How to Improve Your English Pronunciation

English Pronunciation—
Stresses
Tu Pei
Beijing Foreign Studies University
What is good English pronunciation?
A lofty goal
sound like native speakers
A modest, realistic goal
to develop a clear, understandable pronunciation
with appropriate intonation and stress
Why is good pronunciation so important?
Intelligibility
is the most sensible goal.
Intelligibility
is being understood by a listener in a given
situation
Poor, unintelligible speech will make your attempts
at conversing frustrating and unpleasant both for
yourself and for your listeners.
What are the priorities for Chinese learners?
Priority aspects for Chinese learners
weak forms
stress
rhythm
intonation
What are the tips on good English pronunciation?
Be aware of the major differences
between Chinese and English
pronunciations.
Be aware of the special features of
English pronunciation that are most
difficult for the Chinese learners.
English stresses
Chinese is a tone language while English is
a highly stressed language.
Apart from the vowel qualities and consonant
qualities, stresses play a very important role in
conveying the meaning of a sentence in English.
Example:
The girl gave the money to her father.
The Greens will never agree to that.
.
The GREENS will never agree to that.
The Greens will NEVER agree to that.
The Greens will never AGREE to that.
The Greens will never agree to THAT.
汉语：
声母+韵母+声调——>单音节词
（决定了它只有声调，没有重音）
英语：
辅音+元音——>单音节词，双音节词，
多音节词
（决定了它必须有重音）
Word Stress
Example:
coming
letter
report
myself
remember
explosion
beautiful
forget
modernization
Sentence stress
In a normal English sentence certain
words are stressed and certain words are
unstressed.
Normally stressed are content words.
Normally unstressed are form words.
Examples:
1. Janet has gone to the Baker’s.
2. I saw your brother yesterday.
3. Would you like a glass of beer?
4. I must be going. My wife’s waiting
for me at the corner of the street.
Stress and Rhythm
Stress gives a natural rhythm to
spoken English.
Rhythm
The rhythm of spoken English is
determined by the occurrence of stressed
syllables. Stressed syllables occur at more
or less equal intervals in English. The other
syllables in a sentence are reduced or
blended to accommodate the regular beat
of the stressed syllables.
Rules of stresses
As a general rule English tries to avoid
having stresses too close together.
English stresses tend to recur at regular
intervals.
Stress patterns
Example:
1. Sing a song.
2. I’d love to.
3. I’ve heard of it.
4. I want to know.
5. She asked me to go.
6. I think it will be fine.
Stress timed language
Example:
Go
home
Going
home
Going back
home
Going straight back home
Weak forms
Example:
A cup of tea
John’s at home.
A glass of water
I can speak English.
A block of flats
I’d like some potatoes.
The book that I want
I’ve been to France.
Bread and butter
We were leaving the house.
Weak Forms
The weak form or forms of a word are
used only in unstressed positions.
The weak forms of the words are of much
more frequent occurrence than their
strong forms.
/2/
and
/*nd/ /2nd/ /nd/ /n/
bread and butter
Ladies and gentlemen
The average learner uses far too many
strong forms; it is impossible to speak
English fluently unless the phenomenon
of weak forms is properly understood
and their use acquired, preferably from
the earliest stage.
.
Features that help you read
smoothly
speech flow --- stress, rhythm, intonation
weak forms 弱读
sound linking 连读
loss or incomplete plosion 失去或不完全爆破
consonant clusters 辅音连缀
elision 省音
pauses 停顿
Seasons
Spring is green,
Summer is bright,
Autumn is golden,
Winter is white.
Year in year out,
We work and fight,
For a new world, of red
sunlight.
重音/节奏/语调
弱读
辅音连缀
连读
失去或不完全爆破
语流好，发音好
Seasons
Spring is green,
Summer is bright,
Autumn is golden,
Winter is white.
Year in year out,
We work and fight,
For a new world, of red sunlight.
It’s a Small World
It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears.
It’s a world of hopes; it’s a world of fears.
There’s so much that we share.
That it’s time we’re aware.
It’s a small world after all.
Edelweiss
/#eidlvais/
Edelweiss, edelweiss, every morning you greet me.
Small and white, clean and bright,
You look happy to meet me.
Blossom of snow,
May you bloom and grow, bloom and grow forever.
Edelweiss, edelweiss, bless my homeland forever.
Do Re Mi Song
Let’s start at the very beginning
A very good place to start
When you read you begin with ABC
When you sing you begin with Do Re Mi
Whatever Will Be, Will Be
When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother
“What will I be?”
“Will I be pretty?” “Will I be rich?”
Here’s what she said to me,
(Que, ‘Sera, ‘Sera) “Whatever will be, will be.
The future’s not ours to see,
(Que, ‘Sera, ‘Sera) What will be, will be.”
Practice, practice and practice
Rain
The rain is raining all around,
It falls in field and tree.
It rains on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea.
-- Robert Louis Stevenson
Practice, practice and practice
Bed in Summer
In winter I get up at night,
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.
I have to go to bed and see,
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet,
Still going past me in the street.
And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?
-- Robert Louis Stevenson
Learning a foreign language was one of the most difficult
yet most rewarding experiences of my life.
Although at times, learning a language was frustrating, it
was well worth the effect.
My experience with a foreign language began in junior
middle school, when I took my first English class. I had a
kind and patient teacher who often praised all of the
students. Because of this positive method, I eagerly
answered all the questions I could, never worrying much
about making mistakes. I was at the top of my class for two
years.
Thank you!

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