Adapting to another country can be an overwhelming experience by itself, but add the difficulty of working in another language, and you may find yourself feeling like a helpless child. Here are some tips that can help you be better understood when speaking English.

Believe it or not, you should probably slow your speech down. Not too much, just a little. You may feel that Americans speak quickly and you need to keep up. But give the other person some time to adjust to your accent. Surprisingly, in such a multicultural country as the U.S., many people haven’t had a lot of exposure to foreign accents.

Don’t say you understand if you don’t. Say “I’m sorry; I didn’t quite understand what you meant.” If you think you know what the other person has said, but want to make sure, you should paraphrase. For example, say “Let me make sure I understand. You want me to be here tomorrow at 10:00. Is that right?”

Don’t let your limited English keep you from talking. One of the biggest mistakes people make is thinking they have to be perfect before they speak. The truth is- the only way to become perfect is by speaking the language.

Get help with your English. For general English, try an intensive language program or a community college ESL class. Or if you want to specifically work on your pronunciation, get a coach or enroll in the American Accent Workshop at www.accentworkshop.com.

Whatever you do, don’t give up. Becoming a fluent English speaker is definitely an obtainable goal… but only if you keep working on it.

Sheri Summers is an Accent Modification Coach. She works with individuals who speak English as a second language to help them communicate more clearly and gain more confidence.

One-on-one, small-group, and workshop-type classes are offered in person or over the internet. Please visit http://www.accentworkshop.com or http://www.sherisummers.com for more information.

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More Bad Habits That Spoil the Development of Good English Language Speaking Skills

In the first part of this article post, we began a discussion of seven bad habits which spoil the development of good English or other foreign language speaking skills. In this second part, we’ll continue with some additional aspects to be considered when teaching and learning to speak English or another foreign language.

4. Leaning Face, Chin or Head Against Hand, Fingers or Palm

By all means, learners need to avoid leaning their head against their arm, fingers, palm or hand when speaking. This prevents correct enunciation in a number of ways which can be easily avoided. Be sure that you and your foreign language learners sit or stand up straight during speaking practice sessions with hands and arms away from the head or face.

5. Having Generally Poor Posture

When speaking, neither you nor your foreign language learners should stoop, slump or be hunched over in any manner. This restricts the chest cavity, overly compresses the diaphragm and muffles breathing and tone production.

6. Elision, Slurring or Generally Poor Enunciation of Spoken Sounds

If the practice of “cutting off” or eliding word endings is common in your or the EFL learners first language (L1), careful attention should be paid to avoiding this habit crossing over into the speech of English or other foreign language. One technique that is very helpful with this is the “mirror technique”. Briefly, a mirror is used by the foreign language learners to watch themselves speaking and pronouncing in the target foreign language.

7. Not Correcting “Problem Sounds” When Speaking

When someone is learning English as a foreign language, they tend to get stuck on a certain series of problem sounds in English. These “problem sounds” tend to be quite specific depending on the first language (L1) of the learner. Since these problem sounds are predictable, for the most part, in a particular L1 language group, the English as a foreign language teacher must take care in teaching their correct formation and pronunciation. Native Spanish speakers, for example, will need to work on the correct formation and pronunciation of letters and sounds such as: sh, ch, x, g, w, p, b, v and “th”, among others.

Promote the Development of English or Foreign Language Speaking Skills

One final point for now in regards to good speaking skills development is the use of dental prosthetics and appliances. If your learners have them they can either be removed, if possible, during English class as an aid to better pronunciation, if applicable. Alternatively, the EFL teacher and EFL learner must take impediments caused by dental or other prosthetics into account when practicing speech and pronunciation in English or other foreign languages. Be sure to consult with a qualified Dentist or Orthodontist too in order to better understand the inter-related relationship between dental mechanics and speech production.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an EFL Teacher Trainer, Intellectual Development Specialist, prolific writer, expert author and public speaker. He has written ESP, foreign language learning, English language teaching texts and hundreds of articles used in more than 120 countries. Get your FREE E-book, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know” and English language teaching and learning information at: http://bettereflteacher.blogspot.com Need a blogger or copywriter to promote your school, institution, service or business or an experienced writer and vibrant SEO content for your website, blog or newsletter? Contact the author at the above blog address for more information.

