American Accent Course. Workbook PDF
Preview American Accent Course. Workbook
! ! ! ! ! WORKBOOK By Sheri Summers and Mark Bev www.AccentWorkshop.com Table of Contents ! Lesson Page Getting Started How to Use this Course Introduction 5 Unit One Introduction to the American Accent 1 What is Accent? 6 2 An Overview of the American Accent 11 Unit Two Breaking English into Pieces 3 Meet the Schwa 15 4 The American T 18 Unit Three Word Intonation Patterns 5 Intonation Patterns of 1&2 Syllable Words 25 6 Intonation Patterns of 3&4 Syllable Words 33 Unit Four Unusual Word Intonation 7 Words that Shift Stress 38 8 Missing Syllables 41 Unit Five Descriptive Phrases and Compound Nouns 9 Compound Nouns vs. Descriptive Phrases 44 10 Phrasal Verbs and More 48 Unit Six Linking Words Together 11 Linking Words 52 The American Accent Course Table of Contents © 2009 Accent on Speaking All Rights Reserved Table of Contents ! ! ! Lesson Page Unit Seven Content and Structure Words 12 Content Words 56 13 Structure Words 60 Unit Eight Rhythm and Timing 14 Rhythm and Timing 64 15 Reducing Modals 67 16 Phrasing 70 Unit Nine Sentence Stress 17 Normal Sentence Stress 73 18 Emphatic and Contrastive Stress 76 Unit Ten Asking Questions 19 Asking Questions 80 20 Tag Questions 85 Unit Eleven Compound and Complex Sentences 21 Sequencing 90 22 Complex Sentences 93 Unit Twelve Clear Speech 23 Emotion and Mood 95 24 Putting it All Together 99 The American Accent Course Table of Contents © 2009 Accent on Speaking All Rights Reserved Table of Contents ! ! ! Lesson Page Recommendations Recommendations for Continued Success 102 Resources 104 The American Accent Course Table of Contents © 2009 Accent on Speaking All Rights Reserved Introduction Welcome • This is where you’ll find the overview of Congratulations! You’ve taken the action necessary to each lesson improving not only your pronunciation, but more importantly your accent. Be proud of your first action Notes: step! Now, let’s take the next step together. This workbook accompanies the audio portion of the American Accent Course. Each lesson has a presentation of how native speakers produce the language and a practice for you to put your newly attained knowledge into valuable, practical everyday use. You may want to print out this workbook and put it in a binder. While it’s not necessary to use a color printer, some of the lessons will benefit from using color ink. (These lessons have a note in the upper, right-hand corner.) Also, notice that each lesson has a right-hand column for notes, and an overview of each lesson is listed at the top with a useful quote at the bottom. In the left-hand column, you’ll find the visual reenforcement to the audio lesson; in other words, the important points you need to help you understand the presentation and help you follow along with the practice. Just as important are the suggestions for practice that you’ll find at the end of each lesson. We’d like to emphasize the continual need to practice the points made in the lessons. Finally, if you’re not already a member of the American Accent Workshop, we believe!you will find enormous benefit by joining.! You can sign up at “There are some people who live www.accentworkshop.com.! As a member of this online in a dream world, and there are community, you can come to Help Sessions and live some who face reality, and then there are those who turn one classes and get real time feedback from expert into the other.” instructors. Okay, let’s begin! ! ! ! Douglas Everett The American Accent Course Introduction © 2009 Accent on Speaking Page 5 All Rights Reserved www.accentworkshop.com Attitude Lesson One • Attitude Before we begin, you should take a moment to think • Spelling and Pronunciation about your attitudes towards learning an accent in • Four Parts of Accent • Diagram Intonation another language. • Suggestions Have you ever asked yourself the following questions? Notes: Is it really possible to change my accent? Is it necessary to change my accent? Will I be giving up a part of who I am by changing the way I speak? Am I too old? Am I too dumb? Do men/ women pick up on accent better than I do? Will my native language affect my pronunciation? Can native English speakers understand me? How long is this going to take? Do I really want to do this? Spelling and Pronunciation Do NOT be confused by English spelling. It does not always match the pronunciation. If you have learned English from books and the written word, it is very “There are some people who live important for you to stop thinking about words from the in a dream world, and there are way they are written. some who face reality, and then there are those who turn one English spelling comes from many different places. It is into the other.” ! ! ! Douglas Everett not