Aneil's English Pronunciation Handbook

Topic
Introduction to Aneil's English Pronunciation course

Introduction to Accent
Page
3
7
English is a non-phonetic language

Introduction to speech sounds
Classification of speech sounds
Vowel sounds
a. Monophthongs
b. Diphthongs
c. Triphthongs
Consonant sounds
a. Basis for classification of consonant sounds
b. Plosives
c. Fricatives
d. Affricates
e. Nasals
f. Approximants
Sounds requiring more attention
Syllables
Syllable Stress
Linking
Sentence Stress
Pacing and Pausing
Intonation
Module 2: Reading and Speaking Techniques
Reading techniques
a. How to end sentences
b. How to read slowly
c. How to read with variation in your voice
d. How to read with the correct sentence stress
Speaking Techniques
a. How to introduce yourself
b. How to build vocabulary for fluency
c. How to speak fluently on a topic
d. Story Telling
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305
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e. How to speak confidently
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Audio tracks on the CD

Tracks
Track 1
Track 2
Track 3
Track 4
Track 5
Track 6
Track 7
Track 8
Track 9
Content
English Pronunciation - an introduction
Audio Book - Aneil's English Pronunciation Course
Identify the accent
Identify the accent
Identify words with the same number of sounds as letters
Pronunciation of the speech sounds
Pronunciation of the 12 Monophthongs
Practice sentences for Monophthongs
Pronunciation of the 8 Diphthongs
Page
3
10
11
11
18
21
74
74
110
Track 10
Track 11
Track 12
Track 13
Track 14
Track 15
Track 16
Track 17
Track 18
Track 19
Track 20
Track 21
Track 22
Track 23
Track 24
Track 25
Track 26
Track 27
Track 28
Track 29
Track 30
Track 31
Track 32
Track 33
Track 34
Track 35
Track 36
Track 37
Track 38
Track 39
Track 40
Track 41
Track 42
Track 43
Track 44
Practice sentences for Diphthongs

Pronunciation of words for Monophthongs
Pronunciation of Consonant Sounds
Pronunciation of Indian and the correct variants for /p/, /t/, /k/
Pronunciation Journey - /p/ and /b/
Pronunciation Journey - /t/ and /d/
Pronunciation Journey - /k/ and /g/
Pronunciation Journey - /s/ and /z/
Pronunciation Journey - // and //
Pronunciation Journey - / / and / /
Pronunciation Journey - /v/ and /w/
Pronunciation of the 24 Consonant Sounds
Practice sentences for Consonant Sounds
LA-la stress patterns
Linking in sentences
Sentence stress - dictation computer
Poem recitation
Can you guess the intonation?
Passage reading - How to end sentences
Read Slowly
Read with variation in the voice
Passage Reading
How to introduce yourself
BBC audio file on vocabulary
BBC audio file on story telling
BBC audio file on fluency and accuracy
The Rainbow Passage 1
Comma gets a cure 1
The Rainbow Passage 2
Comma gets a cure 2
Songs for vowel sounds and consonant sounds
Listening Practice Stories Part 1
Listening Practice Stories Part 2
How to Series
Better Speaking Series
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130, 137, 143
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Aneils English Pronunciation Academy

1. Introduction to Aneils English Pronunciation Course
Hello and welcome to Aneils English Pronunciation Academy. My name is
Raghavendra Ashok.
This course is aimed at correcting the most basic errors when English is spoken by
people in India. For interested learners, this course will go beyond correcting the
basic errors to training them on the way English is correctly read and spoken. By
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this I mean not only pronouncing individual words correctly, but also getting the
music and rhythm of the English language right, using the correct pace of speech
and pausing appropriately so that the listener is able to fully comprehend what
youre saying.
Learning must always be fun and entertaining. The exercises I have designed ensure
that you learn everything about correct English pronunciation the fun way.
Lets begin!
I invite you to listen to Track 1 on the CD at this stage, before you proceed further.
Listen to me talk about the need for a pronunciation course. The track is titled
English Pronunciation an introduction.
The following will be covered in this course.
Introduction to accent
English is a non-phonetic language
Introduction to the speech sounds
Classification of speech sounds
Mastering the speech sounds through exercises
Syllables and syllable stress
Rules for breaking up a word into syllables
Rules for pronouncing a word correctly
Linking principles for fluent speech
Sentence stress the rhythm of English
Intonation the music of English
We will look at the following reading techniques:

o How to end sentences
o How to read slowly
o How to read with voice variation
o How to read with the correct sentence stress
We will also look at some speaking techniques:

o How to introduce yourself
o How to build vocabulary for fluency
o How to speak on a topic fluently
o Story telling
o How to speak confidently
Intensive practice and listening to good speakers reading and speaking
Fun exercises for all the topics to make learning non-stressful and
entertaining.
A fully equipped original pronunciation handbook
An amazing original audio CD to supplement the handbook
Before we move on to the next topic, Id like you to read and record the following
passages. Note the time you take to read the passages.
Passage 1: The rainbow passage
When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a
rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colours. These
take the shape of a long, round arch with its path high above and its two ends
apparently beyond the horizon. There is according to legend a boiling pot of gold at
one end. People look but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something
beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the
rainbow.
Time taken: ____________ Seconds
Passage 2: Comma gets a cure
Well, here's a story for you: Sarah Perry was a veterinary nurse who had been
working daily at an old zoo in a deserted district of the territory, so she was very
happy to start a new job at a superb private practice in North Square near the Duke
Street Tower. That area was much nearer for her and more to her liking. Even so, on
her first morning, she felt stressed. She ate a bowl of porridge, checked herself in
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the mirror and washed her face in a hurry. Then she put on a plain yellow dress and
a fleece jacket, picked up her kit and headed for work.
When she got there, there was a woman with a goose waiting for her. The woman
gave Sarah an official letter from the vet. The letter implied that the animal could be
suffering from a rare form of foot and mouth disease, which was surprising, because
normally you would only expect to see it in a dog or a goat. Sarah was sentimental,
so this made her feel sorry for the beautiful bird.
Please preserve these recordings as you will be directed to listen to them as we
progress in the course. These recordings will serve as a starting point and
when you read and record these passages again at the end of the course, youd
be able to notice the difference Aneils English Pronunciation course makes to
your ability to read and speak correctly.
2. Introduction to Accent
All of us speak with an accent. Everyone does! So, what is accent?
Lets explore that concept briefly, as it will be key to what follows. To master correct
English pronunciation, we should understand what exactly accent means.
Read these sentences:
The probability that the woman over there goes to Church on Wednesdays is
not very high. This information, however, is completely my opinion.
So, did all of you read these sentences in exactly the same way?
Why? Write down the differences in the way the same two sentences were read by
different readers.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Well, now that we know that differences exist, can you tell me why there were so
many differences?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
There you go!
Can you now define Accent?
Accent: It is a characteristic way of pronunciation influenced by the social,
cultural, educational and the regional background of the speaker. It is of
course, influenced by the mother tongue.
So, you see, there is nothing wrong with speaking with an accent, because everyone
speaks with an accent. The problem is when you have to speak a different language,
a language that is not your mother tongue.
Imagine that you are 12 years old. Your mother tongue is Hindi. You probably
started speaking when you were 3, so you have been speaking Hindi for 9 years
now! Wow! And you are an expert in verbalizing your thoughts in Hindi.
Lets say you also started speaking in English sometime in your childhood, though it
is not your mother tongue. You probably started speaking English when you spent a
year or two in School, which means you started speaking English when you were 5,
or even 6. But you would only speak in classrooms, with teachers, not even your
friends.
So, the situation is that you speak your mother tongue, Hindi, with almost everyone,
almost all the time. And you do use English sometimes and with some people. But
what happens when you try to speak English?
You will carry the music, pronunciation and rhythm of your mother tongue
Hindi, into English. So, may be you are speaking English, may be you are speaking
grammatically correct English but the chances are that your English
pronunciation will be far from correct.
The formula is fairly simple. If you want to speak English with the correct
pronunciation, learn all the sounds used in English correctly, start using English
extensively and expose yourself to correct English from the internet or TV everyday,
for as long as possible.
What this does is, even though your mother tongue is Hindi, because you are
learning correct English pronunciation and keeping in touch with English spoken
correctly, you will master the correct English pronunciation!
This needs technique, guidance, practice and perseverance. Only practice and
repetition is not enough. You need to record your own voice and compare it to a
model and then critically take feedback from your comparison and learn. Again, and
again, and again.
I did just that. And even after several years into the practice, I still do it. I know that
without practice and exposure to correctly spoken English, our mother tongue takes
command over our English pronunciation. I know that practice makes perfect, and
that everyday I learn to pronounce some word correctly.
So you see, speaking correctly and learning to read and speak correctly is a journey
not a destination.
At this point in the course, I invite you to listen to Tracks 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 2F
AND 2G on the CD titled Aneils English Pronunciation Audio book. All the
chapters in the Pronunciation Handbook are summarized in these tracks. You may
listen to it as many times as possible, while driving, or relaxing at home or walking in
the park. Listening to this track several times will help you remember the most
important aspects of English Pronunciation, without having to go back to the book.
As the audio book has been read professionally, you will also be able to gauge how
words, phrases and sentences are read in order to sound effective.
Exercises for this chapter:
1. Indicate whether the following sentences are true or false.
a. All people speak with an accent.
b. A persons pronunciation or accent is not influenced by the mother tongue.
c. Accent is influenced by the cultural, educational and social background of

the speaker.
2. Listen to Tracks 3 and 4 on the CD. Can you correctly identify the accent in
which the speaker is speaking?
Accent in track 3: _________________________
Accent in track 4: _________________________
3. English is a non-phonetic language

How do you pronounce this word?
GHOTI
Did you get it right? The chances are that you didnt!
Its pronounced as Fish.
Well, still confused?
GH from LAUGH = F; O from WOMEN = I; TI from LOCATION = SH
Now, another exercise. How do you pronounce these words?
Write
Right
Read (Past tense)
Red
Sighs
Size
What does this tell you about English?

Well, my guess is that you probably think that English is a funny language! Well, yes,
but other than that, dont you see that in the exercises above, the words are not
pronounced the way they are spelled?
That is the feature common in a non-phonetic language. English is a non-phonetic
language. It is a non-phonetic language because you dont pronounce the words
the way they are written!
Hindi, on the other hand, is a Phonetic language. Check this out:
Choose a letter from the vowels: Lets say a
Lets write 5 words with letter a in them and pronounce them.
Fat
Fate
Father
Fault
Ago
Now choose e:
Get
Permission
Person
Gate
Effect
Extreme
Lets choose a consonant this time -s
See
Sugar
Measure
So you see, even though we have different words with the same letter, we dont
have the same pronunciation for the same letter. Thats why English is a nonphonetic language. Thats why it is not straight-forward to get English
pronunciation right, without knowing some secrets!
On the other hand, Hindi is a phonetic language: Choose a Swar and get five
different words with the same Swar.
What did you notice?
Do it again by choosing a Vyanjan this time. What did you notice again?
You may have correctly noticed that the same letter in any word would still be
pronounced exactly the same! Hence, Hindi is a phonetic language. Hindi is
pronounced or spoken exactly the way it is written.
Now, enough of Gyaan. Just remember the following rule when you are speaking
or reading English:
Sounds, not letters.
Thats it! Thats the mantra for you. Thats the secret. Concentrate on sounds and
not letters when you are speaking or reading English.
In my pronunciation classes too, you need to remember this rule: Sounds, not
letters!
Now, try the following exercises.
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1. Count the number of letters and number of sounds in the following words:
S.No. Words
1
Cat
Catch
Caught
Ant
Wait
Weight
Heat
Good
Food
10
Fish
11
Free
12
Another
13
Percentage
14
People
15
Tongue
16
Honest
17
Walk
18
List
19
Sixteen
20
Phone
Numbe
r of
letters
3
Number
of
sounds
3
2. Read a passage from your newspaper, magazine or novel. Get five

words and write them down below. Count the number of letters and
number of sounds.
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S.
No.
Words
Number
of letters
Number of
sounds
1
2
3
4
3. Next to the letters given below, write two words each with the target
letter in them. The pronunciation produced by the letter should be
different in both the words.
Target
Letter
Word 1
Word 2
E
I
O
4. Next to the letters given below, write two words each with the letter in
them. The pronunciation produced by the letter should be different in
both the words.
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Target
Letter
Word 1
Word 2
5. The feature of a Non-phonetic language is that the pronunciation of

the word may not be the same as the spelling of the word. True or
false?
6. Give an example of a Non-phonetic language.
7. Give an example of a phonetic language.
8. MTI is the short form of _____________________________.
9. What mantra should you remember while reading or speaking

English?
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10. Listen to Track 5 on the CD and identify those words which have the
same number of sounds as they have letters.
4. Introduction to speech sounds

Now that weve learnt about accent and about English language being nonphonetic and about the new mantra (Can you remember the mantra without
turning back to the page?), it is time we learnt the a b c of sounds.
Just as we have to start with learning the English alphabet in order to write in
English, we have to start with the International phonetic alphabet in order to read
and speak English correctly.
The International Phonetic Alphabet is a collection of 44 symbols, each symbol
representing a unique speech sound in English. This IPA is the gift of the
International Phonetic Association. You may have noticed the funny symbols after
every word in a good dictionary. Well, thats exactly what IPA is. You master these
symbols, and you can pronounce any word under the sun (and beyond, if you
please!) by just looking at the symbols for that word in that dictionary.
At this stage, Id like to recommend that you buy The Cambridge English
Pronouncing Dictionary by Daniel Jones. It is the world standard for
pronunciation of several thousand words. And the world relies on this dictionary for
standard pronunciation.
So, if you ask me if a word has to be pronounced this way or that and I say I have
no idea! who do you go to? Well, Daniel Jones of course, in the Cambridge English
Pronouncing Dictionary!
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Just as there are 26 letters in the English Alphabet, there are 44 sounds in English.
And each sound is represented by a unique symbol which corresponds to its sound.
And just as we have vowels and consonants in the English Alphabet, we have Vowel
Sounds and Consonant Sounds in English.
And the classification has a firm basis.
Vowel sounds are sounds which are produced without any obstruction to the
flow of air.
Consonant sounds, on the other hand, require obstruction to the flow of air.
Its as simple as that. You master the vowel sounds and the consonant sounds, and
youve mastered everything!
Now, try these exercises for reinforcement.
1. What is the name of the famous English Pronouncing Dictionary that Daniel
Jones wrote?
2. Speech sounds are also known as ___________________.
3. How many speech sounds are there in the English language?
4. What is the name given to the set of symbols used to represent the speech
sounds in the English language?
5. Fill up the blanks
Sounds which are produced with no obstruction to the flow of air are called
_____________________________
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Sounds which are produced with obstruction to the flow of air are called
_____________________________
6. Listen to Track 6 on the CD and repeat each sound after me. How many
sounds did you count?
5. Classification of speech sounds
We now know that the speech sounds, also known as Phonemes, are classified
based on whether there is obstruction to the flow of air or not, when the sounds are
produced.
Vowel sounds are sounds which are produced without any obstruction to the flow
of air.
Consonant sounds, on the other hand, require obstruction to the flow of air.
Lets first look at Vowel sounds.
Vowel sounds:
There are 20 vowel sounds. Vowel sounds are further broken down for ease of
learning into Monophthongs and Diphthongs.
Monophthongs:
Phthong means a sound. So, Monophthongs are the simplest vowel sounds,
which can be produced in one go.
There are twelve Monophthongs.
You can find them in the table below:
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Lips
Jaws
Fully stretched Slightly Stretched Slightly

rounded
Fully rounded
Slightly open
Eat
It
Look
Egg
About
First
Law
Car
Hot
Cool
Half open
Fully Open
Ant
Up
Lets look at these one by one.
This sound is realized with slightly open jaws and fully stretched lips. It is a long
sound, which means you pull it out for two beats.
Examples:
Seat, feet, beat, sleep, speak
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Meeting, beaten, sleeping, sheepish

Nominee, employee, trustee, goatee, foresee
Appealing, revealing, impeachment, anterior, indecent
Practice Sentence:
The trustee had a goatee and the future he could foresee.
Exercise:
It is very important that we practice the sounds individually, within words and
within words in sentences. In other words, after we practice the sounds individually
and master them, we look at practicing these sounds embedded in words. Finally,
these sounds should be practiced in context.
Read the following story I have created by using the words weve practiced for the
sound /i:/. This will help you practice the sound in context and you will be able to
master the sound better.
Dont speak! I will beat you if you put your feet on the seat! said the nominee
in the meeting. He was a trustee. He suddenly glared at an employee who was
sleeping and revealing all his teeth, he grinned at the sheepish employee who
was sitting in the anterior of the room. How indecent of you to sleep in the
meeting, he shouted!
For the next exercise, we need to know what a syllable is. When you break up a
word while you pronounce it, you break it up into chunks called syllables. I will
provide a definition for syllable a little later. For now, it is enough if we understand
a syllable to be the broken bits of a word.
Before we begin the exercise, I need to tell you a secret. The secret to pronouncing
a word correctly is to first be aware of the target sound in all positions of the word.
It is not enough if we are able to get the target sound right, if it is at the beginning of
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the word. You should be aware of the existence of the sound even if the sound in
somewhere in the middle of the word or even at the end of the word.
The sound we learn can appear in what are called as Word Initial, Word Medial
or Word Final positions. In order to accustom our ears to the sound appearing in
these various positions, we have to do the following exercise.
Can you identify which categories the following three words fall into with respect to
the sound /i:/?
Sleeper
Exterior
Extreme
In Sleeper, the /i:/ sound is in the first syllable. Hence we say that the target
sound is in the Word Initial position in Sleeper.
In Exterior, the /i:/ sound is neither in the first syllable nor the last (final) syllable.
It is in the syllable which is somewhere in the middle of the word. Hence we say
that the target sound is in the Word medial position in Exterior.
In Extreme, the /i:/ sound is in the last syllable. Hence we say that the target
sound is in the Word Final position in Extreme.
Can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?
Feast, speech, appeal, employee, three, needy, Meeting, beaten, impeachment,
anterior
Word Initial position
Word Medial position
Word Final position
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Lets now do an interesting activity: the sound maze.

