consonant of the verb is a voiceless consonant, the “ed” becomes a “t”
o Work – worked
o Park – parked
o Cook – cooked
o Pass – passed (therefore, passed sounds exactly like past)
o Laugh – laughed
o Push – pushed
o Watch – watched
- Example sentence
o Today I jump, yesterday I jumped
o Today I walk, yesterday I walked
- Rule #3 If the last consonant of the verb is a voiced consonant, the “ed” becomes a “d” (e.g.
robbed)
o Love – loved

o Realize – realized
o Call – called
o Use – used
- Example sentence
o Today, I rub. Yesterday, I rubbed
o I cleaned the kitchen
o I poured the milk
o I scrubbed the floor
o I tagged the clothing.
o I spilled some juice
o I trimmed the tree.
o I moved to California. The clock buzzed all night.
- Sentence practice
o I painted the walls and fixed the gates
o I cooked a meal and washed the dishes
o I attended a party and danced all night
o He called his friends and talked for an hour
o He asked me he’d corrected the mistakes
o My dishwasher broke down, so I had to scrubbed the dishes
o My shoulders are sore, could you rub them please?
- Paragraph practice:
o Bob raked the leaves and then started to wash his car. He then loaded up the
dishwasher and finished washing his dishes.
o Susan spilled her drink on the spotted rug. She cleaned it up with a napkin, which
wasted a lot of time.
o He thanked me and offered me money, if I pick up the used equipment
- Other words that have “t” & “d” ending
- “t” ending
o Kate left her cat on the mat as she flew a kite
o The sailboat came into the port to join the fleet
o What bate will make the fish bite? A cricket or a piece of meat?
- “d” ending
o Fred will decide which sled should be painted red
o David tried to send a refund back to England
o He could not hide his report card behind the chalk board.
- Summary
o The last letter /t/ or /d/, we add an extra syllable /id/
o The last letter is voiceless, we add /t/
o The last letter is voiced, we add /d/
Additional rule 3: “p” & “b” endings (6 P.G.)

- /b/ review
o Best, cubs, cupboard
o Buy, bird, bread
o Rubber, about, able
o Job, web, globe
o Bernie brought a big breakfast back to bed
- /p/ review
o Pulls, cups, copy
o Park, please, price
o Open, apple, spring
o Tape, help, jump
o Pat put the purple paint in the pool
- /b/ and /p/ consonant pairs
o Bear – pear
o Beach, peach
o Pack, back
- To be intelligible, make sure that the final sounds in your words come through clearly and fully.
Don’t drop off or shorten the endings.
- “p” and “b” Are two consonants in endings that are dropped off most often.
o Job, jop (nonsense word)
o Cap, cab
o Tape, tabe (nonsense word)
o Cup, cub
- Sentence practice
- P endings
o I hope the group will sleep on the ship
o The soda pop spilled out of the cup, over the map and onto her lap
o Was the egg drop soup cheap?
- B endings
o We cleaned the coweb from the doorknob in the bathtub
o Rob broke his golf club when he slipped on the ice cube
o The crab was under the cement slab at the yacht club.
o The ticket stub was found in the taxicab.
Additional rule 4: tongue twister

Say the following sentences for 2 times. The first time slow , repeat the same thing a bit
faster on the 2nd time.
- (F, W, Voiced Z) – Fuzzy Wuzzy
- Review /f/, /w/ and /z/
o Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear,

o Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.
o Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t fuzzy, was he?
- Voiced /v/
o Vincent vowed vengeance very viciously
- Voiced /p/
o Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
o A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
o If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
o How many peppers did Peter Piper pick?
- (Sh, S and Z)
o She sells seashells by the seashore.
o The shells she sells are surely seashells.
o So if she sells shells on the seashore,
o I’m sure she sells seashore shells.
- (W, Ch and final consonants)
o How much wood, would a woodchuck chuck
o If a woodchuck could chuck wood
o He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,
o And chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would
o If a woodchuck could chuck wood
- (w)
o Which witch, wished which wicked wish?
o While we were walking, we were watching window washers wash
o Washington’s windows with warm washing water
o If two witches would watch two watches, which witch would watch which watch?
- (r)
o Roberta ran rings around the Roman ruins
- (b, br, and bl blends)
o Bradley’s big black bathbrush broke.
o Bradley’s big black bathbrush broke.
- (th)
o Tom threw Tim thirteen thumbstacks
o He threw three free throws
o There are thirty-three thousand birthdays on the third of every month.
o The father gathered smooth feather for Thanksgiving
o The sixth graders are enthusiastic about Jonathan’s birthday.
- (gr and gl blends) – bring your mouth forward on the “gr” and bring your tongue up on the “gl”
o Green glass globes glow greenly
- (l, “oo” vowel)
o Aluminium, linoleum /li ‘nou li owm/, aluminium, linoleum, aluminium, linoleum,
aluminium, linoleum.
- (Won’t)

o I would if I could! But I can’t, so I won’t
- (Woke)
o I woke, he woke, she woke, they woke.
o We all woke up
Putting it all together - paragraph practice (14 P.G)
Paragraph 1: Photo album
- Keeping a family photograph album is a very good way to save family memories for yourself and
future generations of your family. Very old pictures can be taken to photo shop and reprinted so
that they can be placed in an album. Be sure to write on the back of the picture any information
you remember about the people in it. Also, write the date if you remember it. Looking at photo
albums is a relaxing way to spend the day and it’s a fun activity to share with family and friends.
Your children, grandchildren and their grandchildren and their children will appreciate your
efforts too.
Paragraph 2: the public library

- Your library card can be your ticket to entertainment, current events and new ideas. Almost
every city has a public library and there is no charge for a library card. Libraries have books
about many subjects, but there are also other things at the library. These include books on
cassette tape, video tapes, large print books, CD’s, DVD’s and magazines. Many have free
programs in the afternoon or evening about travel, hobbies or other topics of interest. Some
cities also have a bookmobile or travelling library, which brings the library into your
neighborhood.
Paragraph 3: John D. Rockerfellar

- John D. Rockerfeller did three amazing things. First, he acquired probably the greatest fortune in
history. He started out in life digging potatoes under the hot sun for four cents an hour. In those
days, there were not half a dozen men in all the United States who were worth even one million
dollars. Eventually, John D. managed to collect a fortune said to be anywhere from one to two
billion dollars. Eventually, John D. managed to collect a fortune said to be anywhere near from
one to two billion dollars. And yet, the first girl he fell in love with refused to marry him. The
reason given was because her mother refused to allow her daughter to “throw herself away” on
a man who had such a poor prospect.
Paragraph 4: Stars
- How many stars can you see on a dark, clear night? You can see about 3,000 stars with your eyes
alone. But keep in mind that you’re only viewing part of the sky. If the whole sky were visible,

you could count about 5,000 stars. If you look through a small telescope, you might see as many
as 600,000 stars. Through the most powerful telescopes, astronomers can spot millions of stars.
No one is sure exactly how many stars there are altogether, but astronomers believe there are
at least 200 billion, billion stars out in space.
- Once again, the 10 key words improvement are:
Number 1 – Practice and listen .
Number 2 – Do not leave off word endings
Number 3 – Make a list of frequently used words
Number 4 – Open your mouth when you speak English
Number 5 – Don’t be afraid to speak
Number 6 Read aloud in English for 10 to 15 minutes everyday
Number 7 – Record your own voice and listen for pronunciation errors
Number 8 – watch the mouth movement of native speakers and imitate them
Number 9 – listen and repeat
Number 10 – Be patient

