This document provides guidance on improving pronunciation in English. It discusses the importance of intonation and how subtle changes in intonation can change the meaning of sentences. Examples are given showing how intonation patterns can alter meaning without changing words. The document also discusses common pronunciation challenges in English like reduction, vowel sounds, consonant sounds and difficult words. Readers are encouraged to practice techniques like using intonation, recording themselves, and listening to English media to improve their pronunciation skills.

1. Workshop - Pronunciation
By Samantha Albano

2. Why is my accent so bad?
What do you call a person
who can speak three
languages? Trilingual.
What do you call a person
who can speak two
languages? Bilingual.
What do you call a person
who can only speak one
language? American

3. Do's
● Use intonation
● Read out loud
● Record yourself speaking
● Listen to music, podcasts and tv channels in
English
● Listen, repeat, do it again

4. Don'ts
● Do not speak word by word
● Don't mumble

5. Why is intonation important?
Intonation is like a 'tune' or 'melody' in the voice, used to
express different shades of meaning. Intonation patterns are the
ways speakers adjust the pitch of their voice in order to convey
meaning.
Intonation is very important in communication as it gives
information beyond just the basic meaning of the words.

6. Intonation
Notice how the meaning changes, while the actual words stay the
same:
1. I didn't say he stole the money. (Someone else said it.)
2. I didn't say he stole the money. (That's not true at all.)
3. I didn't say he stole the money. (I only suggested the
possibility.)
4. I didn't say he stole the money. (I think someone else took it.)
5. I didn't say he stole the money. (Maybe he just borrowed it.)
6. I didn't say he stole the money. (But rather some other money.)
7. I didn't say he stole the money. (We agree that he's a thief, but
we think he stole different things.)

7. Intonation
Notice how the meaning changes, while the actual
words stay the same:
1. I like chocolate ice-cream. (I like it, not you)
2. I like chocolate ice-cream. (You were telling me
that I don't)
3. I like chocolate ice-cream. (I only like this
flavor)
4. I like chocolate ice-cream. (I only like chocolate
as ice-cream, not as other forms)

8. Intonation
How are we going to change the meaning in this
sentence:
I didn't read anything about the disaster.

9. Intonation
How are we going to change the meaning in this
sentence:
I didn't read anything about the disaster.
1. I didn't read about the disaster. (Someone else
read it.)

10. Intonation
How are we going to change the meaning in this
sentence:
I didn't read anything about the disaster.
1. I didn't read about the disaster. (Someone else
read it.)
2. I didn't read about the disaster. (That's not true
at all.)

11. Intonation
How are we going to change the meaning in this
sentence:
I didn't read anything about the disaster.
1. I didn't read about the disaster. (Someone else
read it.)
2. I didn't read about the disaster. (That's not true
at all.)
3. I didn't read about the disaster. (I may have
heard it instead.)

12. Intonation
How are we going to change the meaning in this
sentence:
I didn't read anything about the disaster.
1. I didn't read about the disaster. (Someone else read
it.)
2. I didn't read about the disaster. (That's not true at all.)
3. I didn't read about the disaster. (I may have heard it
instead.)
4. I didn't read about the disaster. (I may have read
about something else.)

13. Intonation
How are we going to change the meaning in this sentence:
I didn't read anything about the disaster.
1. I didn't read about the disaster. (Someone else read it.)
2. I didn't read about the disaster. (That's not true at all.)
3. I didn't read about the disaster. (I may have heard it
instead.)
4. I didn't read about the disaster. (I may have read about
something else.)
5. I didn't read about the disaster. (But rather some other
disaster.)

14. Intonation
How are we going to change the meaning in this sentence:
I didn't read anything about the disaster.
1. I didn't read about the disaster. (Someone else read it.)
2. I didn't read about the disaster. (That's not true at all.)
3. I didn't read about the disaster. (I may have heard it instead.)
4. I didn't read about the disaster. (I may have read about
something else.)
5. I didn't read about the disaster. (But rather some other
disaster.)
6. I didn't read about the disater. (I am surprised)

15. Notice how the meaning of the following sentence changes each time we change the stress
pattern.
1. What would you like ?
This is the most common version of the sentence, and it is just a simple request for information.
2. What would you like?
This is to single out an individual from a group.
3. What would you like?
You've been discussing the kinds of things he might like and you want to determine his specific
desires: "Now that you mention it, what would you like?"
or
He has rejected several things and a little exasperated, you ask, "If you don't want any of these,
what would you like?"
4. What would you like?
You didn't hear and you would like the speaker to repeat herself.
or
You can't believe what you heard: "I'd like strawberry jam on my asparagus."
"What would you like ?
Intonation