consistent! The American Accent Course Lesson 1 © 2009 Accent on Speaking Page 6 All Rights Reserved www.accentworkshop.com Spelling and Pronunciation (continued) Lesson One • Attitude Just as an example, take a look at this poem. Although • Spelling and Pronunciation much of the spelling is the same, the pronunciation is • Four Parts of Accent • Diagram Intonation completely different. • Suggestions You can hear the poem by visiting Notes: http://international.ouc.bc.ca/pronunciation/poem01.html I take it you already know Of tough and bough and cough and dough? Others may stumble but not you On hiccough, thorough, slough and through. Well done! And now you wish perhaps, To learn of less familiar traps? Beware of heard, a dreadful word That looks like beard and sounds like bird. And dead, it's said like bed, not bead- for goodness' sake don't call it 'deed'! Watch out for meat and great and threat (they rhyme with suite and straight and debt). A moth is not a moth in mother, Nor both in bother, broth, or brother, And here is not a match for there, Nor dear and fear for bear and pear, And then there's doze and rose and lose- Just look them up- and goose and choose, And cork and work and card and ward And font and front and word and sword, And do and go and thwart and cart- “There are some people who live Come, I've hardly made a start! in a dream world, and there are some who face reality, and then A dreadful language? Man alive! there are those who turn one I'd learned to speak it when I was five! into the other.” And yet to write it, the more I sigh, ! ! ! Douglas Everett I'll not learn how 'til the day I die. The American Accent Course Lesson 1 © 2009 Accent on Speaking Page 7 All Rights Reserved www.accentworkshop.com Four Parts of Accent Lesson One • Attitude Voicing • Spelling and Pronunciation • Four Parts of Accent Voicing means where your voice comes from. • Diagram Intonation Some languages come from the nose, some come • Suggestions from the throat, and some come from the chest. Notes: Rhythm and Intonation Rhythm and Intonation show the “music” of the language. Every language has its own patterns of pitch, beat, and speed. Word Connections/Liaison A liaison is a French word that means connection. All words in a sentence get connected together to make it smooth. Pronunciation Pronunciation (also called articulation) is the sound of the vowels and consonants. They are made by the placement of the tongue, teeth, lips and vocal cords. Most important to be understood “There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality, and then Not as important to be understood there are those who turn one into the other.” ! ! ! Douglas Everett The American Accent Course Lesson 1 © 2009 Accent on Speaking Page 8 All Rights Reserved www.accentworkshop.com Diagrams of Intonation Lesson One • Attitude Spanish • Spelling and Pronunciation • Four Parts of Accent • Diagram Intonation • Suggestions Chinese Notes: Korean Japanese Arabic _________________ _________________ “There are some people who live English in a dream world, and there are some who face reality, and then there are those who turn one into the other.” ! ! ! Douglas Everett The American Accent Course Lesson 1 © 2009 Accent on Speaking Page 9 All Rights Reserved www.accentworkshop.com Suggestions For Practice… 1. Watch the videos at www.accentworkshop.com/ Lesson One voicingandfacial.htm and observe how much • Attitude Americans use their jaws and lips to speak. Also pay • Spelling and Pronunciation attention to where their voice is coming from. • Four Parts of Accent Practice following their speaking styles, first without using words and second while speaking out loud. • Diagram Intonation • Suggestions 2. Observe how Americans around you (or on TV or movies) use their lips, jaws, and air to speak. Record Notes: your observations in your Awareness Journal. 3. Find something small (a memento) that you can keep with you to remind you of your task. It could be a paper clip, a small stone, a ring, or anything that, when you look at it or feel it, you remember that you are working on making changes to the way you speak. 4. Practice recording yourself on a computer or digital recorder. Concentrate on making sure you really use your lips and jaw as you speak. Work on bringing your voice out on your breath. 5. Download a podcast from iTunes (www.itunes.com) or watch a video on YouTube (www.youtube.com) and try to imitate the speaker. Pay attention to both the intonation and the voicing. “There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality, and then there are those who turn one into the other.” ! ! ! Douglas Everett The American Accent Course Lesson 1 © 2009 Accent on Speaking Page 10 All Rights Reserved
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