Module 3: Advanced rules to sound like a native speaker
Word linking, word reduction, contractions, phrase reduction (additional rule)

silent consonants, relaxed speech
- When, why and how to

 Connect words together  natural sounding speech
 Reduce words  better stress and intonation
- Some exceptions and some difficult words to pronounce
- Some of the most common mistakes found in students
- The difference between casual and formal speech  how to speak appropriately in
different situations
- Note – it is important to remember that as soon as you learn these rules,
try to apply them (speak with people or to yourself while thinking about the
rules that you’ve just learnt)
-
- Word linking
Rule 26 – linking consonants to vowels
- Let’s talk about a very important concept called Linking which means Connecting words
together.
- In speech, linking is connecting two words together. There are specific rules that native
American speakers follow when they are speaking English that they don’t realize they’re
following, but they naturally and smoothly connecting words together
- Non-native speakers have to learn these rules. If you don’t learn these rules, your speech will
sound choppy (containing a lot of short sentences and changing topics too often) and
mechanical – kind of like computer generated voice like “How / how/ are / you?”
- It’s very important to learn how to link words together to sound smooth and your speech will be
interesting to listen to and it will have that natural smooth connection.
- The first rule of linking (rule 26): when a word ends with a consonant, and the following word
begins with a vowel, we connect these words together and we link the final consonant to the
initial vowel.
- Let’s take a look at how that works
o In an instant
o John is a friend of mine
o I’m an actor
- 3 important rules you need to know about linking
o Linking doesn’t mean you’re speaking fast: a lot of students – when they first learn the
concept of linking – they think they have to speak really fast. (e.g. I’m an actor, John is a

friend of mine) – these are not linking  Linking is smooth connected speech: in fact, it
can be slow if you want to make it slow.
o Secondly, you still need to remember the concept of Stressing the key word - content
word. Otherwise, the words would just sound connected together and you don’t know
when one word begins and another one ends.
 E.g. John is a friend of mine
o Do not link between thought groups (or word chunks) and don’t link after commas or
where you need to make a pause between word chunks
 E.g. [I’ll call you] [in an instant]
- Word practice:
o Build up [bill up]
o Come over [ca mover]
o Call up [ca lup]
o For a while [for a while]
o Where is [whe ris]
o What if [wha dif – the t is between 2 vowels]
- Sentence practice
o Hold on a minute
o A cup of coffee
o Just a moment
o It’s all I’ll need for a while
o Where is his uncle?
o Does everybody here work out?
o Can I think it over?
o Why did Adam bring it up again?
- Linking the final consonant to the following vowel is especially important for you if you tend
to drop
If you have a difficult time pronouncing the final consonant for some words (e.g. card), linking
that d to the following vowel makes a bit different, automatically connecting it – pronouncing
the final consonant each time.
Rule 27 – linking consonants to consonants
- When one word ends in a consonant and the following word begins with a consonant
- Let’s take a look at the first rule – when we have two same consonants, we only pronounce it
once.
o E.g. likes swimming – we can blend it together and eliminate the first “s”, you can
prolong the “s” a bit but don’t pause and don’t break the two words in half.
o E.g.2: Bill likes swimming – likewise, the consonant “l” & “s” are not pronounced
separately.
- Word practice:
o Stop practicing

o I’m gonna stop practicing.
o Next time
o I’ll see you next time
o Wish she
o I wish she would
o Bad day
o I had a bad day yesterday
o Nine nails
o Bob Barker
o His name is Bob Barker
o Love vegetables
o Going great
o Everything is going great
- 2nd rule of linking consonants: we link consonants that have the same point of articulation. The
point of articulation is the point of contact that is made to produce sounds. (E.g. p & b have the
same point of articulation because both of them require the lips to close)
- Another example would be “t” and “d’
- Word practice:
o Used to
o Five friends
o Big kitchen
o Supposed to
o Need to
- When the consonant is a stop and another consonant follows, even when the consonant doesn’t
have the same point of articulation, make sure you hold that first consonant and kinds of link it
o Back door (don’t realease the k)
o Help me
o Help him, help John
- Just remember don’t over-pronounce the final consonant ever, don’t release them too much if
something is coming next
- Sentence practice
o I wish she would talk to me
o Did that man know about the situation?
o I could drive you there right now
o He always seems so happy
o I used to work crazy hours but these days I’ve slowed down
- As you can see, when you link one consonant to another consonant, your speech sounds a lot
smoother.

- Rule 28 – linking vowels to vowels
- The final rule about linking: if one word ends in a vowel and the end the next word begins with
a vowel, there is also linking that has to happen
- What happens in that case is:
o See it (we put a little y/j in between see and it)
- The rule is when your vowel requires your lips to be flat (i:, oi:, ai, ei – all the vowels that end
with the i sound), we’re going to make the j/y sound.
o Very interesting
o Carry on
o We all – we all have a good time
o May I
o Enjoy it
o I hope you enjoy it
o That boy is tall
- Let’s learn what happen when our lips are rounded in the last vowel position. (u: who, ou:
know). In this case, we actually put a w sound
o Who is
o No one
o Blue ocean
o Do all – I will do all of it
o No anwer
- Sentence practice
o I don’t do it very often
o Why is she so afraid of it?
o I can see inside the open window
o This is the only one I know about
o Did you see any others one?
- Keep in mind we insert very little /j/ and /w/ sounds between vowels
- Rule 29 –reducing words part 1

- Smooth natural connected speech that has the right rhythm and the right stress.
- It has to do with knowing which words to reduce and what happen to the words when we
reduce them.
- Remember, we stress the content words such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs and we
reduce function words which are pronouns, prepositions, articles, auxiliary verbs (will, am, is,
do, does).
- Very often when we reduce auxiliary verbs, they’re contracted (e.g. “I’ll go”, “I’m fine”). The
vowels in the preposition generally becomes the neutral sound.