16. Intonation
● Descriptive Phrase
– Nouns are "heavier" than adjectives; they carry the weight
of the new information. An adjective and a noun
combination is called a descriptive phrase, and in the
absence of contrast or other secondary changes, the
stress will always fall naturally on the noun. In the absence
of a noun, you will stress the adjective, but as soon as a
noun appears on the scene, it takes immediate
precedence - and should be stressed
– It's good (Adjective)
– It is a good plan (noun)

17. Second Word Intonation
● Descriptive phrases
– New information
● road designations
– Fifth Avenue
● modified adjectives
– really big
● place names and parks
– New York, Central Park
● institutions, or Inc.
– Oakland Museum, Xerox Inc.
● personal names and titles
– Bob Smith, Assistant Manager
● personal pronouns and possessives
– his car, Bob 's brother
● After articles
– the bus, a week, an hour

18. Second word Intonation
● initials and acronyms
– U.S., IQ
● chemical compounds
– zinc oxide
● most compound verbs
– go away, sit down, fall off
● percent and dollar
– 10 percent, 50 dollars
● hyphenated nationalities
– African-American
● descriptive nationalities
– Mexican restaurant

19. Intonation
● Set Phrases
– When two individual words go through the cultural
process of becoming a set phrase, the original sense
of each word is more or less forgotten and the new
meaning completely takes over. When you have a
two-word phrase, you have to stress the first word. If
you stress both or neither, it's not clear what you are
trying to say
– It's a fingernail (finger+nail)
– It's a hard drive (hard+drive)

20. First Word Intonation
● Set Phrases
– Light bulb
● streets
– Main Street
● Co. or Corp.
– Xerox Corporation
● nationalities of food
– Chinese food
● nationalities of people
– French guy

21. Descriptive
Phrase
● A new ball
● A sharp knife
● A cold fish
● A nice watch
● My feet are cold
● A football
● A steak knife
● A goldfish
● A wristwatch
● I had a cold feet
Set Phrase

22. Rhythm and Reduction
Often when we are studying English, one problem we
encounter is not being able to understand native
speakers. One of the main issues here is reduction.
To become fluent we need to practice pronunciation
that includes reduction. Reduction is simply when
speakers use reduced forms of words or phrases.
This occurs when native speakers omit sounds or run
them together. There are a lot of examples of these in
every dialect and accent of English.
● Some common examples of reduction are:

23. e.g.:
● Gimme
● Dunno
● Gotta
● Wanna
● Shoulda
● Coulda
● Woulda
● Hada
● Hasda
● Hafda
● Oughda
● Betcha
● Ya

24. e.g.:
● Gimme – give me
● Dunno – don't know
● Gotta – got to
● Wanna – want to or would like to
● Shoulda – Should have
● Coulda – could have
● Woulda – would have
● Hada - Had to
● Hasda – Has to
● Hafda - Have to
● Oughda - Ought to
● Betcha – bet you
● Ya - you

25. Sentences
● I wanna get it done soon.
● I'm gonna visit Japan next month.
● I oughda try harder in the test.
● You hafda make sure someone will pick you up.
● He hasda report to the office before 5:00 p.m.
● I woulda done my homework if I had understood the teacher.
● Can ya do it?
● I dunno the answer.
● I betcha can't eat just one

27. Sounds in English
● There are 26 letters in the English Alphabet
● And there are 44 sounds in the English
Language

28. / / - Schwa (Ã)ə
Any vowel can be turned into a Schwa
● A - again
● E - The
● I - First
● 0 - Love
● U - Under

29. / / - Schwa (Ã)ə
● A
● To
● The
● Mirror
● Memory
● Data
● Bigger
● Between
● Other
● Pencil
● About

30. Two or to
● Pronounce the number
● Pronounce the words:
– Today – T'day
– To go – T'go
– To you – T'you
– To do – T'do

31. Four or For
● Pronounce the number four
● Pronounce the words:
– For you – Furyou
– For him – Furhim
– For me – Furme
– Forever - Furever

32. T sound
Top
Water
Better
Little
Computer
City
Ought to

33. TH Sound
● Unvoiced th /θ/
– Three, mouth, thing, thank you, math, teeth
● Voiced th /ð/
– Them, those, the, mother, they, weather, this, that

34. Learn the TH Sound

35. Tongue Twisters
● Thor is the god of thunder
● Thursday are thirsty days for lethargic Ruth and
Thelma
● Nothing is worth thousands of deaths

36. W Sound
● What
● Which
● Where
● Awake
● Always
● Halloween

37. H vs R
● Happy – rap
● Hug – rug
● Hat – rat
● Head – red
● Hose - rose

38. Sh vs Ch Sound
● Sheep - cheap
● Share – chair
● Shoe – chew
● Ship – chip
● Washing – watching
● Cash – catch

39. Difficult words to pronounce
1) Rural
2) Colonel (kernel)
3) Penguin
4) Sixth
5) Squirrel
6) Choir (kuaiar)
7) Apple
8) Bluetooth
9) Burger
10) Twitter

40. Thank you!