Navigate through the maze given on the next page so that you go though only those
words which contain the target sound mentioned at the top of the sheet.
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This sound is realized with slightly open jaws and slightly stretched lips. It is a short
sound, which means you pull it out for one beat.
Examples:
Sit, kill, entry, happy, insist, admittance, market, effect, pity, sentry
Practice Sentence:
A country is nappy if you insist on happy.
I showed you how you can create a story with the words containing the target sound
/i:/ in the previous section. Can you now try to create a short story from the
examples given under the target sound we are looking at?
Write down the story below. Underline the target sound in the words. Read the
story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a one-beat sound.
21
Well done!
Now, can you place the following words in the respective columns in the table?
Sit, kill, entry, happy, insist, admittance, market, effect, pity, sentry
Word Final position

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Fit
Ship
Egg
Enough
Feet
First
Steel
Ecology
Emblem
Sure
Persistence
Sign
Fine
Exist
Sixty
Blissful
Cruel
Sir
Party
Little
Economy
Give
Epilogue
Ticket
Liter
Letter
Love
Leg
Trick
Sight
Print
Impact
Emit
Paying
Fuel
Bright
Cry
High
Film
Feel
Meal
Victory
Glue
Mint
Encouraging
Stay
Happy
Country
Sin
Singer
Now that weve seen two very similar sounds, lets see if youre able to differentiate
between the two sounds.
Refer to the Pronunciation Journey game sheet on the next page.
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There are four junctions that you need to go through to reach your final destination.
At each junction, youll be given one word which will give you the clue whether to
go left or right for the next junction.
You need to go left if the word contains the /I/ sound. You need to go right
if the word contains the / i: / sound.
Are you ready for the treasure hunt?
Junction 1: Slip
Junction 2: Sheep
Junction 3: Peal
Junction 4: Mint
Where did you reach?
Now try two more levels:
Level 2:
Junction 1: Asleep
Junction 2: Meter
Junction 3: Morning
Junction 4: Intend
Level 3:
Junction 1: Employee
Junction 2: Optimum
Junction 3: Importance
Junction 4: Handicrafts
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This sound is realized with slightly open jaws and slightly rounded lips. It is a short
Examples:
Good, full, should, education, pullover, bully, hooker, look, would, soot
Practice Sentence:
Good education should be full of coulds and woulds.
Write down a story below using the examples for this target sound. Underline the
target sound in the words. Read the story, keeping in mind that the target sound is a
one-beat sound.
25
Well done!
Good, full, should, education, pullover, bully, hooker, look, would, soot
Word Final position

26
took
bush
should
mushy
Buck
shook
would
us
true
Hunt
cook
duck
nut
blew
Hood
hook
have
cool
hello
uniform
dumb
must
rule
educate
bull
stud
rude
Flood
crude
look
lure
sure
Must
clear
pull
blood
stem
Host
food
could
foot
good
Looking
stud
heard
Butter
Full
push
god
head
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This sound is realized with slightly open jaws and fully stretched lips. It is a long
Examples:
Fool, communicate, muse, super, prove, accuse, shoe, nuisance, zoo, rumour
Practice Sentence:
A fool can accuse but is of no use.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Fool, communicate, muse, super, prove, accuse, shoe, nuisance, zoo, rumour
Word Final position
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Moon
balloon
blood
what
shut
blue
truth
cartoon
sharp
Body
yes
good
brutal
egg
Could
hoot
food
soup
blunt
Must
groom
foot
full
grit
Sun
29
Spot
computer
grateful
share
clever
Bury
spoon
bloom
tonic
mender
Blunder
Greek
student
enter
shell
Gush
soggy
clue
blame
awe
Gift
tough
suit
prove
route
You need to go left if the word contains the /u/ sound. You need to go right
if the word contains the / u: / sound.
Junction 1: full
Junction 2: food
Junction 3: book
Junction 4: moon
Level 2:
Junction 1: looking
Junction 2: Unit
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Junction 3: prudent
Junction 4: coolant
Level 3:
Junction 1: computer
Junction 2: pronunciation
Junction 3: communication
Junction 4: educate
This sound is realized with half open jaws and fully stretched lips. It is a short
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Examples:
Entry, bet, mention, westward, bend, leg, help, desk, breakfast, emblem
Practice Sentence:
Get set to net the rest.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Entry, bet, mention, westward, bend, leg, help, desk, breakfast, emblem
Word Final position
32

Bet
mother
goose
meat
boy
Letter
toast
get
contestant
shelter
Sweat
however
dread
Hall
could
Heard
Grin
toy
pens
broad
tell
splendid
been
weather
when
egg
rested
cry
Greek
while
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Cringe
Jetking
gift
halt
sheet
Rock
stem
steam
tour
coma
Miss
enter
swell
gone
hollow
Teen
toggle
gentle
wet
bend
Only one sound in the IPA has a name Schwa and that sound is:
The symbol represented above is the symbol for the Schwa sound.
This sound is realized with half open jaws and very slightly stretched lips. It is a
short sound, which means you pull it out for one beat. This is the only vowel sound
which is not stressed at all.
Examples:
Another, ago, percent, permission, pardon, about, across, affair, motion, number
Practice Sentence:
Another number about the ocean motion.
one-beat sound.
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Well done!
Another, ago, percent, permission, pardon, about, across, affair, motion, number
Word Final position

35
Computer
around
among
bird
fill
age
emperor
undue
height
more
sailor
ago
bumpy
love
up
error
gone
Fate
bring
got
percentage
heat
Woman
distinction
internal
gender
adjective
Information
goose
hill
grim
apple
Another
account
watcher
affect
shoe
Sell
ending
syllable
hundred
Shack
bar
await
teller
Sir
Brigade
Shaft
cross
agree
36
This sound is realized with half open jaws and slightly rounded lips. It is a long
Examples:
Murdered, bird, first, refer, prefer, murky, curly, burning, curve, word
Practice Sentence:
The curvy girl prefers murky curd.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Murdered, bird, first, refer, prefer, murky, curly, burning, curve, word
Word Final position
37

Sir
lord
First
bird
Mock
Hate
but
poor
fiddle
god
string
gear
heard
murder
hurt
brush
shun
cling
purse
ship
38
Lovely
nurture
cursing
referring
shoe
Crude
burnt
racer
hearing
tree
Bliss
curd
rude
great
encourage
Trip
surge
shirt
fear
another
travel
learn
economy
turkey
Ergonomic
farther
Fist
ardent
assert
worse
You need to go left if the word contains the / / sound. You need to go right
if the word contains the /3:/ sound.
Junction 1: Tension
Junction 2: Number
Junction 3: Abort
Junction 4: Curd
Level 2:
39
Junction 1: Burning
Junction 2: Percent
Junction 3: Condition
Junction 4: Firstly
Level 3:
Junction 1: Prefer
Junction 2: Permission
Junction 3: Culture
Junction 4: Surprise
40
This sound is realized with half open jaws and fully rounded lips. It is a long sound,
which means you pull it out for two beats.
Examples:
Law, four, more, reward, award, walk, calling, talking, water, bought
Practice Sentence:
The law awards more rewards for walking and talking.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Law, four, more, reward, award, walk, calling, talking, water, bought
Word Final position
41

Law
orange
linger
wrong
got
Hall
talk
call
lottery
hot
Groggy
buy
water
fox
beard
Murder
caught
walk
cart
cool
42
Aunt
fault
mock
later
feet
Crest
warning
sort
abundance
horn
Sure
bird
corporate
cricket
heat
Creed
awkward
awesome
garden
shell
Rule
lord
sink
kill
grid
Cold
short
ball
war
four
This sound is realized with fully open jaws and fully stretched lips. It is a short
Examples:
Actor, handy, bad, anger, shatter, track, madder, add, impact, snack
Practice Sentence:
The bad actor was mad in anger.
one-beat sound.
43
Well done!
Actor, handy, bad, anger, shatter, track, madder, add, impact, snack
Word Final position

44
Actor
category
parrot
create
met
Red
met
glad
fate
may
Under
hell
matter
thank
party
Maid
weather
egg
ambition
call
Account
tactful
vanish
anxiety
great
Cat
enact
lady
bread
lead
Radical
about
ahead
Grand
carrot
contaminate
Clay
England
Way
tell
main
zebra
woman
adverb
character
bad
adjective
bed
have
Hampshire
45
You need to go left if the word contains the /e/ sound. You need to go right
if the word contains the // sound.
Junction 1: Met
Junction 2: Mat
Junction 3: Cat
Junction 4: Bet
Level 2:
Junction 1: Acting
Junction 2: Better
Junction 3: Matter
Junction 4: Emperor
Level 3:
Junction 1: amendment
Junction 2: advertisement
Junction 3: bandit
Junction 4: regret
46
This sound is realized with fully open jaws and slightly stretched lips. It is a short
Examples:
Up, umbrella, understand, lovely, Monday, ugly, subtle, busted, rusty, luck
Practice Sentence:
Up the umbrella went on a lovely Monday in Kent.
one-beat sound.
47
Well done!
Up, umbrella, understand, lovely, Monday, ugly, subtle, busted, rusty, luck
Word Final position

48
Butter
address
another
understand
mother
Condition
October
nutcase
son
Cup
cottage
shut down
burn
hat
convey
fact
Love
Belt
Tact
money
monk
car
agriculture
honey
cream
burst
food
bend
bun
foot
First
monkey
guts
full
moon
Murky
Australia
must
loud
pound
Bond
percent
trustworthy
come
communicate
Make
stun
agree
Monday
lunch
49

if the word contains the /
/ sound.

Junction 1: Up
Junction 2: Abort
Junction 3: Love
Junction 4: Mention
Level 2:
Junction 1: Until
Junction 2: Another
Junction 3: Condition
Junction 4: Advice
Level 3:
Junction 1: Lucky
Junction 2: Ugly
Junction 3: Appeal
Junction 4: Abandon
50
This sound is realized with fully open jaws and slightly rounded lips. It is a long
Examples:
Car, father, password, artist, crafty, bartender, card, impart, pardon, darling
Practice Sentence:
The crafty bartender fathered the darling artist.
one-beat sound.
51
Well done!
Car, father, password, artist, crafty, bartender, card, impart, pardon, darling
Word Final position

52
Artist
murder
apartment
bartender
guard
Car
party
wander
apple
drama
Actor
curtly
abandon
market
Prefer
brat
Latitude
garlic
Lorry
target
Melt
papa
Face
grammar
parliament
past
encourage
carnival
father
trap
call
fall
long
laugh
love
further
hot
farther
park
attract
Great
not
war
jar
watch
Mate
feat
hurt
cargo
heart
53
This sound is realized with fully open jaws and fully rounded lips. It is a short
Examples:
Oxygen, optimist, not, knowledge, knock, shopping, locked, socks, on, horrible
Practice Sentence:
Knock on the locked shop.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Oxygen, optimist, not, knowledge, knock, shopping, locked, socks, on, horrible
Word Final position
54

Bottle
talk
Oxygen
long
Caught
hot
Bought
luck
tall
whatever
potty
allotment
organ
on
could
large
boom
mellow
soap
cow
55
Software
across
opportunity
over
mark
Foxtrot
moon
allow
blow
ship
Shotgun
orange
good
god
shop
Lend
optimist
locker
cottage
alter
Want
authority
awesome
rotten
black
Warn
share
shark
mock
block
You need to go left if the word contains the /
if the word contains the /
/ sound. You need to go right
/ sound.

Junction 1: Hot
Junction 2: On
Junction 3: Caught
Junction 4: Lawn
Level 2:
56
Junction 1: Forward
Junction 2: Blockage
Junction 3: Bottle
Junction 4: Water
Level 3:
Junction 1: Not
Junction 2: Ball
Junction 3: Call
Junction 4: Short
Weve now looked at all the 12 monophthongs in detail.
57
Remember that practice makes perfect.

Another important aspect while learning sounds is Sound awareness. You have
to train your ears to become aware of a particular target sound within a word.
Once you practice this and become more and more aware of the target sounds in
different positions within the word (beginning, middle and end), you will then be in
a position to produce these sounds well.
On Track 7 on the CD, listen to me demonstrate the pronunciation of all the
monophthongs.
On Track 8 on the CD, listen to me demonstrate reading all the practice sentences
for monophthongs.
Are you ready for a Quiz on Monophthongs?
a. Only one sound has a name. Write the name of that sound and the symbol
for that sound.
b. How many Monophthongs are there?
c. How many monophthongs are short sounds (one-beat sounds)?
d. How many Monophthongs are long sounds (two-beat sounds)?
e. Write down the symbols and pronounce any two sounds which are produced
with slightly open jaws.
f. Write down the symbols and pronounce any two sounds which are produced
by fully open jaws.
58
g. Write down the symbols and pronounce any two sounds which are produced
with fully stretched lips.
h. Write down the symbols and pronounce any two sounds which are produced
with fully rounded lips.
i. Pronounce the following words. Write down the symbol of the
monophthongs present in them. Also write down whether the
monophthongs are long or short..
59
S.
No.
j.
Words
It
Speak
Full
Cool
Nest
About
Bird
For
Act
10
Love
11
Bar
12
Shot
13
On
14
Moon
15
Eat
16
First
17
Brush
18
Met
19
Hand
20
From
IPA
Long sound or short

sound
Can
you
identify
and
write
down
the two
monophthongs that are present in each of the following words?

S.
No.
Words
Monophthong 1
Monophthong 2
60
Bending
Murder
Mother
Actor
Heated
Percent
Wealthy
Ever
People
10
Mental
11
Moral
12
Indeed
13
Decent
14
Weakly
15
Village
16
Rusty
17
Under
18
Undo
19
Proper
20
Forward
k. Can you fill up this table with the missing monophthongs according to the
manner in which they are produced? Write down one example below each
Monophthong.
61
Lips
Jaws
Fully stretched Slightly Stretched Slightly

rounded
Fully rounded
Slightly open
Eat
Look
Half open
About
Law
Fully Open
Car
Hot
Diphthongs:
Monophthongs are basic vowel sounds. Next in line are diphthongs, sounds
made up of two monophthongs which gently glide into one another. The first
sound making up the diphthong is always longer than the second sound of the
diphthong. This is a very important rule to remember. Most Indians make the
mistake of not elongating the first sound, which leads to incorrect pronunciation.
The following table and the sentence within illustrate the 8 diphthongs well.
62
Here
Lay
Poor
Boy
Low
There
My
Cow
Learning the diphthongs and pronouncing them correctly gives a very nice quality
and accent to the words, giving the listener an impression that you speak better
English. Therefore its very important to learn the diphthongs correctly.
As always, we cant produce diphthongs without getting an awareness of them
within words.
Lets look at the Diphthongs one by one.
Here, fear, appear, dear, near, real, ideal, surreal, fierce, disappeared
Come near and do not fear the real deer.
63
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Here, fear, appear, dear, near, real, ideal, surreal, fierce, disappeared
Word Final position

64
Hear
beer
wear
Therefore
mayor
dearest
fairest
Air
curious
year
pair
rare
layer
rest
rule
blower
nick
Sit
pact
real
Carry
appearance
cheers
reel
beater
Cure
steering
steel
survive
light
Shine
gear
nearby
rain
mean
Man
bear
clearance
hot
clean
Live
shot
endear
bait
feel
Bar
near
fierce
tears
ear
65
Later, daily, Tuesday, yesterday, rainbow, made, great, hey, clay, playful
The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Later, daily, Tuesday, yesterday, rainbow, made, great, hey, clay, playful
66
Word Final position

Rain
fire
Name
Lend
bend
cringe
hear
great
five
cradle
bar
information
pen
higher
edge
67
Today
failure
manner
Mainly
die
Investigate
avoid
loud
my
cot
hope
frame
edgy
card
go
display
shed
soft
snowy
play
ready
men
shelter
Safety
manly
chase
eight
hate
Sunday
cake
may
hurt
statement
Heady
Painful

You need to go left if the word contains the / e / sound. You need to go right
if the word contains the / ei / sound.
Junction 1: Rain
Junction 2: Ten
Junction 3: Great
Junction 4: Let
68

Level 2:
Junction 1: Arrange
Junction 2: Mention
Junction 3: Today
Junction 4: Eight
Level 3:
Junction 1: Made
Junction 2: Embedded
Junction 3: Baker
Junction 4: Shaky
69
Poorly, sure, doer, moors, endure, curable, impure, assurance, endurance, tour
He endured the tour to the moor in search of a cure.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Poorly, sure, doer, moors, endure, curable, impure, assurance, endurance, tour
Word Final position
70

Tour
awe
rocky
longer
careful
Yorkshire
fewer
author
Rome
listless
Garden
sure
talker
flare
shocker
71
Corner
impure
hover
robber
bar
Brother
mutual
usual
pair
shirt
Bear
mover
doer
not
more
Over
goer
manually
blue
blew
Hire
hear
poorly
shoe
pot
Key
ruler
curious
assure
endure
Shunt
burn
whoever
men
cure
Toy, toilet, coin, soil, boil, oil, appointment, employ, annoy, voiceless
The noise from the toys annoys other boys.
one-beat sound.
72
Well done!
Toy, toilet, coin, soil, boil, oil, appointment, employ, annoy, voiceless
Word Final position
73

Appoint
boy
kite
Account
main
coin
height
Great
exploit
prey
greet
made
Steer
voice
void
read
bold
Mate
hold
choice
loud
no
oil
avoid
cow
fear
Bring
spoilt
coward
hello
sure
Green
soil
go
help
Sheet
enjoyment
ran
rain
hell
74
Shore
soda
rejoice
Big
stem
love
moist
poet
envoy
loiter
Bungalow, so, know, no, ago, slow, dont, lonely, motor, over
She wont go home to Rome by boat alone.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
75
Bungalow, so, know, no, ago, slow, dont, lonely, motor, over
Word Final position

Poke
so
ball
band
shock
76
Oxford
nowhere
walk
Monday
lorry
God
phone
caught
hot
Rod
road
low
knock
cow
Note
mode
bend
how
she
Not
over
ago
knowing
why
Mat
sell
now
boat
mobile
Hold
lonely
cone
open
bone
Core
moment
dot
pond
slot
Shed
tone
known
indigo
photo
Therefore, wherever, wear, rare, care, repair, stare, declare, affair, blare
The rare bear had an affair with the hare.
77
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Therefore, wherever, wear, rare, care, repair, stare, declare, affair, blare
Word Final position
78

There
weird
clear
afraid
Rare
paired
fear
tired
glaring
real
Shetland
daring
air
rain
next
Met
way
bear
spade
laurel
Cut
betty
sharing
great
fool
Layer
success
dare
fire
sheep
79
Bend
heir
fairly
merely
forest
Locker
hair
horror
modern
come
Abstain
staircase
careful
Greek
fail
Sure
hate
farewell
warehouse
barely
My, timely, mine, shining, I, fighter, height, buy, goodbye, shy

Mike likes bikes with spikes to ride on ice.
one-beat sound.
80
Well done!
My, timely, mine, shining, I, fighter, height, buy, goodbye, shy
Word Final position

81
Bite
Today
Heart
diehard
mate
fire
liar
shape
hair
highest
go
my
greek
make
Black
cried
mainly
apple
code
Manly
find
might
branch
melt
Cross
bedlam
shy
share
Malt
enact
file
shame
core
Hand
mind
binding
bell
how
Mad
grind
cool
hail
she
flight
bright
time
Well
hind legs
slight

82
You need to go left if the word contains the / ei / sound. You need to go right
if the word contains the / ai / sound.
Junction 1: Main
Junction 2: mine
Junction 3: Lane
Junction 4: Time
Level 2:
Junction 1: Refrain
Junction 2: Entertain
Junction 3: Whitener
Junction 4: Sign
Level 3:
Junction 1: Die
Junction 2: Wednesday
Junction 3: Bride
Junction 4: Shady
83
Cow, how, sounded, cloudy, now, allow, frown, noun, down, proud
Shout out loud if you see the cloud.
one-beat sound.
84
Well done!
Cow, how, sounded, cloudy, now, allow, frown, noun, down, proud
Word Final position

words which contain the target sound mentioned at the top of the sheet
85
Cow
goat
road
rule
lent
How
outer
sound
shoot
stand
Gone
made
account
send
great
Blend
shout
loud
mold
mate
Clean
powder
however
bread
master
Limp
proudly
gloat
bar
know
Credit
cloud
town
knowledge
shaft
Heart
shed
noun
hood
friend
Blood
good
pound
ground
heel
Shoot
clear
mayor
brown
about
86
You need to go left if the word contains the /u / sound. You need to go
right if the word contains the /au / sound.
Junction 1: Low
Junction 2: Flow
Junction 3: Bow (bending down)
Junction 4: Cloud
Level 2:
Junction 1: Flower
Junction 2: Lower
Junction 3: Sound
Junction 4: Road
Level 3:
Junction 1: No
Junction 2: How
Junction 3: Ago
Junction 4: Allow
87
Now thats the take on the 8 diphthongs.

diphthongs.
On Track 10 on the CD, listen to me demonstrate all the practice sentences for the
diphthongs.
Let me now invite you to look at the following table with my version of words
for the target sounds weve studied so far. Practice these words everyday to
increase your awareness of the target sounds within words.
Target sound
Word Initial
Word Medial
Word Final
Eastward
Appealing
Employee
Important
Commitment
Happy
Booking
Educate
Childhood
Truthful
Communicate
Include
88
Entry
Together
Forget
Another
Information
Number
Certainly
Assertive
Convert
Calling
Immortal
Inform
Acting
Evaluate
Impact
Umbrella
Pronunciation
Upfront
Password
Alarming
Apart
Orange
Allotment
Unlock
Fearsome
Appearance
Endear
Maintain
Location
Complaint
Tourist
Usually
Impure
Ointment
Annoying
Alloy
Opening
Remotely
Ago
Fairly
Uncaring
Everywhere
89
Timely
Untidy
Goodbye
County
Accountable
About
We have to talk about 5 other sounds which are called as triphthongs. Of course
these are not classified separately but for purposes of ease we can consider them as
the third category of vowel sounds (do you remember the first two categories?)
Triphthongs are made up of three vowel sounds, the last sound always being the
Schwa.
Having said that, we can see triphthongs as made up of a diphthong and a Schwa.
Triphthong = Diphthong + schwa
Can you identify the triphthongs in these words? Remember, awareness is the key.
By now, you should have become aware of all the monophthongs and diphthongs
and therefore be able to identify the triphthongs.
Layer
Lawyer
Slower
Fire
Flower
Its time for more practice. Along with the exercises given in the book and the CD,
its important that we start reading passages and getting the vowel sounds in the
words correct. The more we read, the more we record our voice and listen to it, the
better our chances of identifying our errors and correcting our vowel sounds. So,
lets do it folks.
90
At this phase, Id like to tell you that learning to speak with the correct
pronunciation is a life skill. Like all life skills like swimming, cycling or driving, the
pronunciation life skill may seem daunting but you learn it for life. Once learnt
properly, you dont have to worry about it again. Just imagine, after youve learnt
cycling, have you ever consciously tried to learn it again? You just hop on to the
bicycle and start pedaling. Same with pronunciation. Once you master the sounds,
you dont have to worry about them again.
Now that you have begun to master all the vowel sounds, I invite you to spend ten
minutes everyday pronouncing the following words correctly. They are arranged
according to their target sounds and the word initial, medial and final positions.
Remember that daily practice is the key to perfecting pronunciation. The use and
disuse theory says that if you dont use something regularly, you lose it!
Target sound
Position
Words
Word Initial
eat, feel, eagle, eastward, eons, beach, beast, beaker, keeper,

deeply, dream, feature, feeble, phoenix, geek, heat, heal, jeans,
genes, liter, leap, league, lima, meter, meaning, meal, neat, need,
peter, peanut, queen, region, seat, seed, seems, team, velum, veto,
weeks, wheel, yeast, zeal
Word Medial
Word Final
Word Initial
Word Medial
Word Final
Word Initial
Word Medial
Word Final
upheaval, interior, superior, arena, amoeba, fatigue, bereavement,

impeachment
employee, trainee, nominee, trustee, esteem, supreme, repeat,
appeal, conceal, release, appease, delete
it, is, imply, impart, internal, finger, fit, delete, bin, biggest, dimple,
ditch, filth, give, his, guilt, ginger, gig, chill, chin, chip, kill, little, mint,
mill, nil, pick, quick, rib, sit, slip, stick, spin, tip, victory, win, whiskey,
zip
entity, utility, ability, capability, probability, commitment, competition,
addition
happy, country, beauty, empty, hungry, party, entity, economic,
biologic, photographic, psychic, market, biscuit, bucket, message,
village, advantage, disadvantages, encourage, manage
look, good, should, would, book, could, bull, cook, full, footage,
hooker, hood, July, pulling, pushing, took, wood, wool, together
education, articulate, particulate, erudite
mistook, unhook, truthful, plentiful, spoonful
91
Word Initial
Word Medial
Word Final
Word Initial
Word Medial
Word Final
food, brood, boon, dude, duplicate, fool, hula hoop, June, cooling,
cooper, loot, movie, movement, moody, nutrition, numerous, nude,
puke, rude, rule, soothing, spoonful, stool, true, truthful, truth,
university, universe, voodoo, woo, Zulu
communicate, enthusiasm, enumerate, improvement, enthusiastic,
seclusion, amusement
into, undue, improve, approve, disapprove, maroon, platoon,
cartoon, balloon, aloof, seduce
betting, bed, Cedric, dead, death, fetch, Fletcher, get, gel, hell, head,
jelly, lending, leg, mender, meddle, penning, member, bread,
exercise, credit
development, together, prevention, detention, extension, retention,
recession, confession, attendance
comment, regret, effect, affect, content, consent, ascent, amend,
pretend, address
Word Initial
ago, ability, above, address, another, absorb, abundance,

appearance, admit, appeal, condition, percentage, permission,
particular, permitted, aggressive, communicate, pronunciation,
pronouncing, collection, correct, cathedral
Word Medial
information, dictionary, fiberglass, membership, sportsmanship,

laboratory, lavatory, paradise, filament, innocent, adorable, liberty
Word Final
number, member, carpenter, intonation, location, imagination,

Edward, Oxford, westward, button, bottle, table, improvement,
amendment, commandment, reluctant, Robert, Stewart, digital,
dependence, emotional
Word Initial
Word Medial
Word Final
Word Initial
Word Medial
Word Final
Word Initial
Word Medial
Word Final
Word Initial
Word Medial
Word Final
earning, earthling, hurt, bird, first, sir, burden, murder, curtain, flirty,
shirt, learning, burning, churn, certainly
ascertain, preferring, referring
return, discern, concern, prefer, refer
awesome, lawful, authority, author, order, talking, walking, calling,
called, call, tall, watering, more, four, caught, bought, thought,
sporty, border, corner, ornament, short
assorted, assaulted, awarded, insurance, security
award, reward, record, adore, insure, secure
actor, tracking, lacking, carrying, cash, camp, calculate, crack, blacklisted, rat, Saturday, Sally, shabby, shackles, shamrock, bat
abandon, enactment, impactful, Italian, imagine, refraction
enact, compact, react, interact, businessman, understand
up, understand, umbrella, cup, love, lovely, button, sun, son,
Sunday, luck, lump, cunning, brother, mother, butter, utter, shut-up,
gun, bumpy
pronunciation, enunciation, another, abundance
build-up, shut-up, among
Word Initial
father, artist, Marshall, Margaret, bartender, heart, jar, cart, card, car,
lather, partner, pardon, rather, parcel, part, target, Yardley, cardigan
Word Medial
Word Final
departure, apartment, Encarta

impart, depart
92
Word Initial
Word Medial
Word Final
Orange, oxygen, boxes, locking, mock, not, cot, hot, shot, prompt,
opportunity, clockwork
allotment, impromptu, economic, electronically
padlock, Belmont, bellhop, desktop, tabletop, laptop
On Track 11 on the CD, listen to me demonstrate the pronunciation of all the words
in the table above.
Here are a few more games on vowel sounds.
The game on the following page 114 is called Four-sided dominoes. Cut the
cards out and place them face down. Retain one card face-up at the center. This
will be your start card.
The first player picks a card from the face-down-card file. He has to place it next to
the card at the center such that the vowel sound in the word on his card matches
with that in the centre.
The other players take turn building up the track.
Look at the next two games titled Ludo 1 and Ludo 2 on pages 115 and 116.
Each number of the dice is assigned a vowel sound. The player should throw the
dice and based on the number on the dice, he should identify correctly the word in
his path which has that sound and move to that place.
The other players take turn throwing the dice and stepping forward to the word
containing that vowel sound.
The player to reach home first is the winner.
The next game is called Battleships. You can find the game on two pages 117 and
118.
One player marks a square and the opponent should pronounce the word so
formed from the intersection of sounds. If the opponent gets the word correct, then
the ship is sunk.
You can use any variation you like with this game.
93

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Aneils English Pronunciation course is an activity-based and listening-based
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Aneils English Pronunciation course comes with an exhaustive English Pronunciation
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Private tuitions/Coaching starts shortly.
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94

weekends.
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weekends.
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96
97
98
Lets now go to a rather interesting topic Consonant sounds. The classification

itself is very interesting.
Consonant sounds:
We said that consonant sounds are produced by the obstruction to the flow of air. It
is easier to learn consonant sounds if we take notice of:
1. The manner of articulation (The way the consonant sound is produced)
2. The place of articulation (The place that plays a crucial role in producing
the consonant sound)
3. Whether the sound is Voiced or Voiceless
Ill explain later. Right now, visualize this scene. I will try to explain the classification
of the consonant sounds through this scene.
Imagine that you've parked your car in the driveway and that you want to wash it.
You get a long length of a hose tube, connect one end to a tap inside the house and
start dragging the other end to the driveway where your car is.
Now, your 5-year-old daughter, who likes to play pranks with you turns the tap on
and giggles, even as you are stepping out of the hall into your verandah. The water
from the tap starts moving through the hose and is ready to flow out of it. You don't
want the water to spill in your house, so what do you do?
You immediately close the end of the hose with your thumb, blocking the flow out.
Then you start moving towards your car. Your daughter now wants to join the fun,
so she comes out too.
Once near the car, you remove your thumb from the end of the hose. What
happens?
The water gushes out of the hose with great force, because it is no longer restricted.
It is like an explosion a sudden and strong outburst. You see, there are 6
99
consonant sounds which are produced in a very similar manner. The manner is an
explosion of air, after the air is restricted by something in the mouth and let loose
suddenly.
We call such consonant sounds as 'Plosives'. They are / p /, / t /, / k /, / b /, /
d /, / g /.
Okay. Your daughter has been watching you clean the car. She now wants to try it
herself, so you hand over the hose to her. What she does is, she closes the hose
with her thumb and then gently pulls only a little bit of the thumb away from the
hose so that there is just a very thin gap for the water to flow through. What
happens?
The water now flows out with some kind of a hissing or a shushing sound, the
sound produced by the difficult passage of water through a narrow opening.
Friction, in other words. You see, in English, we have 9 consonant sounds which
are produced by a similar restriction where the air is allowed only a narrow gap to
escape. These sounds caused by friction are soft and are called 'Fricatives'.
They are / f /, / v /, / /, / /, / s /, / z /, / /, / /, /h/.
Your daughter is very happy with what's happening!
Now she thinks of playing a bit with the hose. She uses her thumb to block the hose
and then releases it and suddenly closes it with the thumb but maintains a narrow
gap for the water to flow. There are two consonant sounds which are called
'Affricates', which are produced by explosion quickly followed by friction. They are
/ /, / /.
You are annoyed that she is playing instead of washing the car and so snatch the
hose back from her. She looks very cross now. But suddenly she hears Himesh
Reshammiya on the radio crooning 'Jhalak Dikhlaaja' and so runs in to enjoy the
song.
You see, Himesh has a nasal voice, just like three consonant sounds /m/, /n/ and /
/, which are called Nasals.
100
Well, you now feel like playing a little with the hose yourself. So you get a small stick
and position it in the hose at the end so that the water has to flow around the solid
stick which is blocking the path in the middle. Such consonant sounds which have
obstruction to air flow but not too much are called 'Approximants'. They are 4 in
number. They are / j /, / r /, / l / and / w /.
And now you have washed your car and you have played around. So you go in and
enjoy a hot cup of coffee with your wife
So here's the classification of consonant sounds.

1. Plosives - / p /, / t /, / k /, / b /, / d /, / g /
2. Fricatives - / f /, / v /, / /, / /, / s /, / z /, / /, / /, /h/
3. Affricates - / /, / /
4. Nasals - /m/, /n/ and /
5. Approximants - / j /, / r /, / l / and / w /
consonant sounds.
101
Whats not shown in the table is the pair of Affricates. Affricates as you know are
palate-alveolar.
So, that makes it 24 consonant sounds. And now we know that the classification of
the consonant sounds was done based on the 'Manner' of articulation.
But we haven't looked at how we can differentiate between the individual sounds in
each of the categories, have we? For that we need to look at the 'Place' of
articulation. We will also use the concept of 'voiceless' and 'voiced' sounds to help
us learn the individual sounds.
Let's begin.
102
Look at the picture above.

