{The Rhythm of English} Lesson 1: Stress & Syllables
My goal as a teacher is to help you understand natural, spoken English.
To understand spoken English, you need to understand the rhythm of English.
To understand the rhythm of English, you need to understand stress.
To understand stress, you need to understand syllables.
Syllable stress explained in 5 minutes:
Dictionaries for English learners:
http://www.learnersdictionary.com/ (Merriam-Webster)
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/
American Accent Pronunciation: T + N (video)
In this English pronunciation lesson, you’re going to learn something that will help you better UNDERSTAND American English speakers, AND it will help you SOUND more American.
You’re going to learn how to pronounce words like written, eaten, & frighten with an American accent!
BONUS! You’ll also learn the difference between a fully pronounced T sound and a held T sound.
This is the second lesson in the American Accent Training series.
This is the first lesson in the American Accent Training series:
(you can read the transcript of this lesson here.)
Pronunciation – How to Say the Names of all the Winter Olympic Sports! (video)
Are you excited about the Winter Olympics? The Winter Olympics begin on February 7, in Sochi, Russia!
In this lesson, you’re going to learn the Engllish names of all 15 sports that are part of the Winter Olympics. You’ll see a picture of the sports, the name of the sport, and the IPA pronunciation/phonetic transcription of the sport name. Watch my lips, listen, and repeat after me!
Let’s get started!
Here are the 15 sports:
alpine skiing (which is more commonly known as downhill skiing)
biathlon
– This sport is combination of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.
bobsleigh
This is the official name of the sport on the Sochi 2014 website, but in Canada & the United States, this sport is more commonly called bobsledding.
cross-country skiing
curling
figure skating
freestyle skiing
– Freestyle skiing includes moguls, aerials, ski cross, ski halfpipe, ski slopestyle.
hockey
On the Sochi 2014 website, it’s called Ice hockey, but in Canada & the United States, it’s just called hockey.
luge
nordic combined
– This sports includes a ski jumping competition and cross-country ski race.
short track speed skating
skeleton
ski jumping
snowboarding
speed skating (or long-track speed skating)
American Accent Pronunciation: N + T = Silent T (video)
In this English lesson, you’re going to learn something that will help you better UNDERSTAND American English speakers, AND it will help you SOUND more American.
You’re going to learn how to pronounce words like center, disappointed, & internet
In fast speech, American English speakers often don’t pronounce the T after an N in a word. [Click here to tweet this!]
Listen carefully to these 5 words & repeat after me:
entertain
counter
printer
twenty
accountable
When you make the /n/ sound, the tongue goes up and the front of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth. This is the same as the starting position for the ‘t’ sound. So instead of trying to make two separate sounds, just don’t say the T!
This is a very common feature of fast speech.
Here are some more examples:
international
percentage
seventy
wanted
painter
It’s not wrong to fully pronounce the ‘t’ and say ‘international.’ In fact, you’ll hear Americans say both ‘international’ and ‘innernational.’ You should listen for both and know that they are the same word.
This also happens with the n + d combination, since the ‘t’ and ‘d’ sounds are the exact same mouth position.
handsome
landscape
grandparents
understand
underneath
Let’s try some practice sentences:
I don’t understand!
I was really disappointed with my interview.
I flew from Toronto to Atlanta.
I went over to my friend’s house.
That’s it! Don’t worry if this difficult for you at first! It takes 21 days to form a new habit, so keep practicing!
I hope this video helped you better understand the American accent.
Pronunciation – How to Say the Names of all the Summer Olympic Sports! (video)
Are you excited about the Summer Olympics? The Summer Olympics begin on July 27, in London, England!
In this video, I’ll teach you the correct American pronunciation for all the sports that are part of the Summer Olympics. You’ll see a picture of the sports, the name of the sport, and the IPA pronunciation/phonetic transcription of the sport name. Watch my lips, listen, and repeat after me!
archery
athletics
– In North America, this sport is more commonly called ‘track and field,’ because it’s a collection of events that include running races around a track, and jumping and throwing competitions on the field inside the track
badminton
basketball
beach volleyball
boxing
canoe – slalom
canoe – sprint
Even though the official name of this sport is ‘canoe,’ it includes events for two different kinds of boats: canoes, and kayaks
cycling
There are 4 different types of cycling sports at the Olympics:
– BMX cycling
– mountain biking
– road cycling
– track cycling
diving
equestrian
This sport is more commonly known as ‘horseback riding.’ There are 3 different events in the sport of equestrian: jumping, eventing, dressage
fencing
football … which is called soccer in North America.
There are 2 different types of gymnastics at the Olympics:
artistic gymnastics
rhythmic gymnastics
handball
hockey … which, in North America, is called field hockey.
judo
modern pentathlon
In this sport, athletes must compete in 5 different events: fencing, swimming, horseback riding, shooting, and running … all in the same day!
rowing
sailing
shooting
swimming
synchronized swimming
table tennis
Informally, this sport is also called ping pong.
taekwondo
tennis
trampoline
triathlon
In this sport, competitors must swim, cycle and run … one right after the other!
volleyball
water polo
weightlifting
wrestling
That’s it! Now it’s your turn!
What sport do like to watch at the Olympics?
Let me know in the comments below.
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