- Here is what happens when we reduce prepositions: the vowels in the prepositions generally
becomes the neutral sound (ow, i)
o As /ows/
 As soon as,
 As long as
 As far as I know
 As good as it get
o On /own/
 I’ll see you on Monday
 I’ll call you on Tuesday
 Put in on the desk
 Please come on time)
o At /owt/
 I’m at home
 I’m at school
 I’ll meet you at five
 I’ll call you at six
o To /tow/
 To the store
 To go
 I’d like to go to the store
 To work
 I’m going to work
 I’d like to talk to you
o For /fow/
 For a while
 For a moment
 For a long time
 I haven’t seen you for a long time
o Or /ow/
 Yes or no
 Good or bad
 This or that
 Sometimes, there could be a reason when you extend the or like when you’re
thinking what to say next (Do you want this oorrrr that?). But if you know
definitely where you’re going with the sentence, then make sure you say it a
little faster)

o Our /owr/
 This is our house
 This is our car
 Do you like our new garden?
 Here is our number
o And /n/
 In this case, re reduce the “a” and the “d”, which disappear often
 Rock and roll
 I love rock and roll
 In and out
 John and Marry
 This and that
- Sentence practice
o I’d like to see you for a moment
o Sooner or later, you’ll meet our parents.
o I went to work at nine o’ clock
o I had bacon and eggs for breakfast
o Do you like black and white or colour photos?
- Again, remember that reducing function words does not mean that you’re speaking really fast,
you still have to slow down on the content word.
- Rule 30 –reducing words part 2
- Let’s learn how to reduce pronouns, by reducing them how to make your speech sound more
natural.
- Pronouns that begin with letter “h” or letter “th”
o He did  did he? (we pronounce the “h” in “he did” but often skip the “h” in “did he”?)
 Did he go?
 Did he do it?
 Could he help me?
 Should he call you?
 Would he come?
o Remember, if you want to speak very carefully and pronounce things formally, you can
express it fully “did he do that?”
o The same thing applies to “him”, we drop the “h” and we say
 “I told him”.
 I’ll call him
 Ask him – I’ll ask him a question.
 When I see him, I’ll say “hello”

o Her
 Call her
 I really love her
 Do you like her?
 Drive her
o Them – the voiced “th” also gets reduced
 Pick them – I’ll pick them up
 Need them – I don’t need them
By them – I’ll stand by them
o Sentence practice:
 I’ll talk to him when I see him
 He wants her to know that he loves her
 I’ll pick them up and take them home.
 Is that his car? – No, that’s his brother’s car.
 She cut her hair and I didn’t recognize her.
- Keep in mind that when the pronoun is the 1st word of the sentence, you’d never eliminate
the “h” or the “th”. They’d never be silent.
- Also, sometimes there is a special reason to stress the pronouns, for example:
o I love him/her
o I want to talk to him/her
- Rule 31 –contractions
- Contractions are very important to use in your everyday speech.
o Students who don’t use contractions often sound like they’re often just beginning to
learn English like they’re at the first stage and they’re still pronouncing every word
separately.
o Pronouncing every word separately would give the impression that you’re a beginner
- Some contractions are easy and commonly used (e.g. Don’t do that). However, a lot of students
tend to avoid certain contractions that might be hard for them (e.g. I’ll do that, I’ve been there)
- Remember that you can separate the words to emphasize it
o Do NOT do that.
o I did NOT do it
- Note that in formal written language, as opposed to spoken language, you won’t see
contractions that often.
- Contracting some common words
- Will – ‘ll
o I’ll (put a little ow between the “I” and the “l”). Similarly,

 he’ll
 She’ll
 They’ll
 Note, for “it’ll”, you say “/id l/ (you need to change the “t” into a fast “d”. E.g.:
it’ll rain, it’ll be hot. It’ll be nice (it’ll rhyme with the word “little” – we say /’lidl/
in informal natural speech.
- Note 1: Would – ‘d; Had – ‘d – the contraction of Would and Had sound exactly the same (I’d - I
would & I had). Similarly:
o He would – he’d
o She would – she’d
o We would –we’d
o We’d like it
o They’d love it
- Note 2: is and has sound the same when they’re contracted. E.g. He’s (he has, he is)
o He is here  he’s here
o He has been here before  he’s been here before
- Are /a:r/
o You are  you’re
o They are  they’re
o We are  we’re
o We’re hungry
o They’re home
o You’re tall
- Have – ‘ve
o I have  I’ve
o They have - they’ve
o We have  we’ve
o They’ve been there
- Sentence practice
o We’ve been married for a long time
o It’ll rain all day
o It’s good that you’re home
o He’ll call me and I’ll give him the number
o We waited because you said you’d come
o I’ve already eaten but he’s still hungry
- Remember, contractions are a natural part of daily conversations.
- Rule 32 –difficult contractions

- When speech evaluation is given to accent reduction students, these are the ones many people
pronounce incorrectly.
o Could have (have is an auxiliary verb in this case) – We put a little /ow/ between Could
and Have, so it sounds like /’ku dowv/ -
 I could have told you
 Should have – You should have known
 Would have – He would have love it.
o Let’s look at what happen when we have the word “not” in there – Could not have 
Couldn’t have – Note that the t disappears in this case, so it sounds like /kudn owv/
 Couldn’t have – He couldn’t have done it
 Shouldn’t have – She shouldn’t have told you
 Wouldn’t have – They wouldn’t have known
o In Questions (e.g. would you have, should you have)
 Would you have/owv/
 How would she have known?
 Could you have /owv/
 What would you have done?
o You should’ve seen it
o You would’ve liked it.
o I shouldn’t have said that to him
o I wouldn’t have called you if I’d known you were sleeping.
o You wouldn’t have been tired if you’d gone to bed earlier.
o What would you’ve said to her?
- Remember:
o Could have /ku dov/
o Couldn’t have /kudn ov/
o Would you have /wud you owv/
- Rule 33 –dropped syllables
- Another very common mistake that people make is to fully pronounce certain words with
vowels which are not pronounced at all .
- /a/
o Basic /’bei sik/ - 2 syllables; If we add “ally” to make it “Basically” /’bei sik kow li/ - The a
is not pronounced.
o Similarly:
 Actual – actually
 Practical – practically
 Physical – physically

- /e/
o Accident /’eak si downt/ – accidentally /’ea si den tow li/ - we don’t pronounce the “e”
o Likewise:
 Vegetable /’ve d3 tow bl/
 Interesting /’in tres ting/
 Different /’dif frownt/
- /o/
o Chocolate /’trok klowt/
o Comfortable /’k^mf tow bl/
- The following is a list of words – each one of these words contains one vowel & one syllable
which is not pronounced.
o Aspirin /’eas p rin/
o Evening /’iv ning/
o Family /’fea mow li/
o Beverage /’be vow rid3/
o Naturally /’nea trow li/
o Catholic /’kea thow lik/
o Miserable /’miz row bl/
o Favourite /’fei vow rit/
o Extraordinary /’ik stro di now ri/
o Preference /’pre fow rowns/
o Temperature /’temp row trow/
o Broccoli /’brok kow li/
o Diamond /’dai ow mownd/
o Laboratory Ame /’lea brow to: ri/ Bre /low ‘bo row tri/
o Several /’sev rowl/
o Opera /’o p row/
o Camera /’kea mow row/
o I’d like a chocolate beverage
o Let’s go to a different restaurant
o Every evening, she takes an aspirin
o Basically, they’re different
o I went to an extraordinary opera last night.
o I actually like broccoli
- There are not too many of these words. So, for the ones listed, try to memorize them and
pronounce them correctly.

