TableofContents
Introduction
Session1
Session2
Session3
Session4
Session5
Session6
Session7
Session8
Session9
Session10
Session11
Session12
Session13
Session14
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Session15
This manual accompanies the video training program in American English Pronunciation available only at www.PronunciationWorkshop.com.
-Session1 PronunciationWorkshopManual-Introduction
INTRODUCTION
Welcome!
Congratulations!Youareabouttoembarkonaveryexcitingprogram.Learning tospeakEnglishclearly,withproperpronunciationisthesinglemostimportant skillyoumusthavetocommunicateeffectivelyintoday’sworldmarket.The PronunciationWorkshopVideoTrainingProgramwillenhanceyourEnglish
speakingabilitiesandvocalskills,improveyourself-confidenceandwillgreatly increaseyourchancesforsuccess.
Thiscourseisbasedonyearsoflinguisticresearchandhasproduceddramatic resultsforthousandsofindividualsaroundtheglobe.Itisdesignedtohelpyou sound“moreAmerican”fororalpresentations,interviews,teaching,business situations,telephoneconversationsandgeneraldailycommunication.
WhenapersonlearnsEnglishasaSecondLanguage,theyarespeakingEnglish “filtered”throughtheirfirstlanguage.Theyareusingtheirnativelanguage’s “speechrules”ofpronunciation(andoftengrammar)ontheirnewlanguage? TheyarenotawareoftheAmericansetof“speechrules”.Thisisbasicallywhat thePronunciationWorkshopprogramteachesyou?“TheSpeechRulesof AmericanEnglish”.
TherearemanyschoolsandclasseswhichteachEnglishallaroundtheworld; however,veryfewofthemaddressthe“speechrules”thatyouwilllearninthis course.ThisisbecausemanyoftheteacherswhoareprovidingEnglishtraining, donotknowofthese“speechrules”.Manyofthemareevenmakingerrors themselvesandteachingthemtoyou!Wehearthisdailyfromourclients. Whenyouwereachildandlearnedyourfirstlanguage,youconstructedamental inventoryofyournativelanguage’sspeechsounds.Thosesoundsbecameapart ofyourspeechrepertoire.Unfortunately,youarenowinsertingthesespeech soundsintoyourEnglish.Today,whenyouspeakEnglish,youreachintothat inventoryandcomeoutwithmanysubstitutesounds,somethingthatisclose, butnonethelessincorrect.Theserepeatederrorsinconversationoftencauseyou tobemisunderstood.
Somepeoplecallwhatwedo“ForeignAccentReduction”?thisisnotquite accurate,foryouarenotreducingyourforeignaccent...youareactuallygaining anAmericanAccent--youareaddingnewsoundsandnew“speechrules”to yourspeechinventory.
Whileyouprogressthroughthisprogram,youwillbelearningthingsyouwere neverawareofbefore.Youmostlikelywillfindyourselfsaying,“Wow!Inever
?2005-2007PronunciationWorkshop.com,LLC–ALLRIGHTSRESERVED
-Session1 PronunciationWorkshopManual-Introduction
knewthat!”Changingyouroldspeechhabitstakestime.Atfirstyoumay
possiblybeapprehensiveusingthelearnedtechniques.However,eventuallyyou willrelaxandthewordsandsoundswillflowsmoothlyandclearlyontheirown. Onceyoucompleteeachsession,itshouldnotbeyourobjectivetostartspeaking differentlyrightaway.Yourfocusshouldbeonlisteningtothesoundsofyour speechandthespeechofthosearoundyou.Forexample,whenyousay“Tank
you”insteadof“Thankyou”,yourfocusshouldnotbeonsayingitcorrectly?but rather,“Oops–Ijustsaidthatwordwrong?IshouldhaveusedaTHsound”.Itis thisAWARENESSthatwilleventuallyleadyoutotheimprovedpronunciation skillsyouarestrivingfor.
Eachvideotrainingsessionhasitsownaccompanyingchapterinthismanual withpracticematerial.YouwillnoticeduringthevideoclassesthatIoftenspeak slowlyandexaggeratecertaintargetsounds.Idothispurposelysothatyou can‘hear’andunderstandwhatIamteachingyou.Irecommendthatyoutry practicingthematerialalittleeverydayusingthelearnedtechniques.Practice speakingVERYSLOWLY,outloud,inastrongvoiceandexaggeratethemouth movements.Youwillberetrainingthemusclesofyourmouthandtongueto moveinnewanddifferentwayswhilemasteringyournewpronunciation patterns.Theoretically,onceyouunderstandtheconceptsandhaveretrained yourself,eventuallythesenewspeechpatternswillprogressintoyourown spontaneousconversationalrapidspeech.
Toreceivemaximumbenefits,werecommendthatyoutakeourcourseovera periodoftwotothreemonths,focusingononesessionperweek.Trytopractice dailywiththevideos.
Theprogramyouareabouttobeginwascreatedtohelppeople“soundAmerican” forthepurposesofteaching,interviewing,lecturing,businessandgeneral dailycommunication.AlthoughAmericahasmanyregionalpronunciation differences,theaccentyouwilllearnisthatofstandardAmericanEnglishas spokenandunderstoodbythemajorityofeducatednativespeakers.
Changingyouroldspeechhabitstakestime.Atfirst,theinformationpresented onthevideosmayseemunusual,buteventually,youwillseethatthesetechniques willtransformyourspeech,providingyouwithclearer,moreintelligibleEnglish speakingabilities.
GoodLuckandhavefun!IhopeyouenjoythisprogramasmuchasIenjoy teachingit!
PaulS.GruberMS,CCC-SLP
SpeechLanguagePathologist
?2005-2007PronunciationWorkshop.com,LLC–ALLRIGHTSRESERVED
