Pronunciation Paul Gruber #14|JohnnyVo

Hi, and welcome back. Again, my name is Paul Gruber, and we've made it to the Pronunciation Workshop's 14th training session. What I have done in these last two sessions is put together reading passages that contain all of the material covered throughout the program. In the past, my clients have often requested that I do some paragraph reading using correct American pronunciation so that they could hear and repeat and get a chance to practice everything that they have learned in the program. It's sort of like a review. I have been told many times that this is extremely helpful and aids in the overall improvement of pronunciation abilities. So therefore, this is what I have done. Today's session contains four short paragraphs. Each paragraph is designed to address everything that we have covered, consonants, vowels, intonation, phrase reductions, and word endings, all the components needed to speak clearly and with good pronunciation. You may want to listen to these paragraphs a few times, read along with me, and then practice your pronunciation on your own using your manual. As I told you earlier in the program, I recommend that you speak out loud, a little slower than usual, and try to incorporate as much of the material as you can from all the previous sessions. Now, don't worry if at first it doesn't come out perfectly. You can't possibly remember everything. It takes time. But soon you'll find that it will all come together and you will sound just great. Also, at the end of today's session, I will cover the 10 keys towards improvement, which I believe will guarantee you success in speaking with an American accent. OK, let's begin. This first paragraph is about photo albums. Keeping a family photograph album is a good way to save family memories for yourself and future generations of your family. Very old pictures can be taken to a Photoshop and reprinted so that they can be placed in an album. Be sure to write on the back of the picture any information you remember about the people in it. Also, write the date if you remember it. Looking at photo albums is a relaxing way to spend the day. And it is a fun activity to share with family and friends. Your children, grandchildren, and their children will appreciate your efforts, too. OK, this next paragraph is called the public library. Your library card can be your ticket to entertainment, current events, and new ideas. Almost every city has a public library, and there is no charge for a library card. Libraries have books about many subjects, but there are also other things at the library. These include books on cassette tape, videotapes, large print books, CDs, DVDs, and magazines. Many have free programs in the afternoon or evening about travel, hobbies, or other topics of interest. Some cities also have a bookmobile or traveling library, which brings the library right into your neighborhood. Very good. OK, this next paragraph is about John D. Rockefeller, who is a famous American. John D. Rockefeller did three amazing things. First, he acquired probably the greatest fortune in all history. He started out in life digging potatoes under the hot sun for $0.04 an hour. In those days, there were not half a dozen men in all the United States who were worth even $1 million. Eventually, John D. managed to collect a fortune said to be anywhere from $1 to $2 billion. And yet, the first girl he fell in love with refused to marry him. The reason given was because her mother refused to allow her daughter to throw herself away on a man who had such poor prospects. Very good. OK, this next paragraph is called Stars. In this paragraph, be aware of my pronunciation of numbers, especially the th and the voiced z sound, zzz, in the word thousand, thousand, OK? Here we go. How many stars can you see on a dark, clear night? You can see about 3,000 stars with your eyes alone. But keep in mind that you are viewing only part of the sky. If the whole sky were visible, you could count about 5,000 stars. If you look through a small telescope, you might see as many as 600,000 stars. Through the most powerful telescopes, astronomers can spot millions of stars. No one is sure exactly how many stars there are altogether. But astronomers believe there are at least 200 billion, billion stars out in space. OK, very good. Now that we are putting it all together, I want to give you the 10 keys that I believe will guarantee you success in speaking with an American accent. Here we go. Number one, practice and listen are the key. You can improve your pronunciation in only a few weeks. But for many people, it takes longer. As I told you when we started, practicing is important, but so is listening. As you go through your day, listen to the melody of English. English has its own rhythm and flow. It goes up, and it comes down. Master that, and people will more easily understand you. Also, listen to native speakers. Imitate the way they speak. You'll see that they also follow the same speech rules that I presented throughout this program. Number two, do not leave off the endings of your words. Say the ending of each word, especially the final S's, and the final ED sounds, and the final LY sounds. These sounds have a lot to do with making you better understood, especially when saying numbers clearly. Number three, make a list of frequently used words or words related to your profession that you find difficult to pronounce. Ask a native speaker to pronounce them for you. Perhaps you may want to record those words into a mini voice recorder and play them back at a later time. Number four, and this is a big one, open your mouth. Open your mouth more when you speak English than when you speak your native language. Native speakers of English generally open their mouths wider than speakers of other languages. People who speak English as a second language sometimes speak like this, and they feel embarrassed to open their mouths too much. Trust me, if you open your mouth more, you most likely will speak slower and produce clearer speech and more intelligible English. OK, number five, don't be afraid to speak. Get involved in conversations. It is very important that you practice what you are learning, and use these techniques that I'm teaching you to make yourself understood in all different situations. Number six, read aloud in English for 10 to 15 minutes every day. This will help you strengthen and retrain the movement patterns of your mouth muscles that you use to produce intelligible English. It will also give you the experience to focus strictly on pronunciation without having to think about anything else. Number seven, record your own voice and listen for pronunciation errors. Now, this could be just audio or audio and video. It's a really good idea to do, because it will increase your awareness of pronunciation mistakes that you may not even be aware of. Number eight, watch the mouth movements of native speakers and try to imitate them. When you watch TV, look at the mouth movements of actors. Repeat what they are saying. Try to imitate the intonation and rhythm of their speech. Number nine, here's a really good tip that many of my clients do. Buy books on tape, and also buy the actual book. Go to your favorite bookstore and buy a book that you will really enjoy reading on tape, and then also buy the same book. Be sure that the person reading on the tape is a native-born American. This is very important so that you can hear their American pronunciation. Listen and read out loud at the same time. Maybe record yourself reading some sections of the book and compare the sound of your English with that of the speaker from the recording. Many of my clients have found this to be an extremely helpful step in improving their English. And here is the last one. Number 10 is be patient. You can change the way you speak, but it won't happen overnight. It will take time. Some people expect instant results and they give up too soon. You definitely can change the way you sound, but you must be willing to put some effort into it and you must give it time. Now go and practice the paragraphs that we covered today and I'll see you at our next session. Thank you for watching. I'm Paul Gruber for the Pronunciation Workshop. Goodbye.