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Nowadays it’s necessary for every modern person to know at least one foreign language, as it can help to find a high-paid job, improve social status and get acquainted with people from other countries. However when someone teaches a foreign language often very little attention is paid to learning pronunciation. Indeed, it’s very strange that this very important language skill is usually set aside as secondary important and when it comes to pronunciation we often have at best only basic oral skills and slight knowledge of phonetics.

However it is very important to place high emphasis on phonetics and pronunciation when learning a foreign language. Native speakers won’t understand you, if your pronunciation of words incorrect or word order is wrong. That’s why one should have a great concern in using pronunciation guide, doing pronunciation exercises, learning pronunciation rules, consulting pronunciation dictionaries. Before starting any course in phonetics or downloading any pronunciation software it is useful to have some prior knowledge of phonetics and pronunciation teaching.

In the most general sense Phonetics may be defined as the study of sounds and the human voice. Phonetics has three main branches: articulatory phonetics, acoustic phonetics, and auditory phonetics. But for those who want to learn to speak a foreign language it is articulatory phonetics that is of primary importance.

You may be interested in the question: what pronunciation exercises are the most efficient and useful for a person who wants to improve his/her pronunciation skills? Here are some tips, which can help you to solve your pronunciation problems and obtain [http://www.qwertystudios.com/speech/tts-study/study-accurate-pronunciation/study-accurate-pronunciation.html]accurate pronunciation:

1.Learn pronunciation rules

2.Consult pronunciation dictionary

3.Pay attention to word stress

4.Listen to songs and film dialogues to improve your intonation skills

5.Record your speech and compare it with the original

6.Master your pronunciation skills uttering tongue twisters

7.Use computer programs to make language learning easier

8.Listen to texts in background mode

9.Read aloud to polish the pronunciation of difficult sounds

Today among numerous language teaching aids, it is learn to read programs and pronunciation software which are of vital importance for those who want to communicate easily with native speakers.

Speaking Notepad is the very pronunciation teaching program which will give you an invaluable opportunity to listen to pronunciation of words as many times as you need it. You can choose by yourself the themes of the texts and their complexity. With Speaking Notepad attaining powerful pronunciation and improving reading skills turns into a pleasant pastime.

Konstantin Artemev http://www.qwertystudios.com

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The English language can be very difficult to pronounce and listening to British English speakers from different regions of the country can be quite confusing. There are hundreds of variations on these regional accents and many towns have their own particular differences.

The standard pronunciation of British English words which is indicated in grammar books and dictionaries is usually the accent of educated middle-class speakers from the South of England. This is actually quite old fashioned as all regional accents are now accepted as both educated and correct. Most people now accept that there is no one standard English accent which is the right one.

There is, however, a huge variety in regional differences within the United Kingdom and even more variations of speech in other English-speaking countries. These are all correct.

It is perfectly correct to say :

bath: with a short ‘a’ sound

bahth: with a long ‘a’ sound

In the north of England the short ‘a’ sound is usual

However, it still possible that a variation in pronunciation may be a mistake and not a regional variation. Even native English speakers sometimes mispronounce a word. For example:

gist: pronounced with a hard ‘g’ sound is incorrect.

jist: correct pronunciation is with soft ‘j’ sound even though the words starts with ‘g’

Pronunciation of British English changes a lot. It is not a static language. This is because some words which are said correctly by careful speakers may be pronounced incorrectly by many people. The incorrect version becomes the norm and subsequently becomes correct and accepted. A good example of this is :

pronunciation: now accepted as correct in spelling and in the way it is said.

pronounciation: the original correct word which has given way to the more widely used form.

Great care should be taken when pronouncing phrases such as ‘law and order’. Careful speakers avoid putting an ‘r’ sound into it between the words ‘law’ and ‘order’ giving:

‘law rand order’

This can be a problem with any words or phrases containing the ‘aw’ sound followed by a vowel.

drawing: often mispronounced as ‘drawring’

awe-inspiring: mispronounced as ‘awrinspiring’

I saw it: sometimes said as ‘I saw rit’.