I have depicted the articulators that help us in producing consonant sounds. The
picture aids us in understanding the place of articulation of sounds.
Articulators are active and passive. Examples of active articulators are lips (labia),
tongue, vocal chords, velum and the lower jaw. Examples of passive articulators
include the upper jaw, teeth, the alveolar ridge, the hard palate, the nasal cavity and
the oral cavity. It is important that we understand which are which to be able to
enunciate the consonant sounds correctly.
Let's now get back to the classification of consonant sounds using the place of
articulation, and whether the sound is voiced or voiceless.
The first category is plosives.
103
Plosives:
/p/
This sound is bilabial - meaning by the lips. Or rather, the restriction of air by the
lips. It is an explosive sound. Hence the place of articulation is 'labial' or lips and
the manner of articulation is 'plosion' or 'plosive'.
/p/ is therefore a bilabial plosive.
I would now want you to touch your throat with four of your fingers and say /p/. Do
it again.
Did you notice some sort of a vibration from the throat? I'm not talking of the updown movement. I'm talking of the vibration.
There was no vibration when you produced /p/. In other words no vibration means
no 'voice' and so we call /p/ a voiceless sound.
So, /p/ is a voiceless, bilabial plosive.
Take a thin strip of paper and hold it in front of your lips and say /p/. The strip
bends almost completely due to the extra puff of air driving it. We call this extra puff
of air as 'aspiration'.
So /p/ is a voiceless, aspirated, bilabial plosive! That's the complete definition.
And if we understand the importance of each of these elements, our /p/ becomes a
perfect reproduction.
Notice that the Indian /p/ is not aspirated, and is also voiced. This is why it is an
incorrect pronunciation when the same is used for the English /p/. And this is also
one of the most common errors that Indians make while producing words with /p/.
On Track 13 of the CD, I have demonstrated the pronunciation of the following
words the Indian way and the correct way. Have a listen.
Pen - Pen
Could you make out the difference?
Examples:
104
pin, paper, potter, appear, apple, pencil, poor, tap, nap, entrap
Practice Sentence:
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
pin, paper, potter, appear, apple, pencil, poor, tap, nap, entrap
Word Final position
105
/b/
This has the same place and manner of articulation as /p/. The difference then is
that /b/ is not aspirated (no 'extra' air, just a little will do) and more importantly, /b/
is voiced.
Rest your fingers on your throat and say /b/. You will notice a vibration from your
throat.
So, /b/ is a voiced, non-aspirated, bilabial plosive.
Examples:
Bad, butter, abort, cab, lab, brad, bought, bind, bingo, boot
Practice Sentence:
Betty bought some bitter butter.
one-beat sound.
106
Well done!
Bad, butter, abort, cab, lab, brad, bought, bind, bingo, boot
Word Final position

107
You need to go left if the word contains the / p / sound. You need to go right
if the word contains the / b / sound.
I have included two levels. Its very easy if the words are written on paper to
distinguish between the two sounds. Therefore I have included these words in the
voice files.
For this reason, I have read the words in Track 14 of the CD so that you can listen
to the four words, one for each junction and navigate yourself only by ear.
Lets see how you do.
Listen to Track 14 on the CD and play the game on the next page.
108
/t/
Can you analyze this sound as we did /p/? Try. Get the place of articulation, manner
of articulation and check whether the sound is voiced or voiceless.
/t/ is a voiceless, aspirated, alveolar plosive.
It is important to note the place of articulation as the alveolar ridge. Refer to the
picture of articulators on page 20.
Again observe ten and ten.
Examples:
Table, time, intimate, actor, sort, bucket, lost, toffee, taught, short
Practice sentence:
Ten teaspoons tossed about in the teapot.
one-beat sound.
109
Well done!
Table, time, intimate, actor, sort, bucket, lost, toffee, taught, short
Word Final position
/d/
This is easy now.
/d/ is a voiced, non-aspirated, alveolar plosive.
110
Examples:
Door, dead, bed, heading, beady, death, addition, abandon, done, broad
Practice Sentence:
Dr. Dolittle dealt with donkeys and dogs.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Door, dead, bed, heading, beady, death, addition, abandon, done, broad
Word Final position
111

You need to go left if the word contains the / t / sound. You need to go right
if the word contains the / d / sound.
voice files.
Listen to Track 15 and play the game on the next page.
112
/k/
Did you try and analyze? You should, because that way you'll never forget how the
sound is produced, and chances are that you'll never make a mistake with that
sound.
/k/ is a voiceless, aspirated, velar plosive.
113

Kiss and kiss.
Examples:
Cake, kick, back, lock, courtesy, click, according, akin, king, cobbler
Practice Sentence:
Kids crave for candy sticks and cuppy cakes.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Cake, kick, back, lock, courtesy, click, according, akin, king, cobbler
Word Final position
114
/g/
This is the last plosive.
You may have correctly identified the definition as:
/g/ is a voiced, non-aspirated, velar plosive.
Good.
Examples:
Go, gate, agree, bag, target, goody, golf, great, Hogwarts, green
Practice Sentence:
Green grass grows on good grounds.
one-beat sound.
115
Well done!
Go, gate, agree, bag, target, goody, golf, great, Hogwarts, green
Word Final position

You need to go left if the word contains the / k / sound. You need to go right
if the word contains the / g / sound.
116

voice files.
117
Bingo! That's six sounds done!

Before we exit 'Plosives' I want to point out an important observation. A concept
called 'Minimal Pairs'.
Analyze /p/ and /b/ for similarities. They are almost identical with just a small
difference, which is one of the reasons why people get confused when you
interchange /p/ and /b/ or pronounce them incorrectly.
These two are sounds of a minimal pair, a pair of sounds with minimal difference
between them. And we have to be very careful with minimal pairs!
The other minimal pairs in plosives are:
/t/ and /d/
/k/ and /g/
The concept of minimal pairs also makes it easier for us to study the sounds.
Brilliant! It's time to go to Fricatives and analyze each sound for the place of
articulation, manner of articulation and whether the sound is voiced or voiceless.
Fricatives
118
Please remember that these sounds are soft and are produced by friction.
There are minimal pairs in fricatives, which means we have to be careful in
enunciating each sound distinctly and correctly.
/f/ - Voiceless labio-dental fricative

You need to kind of bite your lower lip with the upper set of teeth to produce the /f/
sound. It is fairly simple.
Forest After
Examples:
Forest, father, few, afraid, after, often, staff, left, trough, laugh
Practice Sentence:
Fifty four friends had forty five foes.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Forest, father, few, afraid, after, often, staff, left, trough, laugh
Word Final position
119
/v/ - Voiced labio-dental fricative.

This sound is one of the most challenging sounds for the people of India. This
requires vibration of the vocal chords as this is a voiced sound, and the biting of the
lower lip. Only practice, and more practice can help you achieve mastery over this
sound.
Very Envy
Examples:
Very, victory, v, volume, velocity, veronica, vow, everlasting, never, have
Practice sentence:
Never ever vie victory very much.
one-beat sound.
120
Well done!
Very, victory, v, volume, velocity, veronica, vow, everlasting, never, have
Word Final position
121
V
V
we
weather
Wendy
away
Five
survive
veil
low
want
Along
highway
vet
wet
well
Affair
vault
vendor
when
blew
Now
solve
lower
life
shoe
Cow
halves
love
shove
wafer
mower
move
racer
Shaft
go
So
move
ever
never
mate
Know
giving
sawing
break
safe
Wife
savings
verify
vote
very
122
/s/ - Voiceless alveolar fricative.

Hissing sound.
Sea Horse Rice
Examples:
So, rice, price, see, feast, horse, house, bust, rest, seek
Practice sentence:
The price of rice is so very nice.
Note that in the above sentence is does not have a /s/ sound. Can you guess what
sound it has?
one-beat sound.
Well done!
So, rice, price, see, feast, horse, house, bust, rest, seek
Word Final position
123

/s/
See
sea
is
has
zoo
Peas
raise
maze
ablaze
Treasure
assume
leash
ship
church
124
Shoot
listen
person
symbol
dozing
boys
prize
rice
nice
Horse
house
peace
price
shoe
Burst
rise
prays
breeze
does
measure
shopping
great
buzz
So
mouse
spouse
noisy
lazy
Browse
love
biscuit
nurse
kiss
Cars
Reimburse
/z/ - Voiced alveolar fricative

Buzzing sound.
Zoo Rise - Is
The important thing about this sound is the voiced quality of this sound. Without
the voice, it would sound like /s/.
Examples:
Zoo, rays, prize, houses, rise, is, maze, buzz, crazy, lazy
Practice sentence:
The citys high rise is the great prize.
125
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Zoo, rays, prize, houses, rise, is, maze, buzz, crazy, lazy
Word Final position
126

/z/
Buzz
kiss
rice
Zebra
zoo
pays
peace
street
Seat
Greece
browsing
beast
sheet
Lost
boys
cities
cats
hats
Dogs
raise
chick
measure
rush
Face
phase
stays
lace
best
Listen
person
maze
fist
ghost
example
absent
rusty
knows
houses
roads
Pose
nose
Guns
mission
mason
bliss
127
Blaze
candies
droppings
post
birds

You need to go left if the word contains the / s / sound. You need to go right
if the word contains the / z / sound.
voice files.
128
/ / - Voiceless post-alveolar fricative.

This sound is the shhhh sound we use to ask someone to be quiet.
This sound is produced in the region after the alveolar ridge and hence the
description post-alveolar.
Ship Wish
Examples:
Shoe, sugar, sure, crash, should, sheep, washing, shop, dash, information
Practice Sentences:
She showed the shoe to the shocked crew.
She sells sea shells on the sea shore.
129
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Shoe, sugar, sure, crash, should, sheep, washing, shop, dash, information
Word Final position

130
Ship
Cheap
push
astonish
church
watching
birth
leisure
think
brunch
Magic
shock
mesh
she
see
Brick
kissing
June
associate
July
Dutch
shrink
mention
location
Soon
sure
assume
chop
North
sugar
ashamed
Marshall
sheen
Guns
zoo
beaches
lunch
hush
Breeze
cheese
mixture
glitch
Hampshire
Leisure
treasure
west
danger
pressure
vision
notch
131
/ - Voiced post-alveolar fricative.
A tough one but if you know that its very similar to / / it is easy. Just that its a
voiced variation of / /.
Measure garage
Examples:
Measure, pleasure, fission, seizure, fusion, garage, closure, version, vision,
enclosure
Practice sentence:
Please treasure leisure for its immeasurable pleasure.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Measure, pleasure, fission, seizure, fusion, garage, closure, version, vision,
enclosure
132
Word Final position

Vision
permission
lesson
mention
Judge
Measure
version
June
catch
zone
Region
leisure
pressure
chip
zip
133
Nature
pleasure
weather
boyish
sheepish
Mixture
seizure
fission
mission
tension
Attention
gesture
treasure
north
house
Busy
messy
closure
bother
easy
Sloppy
noisy
aversion
captain
Orange
Rage
crazy
immeasurable
fusion
enclosure
suction
television
Abortion
expulsion
option
/ / - Voiceless interdental fricative.

Imagine you are trying to tease your friend by getting your tongue out of your mouth
and between your teeth. This is how you need to produce / /. And it is a very soft
sound. Again the sound should be similar to /s/ but the tongue jutting out between
the teeth will give it a quality of / / and not /s/.
The sound requires lots of practice for mastery. Once mastered, it sounds very
professional to produce this sound correctly in words. Almost all Indians make an
134
error with this sound. So, if you master it, you will stand out from the millions who
cant get this right!
Thank Breath Birthday
Examples:
Think, thank, breath, birthday, wealth, bath, North, thought, truth, depth
Practice sentence:
Wealth at birth is ill for health.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
135
Think, thank, breath, birthday, wealth, bath, North, thought, truth, depth
Word Final position

136
Think
this
then
both
loathe
Thanks
earth
birthday
Thailand
amaze
Whether
the
breath
bath
truthful
Soothing
Thomas
breathe
weather
Thursday
Clothes
cloth
teeth
thin
thought
These
mouth
Thames
another
bother
them
wait
Those
thick
toothbrush
Bungee
brother
thirst
they
month
Rather
bother
thoughtful
theme
that
Fatty
lather
father
worth
thank you
/ / - Voiced interdental fricative.

Similar to the previous sound and voiced.
This the breathe weather
137
Examples:
This, that, the, weather, breathe, Northern, bother, another, neither, either
Practice sentence:
This and that and other is a cause for a bother.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
This, that, the, weather, breathe, Northern, bother, another, neither, either
Word Final position
138

The
birthday
tank
nerd
laugh
Father
author
daughter
robber
cough
Another
this
then
breath
base
Fifth
thank
otherwise
birthday
wicked
Thank
breathe
rather
hotter
water
Thought
feather
mythology
horror
north
139
South
weather
whether
further
death
Windy
bathtub
three
leather
thousand
Taught
both
hearth
thin
fourth
smooth
booth
Thick
bathe
their

if the word contains the / / sound.

voice files.
140

By now, you should have started the practice of listening to good speakers of
English regularly. When you listen, make a mental note of how they produce these
seemingly difficult sounds and how these sounds sound different to when spoken
by a non-native speaker an Indian for example. The more we are able to become
aware of the correct pronunciation by listening, the better our chances of mastering
that sound.
141
/h/ - voiceless glottal fricative.

A fairly simple sound. Some people are in the habit of eating-up this sound. With
practice, sounding this sound shouldnt be difficult.
Horse
Examples:
hot, hotel, hooker, ahead, hardy, hardly, hiss, hoot, hear, halt
Practice sentence:
Hurricanes hardly ever happen in heartland.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Hot, hotel, hooker, ahead, hardy, hardly, hiss, hoot, hear, halt
Word Final position
142
There you go. Weve now covered the nine fricatives and were more than half way
through with consonant sounds. Good going. Remember we are learning a life skill
this will be difficult at the beginning but the fruit at the end is deliciously sweet and
fragrant.
Lets move on to Affricates those sounds which start off as plosives but
end up as fricatives.
Affricates:
There are just two sounds.
/ / - Voiceless post-alveolar affricate

Church Witch
Examples:
Chip, Cheap, chin, watching, witch, which, hitch, adventure, church, search
Practice sentence:
Which witch watches the church chick?
143
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Chip, Cheap, chin, watching, witch, which, hitch, adventure, church, search
Word Final position

144

Check
shake
just
Church
choose
Chemical
shoes
wash
Snake
dough
shock
choice
shore
Change
cheap
reach
beach
show
Chart
jeep
sheep
dash
shop
Chin
charity
child
ashamed
cash
Posh
share
opportunity
notch
cart
Shape
cage
accredit
teach
lost
Nest
pest
best
champion
watching
June
Mash
charges
bash
actual
astonished
approach
/ / - Voiced post-alveolar affricate.

Judge - Jar
Example:
145
Judge, jam, June, junior, jury, advantage, message, just, journey, enjoy
Practice sentence:
The judge messaged the advantage of the village.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Judge, jam, June, junior, jury, advantage, message, just, journey, enjoy
Word Final position
146

Judge
June
choose
rough
cool
July
churn
moist
days
barging
engine
breach
make
Paydays
bench
George
fake
cost
Brain
master
jet
zoo
mostly
Zonal
daisy
gem
Jackson
dead
Vision
Banging
147
Yesterday
Zebra
exact
agent
lowly
Yellow
message
fridge
Jumpy
cars
Zeal
encourage
reach
change
ten
Tar
manage
bridge
jam
page

if the word contains the / / sound.
voice files.
148

Remember we mentioned Himesh? Do you know anyone else with a nasal voice? It
could be a friend or an actor.
So, the next set of sounds is Nasals.
Nasals:
/m/ - Voiced bilabial nasal.
149
Man Emperor
Examples:
Man, amend, mountain, morning, may, room, storm, dam, martyr
Practice sentence:
A man and a mountain never mourn.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Man, amend, mountain, morning, may, room, storm, dam, martyr
Word Final position
150
/n/ - Voiced alveolar nasal.

Nose annoy
Examples:
No, none, shine, new, gone, lawn, never, now, win, button
Practice sentence:
No new mutton is made so sudden.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
151
No, none, shine, new, gone, lawn, never, now, win, button
Word Final position
/ - Voiced velar nasal.
Examples:
Singer, ringing, bring, king, thank, drank, kissing, mending, monk, among
Practice sentence:
The singer was kissing the ringer bringer.
152
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Singer, ringing, bring, king, thank, drank, kissing, mending, monk, among
Word Final position
153
Nasals are fairly simple.
The last category is Approximants. These are similar to vowel sounds because
they require less obstruction to the flow of air. They are still consonant sounds
because the obstruction exists.
/j/ - Voiced palatal approximant

Even though we use the lower case letter j, the sound is not j. Do you remember
the transcription for that sound?
So, this symbol /j/ is a ya sound in fact. We should be aware of this point.
Some people in south India do not produce this sound. For example yesterday for
them sounds like Esterday.
And when there is no /j/, they tend to add it. For example m becomes yem, n
becomes yen, l becomes yel and so on.
Yes yellow
Examples:
New, computer, young, yellow, yesterday, few, subdue, yes, yell, you
154
Practice sentence:
A few young fellows are new like you.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
New, computer, young, yellow, yesterday, few, subdue, yes, yell, you
Word Final position
155

j
Yellow
Yes
New
boy
break
cooler
empathy
away
comb
lotus
cute
stem
stay
ship
156
Pretty
year
Ugly
ear
uniform
uncle
January
Shame
jar
yesterday
jungle
acclaim
June
Yankee
university
malt
whiskey
Jelly
Yorkshire
Umbrella
shock
court
Adjourn
yoke
computer
echo
enter
Soft
Few
yell
apply
goody
communicate
undue
emperor
/r/ - voiced post-alveolar approximant.

