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SessionOne1.ConsonantR2.ConsonantWHi,I’myourinstructorPaulGruberandwelcometothePronunciationWorkshops---FirstTrainingSession.IamveryexcitedthatyouhavetakenthisfirststeptoimproveyourEnglishpronunciationandIdohopethatyouwouldenjoythisprogramandreceivegreatbenefitsfromit.BeforewebeginIwannamakesurethatyouhavedownloadedandprintedoutthetrainingmanualwhichaccompaniesthiscourse.Ifyouhavenotyetdoneso,pleasedoitsoonbecauseyou’lldefinitelyneedit.NowyoumaybewonderinghowisitthatIamgoingtohelpyouchangethewayyouspeak.Well,basically,whenyoulearnedEnglishasasecondlanguage,youkeptmanyofthesoundsandspeechrulesfromyourfirstlanguageandyouwerecontinuingtousethemwhenyouspeakEnglish.Thisiswhatgivesyouanaccent.YouwereusingthesoundsandspeechrulesfromyournativelanguageinsteadofthesoundsandspeechrulesofEnglish.Andyouknowwhy?Well,becausewhenyoulearnedEnglish,nobodyevershowedyouwhatthesoundsandspeechrulesofEnglishwereuntilnow.That’swhyI’mcoming.BecauseIamgoingtoshowyouandtrainyouonhowtousethesesoundsandspeechrulescorrectly.Knowinginusingtheseruleswillhelpyoureduceorpossiblyeveneliminateyouraccent.Nowthroughouttheprogramyou’reoftengoingtoseemepointtomymouthtoshowyouhowtoproduceaparticularsound.IwantyoutopaycloseattentionandtrytocopyexactlywhatitisIamdoing.Iwouldbeshowingyouhowtocorrectlyformnewsoundsbychangingthepositionofyourtongueorchangingtheshapeofyourlips.Thesesmallchangesaregoingtomakeverybigchangesinyourspeech.We’regoingtopractisingandIrecommendthatyouusethetrainingmanualandtrytopractiseoften.Whenyoupractise,Irecommendthatyoustartoutspeakingslowlyoutloudinastrongvoicewhileexaggeratingallthemouthmovements.Whatwouldyoubedoingisretrainingthemusclesofyourmouthinyourtonguetomoveinnewways,whichwillproduceanewpronunciationpatterns.Thesenewspeechpatternswillslowlyandeventuallyinvolveintoyourownspontaneousfastspeech,butitisimportantthatyoustartoutgoingveryslow.Ifyoucanpronuncewordsandsentencescorrectlyspeakingslowly,well,thenyou’llhavenoprobleminsayingthemfast.Ibelievepractisingisimportant,butIdonotbelieveit’stheonlykeytowardssuccess.Beingawareofyourerrors.That’sthekey.Beingawareandalsorecognizingmistakeswhenyouhearthemwillprobablybethemostimportantfactorstowardsyourimprovement.AnotherthingI’dlikeyoutokeepinmindandI’msureyoumayhavenoticedthisalreadyisthatwhenmostAmericansspeakyouwillnoticethatweseemtoopenourmouthalotandthereisagreatamountofmouthmovements.WatchmymouthwhenIsaysomethinglike“Wow,wastherereallyrainingonWednesday!”Didyouseehowmymouthseemedto1move?Itwasn’twithmylipsflat.Itwasn’t“Wow,wastherereallyrainingonWednesday.”Therewasalotofmovements.Mymouthopenedwide,butalsomywholemouthmovedforward.NowIfindmanyforeignspeakers,maybebecauseoftheirlanguagecharacteristics,theydon’tmovetheirmouthsmuch.Thereisverylittlefacialmovement.Becauseofthis,toanAmericanlistener,thewordsoftensoundmumble,makingitveryverydifficultforanAmericanlistenertounderstandwhatitisyousaid.Onewaytobebetterunderstoodimmediatelyistobecomemoreawareofyourspeechandtoreallystartopeningandmovingyourmouth.I’dliketotrytoobservewhatI’mtalkingabout.Whenyouspeaktonative-bornedAmericansorwatchTVormovies,noticehowwhenAmericansspeak,generallyourmouthsreallyopenbigandourlipscomeforward.ThesemovementshavealottodowiththesoundofAmericanEnglish.IalsowanttoaddthatI’lloftenbeaskingyoutorepeatwordsandsentencesonthesevideos.TrytothinkasifwewerebothsittinginthesameroomandIamdirectlyrightinfrontofyou.ListencarefullytothewordsandsoundsthatIgiveyou.Listencarefullytomypronunciationandwatchmymouth,thenrepeatthewordsbacktomeinyourownvoicewiththetechniquesthatI’mshowingyouasclearlyasyoucan.Nowatfirstyoumayfeelabitoffoolishtalkingtoyourcomputerscreen,butreallyyoushouldn’t.Makebelieveyou’respeakingdirectlytome.You’llfindthiswilltobeextremelyhelpfulandeffective.Duringthecourseofthisprogram,Iwillbeginbyaddressingconsonantsoundsandthenlateronwe’llworkwithvowelsounds.Nowvowelsounds,asyouknow,areAEIOandU,likeahh,ohh,eee,ehh,ihhandooo.Andconsonantsoundsarebasicallyalltheotherletters’sounds,likeb,ch,s,t,f,g,sh,wandofcourse,therearemanymanymoresounds.TheconsonantsthatwearegoingtocoverinthisfirstsessionaretheconsonantRandtheconsonantW.Ok,areyouready?Herewego.Let’sgetstarted.Let’sstartwiththeAmericanR.R’sareeverywhere.They’reprobablythemostcommonlyoccurringconsonantsoundinEnglish.OnereasonforthisisthatR’saffectvowelsounds,especiallywhenanRfallsattheendofwordorafteravowelsoundasinthewordCAR,orthewordAIR,orthewordTURN.Afterworkingwithsomanynon-nativeEnglishspeakersfromaroundtheworld,IbelievetheRsoundisoneofthemaincausesforbeingmisunderstoodinAmericanEnglish.Therefore,thisiswhyI’vechosentostartoutwiththissound.Nowwhensomelanguages,likeourspeakingSpanish,theRisproducedbybringingthetongueforwardinthefrontofthemouthbehindtheupperteethandrollingortrillingthetongue~,likethat.Nowwhensomeotherlanguages,likeGermanandFrench,theRisproducedinthebackofthethroat,butthisisnothowweproduceanRsoundintheUnitedStates.InAmericanEnglish,inordertosayaclearRsound,twodistinctthingshafta(haveto)happen.Thefirstthingisthatourmouthandlipscome