-
- Additional rule – phrase reduction (P.G. 13)
- In conversational English (not in formal context), words are often broken down or not fully
pronounced. Two and three words are often squeezed together to create “easy to say” phrases.
- (Going to try) becomes “gunna try” or “gonna try”
o I’m gunna try to finish this book
o I’m gonna sing you a song
- (Want to eat) becomes “wanna eat”
o Do you wanna eat at seven o’ clock?
o Do you really wanna go there?
- (Have to start) becomes “halfta start”
o I halfta start a diet tomorrow
o You halfta do it before you can know the outcome
- (Has to try) becomes “hasta try”
o He hasta try harder
o She hasta break up with him, he’s a jerk
- (Got to leave) becomes “gotta leave”
o I gotta leave in 15 minutes
o We gotta go now, they’re coming
- (Ought to believe) becomes “oughta believe”
o She oughta believe in what he’s saying
o You oughta trust me, I mean no harm
- (Out of bed) becomes “outa bed”
o I got outa bed when I heard the alarm clock
o We gotta get outta here before it’s too late
- (Did you go?) becomes “Didja go”
o Didja go to the store?
o Didja know he would come?
- (Would he help) becomes “woody help”
o Woody help me move the furniture?
o Woody go with you to the party?
- (Won’t you play) becomes “woncha play”
o Woncha play one more song on the piano
o Woncha get tired after repeating everything everyday?
- (Didn’t you know) becomes “Didincha know”
o Didincha know she was coming home tomorrow?
o Didincha run when he chased you?
- (Is he?) becomes “Izzy”
o Izzy the one that called?
o Izzy the man to talk to when you’re in trouble?
- (What do you want?) becomes “Whatdaya want”

- (Give it to me.) becomes “Givida Me”
o Gividame right away
- Rule 34 – silent consonants

- Another common mistake has to do with the silent letter
o Know
- Silent b
o Bomb
o Climb
o Debt
o Subtle
o Doubt
o Dumb
o Numb
o Thumb
o Tomb
- Silent ch
o Yacht
- Silent d
o Adjust /ow ‘d3ast/
o Adjective /’ea dzek tiv/
o Handkerchief /’h ea ng kow chi:f/
o
- Silent l
o Walk – talk
o Could – would – should – half
o Calm
o Palm
o Salmon
o Stalk /sto:k/
o Chalk /cho:k/
o Folk /fouk/
- Silent t – very often occurs in words that are originally French because in French, the t is most of
the time silent.
o Ballet /’bea lei/
o Bouquet /bu ‘kei/
o Buffet /’b^ fei/
o Valet /’v ea lei/ or /’vea lit/
o Chevrolet /’Se vrow lei/
o Other silent “t”

 Listen
 Fasten /’fea sown/
 Often
 Castle
 Buffet
- Silent th -
o Months (the “th” and “s” combination are very difficult, even for native speakers, most
American don’t really say the word fully (one month, two months)
o Clothes (the same thing applies to clothes – you might hear a tiny “th”, most people say
/klouz/
- Silent p
o Receipt
o Psychology
o Psychic
o Cupboard /k^ bowd/
- Silent s
o Island
o Debris
o Aisle /ail/ a passage between rows of seats in church, theatre or train, rows of shelves in
the supermarket.
- Silent N
o Autumn
o Column
- Silent w
o Answer
- These are the most commonly mispronounced words with silent letters.
- Rule 35 – relaxed speech
o Let’s compare formal speech with casual everyday conversational speech
o When we have the words have.
o E.g.: could have been – Formal /’ku dow/; Casual /’ku dav/
 I could have called you
 I could have come over
 Would have
 Should have
o Of /av/
 Kind of /’kai da/
 Sort of /’sot ta:/
 Cup of coffee
 Bottle of wine
o To /a:/

 Want to  wanna (I wanna go)
 Go to  gotta (I gotta eat)
 Going to  gonna
- A few more rules of casual speech
o Let me  lemme (lemme do it, lemme go, lemme help you)
o Give me  gimme – dropping the v (gimme a call, gimme that)
- The Ing ending (sometimes the g disappear but this is considered really casual speech – probably
in music lyrics) – but this is not considered professional speech
o Going  goin’ Where are you going?
o Doing  doin’ – What are you doing?
o Happening  happenin’  what’s happening?
- Sentence practice (Please note that this is not the proper spelling)
o You shoulda told me ealier. I coulda helped you
o I wanna get a cup of coffee
o He’s gonna make a lotta money
o We gotta go shopping because we’re outta food
o Lemme introduce you to a frienda mine
- You’d most often hear this kind of casual speech in movies and in a casual conversation; but
remember in IELTS speaking, don’t abbreviate things like this.

Module 4: Rhythm and intonation
Stressed & unstressed syllables, -ate word, suffixes, rules of word stress, focus
word & thought groups, private names & places, abbreviations & numbers, Intonation,
special stress.
- Rhythm, intonation and melody are the music of language, and it’s one of the most important
thing you need to know to have a good American accent. It’s probably even more important
than learning correct vowels and pronunciation.
- In some languages, the words sound flat and some words are pronounced the same way and
each syllable is pronounced the same way. If you’re speaking English quickly and you speak with
that kind of rhythm and melody, people will have a really hard time understanding you.
- On the other hand, if you’re stressing the wrong syllables or stressing the wrong words and
your music is different from how it is supposed to be with an American accent, once again your
speech will not be intelligible.
- The following are the rules you need to know to have a natural sounding rhythm and melody of
American English.
- For instance:
o It’s nice to meet you (the proper word to stress is meet)
- When we stress we word, we make it longer, louder and higher in pitch.
- If you make a mistake and stress the wrong word, this can be a big problem and people will have
a hard time understanding you.
o It is nice to meet you
o It’s nice to meet you.
- The order
o The first several rules will deal with stress of syllables
o The rules will proceed to deal with word stress within sentences,
o In the last part – you will learn about intonation, which is the pitch going up or the pitch
going down
 It is nice to meet you/
 It is nice to meet you\
- The best way to practice is reading out loud paragraphs and recording your own voice and then
analyze your voice and ask yourself if you’re stressing the right part of the word and the right
part of the sentence according to the rules that you’re going to learn. Keep recording your voice
over and over again and practice these rules and very soon you’ll have a very good American
accent.
-
- Rule 36 – basics of syllable stress

- A syllable is a small unit of speech that has one vowel and sometimes a vowel and a consonant
together.
- If you have 2 separate vowel sounds, that’d be 2 separate syllables.
o Seat – although there are two vowels (e & a), but these 2 syllables represent only one
sound /i:/, therefore we don’t have to worry about which syllable is stressed because
it’s only one word and one syllable.
o Sci/ence – the word is broken up in the middle, forming 2 syllables. In this case, one
syllable has to be stressed. If you look up the word in the dictionary, you’d see an
apostrophe in front of the word that is stressed.
o Audiovisual /o di ou ‘vi d3u owl/ this word contain 6 syllables. With words such as these,
it’s really important to know which syllable is stressed.
- To stress a syllable, we make them longer, louder and higher in pitch.
- Stressing the wrong syllable would often cause you to be misunderstood
o Success /sowk ‘ses/
o Success
o Which one is correct?
o Urban
o Urban
o Which one is correct?
- It is critical to know which syllable is stressed.
- Word stress test: take a look at these words and see whether you can tell which syllable the
stress falls on:
o Decade
o Colleague
o Female
o Japan
o Iran
o Locate
o Detail
o Parenthesis – bracket
o Necessary
o Necessity
- Answer: decade, colleague, female, Japan, Iran, locate, detail, parenthesis /pow ‘ren thi sis/,
necessary, necessity
- Don’t be dispirited if you make many mistakes on these words. These are very common
mistakes that people make

- Note; sometimes, when we change the form of a verb (from a verb to a noun or to an adjective),
the stress pattern changes as well.
- Rule 37 – syllables of verbs and nouns
- For words with 2 syllables:
o If the word is a noun, 90% of the time, the first syllable is stressed if the word has 2
syllables: office, problem, window, paper, answer, building, mother, father,
o If it’s a verb, around 2/3 of the times, the second syllable is stressed: apply, agree,
create, relax, complain, enjoy.
- Let’s look at some words that play the role of both nouns and verbs at the same time:
o Record (v), (n)
o He broke the world record
o I’d like to record my voice
o Object (v) (n)
o That’s an interesting object /’ob jekt/
o I object to your decision
o I hope to progress
o You’re making good progress
o Did he inSULT him?
o Yes, I heard the Insult
o Do you like that Object
o No, I obJECT to it
o Is there a CONflict between them?
o Yes, those two always conFLICT
o I want to preSENT you to my family
o I will bring them a nice PREsent
o Do you have the INsert?
o Where should I inSERT it?
o Do you reCALL it?
o No, I have no REcall of it
- Be careful, it could be that it could be in your language, generally the first syllable is stressed or
the last one is. In that case, pay special attention to this and practice.
- Rule 38 – ATE words
- Another rule on how syllables are pronounced have to do with words end in “ATE”
o Graduate
o Estimate
o Articulate

- To know what we say /eit/ or /owt/ for the endings, we have to know what kinds of words they
are,
o if it’s a verb, it’s /eit/ - sounding like 8
 I’d graduate from college soon.
o But if it’s a noun, the sound is /owt/
 He’s a college graduate
o Estimate
 I’d like to estimate the cost of this
 Please give me an estimate of the costs.
o Articulate – to say something really well and really clearly
 We’d like to articulate it
 He’s a very articulate man. (adj) (he speaks clearly and he speaks well)
- If’s a verb, we say /eit/ whereas if it’s a noun/adjective, we reduce it and we say /owt/
o Separate (v) (adj)
o Approximate (adj) (verb)
o Approximate (verb)
- Some more verbs that end with “ate”
o Negotiate
o Abbreviate
o Calculate
o Nominate
o Donate
- Let’s practice some nouns and adjectives
o Delicate
o Chocolate
o Accurate
o Affectionate
o Intimate
- Sentence practice
o Did he graduate from college?
o Yes, and now he’s in graduate school working on his PhD
o I will calculate it and give you an estimate
o I don’t think that number is accurate
o I think you’re exaggerating the amount
o That’s just an approximate estimate
o Thanks for the chocolate. I really appreciate it.
- Remember /eit/ if it’s a verb and /owt/ if it’s a noun or adjective.
- Rule 39 – Stress rules of suffixes

- Some more rules about syllable stress deal with the general rules about which syllable to stress,
but keep in mind that there are so many exceptions to each rule that you need to study them
on your own when you look up for each word.
- Guidelines regarding syllable stress and suffixes”
- A suffix is something that goes to the end of the word
o Quick – quickly
- Some rules on suffix stressing
- If the word ends with –ese, we stress the suffix:
o ChiNESE
o JapaNESE
o PortuGUESE
- If the word ends with EER, we stress the suffix
o PioNEER
o VolunTEER
o EngiNEER
- If the word ends with –IQUE, we stress the suffix
o AnTIQUE
o BouTIQUE
o CriTIQUE (a piece of written criticism on a work of art….,) Critic – the person who does
this job (distinct from CRItical)
o TechNIQUE (different from TECHnical)
- Words that end in IC –we stress the syllable immediately before the suffix
o ReaLIStic
o eLECtric (elecTRIcity)
o straTEgic (STRAtegy)
o OptiMIStic
o teRRIfic
o speCIfic
o paCIfic
- These are some important rules to know which syllables are to be stressed.
- Stress change from nouns to adjective
o Origin /’o ri d3in/ Original /ow ‘ri d3i nl/
o Industry /’in dows tri/ - Industrial /in ‘d^s tri owl/
o Memory /’me mow ri/ memorial /mow ‘mo ri owl/
o Finance /’fai neans/ - financial /fai ‘nean Sl/
o President /’pre zi dnt/ - presidential/ pre zi ‘den Sl/
- Keep listening carefully to the way native speakers pronounce words and you will distinctively
figure out which syllable is supposed to be stressed.

- Rule 40 – How unstressed syllables works
- So, what happen to syllables that are not stressed?
- Take a look at the words that have one thing in common: a vowel followed by an m in word
ending
o Madam
o Problem
o Symptom
o Album
- In many languages, Vietnamese included, these syllables are pronounced the same way. E.g.
madam. In English, the syllables that we stress are longer, louder and higher in pitch & syllable
stress are extremely important:
o Madam - the first a is completely different from the 2nd a – the first one is longer and
louder.
o Problem
o Symptom
o Album
- If you notice, all the ending ‘am, em, om, um” are pronounced the same /owm/. The point to be
highlighted here is that in English, we reduce and we stress.
- Another set of words with 2 “o” in each word
o O’ clock
o Doctor
o Photography
o Photo /’fowu tou/ - an exception to this rule
- All the unstressed syllables are reduced and become /ow/
o Atom /’ea towm/
o Adam /’ea dowm/
- Note that the d between the 2 vowels (Adam) sound exactly like a short “t”
- Some words are pronounced exactly the same but their spellings are slightly different:
o Lesson – lessen /’le sn/
o way – weigh
o collar – caller # colour
o Profit – prophet /’pro fit/ (Note: prophet = (1) a person who claims to see what happens
in the future or (2) a person who supports or teaches new ideas/theories)
o Seller – cellar (= wine cellar – an underground room used for storing things)
- For the following list of words, single out the syllables that are stressed and reduce the
unstressed syllables and make the sound /ow/ or, less commonly, /i/. Note to underline the
stressed words
o Economy

o Memory
o Control
o Contain
o Develop
o Europe
o Information
o Commercial
- The more you listen to spoken English, the better syllable stress and reductions you will acquire
because the words will become more familiar to you and you’ll automatically get a feeling of
which syllables you’re supposed to stress.
- Also, when looking up for new words, make sure to check their stress patterns.
- Rule 41 – Basics of stressing the right words within sentences

- Just like certain syllables are stressed in words, there are certain words that we have to stress in
sentences. This is very important to learn because this is what create the natural music and
rhythm of American English and it’s a really important skill to master to have a good accent.
o I will be driving to the market to buy something to eat
- The underlined words are verbs and nouns – they are content words.
- Content words are the words that carry the most meaning of a sentence. If other words were to
be eliminated and if we only said the underlined words, you’d still understand what the speaker
was trying to say
o Generally speaking content words are:
o Nouns: house, dog, men….
o Verbs (action words): go, eat, sleep, drive, think….
o Adverbs: carefully, clearly, well, soon…
o Adjectives: tall, short, good, bad, difficult, easy….
- Function words: are the other words around the content words. They’re other words that are
not absolutely necessary to the meanings of the sentence.
- Remember to jump up (go higher in pitch) for words that need to be stressed. Practice saying
the sentence once again:
o I will be driving to the market to get something to eat.
- This is the natural rhythm of English.
- When we have two content words, generally the second content words get more stress.
o E.g. I’ve got a job (Job gets more stress as it is the 2nd content word)
o Do me a favour
o See you later
o Let’s go for a walk
o Did you do your homework?