Remember that the sound should be soft and not like a grating sound.
In Neutral English pronunciation, /r/ is produced in some places, while it is not
produced in some places (even though the letter is there).
Rules:
/r/ is always produced if the letter r is at the beginning of a word.
/r/ is not produced if the letter r is at the end of the word.
157
/r/ is produced if there is a vowel sound after the letter r in the word.
/r/ is not produced if there is a consonant sound after the letter r in the word.
Red - /r/ is sounded
Car - /r/ is not sounded
Marry - /r/ is sounded as there is the vowel sound /i/ after it.
Artist - /r/ is not sounded as there is the consonant sound /t/ after it.
Examples:
Road, arrow, appearing, grand, daring, real, rarely, run, orator, train
Practice sentence:
The daring arrow caused Robin to groan.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Road, arrow, appearing, grand, daring, real, rarely, run, orator, train
158
Word Final position

159
Forest
rock
Mark
carry
Nourish
core
ardent
entered
first
bird
cricket
bury
curd
sir
cream
Sharing
car
number
nurse
steam
Around
arrest
sister
lower
afford
Farewell
artery
tourist
simpler
browse
North
short
insurance
abort
cool
Surety
curse
safer
course
Liar
mayor
Goat
sick
race
romance
port
parity
arise
report
British
/l/ - voiced alveolar lateral approximant.
160
Label bottle
Examples
Little, bottle, luck, allow, lower, leaf, love, lick, annul, adult
Practice sentence
A little luck will lilt adult love.
one-beat sound.
Well done!
Little, bottle, luck, allow, lower, leaf, love, lick, annul, adult
Word Final position
161
/w/ - Voiced bilabial approximant

This is also a very difficult sound for Indians to master. They often get this sound
confused with /v/. This sound needs a lot of practice.
There is rule for this sound Bite your Vs but kiss your Ws.
So, wherever there is a w (except write, wreathe, wreck), we should round our lips
as much as possible. The rounder the lips, the better the quality of this sound.
Water how
Examples
We, well, anywhere weather, however, somehow, weak, worthy, winter, would
Practice sentence
We will we will watch you.
162
one-beat sound.
Well done!
We, well, anywhere weather, however, somehow, weak, worthy, winter, would
Word Final position

163
w
We
winter
awake
never
avid
victory
newest
velvet
ravine
Away
water
when
love
five
Waist
voter
shove
vice
knife
Well
weather
what
write
wreck
Fight
live
why
survive
Volvo
Leave
involve
when
war
living
Staying
giving
week
web
vicious
Mayor
wonder
would
November
Victory
wont
will
whiskey
film
wheel
164
You need to go left if the word contains the / v / sound. You need to go right
if the word contains the / w / sound.

voice files.
165
Now weve completed all the 44 speech sounds in English. Its now just a matter of
practice and perseverance.
Let me highlight some sounds which may require more attention than others.
Monophthongs
I have hidden the monophthongs requiring more attention in these words. Can
you locate them?
Seat, food, good, permission, bird, man, hot
Diphthongs
I have hidden the diphthongs requiring more attention in these words. Can you
locate them?
Here, day, no, time, sound
Plosives
/p/, /t/ and /k/
Fricatives
/v/, / /, /z/, / /
Approximants
/j/, /w/
And now, let me re-iterate that minimal pairs are especially confusing. So we have
to be careful while pronouncing these. I have included a number of activities to
166
make learning sounds fun. But remember, sometimes we cant learn everything the
fun way. This is where your hard work and diligence and will power come into play.
On Track 21 of the CD, listen to me demonstrate the pronunciation of all consonant
sounds.
On Track 22 of the CD, listen to me demonstrate the practice sentences for all the
consonant sounds.
Lets now recap the various consonant sounds by looking at the picture on the
next page from Cambridge English Online.
167
Here are a few interesting games on speech sounds.

Game 1:
Look at the next page and identify the names of the four people. Read the
instructions on the page for clues.
Game 2:
Complete the crossword puzzles on page 209 based on your knowledge of sounds.
Game 3:
As children Im sure you would have enjoyed the Join the dots activity. Join the
dots on page 210 according to instructions to get two exciting pictures.
168
169
170
Can you transcribe the following words and sentences using the International
Phonetic Alphabet?
1. sit
2. bookish
3. ornament
4. particular
5. intelligent
6. sentimental
7. investigation
8. ability
9. mind-blowing
10. home alone
171
11. Send him away at once.
12. Stop looking at me like that!
13. She shouldnt be going out at night.
14. Harry Potter and the goblet of fire
15. He is the Lord of the Rings.
16. Do you know that my daughter is over six feet tall?
17. Perhaps you could ask someone about it.
18. I need a massive favour from you darling.
19. Who invented the computer?
20. He hasnt got any money, has he?
172
6. Syllables
In order to pronounce a word correctly, we break it up into chunks called syllables.
Just by using claps, we can break up a word into syllables.
For example, Yesterday can be split as Yes, ter and day three claps and thus
three syllables.
How many syllables are there in speech, sitting and under?
That was easy, wasnt it?
A syllable is defined as a unit of pronunciation with one vowel sound as its
nucleus.
In simple terms, a syllable is a word or part of a word which contains a vowel
sound.
The first step towards pronouncing whole words correctly is learning to get into the
habit of splitting a word into its syllables and concentrating on pronouncing the
individual syllables correctly.
Learning to split a word correctly into syllables is needed to learn other important
aspects like syllable stress, which is another important concept when it comes to
pronouncing whole words correctly.
Can you split the following words into syllables? Why dont you try and transcribe
them first and then split them?
Entertainment
Comedy
Sleep
173
Peter
Dramatic
Information
Representative
So, how did you do? Was it simple enough? Dont worry if you found transcribing
difficult. It comes through practice. And of course, you can also go back to Daniel
Jones for help!
There are no definite rules as to where to put the consonant sounds when we split
the word into syllables. Usually, the most important aspect is splitting a word into
syllables is that there should be only one vowel sound per split. The rules for
splitting a word into syllables do exist, but they appear complicated and its better
to let them be, unless you are doing a PhD on Syllables!
When you split a word into syllables, you have to separate each syllable with a dot
at the bottom, like this:
Artist: / kt. /
In the next exercise, count the number of syllables in each word.
Yesterday 3 syllables
Amazing
Sleep
Heavy
174
Another
Fruit
People
Important
Communication
Ability
Economy
Academic
Photography
In the following exercise, transcribe the words and split them into syllables.
Separate each syllable with a dot.
Situation
Nation
Integrity
Facility
175
Magnify
Amplify
Residual
Casual
Democracy
Autobiography
Ecology
Apology
Gastronomy
Anatomy
Imperial
Casually
Genially
Atomic
Myopic
176
Empathic
Astronomical
Illogical
In the table below, I have segregated the words into words that are monosyllables,
bisyllabic and polysyllabic. I have give three examples for each. Can you write down
one word of your own for each category in the space provided?
Monosyllable
s
Yes
Speech
No
Bisyllabic
Empty
Gutter
Withdraw
Trisyllabic
Another
Waybaloo
Saturday
Polysyllabic
Information
Ability
Integrity
Polysyllabic
Probabilit
Communication y
Rudimentary
7. Syllable Stress
Once weve mastered the concept of syllables, we can proceed to syllable stress.
In English, when we pronounce a word, there will be one syllable which is
pronounced in a higher volume, higher pitch and with more facial expressions
in other words with more emphasis.
For example, take the pronunciation of Yesterday. Of the three syllables, we
emphasize more on the first syllable Yes and not so much on ter and day. This
is syllable stress.
177
Syllable stress is stressing more (laying more emphasis) on one syllable than
the others in a word. The syllable which is thus stressed more is said to be under
Primary stress. In longer words, there is a secondary stress as well. But lets not
get into that right now.
When we transcribe a word, we put a small vertical line just before the syllable that
is stressed. It is superscripted (the line is at the top). You can look up the
Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary and youll know what I mean.
We need to remember that in every word, we stress more on one syllable to
correctly pronounce that word. Of course, to make things easier, there are rules to
help us determine which the primary stressed syllable in the word is.
Before we look into the rules of syllable stress, we should look at some exercises.
We can categorize words into stress patterns. These are fun and help us in
understanding syllable stress better.
Stress patterns: Bi-syllabic words
1. LA-la
Manual, parlor, entry, going, sitting, sleeping etc.
2. la-LA
Ago, percent, asleep, approve etc.
Stress patterns: Polysyllabic words
1. LA-la-la
Yesterday, Saturday, Energy, photograph etc.
2. la-LA-la
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Another, percentage, location etc.

3. la-la-LA
entertain (v), advocate (v), confiscate (v) etc.
4. la-LA-la-la
Ability, Identify, capacity, photography etc.
5. la-la-LA-la
Education, information, probability, capability etc.
6. la-la-la-LA-la
Communication, investigation etc.
The la-LA exercise is very useful because its rhythmic and musical. Learning
happens through fun.
On Track 23 of the CD, listen to me demonstrate the various stress patterns starting
with LA-la and ending with la-la-la-LA-la.
In the following exercise, can you write down the stress pattern next to each word?
Words
Stress pattern
meter
LA-la
speaking
about
conceal
bothering
motorcar
179
empower
persistence
approximate (v)
duplicate (v)
accuracy
impurity
adulation
permutation
investigation
In the next exercise, can you write down two words for each of the stress patterns
given?
Stress
patterns
Word 1
Word 2
LA-la
la-LA
LA-la-la
la-LA-la
la-la-LA
180
la-LA-la-la
la-la-LA-la
la-la-la-LA-la
Syllable stress rules:

More that 90% of the words in English can be pronounced with the correct syllable
stress if we apply some basic syllable stress rules. These rules are easy to
understand. We just have to pick certain Word endings and apply these rules to all
words falling in the category of those word endings.
1. The -tion rule.
The primary stress for words ending with -tion falls on the syllable immediately
before the -tion ending.
Location (la-LA-la) the stress is on ca because it is the syllable immediately
before tion in the word.
Applying rule number one, can you find out the stressed syllable in the following
words?
Information
Communication
Tuition
Alliteration
181
Taxation
Formation
Mention
Good! Now that weve seen how easy rule #1 is, lets look at the others.
2. The ity rule
This rule is exactly the same as rule #1.
The primary stress for words ending with -ity falls on the syllable immediately
before the ity ending.
Ability the stress is on bil because bil is the syllable immediately before the ity
ending.
Can you find out the stressed syllables in the following words?
Ability
Capability
Probability
Capacity
Entity
Identity
3. The ify rule.
182
The primary stress for words ending with -ify falls on the syllable immediately
before the ify ending.
Identify the stress is on den because it immediately precedes ify in the word.
Specify
Magnify
Classify
4. The omy rule
The primary stress for words ending with -omy falls on the syllable immediately
before the omy ending.
Economy the stress is on con because it immediately precedes omy in the
word.
Tubectomy
Astronomy
Anatomy
5. The -graphy rule and the -cracy rule
The primary stress for words ending with -graphy falls on the syllable immediately
before the graphy ending.
Same with cracy ending.
183
Calligraphy the stress is on li because it immediately precedes graphy in the

word.
Geography
Autobiography
Topography
Democracy
Aristocracy
6. The ic rule
The primary stress for words ending with -ic falls on the syllable immediately
before the ic ending.
Economic the primary stress is on nom because it immediately precedes ic in
the word.
Logic
Basic
Ecstatic
Fantastic
Academic
Biotic
184
7. The -ual rule

The primary stress for words ending with -ual falls on the syllable immediately
before the ual ending.
Residual the primary stress is on sid because it immediately precedes ual in the
word.
Manual
Unusual
Casual
8. The -ile rule
The primary stress for words ending with -ile falls on the syllable immediately
before the ile ending.
Mobile the primary stress is on mo because it immediately precedes ile in the
word.
Sterile
Fertile
Tactile
9. The -ial rule
185
The primary stress for words ending with -ial falls on the syllable immediately
before the ial ending.
Official the primary stress is on fic because it immediately precedes ial in the
word.
Unofficial
Menial
Influential
Terrestrial
10. The -ogy rule
The primary stress for words ending with -ogy falls on the syllable immediately
before the ogy ending.
Technology the primary stress is on no because it immediately precedes ogy in
the word.
Ecology
Biotechnology
Biology
Astrology
11. The -ical rule and ically rule
186
The primary stress for words ending with -ical/-ically falls on the syllable
immediately before the ical/-ically ending.
Technical the primary stress is on Tech because it immediately precedes ical in
the word.
Technically the primary stress is on Tech because it immediately precedes
ically in the word.
Economical/economically
Academicals/academically
Physical/physically
12. The -age rule
This rule is not applicable for monosyllables.
The primary stress for words ending with -age falls on the syllable immediately
before the age.
Manage the stress is on man because it precedes -age.
Village
Message
Advantage/advantages
Encourage/discourage
187
13. The -tional rule

The primary stress for words ending with -tional falls on the syllable immediately
before the tional.
Intentional the stress is on ten because it precedes -tional.
Educational
Conventional
Arent the rules above enlightening? They are easy as well.
Lets look at another very important rule the Schwa rule
The schwa rule:
When the first syllable in a word has a schwa in it, the primary stress is always on
the second syllable of the word.
Permission
Condition
Percentage
Lets now move on to another grammar based rule.
The Noun/Verb rule
When a disyllabic word is used as a noun, we stress on the first syllable. When the
same bi-syllabic word is used as a verb, the last syllable is stressed.
If Present is a noun, we stress on Pres
If present is used as a verb, we stress on sent.
188
Lovely rule, isnt it?

Can you pronounce these words used as nouns?
Conduct
Suspects
Accent
Now, can you pronounce the same words when they are used as verbs?
Conduct
Suspects
Accent
Great work, keep it up!
Remember that things look difficult, and sometimes boring at first. In fact, things we
cant master in the first go appear to be so. But many of these things can be the
most rewarding or cherished things in our lives. Your first kiss, for example!
The Number rule:
How do you pronounce these two words so that the listener is not confused?
Sixteen and Sixty
Well, we stress on teen in sixteen and Six in Sixty. Otherwise the listener will
definitely ask you to come again!
The Proper noun rule
The last word should be stressed in proper nouns.
Ravi Shastri
Mrs. Gita Menon
The Economic Times
189
The Abbreviation rule:

In abbreviations, we stress the last letter.
M.B.A
Ph. D
MNC
Can you identify the stressed syllable in the following words?
Word
Transcription
Stressed Syllable
Condition
communicatio
n
information
permission
Ability
capacity
capability
probability
Identify
specify
Unusual
190
manual
Geography
photography
Technology
biology
Economy
astronomy
Serial
Manually
usually
Serially
Economic
academic
Economical
logical
Academically
Look at the game Stress maze on the next page. Can you navigate through the
maze by going through only those words which have the stress pattern LA-la-la?
191
Can you identify the stressed syllable in the following words?
Stressed
Word
Transcription
syllable
Amend
Address
192
Another
Account
Amount
Percentage
Advantage
Permission
Condition
Now, identify the stressed syllable or the stressed word in the following:
Word
Transcription
Stressed Syllable
Sixty
Sixteen
Nineteen
Forty
MBA
Tony White
193
Economic
times
Conduct
(noun)
Conduct
(verb)
Present (n)
Present (v)
Lets play a few interesting games on syllable stress.
Game 1: Stress dice.

