Sel Access center

SAC: Self Access Center activities.

In this page you can practice your American intonation and accent.

American accent and intonation.

This page is called American accent. Here, you will find some materials found on the web and other personnal materials that I have uploaded in order to share information of this language.

En esta sección denominada American Accent encontrarás actividades con audio. El propósito es lograr que tu acento y entonación se aproximen a la de una persona cuya lengua es el inglés americano a través de la imitación y repetición.

AMERICAN ACCENT TRAINING: https://www.studocu.com/en-us/document/san-jose-city-college/english-composition/other/american-accent-training/7025066/view

With this video you will learn essential aspects about AMERICAN ACCENT. Sometimes Americans do not pronounce the phoneme "t" after an "n". By the way, how do you pronounce the words handsome, landscape, grandparents, understand and underneath?

For more information about phones (sounds) please go to the page called "Phonetics". Click Phonetics

Would you like to sound more American?

Pronunciation for city, better, water, computer.

The [t] sound when it's between 2 vowels.

Watch the video and learn its pronunciation in standar American accent.

August 2017

In case you need to improve your accent, please scroll this PDF. Later, I will add the audios of the same course.

Con previo conocimiento de la pronunciación americana, ya podrías utilizar este PDF para mejorar tu pronunciación. Más tarde agregaré los audios.

The site: Mastering the American Accent is found at: http://idt.edu.vn/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Mastering-the-American-Accent.pdf

Pronunciation - Light /l/ & Dark /l/

Video retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P63VPV4rgk

Authorization date: September 2015.

Intonation Patterns of American English

The use of this video has been authorized by its creator. November, 2015.

Accent Ace Hace 4 días

+Ruben Arellano At this time, yes you may Ruben. Thanks for your comment and thank you for asking.

Scroll down the all the inserted sites on this page. / Coloca el cursor sobre las barras deslizantes de cada sitio incrustrado en esta página.

1. How to perfect your accent: https://www.lingq.com/en/forum/open-forum/can-you-ever-get-rid-of-your-foreign-accent-in-a-new-language-how-to-perfect-your-accent/?gclid=CjwKCAiAp4KCBhB6EiwAxRxbpLhBRMisnjjt54fdUbk5cR_8dHEPFOnK73nT_ebRGwinE0j1X1xu_RoCfcYQAvD_BwE

2. Language Blog: https://blog.e2language.com/5-tips-to-master-the-american-accent/

3. How to master an American English Accent: https://www.tandem.net/how-to-master-american-accent

4. Fluent U: https://www.fluentu.com/blog/english/learn-american-english-accent/

5. How to fake a convincing American accent: https://www.wikihow.com/Fake-a-Convincing-American-Accent

6. Quora: https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-get-rid-of-my-native-accent-and-get-an-American-accent

7.

Link for acceding to the rest of information of the posts below.

LINK: http://www.siff.us.es/fil/publicaciones/apuntes/teresals/apartado%206-0.pdf

Use the videos and check each of the activities in the text

Before watching or listening to the VIDEO with AUDIO, read the information below.

Antes de que enciendas el audio de este vídeo, lee las instrucciones que están debajo de este.

Activity 1.

Exercise 1-18: reading with staircase intonation.

Read the following with clear intonation where marked.

Hello, my name is ________ . I’m taking American Accent Training. There’s a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the American intonation pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used to. I’ve been paying attention to pitch, too. It’s like walking down a staircase. I’ve been talking to a lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I’m easier to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?

Activity 2. Now, repeat the video, repeat the voice and use a rubber band to stretch it every time you pronounce the words in bold.

Activity 3. Repeat the audio and try to follow it with the use of the phonetic transcription here shown.

Phonemic transcription

Higlighted syllables required to be streesed !!!

These sounds do not establish the real speech. They are phonemes in our brains that suggest the origin of each sound. For more information about it go to the page called PHONETICS.

'heləʊ, maɪ neɪm ɪs __________ aɪm teɪkɪŋ ə’merɪkən ˈæksent ˈtreɪnɪŋ. ðeərs ə lot tuː lɜrn, bʌt aɪ hɔʊp tuː meɪk ɪt əz ɪnˈdʒɔɪabl əz pɒsəbl. aɪ ʃʊd pɪk ʌp ɒn ði əˈmerikən ˌɪntəˈneɪʃn ˈpætern prɪti ˈiːzəli, ɔːlˈðəʊ ði ˈəʊnli weɪ tuː get ɪt ɪs tu præktɪs ɔːl əv ðə taɪm. aɪ juːz ði ʌp ənd daʊn, ɔːr piːks ənd vælis , ɪntəˈneɪʃn mɔːr ðən aɪ juːzd tuː. aɪv biːn peiːŋ əˈtenʃn tuː, pɪtʃ tuː. ɪts laɪk wɔːkɪŋ daʊn ə ˈsteərkeɪs. aɪv biːn tɔːkiŋ tu ə lɒt əv əˈmerɪkəns ˈleɪtli, ənd ðeɪ tel miː ðət aɪm ˈiːziər tuː ˌʌndəˈrstænd. ˈeniweɪ, aɪ kʊd gəʊ ɒn ənd ɒn, bʌt ði ɪmˈpɔːrtnt θɪŋ ɪs tuː ˈlɪsn wel ənd saʊnd gʊd. wel, wɒt duː juː θɪŋk? duː aɪ?