- In all of these cases, the second word gets more stress.
- Compare these two sentences:
o Did you get it?
o Did you get the job?
o In the 1st sentence, get is emphasized, but it is a pronounce, therefore it didn’t get
emphasized. In the 2nd sentence, job is emphasized because it’s a noun, so we reduce
pronouns and we stress nouns.
- Similarly:
o Did you see it?
o Did you see the film?
o Who stole it?
o Who stole my money?
- If we add another element to the end of the word, it may become different:
o Who stole the money from me?
 From is a preposition and me is a pronoun, so these two are reduced.
o I was washing the dishes.
o I was washing the dishes for her
o He’s fixing the car.
o He’s fixing the car for them.
- Take a look at these sentences and try figure out the stress pattern:
o I just got a new job. I am so excited about it. I couldn’t find one for a long time
o I’m working at the store. I’m selling women’s shoes. I started working there last week.
o On the first day, I was really nervous, there was so much to learn.
o Answer: I just got a new JOB. I’m so EXCITED about it. I couldn’t FIND one for a long
TIME.
o I’m working at the STORE. I’m selling women’s SHOES. I started WORKING there last
WEEK.
o On the first DAY, I was really NERVOUS, there was so much to LEARN.
- When you stress a word, make it louder & longer, but don’t put too much melody in it.
o Have a NICE DAY (exaggerated)
o It’s nice to MEET YOU (exaggerated)
- Rule 42 – Focus words and thought groups
- Let’s talk about what happen when we have a long sentence with a lot content words
- Basically, we need to divide one sentence into thought groups
- E.g. I will be driving to the market/to get something to eat.
- As can be seen, the sentence is separated into 2 thought groups by a comma. The most
important word within a thought group is called the FOCUS WORD.
o The focus word of the first thought group is market

o The second focus word is eat
- Sometimes a sentence can have three focus words
o I will be driving to the market/ to get something to eat/ because I was very hungry
o The three words in bold are the focus words.
- So, how do you divide your sentences? You can use your natural instinct/intuition to decide. For
instance
o I will be driving/to the market  this thought group is another way to divide your
thought group because it also makes sense.
o I will be driving to/the market  not sensible to break down your thought groups in this
way.
- So, you have a choice of whether where to pause based on your intuition as long as it makes
sense. It depends on how quickly you want to speak. The important thing to keep in mind is
when you have a thought group, emphasize one key word the most.
- Let’s try another sentence:
o I was watching a movie/ with my friends/when suddenly it started to rain
- Obviously , that’s a very long sentence, so if you don’t break down and stress any word, it would
be very hard to understand. So, breaking it down to chunks (thought groups) make it have a very
nice rhythm and much easier to understand.
o I was so tired/that I couldn’t wait/ to get home.
o Or “I was so tired/that I couldn’t wait to get home.
o It’s up to you how to you how to break down the sentence.
o If I forget to pay my BILL/ please REMIND me about it.
o He wants to KNOW/if you NEED anything/from the SUPERMARKET.
o Did you know it was SNOWING/in all parts of the EAST COAST?
o When we CLIMBED/to the top of the MOUNTAIN/we could see the OCEAN.
o Or “when we climbed to the top of the MOUNTAIN/we could see the OCEAN”
- When you have a longer sentence with a few thought groups, make sure you find the focus
word and stress that one the most. Remember, it’s the last content word (if it’s a noun or a
verb)
Rule 43 – How to stress adjectives and nouns
- Let’s talk now about which words to stress: noun or adjective. Listen to these sentences:
o It’s a HOT day
o It’s a hot DAY
- Which one sounds correct to you?
- In English, nouns, rather than adjectives, are stressed, so the correct way is
o It is a hot DAY.
o You did a good JOB.

o I have blonde HAIR.
o I’m wearing a black JACKET.
o I’m wearing a black BLOUSE/and a black JACKET.
o Blouse /blauz/ a piece of clothing like a shirt – worn by women.
- Remember, the important rule is to emphasize the nouns. If you emphasize the adjectives
instead, it will be difficult for native speakers to understand you
o I’m wearing a BLACK blouse/and a BLACK jacket
- Sentence practice
o I have brown EYES
o I have a nice JOB
o I have an older BROTHER
o I went to a PARTY/ and I have a good TIME
o He has blue EYES
o I’m wearing black SHOES
o I’m wearing a gold RING
- Take a minute now to describe yourself (your hair, your eyes and what you’re wearing today
using proper stress).
- If the adjective is alone, we do stress it of course. For instance:
o He’s TALL
o It’s HOT
o That was GOOD
- But if have a noun
o He’s a tall MAN
o It’s a hot DAY
o That was a good JOB
- Sentence practice 2:
o That was FAST.
o That was a fast FLGIHT.
o I have FIVE
o I have five DOLLARS
o It’s OLD
o It’s an older FILM
o He’s YOUNGER
o He’s my younger BROTHER
o That was GREAT
o I had a great TIME.
o I have an older BROTHER/ and a younger SISTER.
o She has brown HAIR/ and blue EYES.

o That old LADY/ has a little DOG.
o My new CAR has four DOORS.
o I read a good BOOK/during the long FLIGHT.
- What happen when we have 2 adjectives before a noun?. E.g.: big black dog, angry old man.
Long hot shower. In this case, we emphasize the first adjective and the noun
o BIG black DOG
o ANGRY old MAN
o LONG hot SHOWER
- That’s all there to this rule. Keep practicing.
- Rule 44 – Compound nouns
- Compound nouns are two words that represent one thing. For example: credit card
- In this case, we stress the first word: CREDIT card. Also, join the words together.
- Let’s practice some other compound nouns
o EYElid
o EYE-brow
o FOREhead
o EARring
- Some compound words with HAIR:
o HAIR style
o HAIR colour
o HAIR brush
o HAIR salon
- Things around your house
o BOOKshelf
o WASHING-machine
o LAPtop
o WINDOW-frame
- In your wallet:
o DRIVER/DRIVING license
o CREDIT card
o CELL phone
o CAR keys
o CHEWING gum
o Please give me your PHONE number/with the the AREA code first
o My house has three BEDrooms/ and two BATHrooms
o I got a HEADache from the loud ROCK music
o The POLICE officer was on a MOTORcycle

o After their WEDDING day, they went on their HONEYmoon
o Don’t put the NEWSpaper in the TRASHcan
o I bought a BIRTHDAY present for my ROOMmate
- Remember, when it’s an adjective plus noun, we stress the noun. But when it’s a compound
noun, we stress the first word
o Green HOUSE
o GREENhouse
- Rule 45 – rules of stressing phrasal verbs
- Pick up
- Break down
- Pick and break are verbs; but if we add prepositions and other words afterwards, they become
phrasal verbs: pick up, break down.
- With phrasal verbs, we stress the second element which is usually a preposition, so we say:
o Pick UP
o Break DOWN
- Sometimes the phrasal verbs can have a pronoun or a noun in between, so we can say:
o Pick it UP
o Turn it ON
o Cross it OUT
- Sometimes, phrasal verbs can have a noun equivalent. For instance:
o Work out & Workout
o I had a great WORKout (emphasizing the first part)
o I work OUT for three hours every morning
o I found OUT about it
o Can you look it OVER for me?
o I’ll think it OVER and I’ll call you BACK
o I can’t figure OUT why it broke DOWN
o When he grew UP/ he moved OUT
- Remember if it’s a phrasal verb, we stress the 2nd part – the preposition. But if it’s a noun, we
stress the first part. For example:
o MakeUP: I’m wearing some MAKEup
o Make UP: I’m sure he made UP the story. It can’t possibly be true
o CHECK-up: I went to the doctor for a medical CHECK-up
o Check UP: after checking UP on him, the doctor can’t diagnose any disease
o BREAK-up: It was a very painful BREAKup
o Break UP: the decided to break up since they can’t get along well anymore
o Turn OFF: the light is hurting my eyes. Could you turn it OFF, please?

