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- Speak More Clearly British Accent
by Esther Bruhl
Speech Therapist
Speak More Clearly
British Accent
Speak English with Confidence!
www.speakmoreclearly.com
1
- Speak More Clearly
British Accent
by Esther Bruhl
- Table of Contents
Introduction 7
How to use Speak More Clearly 11
Notes on Rhythm and Intonation in English 19
Extra Tips for clear speech
and pronunciation in English 23
Consonants 27
/p/ Consonant 28
/b/ Consonant 29
/t/ Consonant 30
/d/ Consonant 31
/k/ Consonant 32
/g/ Consonant 33
/f/ Consonant 34
/v/ Consonant 35
/th/ Consonant 36
/th/ Consonant 37
/s/ Consonant 38
/z/ Consonant 39
/sh/ Consonant 40
/zh/ Consonant 41
/ch/ Consonant 42
/j/ Consonant 43
/m/ Consonant 44
/n/ Consonant 46
/ng/ Consonant 47
/w/ Consonant 48
/h/ Consonant 49
/l/ Consonant 50
/r/ Consonant 52
/y/Consonant 54
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- British Vowels 57
/a/ Vowel 59
/o/ Vowel 60
/i/ Vowel 61
/e/ Vowel 62
/u/ Vowel 63
/ee/ Vowel 64
/er/ Vowel 66
/ar/ Vowel 67
/or/ Vowel 68
/oo/ Vowel 70
/oo/ Vowel 71
/oe/ Vowel 72
/ie/ Vowel 73
/oy/ Vowel 74
/ow/ Vowel 75
/ay/ Vowel 76
Sentences for working with Stress and meaning 79
Dialogues for working with pronunciation,
stress patterns and intonation 83
Paragraphs for working with Stress and Intonation 87
Features to note when speaking English
from other background Languages 91
The International Phonetic Alphabet 107
Table of Videos 109
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- Vowels
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- Speak More Clearly British Accent
Prologue
“Speak More Clearly” is designed for both people who speak
English as a second language and wish to speak English
more clearly, and for native English speakers who wish to
learn a different English accent. You can think of it as an
accent coach to help learn a new accent for a language you
already know.
When I created "Speak More Clearly" I wanted something
that was clear and simple, and because frequent practise
is the key to learning a new accent, I wanted the course to
be very convenient to use. I have designed "Speak More
Clearly" so that no matter where you are, at home, in the
car, in the office, on the train or bus, even if you have 5
minutes, you can practise your new accent.
Because there is no complex software, or elaborate
theory, you can practise while working at home,
in the car, on the train, in the bus or even at your
office! Simply purchase and download the audio from
www.speakmoreclearly.com and listen to it on your computer
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- Vowels
or copy it to an MP3 player or a CD or tape. Then you can
listen to and repeat the exercises any time you have a few
spare minutes. Even if you are unable to speak out loud,
simply listening and repeating the exercises in your head
will help.
Our accent training uses native speakers and everyday
language to naturally and quickly improve your pronunciation.
You simply listen to the exercise and repeat the word or
phrase. Over time your natural language skills, and the
expanded ability of the ear, will cause your accent in English
to naturally change to be more like the native speaker in
our audio training. The key to clearer speech is to practise
frequently.
I have included precise, detailed instruction for where to
place your tongue and lips for each sound. This allows you
to position your mouth for sounds you may find difficult,
and practising the mouth position together with the audio
input, will give you rapid progress.
If you are ready to start learning a new accent, and you
have not already done so, I encourage you to download the
British Accent, American Accent or Australian Accent audio
training course from www.speakmoreclearly.com/ and start
right now! Remember this purchase is covered by our 100%
money back guarantee so the only thing you have to risk is
your time. With daily practise we guarantee that you to will
improve your speaking skills.
Best Wishes "Speaking More Clearly"
Esther Bruhl
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- Speak More Clearly British Accent
Introduction
1. How to obtain the best results from this program
2. Rhythm and Intonation as integral parts of speaking
more clearly in English
This program can be used to help develop a different accent
in English- that is an English (British) or American (U.S.)
accent, or for those wishing to speak English more clearly
or to be understood better when speaking English.
To hear the sounds, rhythm, stress, pitch, intonation and
structure of a language we need to ‘attune’ our ear to the
particular language.
To do this we need to listen to the language over and over
as we did when we were learning our ‘mother tongue’ when
we were a child.
When we can ‘hear’ the sound of a particular language we
can then correct our speech production more easily and
effectively.
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- Introduction
To obtain the best results with this program we suggest
that you repeatedly listen to the particular section you
need, and repeat the production of the words or sentences
over and over again aloud to yourself. This allows you to
attune your ear, and for your articulators (mouth parts), to
become used to moving in the new way and for this new
way to become a speech habit.
