Accent Training
Prepared by:
Nerissa J. Sotto
What is Accent?
A combination of three components:
Intonation (speech music)
liaisons (word connections)
pronunciations (spoken sounds of vowel, consonants or both)
Difference between Grammar and Accent
Grammar and Vocabulary are systematic and structured - the letter of the language
Accent is free form, intuitive and creative - more of the spirit of the language
Can a new accent be learned?
YES!
BUT...
it depends on how open
and willing an individual is
to sounding different from
the way s/he sounded all his/her life.
Importance of Accent
It can be used to say what you mean and how you mean it. WORD STRESS conveys meaning through tone and feeling, which can be more important than the actual words used.
ACCENT vs. PRONUNCIATION
Is there a "BAD" accent?
First, there is no BAD accent; it is just nonstandard to the AMERICAN ear.
Every language is equally valid or good, so, every accent is good.
However, the average American truly does a hard time understanding a nonstandard accent.
LeSs ThAn iT aPpEaRs....
MoRe ThAn iT aPpEaRs....
Inserted syllables
-are filled with letters that are not in the written word
EXAMPLE:
POOL
- a one-syllable word; but for clearer comprehension, you need to say three syllables (pu/wu/luh)
FEEl
(fee/yu/luh)
TENSE AND LAX VOWELS
Tense Vowels - require you to use a lot of facial muscles to produce it.
Lax Vowels - they are very reduced. In fact, you don't need to move your face at all. You only need to move the back of your tongue and your throat. These sounds are very different from most other languages
Voiced and Unvoiced Consonants
A consonant - a sound that causes two points of the mouth to come into contact in three locations - the lips, the tip of the tongue, and the throat.
A consonant can either be voiced (whispered) or unvoiced (spoken), and it can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of the word.
Title
American Speech Music
Say "Hello" to
A friend you meet regularly
A friend you haven't seen for a long time
a neighbor you don't like
a 6-month-old baby
someone doing what he shouldn't
To know if someone is listening
the same but but on the phone
Glimpse from past!
Because most Americans came from somewhere else, American English reflects the many contributions of many lands. The speech music have become much more exaggerated than British English, developing strong and distinctive intonation.
What is Speech Music?
Intonation or Speech Music - is the sound that you hear when a conversation is too far away to be clearly audible but close enough for you to tell the nationality of the speakers.
American intonation dictates liaisons and pronunciation and it indicates mood and meaning.
Without it, your speech would be flat,
mechanical, and very confusing to the listener.
American Intonation
Do's and Don'ts
What exactly
is
STAIRCASE
Intonation?
In saying the words, imagine that they come out as if they were bounding lightly down a flight of stairs. Every so often, one jumps up to another level, and then starts down again.
Americans tend to stretch out their sounds longer than you may think is natural. So to lengthen your vowel sounds, put them on two stairsteps instead of just one.
No
ou
Three ways to make
Intonation
Get louder or raise the volume
Stretch or lengthen the word
Change the pitch
Stretch or lengthen the word
Change the pitch
Rubber Band Practice
A
duh duh duh
la la la
mee mee mee
ho ho ho
B
duh duh duh
la la la
mee mee mee
ho ho ho
C
duh duh duh
la la la
mee mee mee
ho ho ho
D
duh duh duh
la la la
mee mee mee
ho ho ho
duh duh duh
duh duh duh
duh duh duh
duh duh duh
ABC
imprecise
condition
alphabet
1 23
a hot dog
a hot dog
hot dog stand
Dogs eat bones
They eat bones
They eat them
Give me one
Four main reasons for intonation
New Information - Ex: It sounds like rain.
Opinion - Ex: I sounds like rain, but I don't think it is.
Contrast - Ex: He likes rain, but he hates snow.
Can't - Ex: It can't rain when there are no clouds.
Inflection
-Tell the meaning of each sentence.
1. I didn't say he stole the money.
2. I didn't say he stole the money.
3. I didn't say he stole the money.
4. I didn't say he stole the money.
5. I didn't say he stole the money.
6. I didn't say he stole the money.
7. I didn't say he stole the money.
MEANING
1. I didn't say he stole the money. ~Someone else said it.
2. I didn't say he stole the money. ~That's not true at all.
3. I didn't say he stole the money. ~I only suggested the possibility.
4. I didn't say he stole the money. ~I think someone else took it.
5. I didn't say he stole the money. ~Maybe he just borrowed it.
6. I didn't say he stole the money, but rather some other money.
7. I didn't say he stole the money. ~He may have taken some jewelry.
More Practice
What would you like?
What would you like?
What would you like?
What would you like?
Try this!
Well, maybe we do this in English,
but in my language,
I just really don't think that we do this.
Spell these words RIGHT
Eye Bee Em
Em Eye Tee
Pee Aitch Dee
Em Bee ei
Eff Bee Eye
See Oh Dee
Ess Oh Ess
Tee Vee
Ei Ess Ei Pee
You Ess Ei
Statement Intonation
with Nouns
Intonation or pitch change is primarily used to introduce new information. This means, you are making a statement for the first time, you will stress the nouns.
Practice:
Carol paints the car.
Ann and Ed call the kids.
Keys open locks.
The boys need some help.
Jean sells some apples.
Statement Intonation
with Pronouns
When you replace nouns with pronouns (i.e., old information), stress the verb. As we have seen, nouns are new information; pronouns are old information.
Dogs
eat
bones.
They
them.
Nouns and Pronouns Intonation
Bob sees Betty.
The murderer killed the plumber.
The tourists went shopping.
They call them.
She should call someone.
They must go there.
Reading with staircase intonation
Hello, my name is ______________. I'm taking American Accent Training. There's a lot to learn, but I hope to make it as enjoyable as possible. I should pick up on the American intonation pattern pretty easily, although the only way to get it is to practice all of the time. I use the up and down, or peaks and valleys, intonation more than I used to. I've been paying attention to pitch, too. It's like walking down a staircase. I've been talking to Americans lately, and they tell me that I'm easier to understand. Anyway, I could go on and on, but the important thing is to listen well and sound good. Well, what do you think? Do I?
Squeezed Out Syllables
Proper Pausing
Ignorance on Parade (stop)
You say you don't know a proton from a crouton? (pause) Well, (pause) you're not the only one. (pause) A recent nationwide survey (pause) funded by the National Science Foundation (pause) shows that fewer than 6 percent of American adults (pause) can be called scientifically literate. (stop) The rest think (pause) that DNA is a food additive, (pause) Cher