o TURNoff: that’s a real TURNoff (not interesting & attractive)
o Print OUT: have you printed OUT the information?
o PRINTout: he handed me a copy of the PRINTout
- Rule 46 – names of places and people
- Let’s learn the rules of stress for names of people and names of places.
- If the place has two words, we stress the 2nd word:
o South AMERICA
o United KINGDOM
o Los ANGELES
o Las VEGAS
o Mexico CITY
o South AFRICA
o Central PARK
- The same thing happens when we stress the names of people, we stress the last name – the 2nd
word
o George WASHINGTON
o Barrack OBAMA
- When the name has three words, we stress the last word. For example:
o Martin Luther KING
o John F. KENEDY
- Think of actors/actresses that you like:
o Julia ROBERT
o Brad PITT
o Tom CRUISE
- Sentence practice
o John WILSON and Bob JONES went to South AMERICA.
o Central PARK is in New YORK.
o His father likes Bob DYLAN, but his grandfather likes Frank SINATRA
o Barrack OBAMA was elected president of the United STATES
o Is that Julia ROBERTS or Nicole KIDMAN?
- Remember the final name gets the most stress
- Rule 47 – abbreviations and numbers
- Abbreviations are the short form of a longer name
o CNN (Cable News Network)
o W.H.O (World Health Organization)
o Ph.D (Doctor of philosophy)
- The rule is we stress the last letter of the abbreviations, for example:

o cnN
o uclA
o ph.D
- Don’t pronounce each letter separately, try to say it as if it were one word (link it together) and
stress the last element
o asaP
o Call me BACK asaP
o pC – my pC is broken
o dvD, cD, iQ
- Try to think of more abbreviations and speak them using the proper stress pattern.
- Sometimes, people might ask you to spell your names (especially when you come overseas to
study), make sure to break up your names and emphasize the last part:
o Parker (Spelling: p – a – R/ k – e – R)
- We emphasize the last element (according to the syllables)
- Numbers work the same way – we generally emphasize the last element, for example
o 3799 0 Thirty seven ninety NINE
o 58 – fifty EIGHT
o 812 – eight hundred TWELVE
o Area code 310/555/8239
- Practice saying your telephone number, your birthday, your birth year & or an important holiday
o October twenty seven/nineteen eighty-eight
o She was born in nineteen ninety-four
o ………
o I went to work/ at 9:15/ and came home/ at 5:45/
o Flight 507/ left LAX/ at 7:25/
o This CD/ costs $ 19.99/
o He was born in L.A./ in 1987/
o When they got married/, he was 31/ and she was 29/
- Remember: in abbreviations and in numbers, the last element gets stressed.
- Rule 48 – stress for special emphasis
- The last rule for word stress: any word can be stressed if you have a good reason to stress it – if
you want to emphasize the word for some reasons:
o This is the best ICE-CREAM/ I’ve ever HAD/
o This is the BEST ice-cream/I’ve ever had/
o That’s the BIGGEST dog/I’ve ever seen/

- You emphasize words to put more emotions in them & to make sure people understand your
point. But be careful, don’t do that too much, in regular conversations, you usually emphasize
the last word (ice-cream, had – as they are content words)
o I love your new CAR
- However, there’s still room some creativity there
o You don’t smoke, /do \you?
o I USED TO smoke. I don’t SMOKE now, but I USED to smoke
o You will NOT go there tomorrow night, right?
o I WILL go
o Do you speak French or German?
o I speak French AND German
- In the first case, we emphasize “used to” to say that you smoked before, but not now. In the 2nd
case, you’re disagreeing with the speaker. In the last one, the speaker emphasizes that he can
speak both languages.
- The message here is that the stress pattern of the words can change according to the meanings
we wish to convey:
o I will drive to the beach/next week – Normal way
o I will drive to the beach/next week – emphasize I to mean that it is you, not someone
else, will drive to the beach.
o I will drive to the beach/next week – to say that you’re not going to walk or take a bus,
but you will drive instead.
o I will drive to the beach/ next week – stress the location you’re going to
o I will drive to the beach/ next week – not this week or 2 weeks from now – but next
week.
o Finally “I will drive to the beach next week  in this case, put a little more extra stress
on the word “week”
- You can see how the stress change leads to changes in meanings
- Let’s say this sentence normally first
o Marry made a cake for my birthday.
o MARRY made a cake for my birthday (emphasizing that it’s Marry who made the cake,
but not anybody else)
o Marry MADE a cake for my birthday (she didn’t buy it but made it herself)
o Marry made a CAKE for my birthday (she didn’t make cookies)
o Marry made a cake for MY birthday (she didn’t make a cake for anybody else’s birthday,
but MY birthday)
- Remember, for special emphasis or for clarification, you can stress any word.
- Rule 49 – rising and falling intonation
- Intonation is the going up and down of your voices (the rising and the falling of the pitch)

o All right\ (falling intonation because it’s a statement/answer)
o All right?/ (when it’s a question)
- There are 2 different ways we can say hello
o Hello\ - Hello, nice to meet you!
o Hello/ (when you answer the phone for instance – the pitch goes up) – Hello, who’s
calling?
- If you’re using the wrong intonation, people might be confused about what you’re trying to say,
they may misunderstand you or get the wrong impression – you may sound nervous, insecure or
unsure of yourself if your intonation is going up rather than down.
- Practice the following intonation by saying simple sentences that are statements. Remember a
statement is not a question. After we do this, we will learn some rules for intonation with
questions. With questions, sometimes the intonation rises, but not always so.
- Statement
o I like it\
o Have a nice day\
o My name is Bob\
o It’s cold outside\
o I’m tired\
o I’m hungry\
o I’m hungry because I haven’t eaten all day
- Don’t confuse stress and intonation – we have learnt that for stress – we jump up on the key
word, but intonation is when you jump up, how you do it.
o Have a nice day\ (you still stress the word day but not with a high pitch – it’s not “Have a
nice day”)
o Note that your voice is still going down even though you’re still stressing the word. It’s
important that your pitch is down
- Practice – think of how you feel right now
o I feel good
o I’m feeling happy
o Today is Monday
o I’m going to work soon
- Make some statements while making sure that your pitch goes down in the end.
- The rules for intonation for Questions – we can have either rising or falling intonation depending
on what kind of question it is
o Yes/No questions (rising intonation) – can be answered by either a yes or a no
o Are you happy?
o Did you do that?
o WH questions (falling intonation) – what, why, how, where, when? – These questions
cannot be answered by “Yes, No”.

o What is that?
o How old are you?
o Where do you live?
o What do you do?
o Where were you born?
o How did you do that?
o Are you hungry?
o Did you like it?
- Sentence practice
o Are you angry at me/?
o Why are you angry at me\?
o Is it hot in there?
o Why is it so hot in there?
o Did you get there late?
o Why did you get there late?
o Have you been to New York?
o How many times have you been to New York?
o Did it start?
o What time did it start?
- Remember, for statements & WH questions, we use falling intonation. For other questions, we
use rising intonation.
- Rule 50 – changing intonation
- How can intonation change within one sentence?
- Within one sentence, the intonation can both rise and fall
- 1st case – Enumeration (listing items in a series)
o I bought chicken/, fish/, apples/ and sugar\.
o The last one will have falling intonation. When you keep your intonation rising, people
know that your list will continue
o I woke up/, ate breakfast/ and went to work\
o List some sports you like to watch or some activities you like to do or what you have in
your refrigerator today
 I like to run/, to play tennis/ and to swim\.
 I have milk/, water/, sugar/ and bread\.
- nd
2 case – saying one short sentence in 2 different ways
o I think it’s gonna rain\
o I think it’s gonna rain/
o If you say it the 2nd way with an upward pitch, it sounds like something else is coming
are you’re not finished speaking.

o I think it’s gonna rain/ but I’m not sure\
o I’d love to eat that\
o I’d love to eat that/but I’m on a diet\
o Give me your number\
o If you give your number/, I’ll call you\
- Generally, to indicate that you’re not finished and you have something else to say, let your pitch
go up at the end of the first part of your sentence. It’s kind of having a comma and knowing that
your expressions are just partially finished.
- 3rd case: Also, with introductory words/phrases, we use rising intonation
o On the other hand
o However
o In my opinion
- It’s something you put in the beginning of a sentence – usually followed by a comma
o On the other hand/, may be I’ll go
o On the other hand/, maybe I’ll take the blue one
o If you ask me/, I think you did a good job\
o If I were you, I’d talk to him
- th
4 case: giving a choice
o Should I call you/ or send you an email\?
o Do you like chicken/ or beef\?
o Does he have green eyes/ or blue eyes\?
o Is he a young man/ or an old man\?
- Sentence practice
o Are you married/ or single\?
o They have four children/, ages seven/, nine/ eleven/ and fourteen\
o I went to the gym/, came home/ and called my friend\.
o As far as I know/, I’m not allergic to anything\.
o According to the weather report/, it’s going to rain\.
- Remember: rising intonation when you’re not finished speaking and have something more to
say. In contrast, you’d use falling intonation at the end of your sentences.

Putting it all together - paragraph practice Part 2 (15 P.G)
Paragraph 1: a foreign student
- When a student from another country comes to study in the United States, he has to find out for
himself the answers to many questions, and he has many problems to think about. Where
should he live? Would it be better living in a dormitory or in a private room off campus? Should
he spend all of his time studying, or should he take advantage of the many cultural and social
activities that are offered? At first, he may not feel that he fits in with the American culture. He
may not feel confident when he speaks. Little by little, however, he learns how to handle himself
in various situations. Finally he begins to feel very secure and “at home”. Unfortunately, this
long-awaited feeling doesn’t develop suddenly. It takes time.
Paragraph 2: Volcanoes
- Volcanoes are holes in the Earth’s crust which allow molten rock to escape from beneath. The
molten rock, or lava, may flow out gently or it may be blasted high in the air with gas and ash in
a violent explosion. There are eight hundred and fifty active volcanoes active around the world.
Do you know where the mountains of fire are found? Three quarters of them are found within a
zone called the “Ring of Fire”. One edge of the zone stretches along the west coast of the
Americas from Chile to Alaska. The other edge runs along the east coast of Asia from Siberia to
New Zealand. Twenty percent of these volcanoes are located in Indonesia. Other big groupings
are in Japan, the Aleutian Islands, and Central America.
Paragraph 3: the Chinese language

- Chinese is the most unusual language. It differs from English and most other major languages in
that it has hundreds of different dialects. A person who lives in one section of the vast country
of China, often cannot understand a fellow Chinese who lives in another section. These two
major dialects are Cantonese and Mandarin. Cantonese is a southern dialect. Mandarin, a
dialect that originated in northern China, is spoken by more Chinese than any other dialect
- Non-Chinese people say that the Chinese seems to “sing” their language. China sounds as
though it is sung, because many words are only one-syllable long and because the tone of voices
change for each word. As in English, many words have more than one meaning. The speaker’s
tone of voice indicates each word’s specific meaning.
- Even more fascinating than the variety of spoken sounds is the Chinese written language. It has
no alphabet. Instead, it employs sounds called “characters”. Each spoken word in the language
is represented by a separate character. Originally, the characters were drawings that depicted
meanings of words, but over the years, they have simplified, and most no longer look like the
things they represent.

Paragraph 4: the Supercontinents
- Around 100 to 150 million years ago, there may have only one continent on our planet. At least
that is what some Earth scientists have decided after years of research. If you look at the map of
the world carefully, you can see that the present-day continents could be thought of as pieces of
gigantic jigsaw puzzle. In your imagination carefully put the pieces of together to form the
supercontinent. You will see that if you took away the South Atlantic Ocean and pressed South
America and Africa together they would fit very nicely. You could continue removing oceans and
seas and put other parts of the world together quite easily until you get to the last 2 pieces of
Australia and Antarctica. Scientists believe that the continents of Australia and Antarctica were
once linked together. They may have split slowly off from the supercontinent and then
separated from each other as recently as 40 million years ago.

50 Rules of Pronunciation

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50 Rules of Pronunciation

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Pronunciation

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Number 2 – Do not leave off word endings

Number 3 – Make a list of frequently used words

Number 4 – Open your mouth when you speak English

Number 5 – Don’t be afraid to speak

Number 6 Read aloud in English for 10 to 15 minutes everyday

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Number 9 – listen and repeat

- Most importantly, be patient. Fixing your pronunciations involves a lot of time

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- 11 /ow/ & /^/ but, done, jump, love

Group 3: the remaining words

- Rule 1 – the four relaxed vowels

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- Note: lower vowels “uh” – don’t skip the w in these cases

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- Rule 5 – /ae/ - as in “apple” & /au/ (10 P.G.)

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- Rule 9 – understanding stressed vowels (13 P.G)

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- Rule 10 – understanding reduced vowels

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- R at the end of words or after a vowel

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- R blend in the middle of words

- Rule 16 – the “w” and “kw” sound (1 P.G.)

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- Word pair practice 2 (“v” and “w”)

- Additional rule 1 – the “SH” sound (4 P.G.)

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- “Ch” sentence practice

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- Rule 23 – the ‘tr’ and ‘dr’ sounds

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- Rule 25 – “ed” endings “t” & “d” (6 P.G.)

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Additional rule 3: “p” & “b” endings (6 P.G.)

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Additional rule 4: tongue twister

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