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5 WAYS TO SOUND BETTER IN ENGLISH RIGHT NOW!
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Great news! You can do 4 of them on the beach, if you want to!
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Hi, Peggy here. Native english speakers do some things with their sounds to draw attention to the most important words they're saying. Do these 5 things, and you'll immediately sound better in English! |
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| 1. SHINE A SPOTLIGHT ON IMPORTANT WORDS Native speakers spotlight nouns and verbs (especially the first time they are said), as well as adjectives and adverbs. Give more time and energy to the vowel in these words' stressed syllable. EXAMPLE: in the word "evil", the first syllable is much longer and stronger than the second one. It sounds like this: EEEvl
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| 2. RELAX EVERYTHING ELSE To create sound contrasts with the "spotlights" above, native speakers relax and reduce everything near the spotlighted sound, so there is clear contrast. EXAMPLES: button >> BU.n. different >>DIF.rnt; animal >> AE.nu.ml; of the >> uv.thu
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3. USE YOUR LIPSNative speakers use their lips more to develop and direct certain sounds. They round their lips for "O", purse them for ER, and use their upper lip more than many languages. Go to the University of Iowa's phonetics website and watch the model's lips, especially her upper lip. Use a hand-mirror and try to use your lips in the same way for each sound.
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| 4. ELIMINATE BREAKS Native speakers don't speak in.separate.words.like.this. If words belong together in a phrase, they often connect them by running the last sound of a word into the first sound of the following word. Then they break (and breathe) around these phrases. They use breaks to SPOTLIGHT also. If you pause before and after a word, you draw attention to it. EXAMPLE: in the middle of the night >> inthu.MI.dl.uvthu NAIt
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5. GIVE DIRECTIONSNative speakers use higher and lower tones to give cues to listeners. They raise their pitch to say, "Listen closely, this is new information", or "This is really important to me!" or lower pitch to say "OK, I'm finished with what I had to say". Then they break, and use a higher pitch to start a new idea.
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about the photos...I just really like the beach! ENJOY, and please share. |
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