These are just a few examples of what makes English pronunciation so difficult. It can be very hard for a learner to develop good listening skills when there are so many variations in accent and mispronunciations are so common among native British English speakers.

Copyright: Louie Jerome 2008

Louie Jerome is a UK writer, editor and publisher. She is also a qualified teacher of English as a second language.

Writer Soup is a monthly internet magazine for writers and readers. http://www.learn-english-now.co.uk

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There are varying types of English pronunciation and its articulation lurking in the Educational Institutions of all the non-native speakers of English today. American English and British English vary in pronouncing such words. Both English, as times rolled by produced another multiple branches of pronunciation and articulation.

An obvious example is seen and heard from Japanese who learned the language, a Filipino, Singaporean, Russian, Arabian and many other non-native speaking citizens. Both American and British English vary their pronunciation in the word “either”. Both vary in saying the “ei” of “either.”

Asian countries in particular pronounce the words in a different manner compared to both American and British. The slang manner of producing the sounds of the words of Americans is different from Asian countries. This is because the nasal cavity structure of the Americans are bigger than people of the Asian countries.

It is to be noted that the nasal cavity is one of the factors affecting the sounds the way you pronounce the words. Other factors are the lower and the upper teeth, the lower and upper lips, the tongue and the diaphragm.

To learn English as the second language, these factors affecting the sound produced should also be given emphasis in the discussions or lessons to be discussed in learning English as the second language. This is for the learners to determine some of the problems affecting the acquisition of the language.

Psychologically speaking, the best age for the learner to start learning English as the Second Language is within the age of 6 up to 10 years old. This is because of the fact that their acquisitions on certain things are very great. Thus, we have to feed their minds with proper and correct information about learning English.

It is not solely the responsibility of the teacher for these young learners to learn English. This is due to the fact the when these learners go out of the classroom, most of the time, their acquisition of the language also stops. Therefore a follow up from the parents or guardians are very important to speed up learning English.

Just like any other subject, English also has fields that that are confusing on the part of the learner. Therefore, careful and detailed planning of the lesson to be discussed in front of these kids should be given considerable time so that the acquisition of the language, though it is hard achieve 100%, a favorable number of the learners will acquire the proper and correct pronunciation and articulation of English.

Today, it is necessary to [http://www.eaziessay.com]learn English as the Second Language. For beginners, especially young kids, teach them the basics first. But for advance learners and those who are already on the process of writing a letter, you should have a pattern or a [http://www.lettercover.org]cover letter sample as guide.

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Intonation in English.

Intonation, the “music” of a language, is perhaps the most important element of a correct accent. Many people think that pronunciation is what makes up an accent. It may be that pronunciation is very important for an understandable accent. But it is intonation that gives the final touch that makes an accent correct or native. Often we hear someone speaking with perfect grammar, and perfect formation of the sounds of English but with a little something that gives her away as not being a native speaker.

Therefore, it is necessary to realize that there are three components to an accent, pronunciation, intonation, and linking. In other places we will examine pronunciation, the proper formation of vowels and consonants, and linking, the way that syllables within a word, and the beginning and ending of words come together.

We will look at three places that help us to hear clearly the difference that intonation makes in the daily use of a proper North American English accent. The practice with the following three situations will help you to notice, practice, and master the different intonation patterns that you will discover as you concentrate more on your use of North American English.

The three situations are: 1. the different intonation of the same word when it is used as a noun or as a verb; 2. the different intonation of the same word when it is used as an adjective or as a verb; 3. the intonation of expressions of two words.

You can find more on this topic at: http://www.goodaccent.com
There are resources at: http://www.goodaccent.com/accentbooks.htm
And in Spanish at http://www.inglesparlatinos.com/Pronunciar.htm

1. Intonation: Noun Verb

Knowing when and where to stress the words you use is very important for understanding, and is part of a good accent. A clear example is that of the different stress in nouns and verbs.

It will be useful for you to be aware of the stress in both cases. Here is a list of a few that will get you thinking and give you some practice in identifying them and using them correctly. Underline the syllable that is stressed, and write a brief explanation to indicate that you understand the difference. I start the exercise with two examples, the words suspect and present. You do the rest. And make sure you pronounce the words OUT LOUD.

VERB
to suspect
to have an opinion

NOUN
a suspect
a person under suspicion

VERB
to present, to give
to introduce

NOUN
a present,
a gift, now

to conflict
a conflict

to contest
a contest

to contract
a contract

to contrast
a contrast

to convert
a convert

to convict
a convict

to default
a default

to discharge
a discharge

to incline
an incline

to insult
an insult

to object
an object

to permit
a permit

to present
a present

to produce
a produce

to progress
a progress

to project
a project

to protest
a protest

to rebel
a rebel

to recall
a recall

to reject
a reject

to research
a research

to subject
a subject

to survey
a survey

Can you tell the difference in the following sentences?

You need to insert a paragraph here on this newspaper insert.

How can you object to this object?

I’d like to present you with this present.

The manufacturer couldn’t recall if there’d been a recall.

The religious convert wanted to convert the world.

The political rebels wanted to rebel against the world.

The mogul wanted to record a new record for his latest artist.

If you perfect your intonation, your accent will be perfect.

Due to the drought, the fields didn’t produce much produce this year.

Unfortunately, City Hall wouldn’t permit them to get a permit.
……………………………….

2. Intonation: Noun/Adjective and Verb

In the previous case, we saw that verbs of two syllables often have the stress on the second syllable, while the related noun has the stress on the first syllable.

This case, along with the previous case, is an example of the effect that meaning has on intonation in English. Many native speakers do not realize that the “rule” of this section is pretty rigorous. To know it can help you in building your vocabulary at the same time as you perfect your intonation.

There is another intonation pattern that you must master. Verbs ending in the letters “ate” pronounce the letter “a” of the last syllable with the “long a” sound (the name of the letter “a”, the sound of the words steak and make).

Related nouns or adjectives pronounce the letter “a” of the last syllable with the indefinite schwa sound (the sound of the “a” of the word about>, or the second “e” in the word elephant )

For each word, indicate that you realize the effect of meaning on intonation by clarifying the difference between the two uses of the same word (“same” meaning having the same spelling.)

First, give a brief meaning of the word used as noun or adjective and put the letter I to indicate that the final letter “a” is the indefinite sound of the “a” in about..

Next, give a brief meaning of the word used as a verb and put the letter A to indicate that the final letter “a” is the sound of the “long a”. I start the exercise with two examples, the words alternate and appropriate. You do the rest. And make sure you pronounce the words OUT LOUD.

alternate I
Noun: A substitute

alternate A
Verb: To take turns.

appropriate I
Adjective: Correct or suitable

Appropriate A
Verb: To take over.

approximate
to approximate

articulate
to articulate

associate
to associate

deliberate
to deliberate

duplicate
to duplicate

laminate
to laminate

graduate
to graduate

intimate
to intimate

moderate
to moderate

predicate
to predicate

precipitate
to precipitate

Read the following sentences, pronouncing the words with the proper
intonation according to their use in the sentence.

The facilitator wanted to separate the general topic into separate
categories

Would you care to elaborate on his elaborate explanation?

Have you heard that your associate is known to associate with gangsters?

How much do you estimate that the estimate will be?

……………………………

3. Two Word Stress

Knowing when and where to stress the words you use is very important for understanding, and therefore, as part of a good accent. A clear example is that of stress in two word expressions.

The place of the stress depends on whether the two words are used to describe something like a “white HOUSE” (meaning a house that is painted white, and not blue or gray). In this case the most important note is the noun because we are talking about a house that happens to be white. Similarly, a fat BOY is an overweight young male.

But sometimes-short two word expressions are set and “consecrated”, and mean something special, like “the WHITE house” where Mr. Bush lives. In this case, the emphasis is on the adjective because we are more interested in stressing that it is the house that is known because it is white. Similarly, FAT boy is the nickname of a boy, chosen because it emphasizes his weight.