DESCRIPTIVE PHRASE VS SET PHRASE WITH AMERICAN ACCENT

Click on the image below. It will takes you to a site where you can write your own PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION.

CLICK on the folowing visual so that you can read more about the topic by Oxford

Use the following video to hear the exercise 1-3: Noun and pronoun intonation

Read the text below and repeat after each phrase or sentence.

Pulsa el audio del vídeo y repite durante los espacios o presiona pausa. Este ejercicio es altamente recomendable para adquirir entonación americana.

Exercise 1-3: Noun and pronoun intonation.

In the firts column, stress the noun. In the second column, stress the verb.

1. Bob sees Betty 1. He sees her.

2. Betty knows Bob 2. She knows him.

3. Ann and Ed call the kids 3. They call them.

4. Jan sells some apples 4. She sells some.

5. Jean sells cars 5. She sells them.

6. Bill and I fix the bikes 6. We fix them.

7. Carl hears Bob and me 7. He hears us.

8. Dogs eat bones 8. They eat them.

9. The girls have a choice 9. They have one.

10. The kids like the candy 10. They like it.

11. The boys need some help 11. They need something.

12. Ellen should call her sister 12. She should call someone.

13. The murder killed the plumer 13. He killed a man.

14. The tourists went shopping 14. They bought stuff.

Note: if you do it right, your accent will be reduce and during the analyze of your voice in a spectogram, the examiner will notice the changes in the pitch of each sentence.

Try to imitate the voice in the audio (ups and downs of intonation).

It's important to know that speech velocity matters too. I have analyzed some audios in which the speed oevrcomes the 245 words per minute.

Unas de las características de los idiomas son la FLUIDEZ y la ENTONACIÓN. Procura IMITAR al MÁXIMO posible la entonación del audio.

El siguiente ejercicio te ayudará enormemente para mejorar tu FLUIDEZ. Te diré que la velocidad común del inglés al hablar supera fácilmente las 210 palabras por minuto.

Exercise 5-13: SPEED READING (LECTURA DE VELOCIDAD)

We’ve already practice strong intonation, so now we’ll just pick up the speed. First, I’m going to read our familiar paragraph, as fast as I can. Subsequently, you’ll practice on your own, and then we’ll go over it together, sentence by sentence, to let you practice reading very fast, right after me. By then, you will have more or less mastered the idea, so record yourself reading really fast and with very strong intonation. Listen back to see if you sound more fluent. Listen as I read.

Hasta aquí hemos practicado la entonación, ahora aprenderemos la velocidad. Primero, voy a leer nuestro párrafo que ya es familiar, tan rápido como pueda. Después, practicaras tu solo, y luego lo haremos juntos, enunciado por enunciado, para permitirte practicar la lectura muy rápido, después de mí. Para entonces, ya tendrás más o menos aprendida la idea, así que graba tu voz, leyendo lo más rápido posible y con exagerada entonación. Escucha tu grabación y analiza si estas hablando con fluidez.

Hello, my name is ________ . I’m taking American Accent Training. There’s a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the American intonation pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used to. I’ve been paying attention to pitch, too. It’s like walking down a staircase. I’ve been talking to a lot of Americans lately, and they tell me that I’m easier to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?

• Pause the CD and practice speed-reading on your own 5 minutes. (Pausa el audio y practica lectura de velocidad durante 5 minutos)

• Repeat each sentence after me. (Repite cada enunciado después de mi)

• Record yourself speed- reading with strong intonation. (Graba tu propia voz, haciendo lectura rápida y exagerando en la entonación)

Exercise 2-15: Colloquial Reductions and Liaisons

In order for you to recognize these sounds when used by native speakers, they are presented here, but I don’t recommend that you go out of your way to use them yourself. If, at some point they come quite naturally of their own accord in casual conversations, you don’t need to resist, but please don’t force yourself to talk this way.

Most of speaker lack of knowledge regarding spontaneous speech. Work on the phenomena of this kind should be set in order to help our students get an awareness of this issue

Repeat.

