This semester I have discovered a fascinating field of interest: linguistics.
My wonderful mother found a 3-CD set called “How to Improve Your American English Accent.” It’s perfect for my teaching needs here in Palau. It walks through English pronunciation in baby steps. I honestly had NO idea how complicated American English pronunciation actually is, until I listened to these CD's. Kudos to all you English as a second language speakers. God bless you for even trying.
Did you know ... that American English DOES have a frequent glottal stop? I did NOT. Here are some examples:
Button = bu’n
Cotton = co’n
Clinton = cli’n
Kitten = ki’n
Assortment = assor’ment
Report = repor’
Light = ligh’
Did you know ... that we draw out the vowels on words that end in voiced consonants, but NOT in words that end in voiceless consonants? It’s not a LOT of extra time that we hold the vowel, but we do. Consider these words:
Tug = tuuuuug
Tuck = tuck
Frog = froooooog
Frock = frock
Did you know ... that we emphasize the last letter of acronyms? I never thought about that before, but it’s true. It doesn’t even matter how many letters there are.
V.P.
V.I.P.
R.S.V.P.
U.S.
U.S.A.
U.S.D.A.
Did you know ... that we have an “r flip” sound that’s different from our “r” sound and doesn’t even sound like an “r” to us native speakers? It’s like the “t” in the word “photo.” Go on, say it out loud. You'll hear it. Doesn't sound like an "r" at all, does it? Technically (that is to say, "linguistically") it is. We use this sound all the time. It's almost like making an "r" shape in your mouth, but you very lightly and quickly touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth, with a little "flip." Say these sentences out loud and think about how hard it would be to say it if you couldn’t make that motion with your tongue:
We needed a hand.
Did I tell you?
Could I have an allotted photo?
We’ve only made it to the second CD in the set, and I’m fascinated. I knew English was hard, but …… English is really, REALLY hard!
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