It will be useful for you to be aware of both types of two word expressions. Here is a list of a few that will get you thinking and give you some practice in identifying them and using them correctly. Underline the syllable that is stressed, and write a brief explanation, for both uses of each phrase. I start the exercise with two examples, the words white house and light bulb. You do the rest. And make sure you pronounce the words OUT LOUD.

WHITE house
In Washington

White HOUSE
House painted white

LIGHT bulb
Shines with electricity

Light BULB
A bulb that is not heavy

Dark room
Dark room

A cold fish
A gold fish

The paper box
The paper box

An old key
A door key

A nice watch
A wrist watch

A sticky web
A spider web

A clean cup
A coffee cup

A toy gun
A water gun

A bright star
A movie star

A new ball
A foot ball

A sharp knife
A steak knife

An old brush
A hair brush

A dry leaf
A fig leaf

A pointy tack
A thumb tack

A blackboard
A black board

A gray hound
A greyhound

A down payment
A late payment

He’s a big man.
He’s a big man.

A green house
A green house

The author, Frank Gerace, Ph.D, has worked in communication and education projects in Latin America. He has taught in public and private universities in Peru and Bolivia. Currently he teaches English to immigrant adults at an important branch of CUNY, the City University of New York. He also does private consultations for accent reductioon. He can be reached at [mailto:accent@leerespoder.com]accent@leerespoder.com. His website is http://www.GoodAccent.com and in Spanish it is http://www.InglesParaLatinos.com/Pronunciar.htm

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The voiced and unvoiced consonants

In this section we will try to clarify the difference between the voiced consonants and the unvoiced consonants.

If you want to master English pronunciation you have to able to distinguish between these two types of consonants. This is necessary for you to learn the proper pronunciation when you learn new vocabulary. And more importantly you need to know the difference between voiced and unvoiced consonants to be able to pronounce the words of English correctly. What makes one consonant be voiced and another not?

A consonant is voiced when it makes the vocal cords vibrate. It is voiceless when it is pronounced without vibrating the vocal cords.

The sound of the letters “p” and “b”

For example, the sounds indicated by the letters “b” and “p” differ only in their vocalization (voicing). The are both “bilabials”, that is, they are produced by closing both lips. But the “b” is voiced and the “p” is unvoiced. In this article, we will follow common practice and indicate the letters of the alphabet with quotes (“b” and “p”) and the sounds with slashes (/b/ and /p/)

You can appreciate the difference by lightly touching with the tips of your fingers your “Adam’s Apple” (the voice box that you can see in the front of your throat) as you pronounce the word bowl . You can feel the vibration with the tips of our fingers. Concentrate on the first sound, the consonant /b/ before passing to the vowel represented by the “o”. Notice that you can lengthen the sound (something is heard!) without the “o”. This is because /b/ is a voiced consonant.

Now pronounce the word pole. Do you feel the vibration in the vocal cords? No. The reason is that /p/ is an unvoiced consonant. Notice that you you can’t lengthen the sound or hear anything.

When you pronounce these sounds, don’t forget the advice we already gave you in other articles: exaggerate the value of the vowel “o” with a strong English accent!

Listen to the following exercise until you can distinguish betwen the two sounds and produce them yourself.

You should be able to telll the difference between the /p/ and the /b/ in the sentence The doctor said: “Bill, take your pill!

Try it now!

The sounds of the English letters /k/ (sometimes “c”) and /g/

It is not only the sounds /p/ and /b/ that are voiced or unvoiced. The same distinction holds for the sounds represented by the letters “k” y “g” in the International Phonetic Alphabet. By the way, do you see that it will not be hard for you to learn the symbols of the IPA? Many of the symbols, like the k and the g are already familiar to you. They are the normal letters of the alphabet.

The IPA symbol k interests us now. It is the “hard” sound of the letter “c”, the sound that the letter “c” usually takes before the letters “a”, “o”, and “u”, for example in the words car, coat, cube.

