VOA慢速英语--搞定易混发音提高你的英语水平

Improve Your English By Using Common Objects 搞定易混发音提高你的英语水平

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report.

Pronouncing English can be difficult. One reason is because English has some difficult sounds that are – unfortunately for English learners – very common.

But English learners can improve their pronunciation by using simple, everyday objects. These objects include candy, a pencil, and a mirror.

What are some of these common difficult sounds? Well, you have already heard or read them several times in this story.

The "th" sounds

In English, two different sounds are spelled with the same pair of letters: "th." You hear (/e/) in the word "this," and (/θ/) in the word "thing."

When you say "this," your voice box moves. When you say "thing," air moves freely through your throat.

Marla Yoshida teaches English as a foreign language at the University of California, Irvine. She notes how strange these sounds are:

"Those [sounds] are hard for speakers of a lot of languages, because they are very unusual sounds... Very rare. I don't want to hurt those sounds' feelings by saying that they're strange... but, they're [strange]..."

Sometimes, “th” sounds are difficult for English learners to make because saying them seems impolite, or rude.

All cultures have rules about polite ways to speak to each other. When speaking English, learners may need to break some of the rules of politeness they use in their native language.

Tamara Jones, a program coordinator¹ at the English Language Center at Howard Community College, explains. She tells why English learners might feel uncomfortable making the "th" (/e/) and "th" (/θ/) sounds:

"This can be really tricky² for lots of different speakers because in many languages, it's not polite to stick your tongue out of your mouth when you are speaking. But in English, to make the "th" (/θ/) or "th" (/e/) sound, you have to put your tongue between your teeth."

So how can English learners teach their tongues to pronounce "th" (/e/) and "th" (/θ/) correctly?

Tamara Jones recommends a tasty, fun way to get in the habit of sticking your tongue between your teeth: using a lollipop³.

"I like to give my students lollipops⁴, and they hold the candy right in front of their mouth and they can practice saying words like "thanks" or "there" or "this," and they can practice sticking their tongue out between their teeth far enough so that they can taste the candy. So, this is another fun way to practice saying that tricky sound."

The "-er" sound

Other sounds in English may not be as strange as "th" (/e/) or "th" (/θ/), but they can still be difficult to pronounce. One example is the "er" (?) sound. English speakers often use “–er” (?) when they make comparisons.

Here is an example of an “–er” (?) sound in a popular song by Britney Spears:

Stronger than yesterday

Now it’s nothing but my way

My loneliness ain’t killing⁵ me no more

I’m stronger

Tamara Jones at Howard Community College says many English learners have problems clearly pronouncing the "-er" (?) sound.

Part of the difficulty is finding the right tongue placement. To practice using the tongue correctly, Jones recommends that English learners use a pencil.

"But one little trick that students might find useful is to put a pencil in their mouth lengthwise. So they're biting down on the pencil, and the pencil is sticking out of both sides of their mouth.

"And then saying the sound "-er" (?)?. When they say the "er" (?) sound, their tongue should not touch the pencil. It should be down, under, or around the pencil, but it shouldn't touch the pencil.

"So this is a nice way, kind of a fun way, to make sure that they are pronouncing that sound correctly."

Common problems with vowel⁶ sounds

Consonant⁷ sounds are not the only common difficult sounds for English learners. Vowel sounds are often difficult, too.

Marla Yoshida, the teacher at the University of California, Irvine, points out that English has many vowel sounds. She says that English dialects can include between 13 and 15 vowel sounds. By comparison, some languages, such as Japanese and Spanish, have only five vowel sounds.

Two of the hardest challenges for English learners are pronouncing the "i" (?) and "ee" (i?) vowel sounds.

Listen for the difference between the "i" (?) and "ee" (i?) sounds in popular music, such as in Tom Waits' song "All the World Is Green."

Pretend that you owe me nothing

And all the world is green

We can bring back the old days again

When all the world is green

Tamara Jones at Howard Community College says one way English learners can start improving their pronunciation of the "i" (?) and "ee" (i?) sounds is to use another common object. Look in a mirror, she says, while you say the words “pin” and “green.”

"Because to say "i" (?), your face is very relaxed, but to say “ee" (i?), you are pulling the sides of your mouth, almost like you're smiling – it's a bigger mouth movement; it's a tenser sound "ee," “ee” versus⁸ "i" (?) that is more relaxed. So, looking in a mirror can help students verify that they are saying the sound correctly because their mouth is moving in the correct position."

Using these tips

Clearly pronouncing common but difficult sounds can help you communicate better in English. Improving your pronunciation will take time and hard work, but a few basic objects will help.

Touch a lollipop with the tip of your tongue to practice "th" (/e/) and "th" (/θ/) sounds

Bite a pencil but do not touch it with your tongue when saying the “er” (?) sound

Use a mirror to make sure your face is relaxed when you say "i" (?), and that your face is tense when you say "ee" (i?)

As you learned in the previous Education Tips story, pronouncing individual sounds correctly is only part of the pronunciation puzzle.

Future Education Tips stories will give you more suggestions for how to improve your pronunciation.

Words in This Story

pronunciation – n. the way in which a word or name is pronounced

candy – n. a sweet food made with sugar or chocolate

mirror – n. a piece of glass that reflects images

tricky – adj. difficult to do or deal with

stick – v. to put something or someone in a specified⁹ place

lollipop – n. a round piece of hard candy on the end of a stick

tongue – n. the soft, movable part in the mouth that is used for tasting and eating food and in human beings for speaking

relaxed – adj. not strict or carefully controlled

tense – adj. not relaxed but hard and tight

1 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

2 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

3 lollipop   

n.棒棒糖

参考例句：

• The child put out his tongue and licked his lollipop.那孩子伸出舌头舔着棒棒糖。
• I ate popcorn,banana and lollipop.我吃了爆米花、香蕉和棒棒糖。

4 lollipops   

n.棒糖，棒棒糖( lollipop的名词复数 )；（用交通指挥牌让车辆暂停以便儿童安全通过马路的）交通纠察

参考例句：

• I bought lollipops and a toot-toot bugle. I started for home. 我给她买了棒棒糖，一吹就呜的打响的小喇叭。我就往回走。 来自互联网
• Our company specialize marshmallows, lollipops, bubble gums, chocolates and toys with candy. 本公司主要出口棉花糖、棒棒糖、泡泡糖、巧克力、儿童玩具等。 来自互联网

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 vowel   

n.元音；元音字母

参考例句：

• A long vowel is a long sound as in the word"shoe ".长元音即如“shoe” 一词中的长音。
• The vowel in words like 'my' and 'thigh' is not very difficult.单词my和thigh中的元音并不难发。

7 consonant   

n.辅音；adj.[音]符合的

参考例句：

• The quality of this suit isn't quite consonant with its price.这套衣服的质量和价钱不相称。
• These are common consonant clusters at the beginning of words.这些单词的开头有相同辅音组合。

8 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

9 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。