In this program each consonant and each of the major
vowels are covered by:
1. An explanation/ description of how to make the sound
2. List words containing the particular sound
3. Sentences containing words with the target sound
As well as this there will be some dialogues (dialogs) for
practise of connected or conversational level speech.
We will also touch on intonation patterns and speech
rhythm.
It helps to know when trying to reduce your accent in
English, that most of the consonants can be paired. That
is, there are pairs of consonants that are made the same
way in the mouth. You make the same mouth movement.
These pairs are called minimal pairs. The only difference is
that one of the pair is made without switching on the voice
in the throat (making sound in the throat), and one is made
with voice activated.
These pairs follow. The first sound of the pair will be the
whispered or unvoiced sound, and the second will be the
voiced one. If you put your hand on the voice box at the
front of your throat (the bit that sticks out-‘Adam’s apple’),
you will feel it vibrate on production of a voiced sound, and
there will be little or no vibration for the unvoiced sound.
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- Speak More Clearly British Accent
/p/ and /b/
/t/ and /d/
/k/ and /g/
/f/ and /v/
/s/ and /z/
/sh/ and /zh/ (as in vision)
/ch/ and /j/
While working with the program, it is extremely important
to notice and include the aspects of rhythm and
intonation at the same time as you practise saying the
words and sentences. As these aspects are so important in
conveying clarity and meaning in English, we have included
the section on page 19 so that as you practise the sounds
and words, you can also distinguish features of rhythm and
intonation.
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- Speak More Clearly British Accent
How to use Speak More Clearly
To get the most from this course you should follow these 4 steps
• Step 1: Read and practise the introductory sections.
• Step 2: Practise the sounds that are hard for you in English.
• Step 3: Learn to pronounce the end consonants in all words.
• Step 4: Learn to speak with the correct rhythm and stress.
How much do I need to practise and how long will it take?
To learn to speak more clearly in English, or to learn a new
accent in English, you must break-up the task into easily
managed chunks which you then combine. The improvement
in your clarity, or accent, will compound as you go.
It is important that you understand this and give your
practice the required time. Each small piece you clear
up has a compound effect on your clarity and the effect is
greater than the small piece itself.
In the following steps I will provide a guide to how much
time you need to spend on each task. Whenever we ask you
to practice something in this course, you should allocate at
least 15 minutes of study as a minimum to for practise.
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- How to use Speak More Clearly
Step 1: Read and practise the introductory sections
The first task is to carefully listen to and read the following
sections:
• “Introduction”.
• “Notes on Rhythm and Intonation in English”.
• “Extra Tips for clear speech and pronunciation in English”.
• “Features to note when speaking English from other
background Languages”.
This is a very important first step because these sections
include specific relevant information regarding pronunciation
and clarity in English.
I recommend that you read one section per day over the first
week of your practise. That is, on the first day read though
the “Introduction” and listen to the audio. I recommend that
you listen to all the material, as well as read it, because
it is not just information. This course works by training your
ear to hear the sounds of the English language.
Step 2: Practise the sounds that are hard for you in English
To quickly improve your clarity when speaking English,
start by learning the sounds you can’t say, or can’t say
well. You should make a list of these sounds and check your
progress each week. If you are unsure which sounds need
attention just ask a native English speaking friend or a work
associate.
Besides sounds such as /r/, which is different in lots of
languages, and ‘th’, which doesn’t exist in a lot of other
languages, most people usually need to work on vowel
production as well.
We recommend that you only work on 1 or 2 sounds at the
same time. Don’t try to practice many new sounds at once
but instead focus on mastering just 1 or 2 sounds before
starting the next sound.
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- Speak More Clearly British Accent
For each sound that you need to master do the following:
1. Start by saying just the sound itself. Listen to and
repeat with the audio using the detailed instructions on
how to form the sound. Use this to get your mouth used
to moving in this new way. It is most important that
you say the sounds, just reading them will not change
your accent.
2. When you have mastered the sound practice saying it in
a word. Listen to and repeat the single word exercises
and practise saying words that have the sound at the
beginning, middle and the end.
Practise these two steps until you become used to your
tongue and jaw going to the new position in the word
and how your tongue feels in your mouth. Don’t move
on until you can say the words well.
If you are having difficulty making the sound in a word,
begin by breaking the word up and then putting it back
together very slowly. For example:
Say ‘th’ (don’t forget to hold your tongue in that position
slightly longer to control it), then make a slight pause
and then say the rest of the word. ‘th-ink’. Do this for a
couple of days in a row with the words in the word list
and then say it faster with less of a pause.
OR...
Hold the ‘th’ position a bit longer than normal and
slowly blend it into the vowel after. ‘th~ink’.
3. Once you have control of the new sound at a word level,
next practise the sentences. Listen to the audio and
say it after the speaker.
At this point if you need more sentences to practise you
can find others in other sound sections in the program
that contain words with the sound you need. Or you
can make up your own sentences from the word lists
provided.