A stress pattern is given for each face or number on the dice. Roll the dice and move
ahead to the nearest word containing that stress pattern (Page 238).
Game 2: Chinese Chequers
A stress pattern is given for each face or number on the dice. Roll the dice and move
ahead to the nearest word containing that stress pattern (Page 239).
Game 3: Happy families
Cut out the words and jumble the cards. Distribute the cards among the players.
Take turns asking for cards from the other players so that you build as many families
of the words as possible (Page 240 243)
194
195
196
197
198
Thats all from the world of Syllable stress. Hows it going now? Are you enjoying the
ride so far?
Well, were more than half-way through. We now graduate to just a few more
interesting topics that are required to be mastered to master English Pronunciation
as a whole. They are: Linking, Sentence stress, Pausing and Intonation.
Lets look at these one by one.
8. Linking
In smooth speech, some sounds behave strangely. Linking is when two sounds get
linked and in the process, one or both the sounds change their character.
Linking happens when the last sound of one word meets the first sound of the
next word.
The following types of linking are possible.
a. A Consonant sound to a vowel sound linking.
b. A consonant sound to a consonant sound linking
c. A vowel sound to a consonant sound linking
d. A vowel sound to a vowel sound linking
Lets examine these with examples.
a. A Consonant sound to a vowel sound linking:
199
Look at the following sentence:

Can I have a bit of egg?
We shall use this sentence to examine consonant sound to vowel sound linking.
Can, have, bit and of end with consonant sounds.
I, a, of and egg begin with vowel sounds.
Can+I, have+a, bit+of and of+egg are the possible linking of the type we are
discussing.
In this case, the consonant sound simply glides into the vowel sound to produce an
unbroken, smoother transition down the sentence.
The sentence will sound like:
Cani havea bitofegg?
So instead of seven words, we sort of have three words for smooth speech. This
principle of linking is essential to speak fluently and also to understand native
speakers of English who use these principles naturally.
Can you analyze the consonant sound to vowel sound linking in the following
sentence?
Not because of cars but because of cows.
b. A consonant sound to a consonant sound linking
This has several sub-varieties.
First, if the first word ends with a plosive and the second word begins with the
corresponding minimal pair of the plosive.
In this case, the first plosive disappears!
Keep+beating = Keebeating (p+b=b)
Bit+dull=bidull (t+d=d)
Kick+good+kigood (k+g=g)
Next, t+ /j/ = / / Got+you = Gotcha
D+ /j/ = / /
Good+year = Goodjear
200
There are a few more interesting consonant sound to consonant sound linkings, but
we should probably look at them a little later.
c. A vowel sound to a consonant sound linking
Well, there is no linking that happens in this case. The sounds at the end of one
word and the beginning of the next word are happy to stay as they are.
d. A vowel sound to a vowel sound linking
This gives some interesting possibilities.
First, if one word ends with /I/ or /i:/ and the next word begins with any vowel
sound, a new sound /j/ is introduced!
/I/ or /i:/ + any vowel sound = /j/
Free + edition = Freeyedition
Happy + umpire = Happyyumpire
Second, if one word ends with / u /, /au /, /u / or /u:/ and the next word begins
with any vowel sound, a new sound /w/ is introduced!
Too + easy = Tooweasy
Go + away = Gowaway
How + is = Howis
Third, if one word ends with schwa (//) or /:/ and the next word begins with any
vowel sound, a new sound /r/ is introduced!
Vodka + or = Vodkaror
Law + and = Lawrand
Well, those were a few instances where linking could introduce a brand new sound
into the sentence!
201
I suggest that when you listen to native English speakers speak, you should look out
for linking that weve discussed. Gradually, linking comes naturally to you. From
awareness to production of sound.
Point out different types of linking in the following 5 sentences:
a. I have to do it another day
b. Who is on the door?
c. Have a good year.
d. People are not attentive to anything over here.
e. Who could have done it?
Were you able to identify all possible linking patterns?
202
On Track 24 of the CD, listen to the sentences. Can you identify the possible linking
that we can notice?
Lets play an interesting game called Link maze which is given on the
following page.
203
9. Sentence stress
Trying saying the following:
1
Now, try this one, without changing the rhythm of the earlier rendition.
1 and 2 and 3 and 4
Then, this one.
1 and then a 2 and then a 3 and then a 4
And lastly,
1 and then another 2 and then another 3 and then another 4
What we managed to do in the last case is really crunch some words down and
pronounce the numbers correctly to keep the rhythm undisturbed.
Lets now take the classical example:
Sell
car
gone
France
Get a rhythm like 1 2 3 4 and read the words.

Now, without missing the rhythm, read the following:
Please sell my car as Ive gone to France.
What weve again done is emphasize more on the words sell, car, gone and France.
The other words were not emphasized.
In other words, we stressed more on sell, car, gone and France and didnt stress on
please, my, as Ive and to.
Thats sentence stress.
Sentence stress is stressing on some words in the sentence and not stressing
on other words.
This technique is used by native English speakers so that the listener doesnt have
to concentrate on listening to every word. Hed know that the stressed words are
important the content words. Hed know that the words we didnt stress are just
204
for grammar the structure words, so he neednt concentrate on them. What a

lovely idea!
You may ask me, well, how do we know which words to stress and which to not?
We have a rule for that: We stress on content words and dont stress on
Structure words.
Content words are:
Nouns
Main verbs like sit, run, go, play and their variations.
Negatives like not, no, never, dont, cant, didnt wont etc
Adjectives like happy, bright, red, first, two, greatest etc.
Adverbs like very, quickly, lovely, earliest etc.
Structure words:
Pronouns like him, his, she, they etc.
Articles a, an and the.
Prepositions like to, from, under, with, in, on, at etc.
Conjunctions like and, or etc.
Helping verbs like is, has does etc (not used as main verbs)
So thats the general rule. You stress on content words and not on structure
words. As an exercise, you might want to start observing words that native English
speakers stress on and those they dont. Gradually, once you develop an ear for it,
youd yourself be able to use sentence stress effectively.
In the following sentences, can you underline the content words that are to be
stressed?
a. Please sell the car as Ive gone to France.
205
b. He is the fifth richest man in the world.

c. The car sped away very fast.
d. He walked slowly and talked silently.
e. I went to the market on my bike and bought all sorts of things.
f. My baby has two hearts.
Contrastive stress:
The above rule does not apply if you are trying to contrast one particular word in the
sentence to drive a strong point.
Can you figure out the meaning conveyed by the following sentences? Do all of
them imply the same thing? Stress on the highlighted word in each case.
My baby has two hearts.

When we stress on one word more than all the others to contrast it from other
words in the sentence we call that Contrastive Sentence stress.
Lets play a very useful game.
Ananya: Delhi is the capital of France.
Aneil: Did you mean Delhi is the capital of India?
Or
Aneil: Did you mean Paris is the capital of France?
Weve just applied contrastive sentence stress in the realistic situation above. So, in
order to say that something is not true, we use contrastive stress, and in that
situation, sentence stress becomes a very important tool.
In the following game, pair up with a partner and try to identify the incorrect word in
the sentence read out by the partner and contradict it with the right word.
a. My mothers name is John.
206
Did you mean your fathers name is John?

b. The elephant is the biggest sea animal.
Did you mean the elephant is the biggest land animal?
Did you mean the whale is the biggest sea animal?
c. Paris is the capital of India.
Did you mean Delhi is the capital of India?
Did you mean Paris is the capital of France?
d. Breakfast is the last meal of the day.
e. Sachin Tendulkar is the best actor in India.
f. Mount Everest is the highest peak in England.
Cut out the Contradict me cards given in the next two pages and play the
game with your partner.
Look at the Da da language sheet on page 257. Practice the stress pattern for
sentences everyday and try to get your own sentences which match the stress
patterns given.
207
208
Strong forms and weak forms:

Words which may have a particular type of pronunciation may have to be
pronounced in their weak forms to accommodate the principles of sentence
stress.
For example:
Have ve
I have told you Ive told you
I will Ill
I cannot I cant
I could not I couldnt

In the phrases above, weve used the weak forms and used contractions by
bringing two words together and modifying the second word, something like linking.
209
Similarly words like an, and, or, to are shortened to their weak forms. Well look at
more of this in exercises.
On pages 259 and 260, you can find a very interesting game called Dictation
computer. It depicts the funny ways sentence stress can give rise to! Play the
game with your partner.
On Track 25 of the CD, listen to me read out the sentences in the game Dictation
Computer
210
10. Pacing and Pausing

Just as punctuation is important is writing, pausing is important in speaking. If we
dont pause, or pause incorrectly, we may be misunderstood very easily.
Look at this sentence. What is the meaning of this sentence?
Hang him not spare him
A small mistake may become a matter of life and death for the man!
Hence, we should be careful where we pause within a sentence. As a general rule,
we pause when we come to the end of one thought group. We should divide the
sentence into thought groups and pause after each thought group.
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Can you read the following sentence with the correct pauses?
I went to market and bought flowers, vegetables, some oil, and finally, some
very expensive toys.
I would pause like this:
I went to market/ and bought/ flowers/ vegetables/ some oil/ and finally/ some
very expensive/ toys.
That makes the meaning absolutely clear.
And another important rule, which we will cover again in the topic Read and speak
slowly later is Pause for one beat when you have to pause within a sentence, and
pause for two beats at the end of each sentence. This is a very powerful rule while
reading or speaking. This ensures that the listener retains more than 85% of the
information.
Using the principles of Sentence Stress, Pausing and Pacing, recite the following
poems.
On Track 26 of the CD, listen to me read all the following poems with the correct
voice emphasis.
1. Mr. Python by Spike Milligan
Hello Mr. Python
Curling around a tree
Bet youd like to make yourself
A dinner out of me.
Cant you change your habits
Crushing peoples bones?
I wouldnt like a dinner
That emitted fearful groans.
2. The Giant Gorilla by Martin Honeysett
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A giant gorilla came to tea,

Whoever asked him? It wasnt me.
He came in through the kitchen wall,
It took six chairs to seat him all.
He drank his tea straight from the pot,
And sandwiches he ate the lot.
After that he decided to go,
Who invited him? Id like to know.
3. If Mice could roar by Ruskin Bond
If mice could roar
And elephants soar
And trees grow up in the sky,
If tigers could dine
On biscuits and wine,
And the fattest of men could fly!
If pebbles could sing
And bells never ring
And teachers get lost in the post;
If a tortoise could run
And losses be won,
And bullies be buttered on toast;
If a song brought a shower,
And a gun grew a flower,
This world would be nicer than most!
4. One Inch Tall by Shel Silverstein
If you were only one inch tall, youd ride a worm to school.
The teardrop of a crying ant would be your swimming pool.
A crumb of cake would be a feast
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And last you seven days at least,

A flea would be a frightening beast
If you were one inch tall.
If you were only one inch tall, youd walk beneath the door,
And it would take about a month to get down to the store.
A bit of fluff would be your bed,
Youd swing upon a spiders thread,
And wear a thimble on your head
If you were one inch tall.
Youd surf across the kitchen sink upon a stick of gum.
You couldnt hug your mama, youd just have to hug her thumb.
Youd run from peoples feet in fright,
To move a pen would take all night,
(This poem took fourteen years to write
Cause Im just one inch tall).
5. From a Railway Carriage by Robert Louis Stevenson
Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle
All through the meadows the horses and cattle:
All of the sights of the hill and the plain
Fly as thick as driving rain;
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle by.
Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,
All by himself and gathering brambles;
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Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;

And here is the green for stringing the daisies!
Here is a cart runaway in the road
Lumping along with man and load;
And here is a mill, and there is a river:
Each a glimpse and gone forever!
6. The White Window by James Stephens

The moon comes every night to peep
Through the window where I lie:
But I pretend to be asleep;
And watch the moon go by,
And she never makes a sound! (Whisper)
She stands and stares! And then she goes
To the house thats next to me,
Stealing by on tippy-toes;
To peep at folk asleep maybe
And she never makes a sound!
7. Another Chance by Helen Steiner Rice

How often we wish for another chance
To make a fresh beginning
A chance to blot out our mistakes
And change failure into winning.
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It does not take a new day

To make a brand new start,
It only takes a deep desire
To try with all our heart,
To live a little better
And to be always forgiving
And to add a little sunshine
To the world in which were living.
So never give up in despair
And think that you are through.
For theres always tomorrow
And the hope of starting new.
7. Silver by Walter de la Mare
Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers, and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy coat the white breasts peep
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;
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A harvest mouse goes scampering by,

With silver claws, and silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam,
By silver reeds in a silver stream.
9. Leisure by W. H. Davies
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?
No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep or cows:
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beautys glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
11. Intonation
In sentence stress, we talked of rhythm. So Sentence stress was the Rhythm for
English pronunciation.
What do you think, then, is the music of the English pronunciation?
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Intonation. Intonation is the music of pronunciation in any language.

You see, every language has its own music associated with the language. This gives
the language its uniqueness.
We remarked earlier that when we speak English using the music of our mother
tongue Hindi, English will not sound correct. When we speak English, no doubt we
need to learn and pronounce the individual sounds and syllables correctly; the
syllable stress and the sentence stress correctly. Also, very importantly, we need to
get the intonation of English spot on. Otherwise, only the words will be English, but
the music will be of another language confusing the listener.
Intonation is the rise and fall of our tone when we speak or read sentences. We
tend use a low pitch, a flat pitch or a high pitch when we read or speak. This
variation in the pitch is what gives the language its music.
There are rules to get the Intonation in English correct. But before we explore them,
lets understand what a falling tone is, a falling-rising tone is and a rising tone is.
A falling tone requires that we drop the pitch on a particular word, usually the
last word in the sentence.
A falling-rising tone requires that we lower our pitch on a word and then
immediately raise our pitch on the very next word, giving an impression of a
waning and waxing wave.
A rising intonation is when you raise your pitch and keep it there when
expressing surprise, for example.
Some people speak in a monotone. We say that he is speaking monotonously. In a
flat tone. Sometimes, you may have observed that different types of speeches (a
politicians speech, an Oscar speech, a speech at a wedding, a friendly
conversation) have unique tones associated with them. Some are serious, some are
jovial, some are exuberant and some are neutral.
Well come to that part shortly. But first, we need to learn the a b c of Intonation.
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We do this by analyzing different types of sentences and applying different

intonation rules. The rules will be accurate for more than 90% of the sentences
spoken.
Rule #1: Use a fall tone for single thought group statements.
A fall tone is used on the last word of a statement.
Thank you.
In the phrase above, we should go down on you. In other words we use a fall
tone ( ).
Thank you for the information. Again we use a fall tone when we come to -tion.
Remember, we still follow the syllable stress for information but drop down when
we have to pronounce -tion. This is indicated by the downward arrow.
He went away. A fall tone is used on away.
Can you read these sentences and mark the downward arrow on the word or part of
the word receiving the fall tone?
You may go now.
And they lived happily ever after.
Rule #2: Use a fall-rise tone for multiple thought group sentences.
Can you mark the down-up arrows in the following sentence?
He went to the market and bought some flowers.
Yes, down arrow on mar and up arrow on ket. Of course there is a down arrow on
flowers.
He gave his wife a diamond ring, a gold necklace, a Svirovsky pendant, a platinum
bracelet and a 500-gram gold biscuit!
Notice that the fall-rise tone comes handy in comma separated sentences.
We can use it while reading out numbers on the credit card or telephone numbers:
5545 6658 6656 6632
080 6556 2562
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Rule #3: Use a fall tone for questions starting with How, what, why, where,
when, which, who, when etc.
A very simple rule. Since we are seeking more information by asking such
questions, it will be ruled to use any other tone than a fall tone.
How are you doing?
What is your name?
Why did you go there?
Who is the lady in red?
Rule #4: Use a fall-rise tone at the end for close-ended questions (Questions
beginning with can, could, would, may, Are, were, Is, Was, Have, do etc.)
Can I go to the bathroom?
May I know your name?
Are you alright?
Do you want a cup of tea?
Would you like a cup of coffee?
Rule #5: Use a fall tone at the end for a choice question
Would you like a suite or a penthouse?
Is this one good or the other one?
Rule #6: Use a rise tone to clarify something already said or to express
surprise
I proposed to the girl (fall)
What? (Rise)
Or
I will talk to you later. Its too noisy
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Im sorry, I couldnt hear you. What did you say? (Rise at the end)
Rule #7: Use a fall tone on question tags when you know use the question tag
just to continue the conversation.
He is going to London, isnt he?
You have been promoted, arent you?
Rule #8: Use a fall-rise tone when the question tag is really intended as a
question.
You didnt kiss my daughter in public, did you?
So, there you go. Some very useful rules for intonation. By following these rules, we
can ensure that we are speaking English with the correct music!
Sometimes, in informal conversations or when we are too excited we use a high
pitch to covey our thoughts or a fall-rise at the end. However, we should try to use
the rules as much as possible. Not doing so runs the risk of confusing the listener.
Can you identify the type of intonation that has to be used for the following
sentences?
For help, you can listen to Track 27 on the CD, where Ive read these sentences
with the correct intonation.
a. I love you.
b. I am the President of the club.
c. My number is 998080 1282.
d. I ate three biscuits, a cuppy cake and a scoop of Vanilla ice cream.
e. What is your qualification?
f. Why are you crying?
g. How are you?
h. Do you know what time it is?
i. Are you crazy?
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j. Could I go to the restroom?

k. He is mad, isnt he?
l. I dont know him, do you?
m. This programme is brought to you by Cadburys Dairy Milk, Kelloggs Corn
Flakes, Old Spice, Colgate dental cream and Amul Butter.
n. We bought two bottles of Pepsi, a biscuit packet, three eggs and a bar of
chocolate from the supermarket.
o. He was an extremely tall, dark, well-dressed and handsome young man.
p. I thought you were honest, truthful, good-natured and polite but you turned out
to be mean, impolite, evil and deceitful.
q. Give me the red pencil, the eraser, the black pen and the whitener please.
Now, the other way round. Give below are different types of intonation. Can you
give two example sentences for each pattern?
a. Fall tone
b. Fall-rise tone
c. Rise tone
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Lets have some fun.

Read the following sentence according to the role and mood suggested. Sometimes,
when people are excited or scared, sad or angry, they dont follow intonation rules.
There is a dinosaur in our backyard!
Tones:
1. A little girl
a. Excited
b. Scared
c. Surprised
d. Crying
2. A thirty-year old
a. Surprised
b. Scared
c. Whisper slow
d. Excited
3. A zoologist incredulous, excited
Now lets role play some more. Enact the stories given in the following pages
using the principles of sentence stress, pausing, pacing and intonation.
Happy the Hippo

Roles: Narrator, Happy the Hippo and Penny
223
Roles
Narrator
Dialogues
Happy is a happy Hippo.

That is why, he is called Happy the Hippo.
One day, Happy is in the lake.
Along comes Penny the hen.
________________
She is looking for worms.

________________________________________________________
Happy the Hippo

Hello Penny.
________________ ________________________________________________________
Penny
Hello Happy.
________________ ________________________________________________________
Happy the Hippo

________________
Penny
What are you doing?

________________________________________________________
Im looking for worms.
________________ _______________________________________________________
Happy the Hippo
Oh! Good. Can I help you?