1. I have got to go I’ve gotta go
2. I have got a book I’ve gotta book
3. Do you want to dance? Joowanna dance?
4. Do you want a bannana? Wanna bannana?
5. Let me in Lemme in
6. Let me go lemme go
7. I’ll let you know I’ll lecha know
8. Did you do it? Dija do it?
9. Not yet Nä chet
10. I’ll meet you later I’ll meechu layder
11. What do you think? Whaddyu think?
12. What did you do with it? Whajoo do with it?
13. How did you like ti? Howja like it?
14. When did you get it? when ju geddit?
15. Why did you take it? whyju tay kit?
16. Whay don’t you try it? whay don chu try it?
17. What are you waiting for? What whaddya waitin’ for?
18. What are you doing? Whacha doin’?
19. How’s it going? Howz it goin’?
20. Where’s the what-you-may-call-it? Where’s the whatchamacallit?
21. Wher’s what-is-his-name? Where’s whatsizname?
22. How about it? How ‘bout it?
23. He has got to hurry because he is late He’s gottaa hurry ‘cuz he’s late.
24. I could’ve been a contender I coulda bina contender.
25. Could you speed it up, please? Couldjoo spee di dup, pleez?
26. Would you mind if I tried it? Would joo mindifai try dit?
27. Aren’t you Bob Barker? Arenchoo Bab Barker?
28. Can’t you see it my way for a change? Kaenchu see it my way for a change?
29. Don’t you get it? Doancha geddit?
30. I should have told you I shoulda toljoo
31. Tell her that I miss her Teller I misser

32. Tell him that I miss him Tellim I missim.

Have you realized that each spoken language presents characteristics that may not be common in your own language?

The function of the tag endings is used as a way to confirm or as a way to question somebody else if the speaker is right or not.

Play de video about TAG QUESTIONS

Inflection

The video below is a great tool which presents linguistics aspects about the meaning that a speaker wants to communicate. he or she should emphazise the word that will provoke a kind of understanding in the hearer.

Four main reasons for intonation

Spanish speakers have several problems to understand why some sounds suffer processes like the one called elission. My recommendation would be to follow the speech presented by English speakers

Watch the video: The silent "T" /t/

Have you noticed that the sound /t/ in English have sometimes different pronunciation?

Why??? The answeris simple; each phoneme which is the abstract phonological print of every English letter has variations depending on the enviroment where it is found. Remeber that when we speak, we use Phonetics not Phonology. That means that we speak with allophones no with phonemes.

CLICK TO GO TO AmericanAccent.com

"1 Top of the Staircase [T is T]If the T is at the beginning of a word (or the top of the staircase), it is a strong, clear T sound.In the beginning of a word: table, take, tomorrow, teach, ten, turn Thomas tried two times.

With a stressed T and ST, TS, TR, CT, LT and sometimes NT combinations: They control the contents.

In the past tense, D sounds like T, after an unvoiced consonant sound — f, k, p, s, ch, sh, th (but not T).

picked [pikt], hoped [houpt], raced [rast], watched [wächt], washed [wäsht]It took Tim ten times to try the telephone.

2 Middle of the Staircase [T is D]If the T is in the middle of the word, intonation changes the sound to a soft D.Letter sounds like [ledder].Water, daughter, bought a, caught a, lot of, got a, later, meeting, betterPractice these sentences:

What a good idea. [w'd' güdäi deey']

Put it in a bottle. [pü di di n' bäd'l]

Get a better water heater. [gedda bedder wäder heeder]

Put all the data in the computer. [püdall the dayd' in the k'mpyuder]

Patty ought to write a better letter. [pædy äd' ride a bedder ledder]"

CLICK on the visual below to go to American English pronunciation.

"English pronunciation is the most neglected part of ESL, ELL, and EFL programs today. When it comes to communication, it's not just what you say; it's how you say it. Pronuncian brings English pronunciation to the forefront, teaching you online and at your own pace how to speak with an American accent."

Contact Rachel here.

Rachel has been working on Rachel's English for over 4 years. Having taught ESL off and on since 1999, she became interested in developing a pronunciation-focused resource while living in Germany under the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship program in 2008.

Howdy yo!

1. Drop the 'g' from 'ing': Walking - walkin.

2. Smash the words: You - you. Don't + you - donchu. How + about - How'bout.

3. Bite _ /bat/. Spike_ /spak/

4. Short vowel sounds change: Pen_ /heind/. Hand_ /heind/

The TEXAN ACCENT. (Tips)

A little difference between talking like a Texan and hahing the Texan accent.

More about the Texan Accent.

Lookin' out my back door

Just got home from Illinois locked the front door oh boy!
Got to sit down take a rest on the porch.
Imagination sets in pretty soon I'm singin'

Doo doo doo lookin' out my back door.

There's a giant doing cartwheels a statue wearin' high heels.
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
A dinosaur Victrola list'nin' to Buck Owens.

Doo doo doo lookin' out my back door.

Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band.
Won't you take a ride on the flyin' spoon?
Doo, doo doo.
Wond'rous apparition provided by magician.

Doo doo doo lookin' out my back door.

Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band.
Won't you take a ride on the flyin' spoon?
Doo, doo doo.
Bother me tomorrow, today, I'll buy no sorrows.

Doo doo doo lookin' out my back door.

Forward troubles Illinois, lock the front door, oh boy!
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn.
Bother me tomorrow, today, I'll buy no sorrow.

Doo doo doo lookin' out my back door.

Practise pronunciation and vocabulary