Home
Professional
Services
ACCENT CORRECTION
On-Site
Consulting and Training
Executive Support
PERSONAL COACHING
Presentation Skills
Workshops and Seminars
Synonyms
of the Week
What
They're Saying
Tips
About
CCC
Susan
Cooper
Lead
Consultant
Resources
Contact
©
2000-2010
You
Can Correct Your Accent
English
Proficiency Changes Your Life
Distance Coaching
Characteristic
Sounds of English
Points Concerning English Pronunciation
Learning
English takes years of study. However, accent correction can be accomplished
in a matter of months. Improving pronunciation makes communication more
successful, allowing people to get a more accurate impression of the speaker’s
intelligence and capability, socially and professionally.
Clear, understandable speech is the minimum requirement for successful
communication and confidence that you are expressing what you mean. Even
if your English is limited, good pronunciation insures that you will be
understood. Yet, accent reduction is virtually ignored in the teaching
of English as an adopted language, even in the United States where instructors
are native speakers.
Most desirable is that you become able to communicate as concisely and
completely as you do in your native language—in terms of both understanding
and being understood. This goal is definitely attainable, depending on
how far you wish to go. In modern life, it is also necessary to be able
to speak well on the telephone, and also perhaps, to speak in public—either
within a group or in front of an audience.
You Can Correct Your Accent
(or your ethnic or regional dialect)
TOP
In speaking English, you probably feel that you’re making hundreds
of ‘mistakes’—but, in fact, you’re making only five
or six mistakes hundreds of times. These incorrect patterns are due to
new sounds in English that are not common to your native language.
Susan Cooper, lead consultant of Cross-Culture Communications,
is the former host of the interview radio program Here Comes the Sun
on WBAI, the Pacifica station in New York City. Using her advanced training
and expertise, Susan demonstrates how to identify and fix the incorrect
patterns. Her high level of articulation provides a reliable model of
standard American English for you to copy as your own. With repetition
and practice you will establish the correct sounds as your natural speech.
With pronunciation training, you will:
◇ Identify
your particular five or six incorrect sound patterns
◇
Contrast
these with the standard sounds and clearly hear the difference
◇
Learn
which facial muscles to use and how to use them to produce the
correct sounds
◇ Repeat
and practice the correct sounds so that new habits automatically
replace old ones
◇
Develop
familiarity with the rhythm and style of natural spoken English,
and integrate your new capabilities into everyday
use
English
Proficiency Changes Your Life
TOP
Communication has a highly psychological aspect—and people are constantly
making judgments based upon it. Some features of your accent may be considered
acceptable or even attractive by native speakers. On the other hand, there
are some sounds (like a bad ‘TH’) that are regarded as unattractive,
and even objectionable, by native speakers. This is why it’s a good
idea to establish pronunciation priorities, attending to the most important
matters first.
Speech is an intimate matter. When you improve your manner of speaking,
you will find you’ve transformed something in your personality as
well. Self-esteem and confidence are enhanced and your endeavors meet
with increasing success.
Now that you have mastered basic English grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation,
you deserve congratulations. You would be fortunate, though, to also get
a warning that you are in a new kind of danger zone—in danger of
your English remaining as it is.
When you first started out, you received feedback indicating that you
weren’t being entirely understood—such as people correcting
you, or asking you to repeat things, or showing puzzled facial expressions.
However, now you are successfully communicating on a basic level, your
English is ‘good enough’ and you no longer get such corrections
or clues.
At this point in the advancement of your English, you need to take deliberate
steps for further improvement. Otherwise, chances are you will stabilize
more or less at the present level of performance. If you are operating
in a heavily or predominantly English language environment, you’ll
want to go beyond present limitations so you can fully function in both
business and your personal life. The best of all worlds is to attain a
high level of proficiency in whatever language you need to speak—to
be confident and relaxed, as much a member as you want to be, in any given
group—articulate and effective in all situations.
Distance
Coaching
by Phone (Email and Fax)
TOP
If, like so many people
these days, your schedule is busy and/or highly changeable, and you’d
like to work with a coach from your office or home, you can work privately
with Susan Cooper, lead consultant of Cross-Culture Communications,
via phone (email and fax) consultation.
Susan has designed distance coaching sessions to simulate the format,
content and results of the in-person sessions at her San Francisco office—with
enthusiastic and satisfied clients across the country.
PHONE / FAX: 415.221.2470
EMAIL: info@crossculturecom.com
for more information
Characteristic Sounds of English
TOP
There are some sounds that are virtually unique to English, with which
speakers from other language groups have varying degrees of difficulty.
Unlike grammar and vocabulary-building, pronunciation is not something
that can be practiced without assistance. Audio tapes can be useful, though
they're somewhat unnatural and, of course, cannot correct you. The best
way is to arrange to work with a native speaker. TH (both ‘soft’
and ‘hard’), as in:
thank / distinct from tank
thank / distinct from sank
than / distinct from Dan
then / distinct from Zen
UH, as in mother, money, lunch, under
AHH, as in pack distinct from peck
V, as in victory (not ‘W’ as in wick or
‘B’ as in bicker or ‘F’ as in fickle)
long ‘E’ distinct from short ‘I’ (the difference
between beat and bit)
long ‘O’, as in own, component, San Francisco
Reminder: ‘long’ vowels are pronounced exactly the same the
letter itself:
A = as in able
E = as in equal
I = as in ice
O = as in open
U = as in university
(All other pronunciations of these letters are ‘short.’)
THESE ARE THE TOP MOST TYPICAL
SOUNDS OF ENGLISH. IF ANY OF THESE SOUNDS IS INCORRECT, IT IS IMMEDIATELY
NOTICED. BECAUSE THEY ARE CHARACTERISTIC AND OCCUR SO FREQUENTLY IN ENGLISH,
TIME SPENT MASTERING THESE SOUNDS WILL RESULT IN EXPONENTIAL IMPROVEMENT
IN YOUR PRONUNCIATION OF ENGLISH.
Points Concerning English Pronunciation
TOP
1. Sounds of Standard English
English is a highly articulated mul-ti-syl-la-bic language which includes
'combination' sounds (like chin or gin), and consonant clusters
(like months or splash), all of which are pronounced to
varying degrees. The muscles of the mouth, jaw and tongue are exercised
in different ways than in other languages.
Vowels (short vowels are short; long vowels are long: A E I O U)
Final consonants, so frequent in English words, and identical to initial
consonants, are not to be omitted or exaggerated:
(BELL-LOOK ; BRING-GOOD)
All syllables (with occasional exceptions) must be pronounced: initial
(syl), medial [la], and final [bles]
Syllable stress/ syllable change (rècord/recòrd; pronòunce/pronunciàtion)
“Extra” words (articles, prepositions, conjunctions, etc.) cannot
be left out
Rhythm and intonation
2. Pronunciation Contrasts
Voiced and voiceless: G / K, B / P, D / T, V / F ("hard"
and "soft," respectively)
Final consonants—L, G, N; plural S / S (eyes
/ books)
TH / TH (“soft” and “hard,” as
in ‘I think that’)
R / W
L / R
W / V / F / B
beat/bit
bet/bat
cut/cot
book/boot
diphthongs (moon, tool, boil)
(half-T / half-D, as in little)
didn’t, shouldn’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t,
mountain
etc.
3. Suggestions for Practice
Working with a native speaker
Reading aloud
Using a mirror
Listening and looking
Speaking slowly and naturally speeding up
The more you practice correctly, the easier and better
it gets.
©
2002