________________ ________________________________________________________
Penny
________________
Yes, please do
_______________________________________________________
Happy the Hippo comes out of the lake on to the squishy, squashy bank.
224
Plod, plod, plod!

Narrator
Squish, squash, squelch, squeak!
Happy makes lots of holes in the mud.

The worms come out.
There are a lot of worms for Penny.
________________ ________________________________________________________
Penny
Thank you! Im happy!
________________ ________________________________________________________
Narrator
Happy the Hippo is puzzled.
________________ ________________________________________________________
Happy the Hippo
No, youre not. I am Happy.
________________ ________________________________________________________
Penny
No, no. You are silly, Happy!
________________ ________________________________________________________
Happy the Hippo
NO, I am not silly! I am Happy the Hippo.
________________ ________________________________________________________
Penny
Yes, yes, yes! You are Happy the Hippo, and I am a happy hen.
We are both happy.
________________ ________________________________________________________
Narrator
And penny the hen picks up a big, fat worm.

And she hops away, hop, hop, and hop.
The Clever Fox

Roles: Narrator, fox and wolf
225
Roles
Dialogues
Narrator
One night a fox was looking for food. It was a moonlit night and the fox
could see for miles and miles. But there was no food to be seen.
________________
The fox was getting very hungry.

________________________________________________________
Fox
If I dont find something to eat soon, I shall die of hunger.

________________________________________________________
________________
_
After sometime, he came to a well.

________________________________________________________
Narrator
________________
Fox
This is a funny well! There are two buckets tied to the rope. One is at the
top. The other is in the water. I wonder why?
________________________________________________________
He thought about this, and since he was a clever animal, he had an answer.
________________
_
Narrator
_________________________________________________
I see. When one bucket goes down, the other comes up. Thats a wonderful
thing.
________________
_
Fox
________________
________________________________________________________
He walked around the well and looked in.
Suddenly, he stopped. There in the water was the reflection of the moon.
226
Narrator
_______________________________________________________
Ho, ho, ho!
What a lucky little fox I am! Here Im thinking of buckets and ropes when
________________
_
Fox
in front of my eyes is some food. Someone has thrown a whole piece of

cheese into the well. It is in the water. I shall go down and get it for my
dinner.
___________________________________________________
The fox didnt know that it was the reflection of the moon and not cheese.
Fox
________________
Narrator
He got into the bucket and went down. The other bucket came up.
_____________________________________________________
There is no cheese here. What a fool I am! How am I going to get out of
the well?
______________________________________________________
________________
Fox
________________
Narrator
________________
Fox
________________
Wolf
________________
Then along came a wolf. The wolf looked into the well. The fox thought
quickly and had an idea!
______________________________________________________
Hello Brother! You look hungry, why dont you come down and share the
cheese?
____________________________________________________
Cheese? Oh! Yes, I see it and its so huge!
____________________________________________________
Yes, its very tasty! Sit in the bucket and come down.
____________________________________________________
I will go down, eat the cheese and then the fox. Ha, ha, ha.
___________________________________________________
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Fox
The greedy wolf went down. The fox came up. He jumped out of the bucket
________________
and ran away.
_____________________________________________________
Wolf
Oh, no! I have been cheated! I wish I was not greedy and foolish!
________________
______________________________________________________
Narrator
The wolf died in the well.
________________
_
Wolf
________________
Narrator
228
David Copperfield
Roles: Narrator (David), Mother (Mrs. Copperfield), Miss Betsey Trotwood,
Peggotty the maid servant, Doctor
Roles
Dialogues
Narrator
Aunt Betsey
One evening, before I was born, Aunt Betsey Trotwood

comes to visit my mother.
Are you Mrs. Copperfield?
Mother
Yes, please come in.
Aunt Betsey
Take off your cap, child, and let me see you.
Narrator
My mother obeyed her.
Aunt Betsey
(Exclaims) Why, bless my heart! Youre just a baby!

What do you call your girl?
Mother
I dont know whether itll be a girl.
Aunt Betsey
I dont mean that. I mean your servant girl.

Peggotty!
Peggotty! How on earth did she get such a name?
Mother
Its her surname, madam.
Aunt Betsey
Here, Peggotty, tea! Your mistress is not well, hurry!

(Turning to my mother) You were speaking about the child
being a girl. Ive no doubt it will be a girl.
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Mother
Perhaps boy.
Aunt Betsey
I tell you it will be a girl.

From the time of the birth of the girl, Ill be her friend.
I want to be her godmother.
I want to call her Betsey Trotwood Copperfield.
Narrator
My mother started crying.
Aunt Betsey
No, no, dont cry anymore.

Youll make yourself ill and that will be bad for you and the
baby.
Narrator
This quietened my mother.
Aunt Betsey
What has your husband left you?
Mother
Mr. Copperfield left me an income of a hundred and five

pounds a year, madam.
Doctor
My mother looked very ill and so when Peggotty came back

with tea, my aunt sent her to fetch a doctor at once. The
doctor comes in and examines my mother.
He instructs that she be taken to a room.
Hours pass. All this while my aunt has been pacing up and
down the hall. The doctor finally comes out of the room.
Well, doctor, how is she?
Mrs. Copperfield is quite comfortable as we can expect a
young mother to be. Youll soon be able to see her.
Aunt Betsey
And shehow is she?
Narrator
The doctor didnt understand.
Aunt Betsey
The baby, how is she?
Doctor
Oh! I thought you knew. Its a boy.
Narrator
Aunt Betsey
230
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Roles: Charlie, Grandpa Joe, Grandma Josephine
Roles
Dialogues
Charlie
Grandma
Josephine
Grandpa Joe
Charlie
Grandpa Joe
Charlie
Grandpa Joe
Grandma
Is it true that Wonkas Chocolate factory is the biggest in the

world?
True!
Of course its true! Good heavens, didnt you know that? Its
about fifty times as big as any other!
And is Mr. Willy Wonka the cleverest chocolate maker in the
world?
My dear boy. Mr. Willy Wonka is the most amazing, the most
fantastic and the most extraordinary chocolate maker the
world has ever seen. I thought everybody knew that.
I knew he was famous, Grandpa Joe, and I knew he was very
clever
Clever! Hes more than that! Hes a magician with chocolate! He
can make anything he wants! Isnt that true my dear?
Absolutely true. Just as true as can be!
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Grandpa Joe
Do you know that he has himself invented more than 200 new
kinds of chocolate bars, each with a different centre, each far
creamier and more delicious than anything the other chocolate
factories can make.
Grandma
Perfectly true! And he sends them to all four corners of the

Earth!
Grandpa
And he has invented a way of making ice-cream and chocolate

so that they stay cold for hours and hours without being in the
refrigerator!
Charlie
But thats impossible!
Grandma
Of course its impossible. Its completely absurd! But Mr. Willy

Wonka has done it!
Grandpa
He can make marshmallows taste of violets, and rich caramels

that can change colour every ten seconds as you suck them, and
little feathery sweets that melt away deliciously the moment
you put them between your lips.
Charlie
It makes my mouth water just thinking about it!
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Birbal
Roles: Akbar, Man in saffron robes, Narrator
Roles
Dialogues
Narrator
Emperor Akbar once decided to go to the town in

disguise.
Birbal warned him that it could be too dangerous
to do that.
Akbar disregarded his warning, disguised himself
and set off for town.
No one recognized him and he was happy.
He then saw a tall man in Saffron robes following
him. He tried to lose the man, but the man
persisted. Finally, akbar confronted him.
Akbar
Who are you and what is your name?
Man
My name is Wanderer.
Akbar
What do you do?
Man
I wander.
Akbar
Where do you live?
Man
No where.
233
Akbar
What do you mean nowhere? Are you being

impudent?
Man
I mean everywhere.
Akbar
(Angrily) Do you know who I am?
Man
A human being I suppose!
Akbar
I am the Emperor of Hindustan!
Man
(Laughs and then) Do you know Who I am?
Narrator
Akbar was curious.
Man
I am the Emperor of the Universe. Now bow to me!
Narrator
Akbar wanted the man to know he was really the

King and so showed him the royal seal.
Akbar
I have proof my friend! Take a good look. This is

the royal seal. I am really the emperor.
Narrator
The man was silent.
Akbar
(Mockingly) Do you have a seal, O Emperor of the

Universe?
234
Narrator
The man takes the seal as if to examine it. Then

suddenly he runs away.
Akbar
Thief, thief, catch him!
Narrator
A burly merchant soon catches the man.
Man
Let me go. Cant you see Im the Emperor?
Narrator
The merchant and a few others hold him more

tightly, thinking he is mad.
Man
I can prove it. I am in disguise. This is the royal

seal.
Narrator
The men let go of him, bow and step back.

Akbar returns to the palace.
The next morning, he sees the royal seal on his
bed, with a letter next to it which says the man
was none other than Birbal.
Akbar
Ha,ha,ha!
235
This is the End of Module 1.

Remember, module 1 exposed you to tips, secrets and everything needed to
pronounce words in English correctly, and to use the rhythm and music of the
English language correctly. You need to practice everyday, for at least 15 minutes
some aspect or another, so that in time, correct English pronunciation becomes
second nature to you.
In the next module, were going to apply these rules and secrets to learn ho to read
and speak confidently and how to make a mark on the listener.
Module 2: Reading and Speaking techniques

The main object of verbal communication is to pass on information. This is
information you want an audience to remember. Your audience will be able to
retain information only if you speak slowly, clearly with the correct pronunciation
and with the correct rhythm and music.
In this module were going to see how we can do just that.
We will look at the following reading techniques:
1. How to end sentences
236
2. How to read slowly

3. How to read with voice variation
4. How to read with the correct sentence stress
We will also look at some speaking techniques:
1. How to introduce yourself
2. How to build vocabulary for fluency
3. How to speak on a topic fluently
4. Story telling
5. How to speak confidently
Here we go.
Reading techniques:
1. How to end sentences
We learnt the intonation to be used when we end sentences. This rule has to be
followed in every sentence. And apart from that, we need to pause for two beats at
the end of the sentence.
So there are two vital rules when we end a sentence:
1. Go down
2. Pause for a count of two.
Read the following passage applying the two rules. You have to go down at the
end of the sentence and you have to count 1 2 aloud before you begin the
next sentence.
Finally the day when they would go to the amusement park arrived. (1 2) Chetan
had succeeded in cunningly persuading twenty other boys and girls to join him. (1
2) The parents protested but the children just ignored them and they set off. (1 2)
The children spiritedly played in the park but suddenly they heard a growl from
nearby. (1 2) They trembled with fear because they could now glimpse two
237
enormous tigers looking back at them fiercely. (1 2) Chetan tried to pretend he

wasnt scared. (1 2) But he was the first to vanish from the spot. (1 2) But in his
haste, he got dangled in the roots of a Banyan tree! (1 2)
A little girl called Chamki took courage and started shouting at the tigers. (1 2) The
others joined her and shouted at the tigers furiously. (1 2) Hearing the shouts, some
grown-ups came with sticks and scared the tigers away.
The children were fortunate thanks to Chamki. (1 2) They were impressed with her
handy help and were spurred to praise her. (1 2) She was flattered!
Id like you to follow this technique whenever you read anything. Do this for about
two weeks, after which you dont have to say 1 2 loudly. You would have learnt to
pause automatically.
On Track 28 of the CD, I have read out the passage as a demonstration for using
this technique.
2. How to read slowly
Most of us read too fast. Sometimes, because we dont follow the rules of syllable
stress, reading fast + reading without correct syllable stress leads to a lot of
confusion on the part of the listener. He is not able to retain what youre saying.
We need to concentrate hard when we read, so that we pronounce the short sounds
and the long sounds correctly.
Remember that long vowel sounds (some monophthongs and all diphthongs) need
two beats and shouldnt be shortened.
Indians have a habit of shortening all diphthongs. Take the letter I for example. I
is a diphthong when you pronounce and must be stretched out to two beats. You
need to clap twice and complete saying I only at the end of the second clap.
238
Similarly, words like time, cow, no, day are all shortened in the Indian version. This
leads to fast and incomprehensible speech or read.
In this technique, Read slowly, you are going to learn how to slow down.
We slow down by stretching out words. I mean stretching every syllable in every
word. This may not sound correct, but the only object of this technique is to make
you practice stretching out words.
Read this sentence:
On November 6th, many years ago, I played happily in my room.
Time yourself reading that sentence. How long did you take? Most readers dont
manage to stretch this sentence beyond 5 seconds.
Now stretch out every syllable in every word and time yourself reading it.
How long did you take this time?
Did you manage to read it in 15 seconds or more?
On Track 29 of the CD, Ive read the sentence above as slowly as possible. Have a
listen.
If you did, you did a good job. If you didnt, then you need to concentrate on
stretching every syllable in every word.
The correct time required to read the sentence is about 8 seconds. So if you
practice stretching the sentence to 15 seconds, 8 seconds will be very easy.
Its like practicing lifting 30 kilos and then it becomes very easy to lift 10.
In the next week or two, along with practicing reading technique 1, use another
passage to practice reading technique two. After much practice, you would have
automatically learnt how to read slowly.
3. How to Read with a variation in your voice.
This technique is required so that you can control your voice just as a musician is
able to control his musical instrument to deliver to different moods in the song.
239
Say the following sentence in your normal voice:

The tiger crept very slowly and silently.
Now try to drop your voice and whisper the sentence.
Now try to read the sentence in a voice which is in between your normal voice
and a whisper.
This can be done by pushing more air out of your voice to soften your voice.
On Track 30 of the CD, listen to me use the in-between voice to the read the
sentence above.
Practicing different passages in this in between voice helps you control your voice,
so that you can switch from normal voice to whisper to the in between voice at
well.
4. How to Read with the correct sentence stress
Analyze the following two sentences.
The tiger crept very slowly and silently. And suddenly, without warning, it
dashed out on us in a flash.
The first sentence has two words which are important - slowly and silently. For
slowly, you need to slow down and stretch out the word. For silently you need to
drop down your voice to the in between voice.
Similarly, the second sentence is somewhat the exact opposite to the first. There is
a sense of urgency and there is swift action.
So the second sentence should be read out in an anxious, yet excited voice and
rather quickly.
This is what we mean by reading with the correct sentence stress. You need to be
able to understand the mood of the sentence and change your voice, tone or the
speed of reading to get the best effect. This will allow your listener to listen with
interest and retain more information.
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We need to practice this technique for two weeks, picking up passages from a
novel, where youll find a lot of dramatic adventures or romantic overtures which
would require you to change your voice, tone or speed accordingly.
Now that weve covered the 4 reading techniques, try practicing reading passages
putting all these techniques together. You will undoubtedly be a very effective
reader.
This will increase your confidence at reading. This will make other people notice
you, because these techniques are not taught at school and you will stand out.
Now lets look at some tips to enhance your speaking skills. Of course learning to
pronounce words correctly, learning to use the rhythm and music of English and
learning to read effectively will all help you to become a better speaker.
Even then, there are a few finishing touches that need to be given to give you a
whole personality when it comes to communication.
Read the following passages using the reading techniques weve learnt. Once
you have read the passages, you can listen to me demonstrate reading all the
passages on Track 31.
a. Once upon a time, there lived a restless little boy in the vast woods of America.
He was a jolly good fellow. Even the nasty wild animals liked him. He would always
help the animals escape the hunters.
All the animals and the little boy lived happily for a while. And then, a beautiful
princess came to the woods and quickly got lost. Of course, she was with her
soldiers but they were soon eaten by the lions and the tigers. She was lonely now
and quite scared.
She dreamed of the handsome prince who would come and rescue her. That day,
the little boy, who had now become a handsome young man, looked about the
woods in search of food. When he heard someone crying, he craned his neck above
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the tall grass and saw the princess. She was a wonderful girl. He gazed at her. Before
long the princess became aware of the boy and she was happy that he had come to
help her. He was the prince.
All the animals were eyeing them but nobody hurt the princess.
All of them lived happily ever after.
b. The scientist was very clever. He had planned the travel well. But he did not want
anyone to know about his plan, not even his neighbour. He wanted the adventure to
be a secret.
Early the next morning, he brought the flying balloon out onto the roof of his house.
He fired it up, prayed and set soar into the sky, higher and higher. His joy was
endless, because he had succeeded in flying his air balloon.
After about an hour of gliding in the sky, he noticed a crow chasing an eagle in the
sky. The eagle held something in its claws. Both the birds flapped furiously and
sometimes they flipped! My God the scientist whispered, because the birds were
coming towards his balloon.
He looked down and saw that he was flying over the sea. The water was calm and
without ripples. The greedy crow came to an inch of the eagle and nibbled at the
prey. Now both the birds were flying with frightening speed and they did not see the
balloon in front of them. They crashed against it and the crows beak punctured a
hole in the balloon.
The balloon started falling down. The scientist now prayed. To his luck, the balloon
landed on a ship that was traveling below. He was finally safe. He was happy he was
alive.
c. Academically, she was usually conditioned to succeed. Her ability to identify the
capacity of her brain was unusual. She had a logical brain. Probability theory said
that her capability was amazing.
242
Her communication skills were excellent. She gave information specifically and
serially. She liked geography, biology, astronomy and of course photography. She
hated technology but believed it was important for the economy.
Her only complaint was that India was not economically forward. She vowed to
become like Bill Gates and help her country.
d. The princess of the nation casually and genially received the minister. She was
empathic to him and liked his integrity. He wore glasses because he was myopic.
He bowed apologetically to the princess and apologized. Though she was imperial,
she did not amplify or magnify the situation. She was in a democracy and now
because of the illogical actions, the minister had created an astronomical problem.
In his autobiography he had said that he hated anatomy, gastronomy and the
princess. He said she didnt care about ecology and cared only about atomic
energy.
e. The rainbow passage
rainbow.
f. Once upon a time there lived a poor, homeless boy called Will. Though he was
homeless, he had courage and capability to earn a living. He used to polish mens
shoes to make a living.
The poor boy was extremely good at what he was doing. One day, polished a
wealthy mans shoes to a sparkle. The man was so impressed that he took the boy
in his car to his house.
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The poor boy, now no longer poor, lived with the man and his son. The son was as
old as the boy. So they became good friends. And they started going to school
together.
The boy grew up to be a famous doctor while the wealthy mans son became a
famous president of a well known country.
g. Why are you sitting idle? boomed the giant to the little boy. The little boy, who
was very tired after working all morning, got up immediately and set to work. He was
afraid that the giant would beat him up if he didnt work.
But after an hour, he couldnt move a muscle he was tired and ill. The giant
noticed that the boy was idle and shouted, I will beat you up if you dont peel the
onions!
The boy was very, very tired. He picked up the next onion and began peeling it. Just
then the onion started to speak Jack, dont peel me. I will help you get rid of the
giant. Jack was surprised and he agreed.
The next day the onion got all his friends the other onions to spray their cryinducing chemicals into the giants eyes. The giant screamed, and being blinded,
fell into a well and died.
Jack and the onions lived happily ever after.
h. Everyone was excited about the trekking adventure to the Himalayas. All the
participants were accompanied by the best guide money could buy. The guide
pleaded with the leader of the expedition to cancel the trek. The weather is bad,
and it will worsen Sahib he said. But the leader announced that the trek was on.
On the first night, when the participants were camping at 1000 meters above sealevel, they heard a strange sound. It was then that the tragedy struck. A gale swept
snow and rock onto the encampment. Everyone was stunned. It seemed there
would be no survivors.
244
Just then, the guide mustered his courage and grabbed anyone and everyone he
could and started running down the hill. The others were flattered by his courage
and did the same. At that exact moment, the team leader was swept away by an epic
snow gale.
Thanks to the guide, all except the leader had reached safety behind a big rock.
They now felt fairly comfortable. They disliked the guile of the team leader and were
angry. But the light-hearted guide cheered them up.
i. Comma gets a cure
Before long, that itchy goose began to strut around the office like a lunatic, which
made an unsanitary mess. The goose's owner, Mary Harrison, kept calling,
"Comma, Comma," which Sarah thought was an odd choice for a name. Comma
was strong and huge, so it would take some force to trap her, but Sarah had a
different idea. First she tried gently stroking the goose's lower back with her palm,
then singing a tune to her. Finally, she administered ether. Her efforts were not
futile. In no time, the goose began to tire, so Sarah was able to hold onto Comma
and give her a relaxing bath.
Once Sarah had managed to bathe the goose, she wiped her off with a cloth and laid
245
her on her right side. Then Sarah confirmed the vet's diagnosis. Almost
immediately, she remembered an effective treatment that required her to measure
out a lot of medicine. Sarah warned that this course of treatment might be
expensive-either five or six times the cost of penicillin. I can't imagine paying so
much, but Mrs. Harrison-a millionaire lawyer-thought it was a fair price for a cure.
j. Finally the day when they would go to the amusement park arrived. Chetan had
succeeded in cunningly persuading twenty other boys and girls to join him. The
parents protested but the children just ignored them and they set off.
The children spiritedly played in the park but suddenly they heard a growl from
nearby. They trembled with fear because they could now glimpse two enormous
tigers looked back at them fiercely. Chetan tried to pretend he wasnt scared. But
he was the first to vanish from the spot. But in his haste, he got dangled in the roots
of a Banyan tree!
A little girl called Chamki took courage and started shouting at the tigers. The others
joined her and shouted at the tigers furiously. Hearing the shouts, some grown-ups
came with sticks and scared the tigers away.
The children were fortunate thanks to Chamki. They were impressed with her
handy help and were spurred to praise her. She was flattered!
______________________________________________________________
k. Pronunciation
When we speak in English, our pronunciation should be clear and comprehensible.
The listener should be able to retain as much information as possible. The listener
will not be able to do it if we do not separate sentences for the listener. Therefore,
we go down at the end of the sentence and pause. We then begin the next sentence.
The listener will be able to retain information if we speak slowly, enunciating all the
words correctly. Speaking slowly is the key to communicating effectively.
l. The Polar Express
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On Christmas eve, many years ago, I lay quietly in my bed. I didnt rustle the sheets
and I breathed slowly and silently. I was listening for a sound, a sound my friend had
said I would never hear the ringing bells of Santas sleigh.
At night I did hear sounds, though not of ringing bells. I heard sounds of hissing
steam and squeaking metal. I looked out of my window and saw a train standing
perfectly still in front of my house.
I couldnt believe my eyes. I jumped out of the window and walked slowly towards
the train. On the engine was written The Polar Express. I walked along the train.
On the last coach was the guard who said, Get in my boy!
m. Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful but timid Princess. Her amusement
was writing poetry and she would often be in vacant and pensive moods, which
helped. She found bliss in solitude, when she had none to disturb her thoughts.
One day, the King arranged a social function and ordered that she attend it. She
went there reluctantly. She met many a Prince who spoke to her spiritedly. But she
liked none and felt none of them were engaging enough. Soon she abandoned all of
them and went out of the castle towards the cliff.
It was a full moon night and the moonlight after the twilight hour was amazing and
she immediately felt merry. She started singing and then as she walked to the edge
of the cliff, she saw a handsome young man writing poetry describing the beauty
that he beheld.
She went and sat next to him and he smiled at her and read out his poem to her.
Suddenly a howling gale swept across the sea towards the cliff. The Princess
panicked and fell off the cliff. But the brave young man caught the speechless
Princess and saved her life.
247
Speaking techniques:
1. How to introduce yourself
To market yourself in an interview or when you are meeting a higher official, you
need to able to introduce yourself with confident and the right content. Heres how
you do it.
You have to start with some sort of a greeting: Hello or Good morning or Hi.
Then you could say My name is _____
Then you can say what you do or if you are a student, what class and school you
study in.
Then you need to smile and if possible shake the other persons hand while you do
this.
If you are introducing yourself to someone in particular, that person may say hello
or introduce himself to you. For that you could say, Hello _____. Nice to meet you.
This will give a good positive impression about you.
Now, you shouldnt forget to go down at the end of the sentence, pause and then
use the right voice and tone. I think the most important thing is pausing. A lot of
people get nervous and want to run to the next sentence without pausing. That is a
mistake.
On Track 32, listen to me introduce myself to an audience.
2. How to build vocabulary for fluency
There is no substitute to listening to English being spoken or using English all the
time to better your vocabulary and fluency.
Having said that, there are a few techniques that you could use to enhance your
vocabulary.
248
a. Mind mapping:
We tend to remember things which are related to each other than things which are
not. So I suggest that to build your vocabulary, start with thinking about a particular
topic, say, Sport and just think of all the words associated with Sport. You may
think of words like names of different sport, sportspersons, and your favourites,
sport rules, broadcast on TV etc.
The thing is, your mind now has a list of words related to Sport stored away
somewhere in the brain. So, the next time you want to speak on Sport or join in a
conversation about Sport, words come out freely.
Vocabulary is using the right word at the right time.
b. Read novels and magazines
You dont have to go to a dictionary to build your vocabulary. When you read a
novel, and are engrossed in the story, your mind sub-consciously picks up new
words, gets the meaning from the context of the story and stores those new words in
the brain. So when there is a situation similar to that you had read, your brain
supplies you with that magic word and you are able to speak without groping for
words.
c. Mnemonics
Sometimes, when you come across new words, they may not be related to each
other. In order to learn these words, you need to associate them with something
interesting so that the brain links the word to something else more common and
retains it in the memory. You may even build a story using these words and help
retain these words in your memory.
d. Start speaking
The more you try to speak in English, the more your brain is exercised to get you
words stored somewhere in the recesses so that you can improve on the words you
use.
249
On Track 33 of the CD, you can listen to a BBC audio file about Vocabulary.
3. How to speak fluently on a topic
Fluency is when you are able to speak on a topic without too many pauses or
groping for words.
Fluency doesnt mean you speak fast, without any pauses or stops or fillers. Even
native English speakers use fillers like umm.. etc to think while they speak. They
also drag a few words which allows them to think, build on their sentence and
render it. The key is thinking while you speak and speak slowly and effectively.
There are techniques that can build your fluency.
Whenever you are waiting for a bus at the bus stop, or walking or traveling, or even
sitting idly, you could use the following technique to enhance your fluency.
Just look at something and start describing it in your head in English.
When you describe what you see, you will be using the present tense verb forms
and this enhances your vocabulary and fluency.
To enhance your command over the use of past tense verb forms, you could
describe what could have happened just before the scene you see now.
Similarly, you could describe what could happen after the scene you see. This will
enhance your ability to talk about the future.
When you are practicing enhancing your fluency, dont worry too much about being
accurate in grammar. With time, after reading extensively, your grammar will
improve. Try using English in your head to do everything. Think in English, eat in
English and sleep in English.
There are a few exercises in the CD that you could use to check how native
speakers speak on a topic. How they build thought upon thought.
Another technique is the How, What, Why technique.
Lets say you have to speak on Indian Culture. Just ask as many questions starting
with How, what and why and speak out the answers to these questions.
For example,
250
What is the name of the topic?

What is Indian Culture?
What is its significance in the current scenario?
How is Indian Culture different?
Why is Indian culture significant?
You can even ask questions starting with where, who, which, when etc. And these
questions give you useful talking points.
Finally, you can use the funnel technique.
The opening in the funnel is broader at the top than the bottom, and there is a
gradual taper.
So, start with talking about the general things about the topic, and then narrow it
down to the specifics, how it affects you etc and finally conclude.
4. Story telling
Everyone likes to listen to stories. And sometimes, we can use stories in our
speeches, conversations etc to make our speech interesting.
You can tell a story effectively if you follow the following technique.
Try to use the present tense verb instead of the past tense verb. Use the present
perfect instead of the past perfect.
This makes the listener imagine that the story is unfolding right then, in front of his
eyes. It is very engaging and keeps the listeners attention.
Here is a small anecdote told in two ways. Which is better?
Version 1:
I went to a wild life park. A dinosaur came out of nowhere and attacked us. We had
been eating our lunch and had to run here and there. Then, a kid came running, and
he was laughing. The dinosaur was actually a robot.
Version 2:
251
I am in this wild life park. Out comes a dinosaur out of nowhere and attack us. We
have been eating our lunch and we have to run her and there. Then, a kid comes
running, and he is laughing. The dinosaur is actually a robot.
Im sure youll agree that version two is more engaging than the first version.
Make up stories and practice using this technique. In no time you will have some
many admirers that you can hardly believe it!
On Track 34, listen to a BBC audio file about the story telling technique.
5. How to speak confidently
This is a good topic to conclude. Im sure that if you had followed the training
program attentively and practiced all the techniques, your confidence would
already be high. You would speak confidently automatically. By now, you would
have mastered the 44 sounds to perfection, you would have mastered syllable
stress, sentence stress and intonation. You would have learnt the reading
techniques and you would have learnt the speaking techniques. The secret then, to
confident speaking, is putting principles to practice.
You need to expose yourself to as much English as possible and speak in English as
much as possible. The secret to confidence is mastery. Why do you think Sachin
Tendulkar is a confident batsman? Well, I dont have to answer that. Why do you
think Aamir Khan or Shah Rukh Khan is a confident actor? I dont need to answer
that too.
So too for confident speaking. Involving yourself in the basics of the language,
observing good speakers and practicing the techniques will lead to confident
speaking. Period.
Listen to Track 35 for some tips on fluency and accuracy in speech.
252
We now come to the end of Aneils English Pronunciation Course. Please remember
that practice and perseverance will make you achieve mastery over English
pronunciation.
Listen to the audio CD as many times as you can and read the handbook as often as
possible.
Im confident that with practice and a passion to speak and read with the correct
pronunciation, you will be able to realize your dream of mastering English
Pronunciation!
There are a few BBC audio tracks that can help you in getting the pronunciation,
syllable stress, pausing, pacing, sentence stress and intonation right. I have
included them at the end of the CD. Listen to them as many times as you can
regularly.
Supplementary Audio files:
Track 36: The Rainbow passage 1
This is a model track that can be used for practice. After listening to this several
times, you may read the passage on page 229 yourself, and even record the
passage. You can then analyze your read and compare it with the model.
Track 37: Comma gets a cure 1
times, you may read the passage Comma gets a cure on page 229 yourself, and
even record the passage. You can then analyze your read and compare it with the
model.
Track 38: The Rainbow passage 2
This is another model track that can be used for practice. After listening to this
several times, you may read the passage on page 315 yourself, and even record the
passage. You can then analyze your read and compare it with the model.
253
Track 39: Comma gets a cure 2

times, you may read the passage Comma gets a cure on page 317 yourself, and
even record the passage. You can then analyze your read and compare it with the
model.
Track 40: Songs

This track has a collection of two songs. Do Re Mi gives you enough practice for
vowel sounds and My Favourite Things gives you enough practice for consonant
sounds.
Track 41: Listening Stories Part 1
This track contains interesting stories for listening practice
Track 42: Listening Stories Part 2
This track also contains interesting stories for listening practice
Track 43: How to series
This track contains excellently rendered BBC How to audio files. You may observe
the language and the style of presentation and learn the finer aspects of
pronunciation, syllable stress, sentence stress, pacing, pausing, linking and
intonation.
Track 44: Better speaking series
This track contains a series of programmes for better speaking.
Before we go, lets do one exercise that youll remember having done at the very
beginning of the course. Youll remember that on page 4, I had invited you to record
254
your own voice by reading two passages. I had also asked you to time yourself doing
it.
Lets do the same thing now at the end of the course.
Read and record the following two passages and write down the time it takes you to
read the passages.
Passage 1: The rainbow passage
rainbow.
Passage 2: Comma gets a cure
255
I presume youve kept your first two recordings safely. I invite you to listen to those
recordings and analyze how you fared on pronunciation, syllable stress, sentence
stress, pausing, pacing, linking and intonation.
Then listen to your final recording of the two passages and analyze the same things.
Also note the time taken to read the passages.
What do you think about your ability to read effectively now, compared to the time
when you started the course?
Have you noticed a change?
Well Ill bet that if you have practiced the techniques weve taught you, you would
have seen a tremendous improvement in the way you read.
But this is by no means the end of it. You can still improve, if you practice daily and
try and apply the principles of pronunciation everyday when you read or speak.
I hope youve enjoyed working with me as much as Ive enjoyed working with you. I
really enjoyed creating this course and I shall be very happy if I have genuinely
made a positive difference to the way you read and speak!
Bye for now!
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Topic

Introduction to Aneil's English Pronunciation course

English is a non-phonetic language

e. How to speak confidently

Audio tracks on the CD

Practice sentences for Diphthongs

Aneils English Pronunciation Academy

English is a non-phonetic language

Introduction to the speech sounds

Classification of speech sounds

Mastering the speech sounds through exercises

Syllables and syllable stress

Rules for breaking up a word into syllables

Rules for pronouncing a word correctly

Linking principles for fluent speech

Sentence stress the rhythm of English

Intonation the music of English

We will look at the following reading techniques:

We will also look at some speaking techniques:

Intensive practice and listening to good speakers reading and speaking

A fully equipped original pronunciation handbook

An amazing original audio CD to supplement the handbook

b. A persons pronunciation or accent is not influenced by the mother tongue.

c. Accent is influenced by the cultural, educational and social background of

3. English is a non-phonetic language

Read (Past tense)

What does this tell you about English?

2. Read a passage from your newspaper, magazine or novel. Get five

5. The feature of a Non-phonetic language is that the pronunciation of

6. Give an example of a Non-phonetic language.

7. Give an example of a phonetic language.

8. MTI is the short form of _____________________________.

9. What mantra should you remember while reading or speaking

4. Introduction to speech sounds

5. Fill up the blanks

Fully stretched Slightly Stretched Slightly

Lets look at these one by one.

Meeting, beaten, sleeping, sheepish

Word Medial position

Word Final position

Lets now do an interesting activity: the sound maze.

Word Initial position

Word Medial position

Word Final position

Lets now do an interesting activity: the sound maze.

Word Initial position

Word Medial position

Word Final position

Lets now do an interesting activity: the sound maze.

Word Initial position

Word Medial position

Word Final position

Lets now do an interesting activity: the sound maze.

Word Initial position

Word Medial position

Word Final position

Lets now do an interesting activity: the sound maze.

Word Initial position

Word Medial position

Word Final position

Lets now do an interesting activity: the sound maze.

Word Initial position

Word Medial position

Word Final position

Aneil's English Pronunciation Handbook

Aneil's English Pronunciation Handbook