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- How to use Speak More Clearly
You can practise sentences you use a lot at work
tip: or socially that have the particular sound in them.
For example if you have to answer the phone in
a particular way using words with the particular
sound, practise the sentence a lot using your new
way of saying the sound.
4. Time to practise in the outside world! If you find this
difficult set yourself little practise goals, e.g., ‘I will use
my new way of saying the sound every time I’:
• Answer the phone.
• Talk to someone in a shop.
• Buy a ticket for the train.
• Speak to my neighbour.
• Speak to a work or study colleague.
Obviously the more you practise, the quicker the new speech
becomes automatic, and the sooner you can work on a new
sound or something else. The aim is to be using the new
sound 100% of the time when speaking English.
How much do I need to practise and how long will it take?
For some people to be using the new sound in speech all
the time may take a week or two and for others a month.
Some people may be able to work on two sounds at once.
Do not be disheartened as each time you acquire a new
sound you will become much clearer! For many people
just learning one or two sounds will make a noticeable
difference.
Note: Different sounds may take less or more time to make
automatic depending on your mother tongue and whether
you are used to moving your mouth in this way.
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- Speak More Clearly British Accent
How to acquire vowels more easily
Follow steps 1 - 4 as above but note the following:
1. The audio is extremely important for the vowels and
you need to listen and repeat over and over to ‘hear’
the vowel sound. What you can clearly distinguish/’hear’
you can produce more easily.
2. Most languages have some vowels that sound almost
the same and so attuning your ear is important.
3. You might have to ‘put it on at first’, that is pretend you
are mimicking the speaker like when we are younger
and copy what someone has said exactly the way they
have said it. This may sound strange to you but it will
speed-up your progress.
4. Note the length of the vowel. This is very important.
5. If it is a long vowel you could hold it on just slightly longer
in the beginning to get a good sense of how it sounds and
feels. By making sure you say the last consonant often
the vowel will be said more correctly and not too short.
Pronouncing long vowels too short has a huge effect on
the clarity of your speech and how others understand
you.
The example that follows shows how the meaning can
change easily with the vowel length.
• I am buying a ship (short vowel)
• I am buying a sheep (long vowel)
Step 3: Learn to pronounce the end consonants in all words
If you are from an Asian, Spanish, Italian or any other
language background where most of the words end in
a vowel, this step is very important. See the section
“Languages where most of the words end in a vowel”(p. 92),
otherwise skip to Step 4.
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- How to use Speak More Clearly
How much do I need to practise and how long will it take?
This section needs to be practised 5 minutes every day for
3-4 weeks (or more) to make it automatic. You must also
practise using it in everyday situations with your goals, i.e.,
on the phone, in a shop, with a work colleague, with a
friend or family member etc.
It is very worthwhile practising this feature until it is
automatic in your speech as it makes a huge difference in
clarity.
Step 4: Learn to speak with correct rhythm and stress
Go over the notes at the beginning of the course entitled
“Notes on Rhythm and Intonation in English”
1. Listen to and repeat after the speaker in the section of
the program called “sentences for working with stress
and meaning.”
2. Mimic, or copy, how they phrase the words together
and how they stress certain words by making the vowel
slightly longer, higher in pitch and slightly louder. There
are examples of the same word stressed differently to
give a different meaning as well.
3. Listen to the section “first dialogue”.
4. Print it out and listen again, and as you listen highlight
the key words with a pen or marker. That is, the words
that are stressed or emphasized.
These are the words that carry the meaning and are said
with a slightly lengthened vowel, slightly higher pitch
and slightly louder.
For example if you say “I had a great weekend” and
stress the word ‘great’ (the vowel sound in the word is
lengthened etc).
5. After highlighting the key words, say the sentences after
the person on the audio emphasizing and stressing the
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- Speak More Clearly British Accent
same words they are ( hopefully the same words you
highlighted), and begin to feel the flow and rhythm or
melody of English.
6. Do the same for the other dialogues and the news item
at the end of the program.
The elements of stress, rhythm and melody can be difficult
depending on your background language and your ear for
languages. It is recommended you go over each dialogue
and the news item quite a few times.
You can also carry out the same process with the sentences
provided on each page at the end of the individual sounds.
The more you do this the better your ear for the melody will
become.
How much do I need to practise and how long will it take?
If you repeat this exercise for 10-15 minutes a day for about
2-3 months, you will notice a big difference. You can use
different news reports as well.
A final word on your practise
While this may seem like a lot of work over a long period
of time, as soon as you start to change something you will
already notice a difference in the clarity of your speaking.
If you practice just 15 minutes a day, and remember to
use it in your everyday situations as well, you will notice
a signification improvement in a matter of two to three
weeks.
I know that this works because I have my private clients tell
me how much their speech has improved after the first few
weeks and the first few lessons. I encourage you to stick
with your practice and to reap the benefits of learning to
Speak More Clearly.
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- Vowels
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nguon tai.lieu . vn
