Kru Nina
Syllable Stresses
(Word Stresses: the key to better pronunciation.)
Have you ever found, as a Thai person, that it is hard to understand some words even though you can spell and read the words? You know you can understand the meanings of those words quite well but wonder why you can't understand when a native speaker says those words.
If the answer to the first question is YES, and you have to ask the second question very often,you need to improve your pronunciation.
The first thing you need to look at and improve isyour way of stressing words in sentences.
As a Thai person with a Thai accent, you tend to stress the last syllable of each word, which causes a lot of problems. Moreover, you stress each syllable almost equally. For example, you say
วอเท่อ for the two syllable word "water". In fact, it should be pronounced "ว้อเถอะ" or phonetically "UK /ˈwɔː.tər/
US/ˈwɑː.t ̬ɚ/. Notice the stress mark / ' / in front of the first syllable. The stress or emphasis is actually put on the first syllable "wa" NOT THE LAST SYLLABLE "ter". This illustrates the fact that you should not pronounce some English words the way you used to do.
Click for an audio illustration:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/water_1?q=water
You should not assume that other people who are not Thai will understand the word you have said easily because they usually don't think of the spelling when they hear you say it. They will understand you only when you pronounce the word according to the standard pronunciation. Only the similar or nearly similar pronunciation can click their understanding. Many Thai people are not aware of this weak point and don't pay attention to changing the way they pronounce words.
Let me give you a few examples.
The first example is the word "analysis". Many Thai people pronounce this word "แอน-นา-ไล-
สีส" and don't realize that this is a wrong way to pronounce the word. It should be pronounced "เออะ-แน้ล-เลอะ-สิส" with the stress only on the second syllable NOT on every syllable. These phonetic symbols show how you should pronounce this word:
/əˈnæl.ə.sɪs/
Click this link for an audio illustration:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/analysis?q=analysis
The second example is "proposal". Most of the Thais pronounce this word /พร็อบ-โพร-แซ่ล/ or /พร็อบ-โพร-เซิ่ล/. Apparently, they put the stress on the first and third syllable. The right pronunciation should be "เพรอะ-โพ้ษ-เสิ่ล". The second syllable is stressed. The following is the phonetic symbols for the word:
/prəˈpəʊ.zəl//-ˈpoʊ-/
Click to hear the illustration:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/proposal?q=proposal
The last example is "management". The common mistake among the Thais is /แม-เหนจ-เม้นท์/. The word, in fact, should be pronounced /แม้-หนิจ-เมิ่นท์/. The stress is actually on the first syllable.
See the phonetic symbols for its pronunciation:
/ˈmæn.ɪdʒ.mənt/
Click the link for an audio illustration:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/management?q=management
It is very difficult, of course, to change the way you pronounce each word that you have repeatedly mispronounced for many years and have formed a habit that dies hard. Nevertheless, it is of no use continuing to stubbornly or ignorantly pronounce it the same way sticking to an attitude "Why do I have to care because English is not my mother's or father's language (my mother tongue)?"
Read on if you want to improve. Stop reading if you are too lazy or too busy to change!
The following video clips will help you to understand the importance of word stresses:
http://youtu.be/WX1rrFh4OZw
http://youtu.be/gSNcI_agzpI
http://youtu.be/rMLym5C3FHo
http://youtu.be/3gOuZxNfynk
http://youtu.be/RZY8MlaYDPA
How are you doing? Ok, so far?
The above video clips are good for raising your awareness and helping you to understand how words are normally pronounced with certain stress patterns.
Practice more with the help of the following video clips:
http://youtu.be/9UUsMeytwko
- Words with the stress on the first syllable:
http://youtu.be/aMbZkX3tS-4
- Words with the stress on the first syllable and the ending "er":
http://youtu.be/jNfSSI5vW_M
- Words with the stress on the second syllable:
http://youtu.be/Ef7o1pk35cA
เขียนโดย preeyachat
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Self Improvement: English
There are many different ways we can improve our English through the websites, the Internet, CD-ROMs, the interactive board, the digital camera and many other media.
Week 1
Work with a group of friends.
Browse as many websites as you can, the ones that can help you improve your English language skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, communication and grammar.
Then choose only one best website in your opinion and write a review. Explain why you think this is the best website in your opinion. Show some interesting or impressive features and choose the web pages to illustrate. Describe the whole website but focus on its best points. Say what skill the website can best help you improve.
Before you work on this website, it's best to check with your friends what websites they plan to work on. In case you are interested in the same website, one of you should opt out and work on another equally good one. It is going to be quite boring to talk about or listen to the same thing twice or three times.
Week 2
This week you will study from the following video clip, which will help you to upload your video clip to YouTube. Study it and upload one video clip and later you have to shoot one video clip played by you and your partner.
HOW TO UPLOAD YOUR VIDEO CLIP TO YOUTUBE:
Week 3
Fill in the form to plan your study program for a period of 3 months.
The first part of the form is for the skills you would like to improve. When you fill in the skills, please also rank the skills according to your priority. The skills you can consider improving are listening, pronunciation, reading, vocabulary, grammar and writing. Additionally you can consider improving your communication skill.
You might not have enough time to concentrate on too many skills. The best you can do is to pay attention to only two or three skills to make some significant improvements. You can also group some skills together, for example, reading and vocabulary, grammar and writing, listening and pronunciation. This way you can improve many related skills and not studying too many things without improving much of anything.
The second part of the form is the websites you would like to use for each skill. This means you can review the websites your classmates have recommended to you and browse some more websites and choose only the more suitable ones to suit your purpose. Also indicate which website will be used for which skill.
The third part of the form is to estimate the duration of time you will spend on your self study for each week. Divide each study session evenly and not cramming many things at the same time. Indicate what you would like to accomplish in one week and weeks to come. Please be reminded that the knowledge to be gained and skills to be improved will be accumulated over a certain period of time and not overnight. Aim high and reach out for success.
Once you have carefully planned your study program, you should follow the planned schedule strictly. Of course, you are given some freedom to change your schedule if necessary but a complete change shows that you take this course too slightly and might not deserve the best scores at the end of the semester.
Remember that we don't have any formal written exams and this study program partly replaces the midterm and final examinations.
Relax and enjoy!
(Never feel discouraged and suffer!)
Week 4
Find a nice script or a short skit for your role play. There should be a video clip to accompany the script so that you can practice and imitate the modal dialogue. Study the way the speakers pronounce each word and each sentence. That is to observe the syllable stress and intonation. Also look at the facial expressions and body language.
Find a quiet location to shoot your video clip. If the sound quality of your video is not good enough, you might have to put the sound in later. It's usually Ok if you use an external microphone and put it near you when recording.
After you have a good video file, save it or change it so that you can upload it to YouTube.
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