Thursday, July 21, 2016
From a Pea to a Snowball
Once in a while I'll run into students who are absolutely convinced that they canNOT change their accent. They say they've tried a little here and there. They've clicked on a few YouTube videos, read a few online exercises, even taken some classes to practice speaking English. But the question is ---
have they...or should I say....have YOU, taken the R-E-A-L step?? Because it is an actual step forward - a commitment of sorts.
How do you gain the momentum to take that step? First, you realize that you have become so uncomfortable with your performance in speaking English without clarity that you are nearly desperate for change. Second, you realize something simple: that all you have to do is start out small. The analogy is the pea, signifying the pea-sized gathering of motivation and knowledge you are starting out with. Will it gather into a snowball overnight? No, but does it have the potential to become big? YES.
You see, you start out small....by listening to some minimal pair exercises that distinguish two similar sounds and you try to hear the difference. Once you can hear the difference, you move on to listening to each individual sound. So, let's say you hear the two words "could" and "good". (You will need audio examples.) The two sounds to distinguish are /k/ and /g/. Once you can pick them out in different pairs of words starting with /k/ and /g/, then you can learn how to say /k/ and /g/ individually. Once you understand the explanation of how to make the sounds using your mouth parts, you can commit this learning to memory - muscle memory. Then take a voice recorder and practice saying several of these words. Play them back and compare to the original audio.
After that, pick several sentences to listen to that start with those two sounds and underline every instance of words starting with /g/ and /k/ - from listening to them, not reading them. It is important to start with audio recordings. (Go to a site like VOA learning English TV to find audio with transcripts. It's free, too!) Once you are confident identifying these sounds in the sentences, record yourself saying the sentences. Play back and check that you have made the /k/ and /g/ sounds correctly. Now you've got the idea! This method can be done with individual sounds, pronunciation rules, stress, rhythm and intonation patters.
There is no limit to the amount of change that can come from committing yourself to taking on little bits of learning at a time, and as you add up that change, you get a snowball of new pronunciation skills.
Of course, the eager learner will want professional guidance and someone to act as a motivational coach - that's ME :)
Stay tuned for upcoming instructional videos on American English pronunciation in October.
Until then, give yourself a chance - you're worth it!
http://english4professionals.webs.com
have they...or should I say....have YOU, taken the R-E-A-L step?? Because it is an actual step forward - a commitment of sorts.
How do you gain the momentum to take that step? First, you realize that you have become so uncomfortable with your performance in speaking English without clarity that you are nearly desperate for change. Second, you realize something simple: that all you have to do is start out small. The analogy is the pea, signifying the pea-sized gathering of motivation and knowledge you are starting out with. Will it gather into a snowball overnight? No, but does it have the potential to become big? YES.
You see, you start out small....by listening to some minimal pair exercises that distinguish two similar sounds and you try to hear the difference. Once you can hear the difference, you move on to listening to each individual sound. So, let's say you hear the two words "could" and "good". (You will need audio examples.) The two sounds to distinguish are /k/ and /g/. Once you can pick them out in different pairs of words starting with /k/ and /g/, then you can learn how to say /k/ and /g/ individually. Once you understand the explanation of how to make the sounds using your mouth parts, you can commit this learning to memory - muscle memory. Then take a voice recorder and practice saying several of these words. Play them back and compare to the original audio.
After that, pick several sentences to listen to that start with those two sounds and underline every instance of words starting with /g/ and /k/ - from listening to them, not reading them. It is important to start with audio recordings. (Go to a site like VOA learning English TV to find audio with transcripts. It's free, too!) Once you are confident identifying these sounds in the sentences, record yourself saying the sentences. Play back and check that you have made the /k/ and /g/ sounds correctly. Now you've got the idea! This method can be done with individual sounds, pronunciation rules, stress, rhythm and intonation patters.
There is no limit to the amount of change that can come from committing yourself to taking on little bits of learning at a time, and as you add up that change, you get a snowball of new pronunciation skills.
Of course, the eager learner will want professional guidance and someone to act as a motivational coach - that's ME :)
Stay tuned for upcoming instructional videos on American English pronunciation in October.
Until then, give yourself a chance - you're worth it!
http://english4professionals.webs.com
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