CAN WE IMPROVE SPOKEN ENGLISH
WITHOUT PRONUNCIATION ?
FOOTSTEPS SESSION
DR SWATI KUMARI
CAN YOU DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE SOUNDS OF ENGLISH
LANGUAGE?
CHIP-CHEAP
SAT-SET
PULL-POOL
ON-PAWN
BUD-BIRD
OBSERVATIONS?
• Spelling does not determine pronunciation
• English has distinct way to pronounce words
• one should know the correct pronunciation !
Is Pronunciation significant?
Pronunciation is important because it makes your first impression.
Correct pronunciation enhances your communication skills and makes you feel more
confident.
Pronunciation and clear understanding of English speech are two skills which complement
each other.
when you know how to pronounce the words and phrases correctly, with proper intonation,
your level of speech understanding is also increased.
One can clear exam like IELTS, TOEFL with the knowledge of correct pronunciation
So to learn correct pronunciation, there is a super amazing tool and that is IPA.
International Phonetic Alphabets(IPA)
Phonetics is the study of sounds
• sounds symbols, syllables, stress, intonation, rhythm and so on.
Number of English Alphabets
• 26 Letters (26 symbols)
Number of sounds in English
• 44 sounds (44 symbols)
About /ə'baʊt/
Phonetic
Always /'ɔ:lweɪz/ Transcriptions
Angry /'æŋgrɪ/
Answer /'ɑ:nsə/
Sound Symbols
Vowel Sounds Consonant Sounds
Diphthongs
When 2 vowel sounds glides together in one syllable
Commonly Mispronounced Words with
phonetic transcription
Almond: This dry fruit is pronounced Ah-mund [ ˈɑː.mənd ] (pronunciation of u as in sun). L is
silent. You should not pronounce it as Aal-mund.
Bury: It is pronounced as Be-ri [ ˈberi ], the same as berry. And not Beu-ri or Burr-ri.
Coupon: The correct pronunciation is Koo-pon [ ˈkuː.pɒn ] (pon as in pawn). It is often
mispronounced as koo-pun (pronunciation of u as in sun).
Dengue: This disease is pronounced as Den-gee [ ˈdeŋ.ɡi ] (pronunciation of ‘gee’ as in
cheese). You should not pronounce it as Den-goo.
Develop: The correct pronunciation is D+vay+lupp /dɪˈveləp/ , and not as Day+vay+lupp.
Bowl: It is pronounced as bo-hl /bəʊl/ (pronunciation of o as in roll). Not as ba-ool which is
wrong.
Continued:
Dessert: It is pronounced as dizz-urt /dɪˈzɜː(r)t/ (pronunciation of u as in sun). And not as des-
ert which is a barren land.
Pizza: The correct pronunciation is peet-zuh [ ˈpiːt.sə ], (peet pronounced as in wheat). And
not Pi-za.
Sour: The correct pronunciation is sower /ˈsaʊə(r)/ (as in power). It is often pronounced as
saar which is wrong.
Plumber: Its correct pronunciation is plume(r) /ˈplʌmə(r)/with b silent.
Two groups of Silent Letters
Auxiliary Letters: TWO LETTERS SPELT AS ONE SINGLE SOUND
"Auxiliary letters are part of a group of letters that spell a sound that does not have a usual
single letter to represent it. For example,
/th/ thing
/th/ there
/sh/ share
/zh/ treasure
/ng/ song."
Dummy Letters
"Dummy letters have two subgroups: Inert letters and Empty letters.”
Inert letters are letters that in a given-word segment are sometimes heard and sometimes not
heard. For example,
resign (g is not heard)
resignation (g is heard)
design (g is not heard)
designated(g is heard)"
Dummy
Empty Letters: IN SPELLING LETTERS ARE PRESENTLetters
BUT NOT IN PRONUNCIATION
b: dumb, thumb
c: descent, scene
ch: yacht /jɒt/.
d: bridge, ledge, edge
g: foreign, sign, design, assign
h: rhinoceros [rīˈnäs(ə)rəs]
k: knee, knit, knob, know, knuckle
l: calf, talk, could, should, would
n: autumn, column
p: raspberry, receipt
t: castle, listen, whistle
w: answer, wrap, wreath, wreck, wrong, write.
Clues to Find Silent Letters:
1. b is always silent in the spelling sequences mb and bt occurring in the word-final
position: comb, numb, bomb, limb, debt, doubt…
2. d is always silent in the spelling sequence dj: adjective, adjunct, adjacent...
3. g is silent in the spelling sequence gm or gn: phlegm, gnarl, champagne, sign...
4. h is silent in the spelling sequence gh and in the word-final position: ghost, aghast, ghastly
ah, eh, oh...
5. k is always silent in the word-initial spelling sequence kn: kneel, knee, knob, knight,
knowledge, knife, knock.
TWIST YOUR TONGUE WITH THE
TONGUE TWISTERS
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers
She sells seashells by the seashore
How can a clam cram in a clean cream can?
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream
I saw Susie sitting in a shoeshine shop
I slit the sheet, the sheet I slit, and on the slitted sheet I sit
A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk
Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better
