EMI oneday course English Pronunciation Basics for Cantonese

EMI one-day course English Pronunciation Basics for Cantonese Speakers

Pronunciation • Consists of the phonemes (sounds from alphabetic letters)… – 24 consonant sounds – 20 vowels sounds • …and stress, rhythm and intonation

Cantonese speakers • Cantonese is in a different language family than English • English is a Germanic language in the Indo. European family • Chinese is in the Sino-Tibetan family • This results in very different ways of making sounds with our mouths.

Strategy for 90 -minute lesson • Focus on the areas where English and Cantonese are most different • Practice some of these starting with vowels and consonants

Th- sound • • Three-free Thin-fin Thread-Fred Death-deaf They-day Those-doze Words from your subject area:

l-n-sound • • • Lot-not Night-light Life-knife Lame-name Line-nine Words from your subject area:

V-sound • • Vic-wick Wine-vine Why-vie Advice Arrive Five Words from your subject area:

l-r-(w)-sound • • lamp ramp lace race lake rake (awake) lock rock (wok) light right (white) load road Words from your subject area:

S-sh-sound • Sea-she • She sells seashells on the seashore. • Words from your subject area:

Most difficult word • What do you think is the most difficult word to pronounce in the English language?

Why is English so hard to pronounce? sometimes • • ⅓ ⅕ ⅚ five-[s. Iksθs]

Task: Consonant clusters Partner A • How do you spell: • • • Grow Bloom Flea Fry Clock

Task: Consonant clusters Partner B • How do you spell: • • • Grass Free Frame Flute Crown

Vowels /i/ /I/ • • • Sheep- ship Beat-bit Chip-cheap Seed-sit Words from your subject area:

Vowel length • Perhaps the most characteristic feature of a Cantonese accent in English is the clipping of vowels on words ending in a consonant. • “Voiced” consonants (g, d, b, z, v) at the end of a word require the vowel to be longer. • Compare these two words and listen to the vowel sound – “Dock” and “dog”

Vowel Lengthening • • Pick-pig Lived-lift Lock-log Tab-tap Miss- Ms. Lake-leg Save-safe • • Feet-feed Knees-niece Lice- lies Plays-place Proof-prove Belief-believe Excuse (n)-excuse (v)

Lengthening Exercises • Example: • What’s a cap? – A kind of hat. • What’s a cab? – A taxi

Lengthening Exercises Partner A • • • What’s a seat? What’s a seed? How do you spell “tight? ” How do you spell “tide? ” What does wrote mean? What does rode mean?

Lengthening Exercises Partner B • • • What is a rope for? What is a robe for? What does “bright” mean? What does “bride” mean? How do you spell “beg? ” How do you spell “bake? ”

Regular past tense • • • Walked (t) Liked (t) Laughed (t) Closed (d) Filled (d) Smiled (d) Agreed (d) Hugged (d) Planned (d) • • Decide Want Need Add Start Rent Crowd Visit

Past tense exercise Partner A • Wash • Cause • Arrange • Load • Cause • Calculate • Subtract • Practice • Multiply Partner B • • Plant Wait Work Divide Open Save Add Record

Nouns and verbs Verbs have a longer (last) syllable Verbs • • Use (it) Prove (it) Save (it) Excuse (me) Advise (me) Believe (me) Relieve (me) What are the associated nouns? • • What use is it? Show me the proof. Put your money in a safe. That’s a good excuse. Give me some advice. He has strange beliefs. The device is broken. I need some relief.

Word stress • Word stress in English is so important that it is sometimes more important than the actual letter sounds. • I can swim. [kən] • I can’t swim. [kænt] • All words of two syllables or more have stress on at least one syllable.

Word stress • 7/11 • Seven eleven • There is no set system but there are some patterns. • For example, what pattern do you notice: • • Reduction, suggestion Politician, registration Participation examination Identification, electrification

Stress on second last syllable • Reduction, suggestion • Politician, registration • Participation examination • Identification, electrification

More stress patterns • • Strategic Economic Statistic Biology Geology Astronomy Policy equality • Main stress comes on the syllable before: • ic • omy, • ery , • ogy, • ity

Where is the stress? Patterns do not hold for all endings, e. g. , “ment” • • Argument Establishment Regiment Achievement

Stress on nouns and verbs Verbs (try asking a question starting with Nouns (try making a question starting with “Does it…” “Is it a…” • • • • Record Object Permit Suspect Conflict Contract Increase Produce

English rhythm • I really like eating apples. • 我好鍾意食蘋果. • Content words tend to be stressed while function words are unstressed. • In Cantonese, all words tend to be equally stressed.

English rhythm • The girl is interested in increasing her vocabulary.

Practice rhythm I ate a chicken salad sandwich In an hour, I’ll be ready to go to school. He eats three full meals each day. Do you like the photo on your passport? My cat eats fish and she likes to hunt mice in the garden. • Make sure you study for the test during the holiday. • • •

Rhythm I ate a chicken salad sandwich In an hour, I’ll be ready to go to school. He eats three full meals each day. Do you like the photo on your passport? My cat eats fish and she likes to hunt mice in the garden. • Make sure you study for the test during the holiday. • • •

Intonation • English uses rising and falling tone to indicate meaning? • For example – Falling tone indicates the end of a sentence. – Rising tone indicates a yes/no question. – Rising also indicates a list • Get some bananas, oranges, apples and lemons.

Coffee or tea? • Would you like coffee or tea? • Two stress and intonation patterns… • …and different expected answers. • Would you like coffee or tea? (Choose one) • Would you like coffee or tea? (yes or no)

Common teachers’ question? Either or • • • Is the answer 2 or 4? CPU or RAM? Melody or harmony? 3 -dimensional or 2 -dimensional? Underhand or overhand? Think of two words or concepts in your own teaching that you ask this type of question.

Why is spoken English so hard to understand? • • • Is he busy? Ed edited it. ededitit

Informal contractions which you don’t learn in school Wanna- I wanna study English. (want to) Gonna- I’m gonna study English. (going to) Hafta- I hafta study English. (have to) Gotta- I’ve gotta study English. (got to) Shoulda- I shoulda studied English. (should have) • Do you… [jə] • • •

Informal sentences • • What are you going to do tonight? [wǝdǝyǝgǝnǝdutǝnait] Do you want to go to a movie tonight? [jəwanəgotəəmuvitənait]

Finding the stress in tech words • alphanumeric, asynchronous, proprietary, mnemonic • Acrylics, Assemblage, Maquette, Rhythm • disassembly, ergonomics, translucent, malleable, adhesive • strenuous, sport etiquette, calisthenics • revenue, allotment, Merchandiser, Proprietorship • utensils, recipe

Classroom instructional language • http: //www. slideshare. net/josemariaagulleiro /classroom-language-simple-instructions • http: //www. usingenglish. com/teachers/traini ng/

Dictionary help • Check online dictionaries for sample tech words pronunciation • http: //www. learnersdictionary. com/search/ac rylic • http: //www. learnersdictionary. com/search/pr oprietary • Requests?

Pronunciation help • http: //www. howjsay. com/