Monday, December 26, 2011

Pronunciation -- Short "a" In Sentences


The English short a sound does not exist in Korean. As a result, Koreans pronounce words like  "sand" and "send" identically. In English, however, they are different sounds.

Instructions

To pronounce the short "a" sound correctly, use the diagram below. Slide back and forth slowly between "Den" and "Dawn." The correct pronunciation for "Dan" is in the middle. You'll probably need to drop your jaw and tongue down a little bit to get it just right. Practice using the sentences that follow.


Sentences

Where is my hat?

He sat down.

I met Matt today.

He said he's sad.

Dan slept in a bad bed.

Jim is a man among men.

That house has a fancy fence.

Pat fed his fat pet rat.

Ned had said that Fred's red backpack is heavy.

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Pronunciation Practice -- TH In Sentences


TH is another sound that is not found in Korean. To make a proper TH sound:

  • Your tongue should go between your teeth.
  • You should NOT stop your air.
  • Do not make an S sound or a D sound.

Instructions

The following sentences will help you develop your TH pronunciation. As always:

1. Practice them until they are easy.
2. Don't practice them wrong; make corrections as you go.
3. Apply what you learn to English Every Day.

Sentences

Who are they?

What is this?

I think so.

I thought about you.

"What is this thing?" he thought.

They saw more than we did.

Does the path go through the tunnel?

They bothered the teacher.

At three-thirty they will go to the theater.

They'll do the deal this month.

They thought of those three things themselves last Thursday.


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Pronunciation Practice -- V And F In Sentences

V and F are not natural sounds for Koreans. They are actually not hard to pronounce all by themselves. (See this post for a review of V and some others.)  The problem is even harder when V and F are mixed with B and P in a sentence. People get confused and start switching B for V and P for F.

The only solution to this is to practice it (with frequent correction) until it's natural. The following drills will help. Remember:

1. Practice them until they are easy.
2. Don't practice them wrong; make corrections as you go.
3. Apply what you learn to English Every Day.

Sentences

Bill is a very big guy.

I'm tired of Peter.

First let's find Pamela's father.

Paul's feet are bigger than Victor's feet.

Are Park family vacations fun or boring?

Veronica Brown's favorite person is Peter Finkle.

Pam Foster carved fifteen pumpkins for the Halloween party.

Bobby Vick yelled, "Bravo!" for Valerie Beck's fantastic performance.

Fivprivate, very valuable banks failed in November.

Ben Farve caught a five-pound bass in Frank Porter's fish pond.

The brave pilot flew very fast, fearlessly veering past the volcano's fireballs to save his friends.


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Sunday, December 4, 2011

Understanding Pronunciation

In English every child learns the saying, "Practice makes perfect." We hear it during piano lessons and baseball practice. There's a problem, though: it's not true!

Years ago I heard the founder of Franklin-Covey say it differently. "Practice makes permanent," he said. If you practice something incorrectly enough times, it will become a bad habit. (This is why I quit playing golf.)

Many Koreans have this problem. They have used Konglish pronunciation thousands of times. They have permanently bad pronunciation.

The solution is to stop repeating and start thinking. To improve your pronunciation, you have to understand what your mouth is doing. It is a little weird at first, but it will actually help you fix your pronunciation.

Do NOT memorize this material. Explore what your tongue, teeth, lips, and your voice do when you speak. You'll gain understanding. It will enable you to solve your own pronunciation problems. The best English speakers don't memorize--they think.

(This lesson will only cover consonants. You can find more pronunciation posts here.)

Exercise

You make consonants by blocking your air, using:

  • your teeth
  • your tongue
  • your lips
  • a combination of the above

Your job is to figure out which. You also need to figure out whether the consonant uses voice, uses no voice, or is nasal.

Hint: Start with consonants formed by your lips.

Good luck! Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions.

Use the consonants here:


to fill in the blanks here: