Tricky American English Pronunciation

About this course: In this course, you’ll practice the sounds of American English that might sometimes be confusing. You'll practice both consonant and vowel sounds. You’ll also learn about the things that give English its special “music,” such as how to stress the right syllable in a word, how to make your voice go up and down in a natural-sounding melody, and how to naturally connect sounds and words. Learning these things will help you speak more clearly and make sure that others can understand what you're saying. This course is useful for English language learners who want to improve pronunciation of American English for better communication. Note that access to all of the lectures and handouts are free to anyone, but the graded assignments and quizzes are only available in the paid version of the course. You will need to submit recordings of your own pronunciation for graded assignments.

Created by:  University of California, Irvine

• Taught by:  Tamy Chapman, Instructor, International Programs

  University of California Irvine Division of Continuing Education

• Taught by:  Marla Yoshida, Academic Coordinator

  International Programs

Level Beginner Commitment 3-4 hours per week for 4 weeks Language English Hardware Req You will need to be able to make .mp3 recordings of your pronunciation. How To Pass Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. User Ratings 4.6 stars Average User Rating 4.6See what learners said Задания курса

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Syllabus


WEEK 1


Welcome



In this course, you will learn about the consonant and vowel sounds of American English and practice some of the difficult sounds. You will also learn about and practice intonation and stress. Practicing these things will help you improve your pronunciation and make your speech easier for others to understand.


2 videos expand

1. Video: Welcome
2. Video: Meet Your Teacher
3. Взаимная оценка: Meet Your Classmates

Tricky Consonant Sounds



In this first week, you will practice the consonant sounds of American English. Consonants are the sounds where the air coming up from your lungs meets some obstacles on the way. The first sounds in the words time, sand, and moon are consonants. After a quick quiz to find out which consonant sounds are the most difficult for you, you’ll practice some pairs of sounds that might be confusing and learn some tricks for telling them apart, and you’ll start to understand how your mouth moves when you say these sounds.


9 videos, 8 readings, 3 practice quizzes expand

1. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Consonants Pre-Test Directions
2. Тренировочный тест: Consonants Pre-Test
3. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Supplemental Materials
4. Video: Pre-Test Review
5. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Consonants Overview
6. Video: Consonants Overview
7. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Tricky Consonant Pairs
8. Video: Tricky Consonant Pairs Part 1
9. Video: Tricky Consonant Pairs Part 2
10. Video: Consonant Pairs Practice
11. Тренировочный тест: Tricky Consonant Contrasts Practice Quiz
12. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Final Consonant Clusters
13. Video: Final Consonants and Consonant Clusters
14. Video: Final Consonants Practice
15. Тренировочный тест: Final Consonants and Consonant Clusters Practice Quiz
16. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Shadowing Directions
17. Video: Shadowing a Conversation
18. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Shadowing Assignment
19. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Pronunciation Tips
20. Video: Pronunciation Tips

Graded: Assignment 1
Graded: Graded Quiz

WEEK 2


Tricky Vowel Sounds



This week, you’ll practice some tricky vowel sounds in American English. Vowels are sounds that come out of your mouth very smoothly, like the first sounds in apple, ocean, and out. Vowel sounds are very important for being understood in English. They’re the “heart” of each syllable, and they need to be said clearly to avoid misunderstanding. Our goal is to help you pronounce English in a way that can be easily understood by listeners in real life, and mastering vowel sounds is an important step toward that goal. Now let’s practice the vowel sounds of American English.


9 videos, 7 readings, 3 practice quizzes expand

1. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Vowels Pre-Test Directions
2. Тренировочный тест: Vowels Pre-Test
3. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Supplemental Materials
4. Video: Vowel Pre-Test Review
5. Video: Vowel Sounds Overview
6. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Tricky Vowel Contrasts
7. Video: Tricky Vowel Contrasts Part 1
8. Video: Tricky Vowel Contrasts Part 2
9. Video: Tricky Vowel Pairs Practice
10. Тренировочный тест: Tricky Vowels Practice Quiz
11. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Unstressed Vowels
12. Video: Unstressed Vowels
13. Video: Unstressed Vowels Practice
14. Тренировочный тест: Unstressed Vowels Practice Quiz
15. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Shadowing Directions
16. Video: Shadowing a Conversation
17. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Shadowing Assignment
18. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Pronunciation Tips
19. Video: Pronunciation Tips

Graded: Assignment 2
Graded: Graded Quiz

WEEK 3


The Music of American English Pronunciation



This week, you’ll learn about some things that give English its special rhythm and melody. You’ll learn about syllables—the small chunks of sound that make up the “beats” in words—and word stress—the way some parts of words are emphasized more than others. You’ll also see how some words become shorter and weaker when we talk. Since these words are used very often in ordinary speaking, we can’t understand spoken English without them. Our goal this week is to help you use the music of English to communicate more effectively and to be understood more easily when you speak. Enjoy learning about the music of American English pronunciation.


11 videos, 8 readings, 3 practice quizzes expand

1. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Supplemental Materials
2. Video: What is the Music of English?
3. Video: Syllables and Word Stress
4. Video: Syllables and Word Stress Practice
5. Тренировочный тест: Syllables and Word Stress Practice Quiz
6. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Thought Groups and Intonation
7. Video: Intonation
8. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Supplemental Materials
9. Video: Intonation Practice
10. Тренировочный тест: Intonation Practice Quiz
11. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Connected Speech and Reducing Sounds
12. Video: Linking in Connected Speech
13. Video: Linking Connected Speech Practice
14. Video: Reduced Words
15. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Supplemental Materials
16. Video: Reduced Words Practice
17. Тренировочный тест: Connected Speech Practice Quiz
18. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Shadowing Directions
19. Video: Shadowing a Conversation
20. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Shadowing Assignment
21. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Pronunciation Tips
22. Video: Pronunciation Tips

Graded: Assignment 3
Graded: Graded Quiz

WEEK 4


Other Tricky Things



In this final week of the course, you'll look at a few more tricky points in American English pronunciation. First, you’ll learn about the different ways to pronounce the –s and –ed word endings, which have important grammatical meanings, and you’ll learn when to use each kind of pronunciation. Next, you’ll practice pronouncing numbers like 14 and 40, 15 and 50, 16 and 60 that can cause misunderstandings. You’ll also learn about the pronunciation of the words “can” and “can’t” –the difference between them might surprise you. Finally, you’ll practice some sound changes that happen when words come together in common spoken expressions like "gonna" for "going to," "wanna" for "want to," and "shoulda" for "should have."


8 videos, 8 readings, 3 practice quizzes expand

1. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: -S and -Ed Endings
2. Video: -S and -Ed Endings
3. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Supplemental Materials
4. Video: -S and -Ed Endings Practice
5. Тренировочный тест: -S and -Ed Endings Practice Quiz
6. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Tricky Words
7. Video: Some Tricky Words
8. Video: Some Tricky Words Practice
9. Тренировочный тест: Tricky Words Practice Quiz
10. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Common Linked Expressions
11. Video: Common Linked Expressions
12. Video: Common Linked Expressions Practice
13. Тренировочный тест: Linked Expressions Quiz
14. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Shadowing Directions
15. Video: Shadowing a Conversation
16. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Shadowing Assignment
17. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Pronunciation Tips
18. Video: Pronunciation Tips
19. Материал для самостоятельного изучения: Learn

Graded: Assignment 4
Graded: Graded Quiz