Now can you see how the IPA system makes it easy for you to learn the pronunciation of new words? Now, we don’t have to worry that sometimes the letter “c” has the sound of the IPA symbol k (as in the word cold) or that sometimes the same letter “c” of the English alphabet is pronounced as the IPA s (as in the words cell ).

Now try to feel in your voice box the vibration in the word coal! You can’t because it is the unvoiced partner in the pair. If you touch your voice box while you pronounce the word goal, you do feel the vibration because the sound g is voiced.

Practice the two words coal and goal. But keep on pronouncing the the English vowel with its lengthening. Exaggerate the English language character of the vowel. Don’t pronounce it as if it were col or gol in your language. And also remember the explosive nature of the consonant represented by the “c” in English when it is pronounced as the IPA k. Blow out the candle when you say coal.

Pero… ¡Qué no suene como si hablaras del repollo (la col en el Perú) o del fútbol (el gol)! ¡Cuidado con tu acento hispano!

Did you notice that we review various important things about the English sounds as we move along in this book. From now on, in your listening and in your practice, you must remember the explosive consonants, the special English vowels, and the voiced or unvoiced consonants.

Listen and practice all these essential elements of English pronunciation.

The sound of the letters “t” and “d”

Consider the pair of words tear and dear. Do the same with these words as you did above with the pairs of words coal and goal, and pole and bowl. Can you distinguish which of the initial sounds is voiced and which is unvoiced? Both are pronounced in almost the same place in the mouth but the initial sound of these two words is different in that the letter “t” is usually voiceless and the “d” is usually voiced. However, do NOT think that the letter “d” in English is always voiced. You will see that sometimes this letter “d” represents a voiceless sound. This is a VERY important lesson in the pronunciation of English and when you learn how and when the “d” is unvoiced it will be a valuable tool for you in your mastery of English.

This difference between the letters “d” and “t” in English is very important in the matter of the past tense of verbs. We will treat this elsewhere.

Also there is another pair of voiced and unvoiced consonants, the sounds represented in English by the letters “s” and “z”. We will study them in their most important contexts, that of the third person singular of the present of verbs, and that of the plural of nouns.

But for now, concentrate on the consonants we just looked at.
Now listen and practice! Listen wherever you can (or listen in our book) to the different pairs of voiced and unvoiced consonants. Then make them yourself.

P and B

K and G

T and D

This lesson is taken from the book, “Word Power” which contains sound files that let you hear the vowels and consonants and practice their pronunciation.

Frank Gerace Ph.D has worked in Latin America in UN and national Educational and Communication Projects, and has taught in Bolivian and Peruvian Universities. He currently teaches English in New York City at La Guardia College/CUNY. He provides resources on accent reduction and the proper American English accent at [http://www.GoodAccent.com]http://www.GoodAccent.com. He also maintains resources for Spanish Speaking learners of English at http://www.InglesParaLatinos.com

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THEME: Recognize situations where direct conversation should be used instead of email.

Did you ever imagine that you would have to remind people that they know how to talk? Surprisingly, management in today’s business world often needs to!

Today, it is so much easier to not have to talk to people for many things. PDAs and Internet-enabled email systems allow for information to be communicated at any time of day. In many cases, this is a great benefit since email allows people to communicate non-critical information on their own time schedules and process messages in batch.

However, there are many times when a two-way live conversation or a direct phone conversation is much more productive. Conversation is the quickest and most effective way to clarify any uncertainty and allows for visual and verbal clues to be used to help navigate the dialogue. Dialogue can also help to diffuse any misunderstandings or improper reactions and can uncover new information that is valuable to the situation.

Communications that have emotional content, require conflict resolution, require group discussion or contain sensitive information are some examples of when conversation should likely be used. It’s important for people to recognize when these situations exist so they can make the right communication method choice.

The following examples and consequences are provided to help better identify these situations. These are common cases where email is used when talking directly would be more effective:

Conflict resolution is attempted via email. This can create long threads of public arguments and drawn-out emotional strife.

A reprimand is sent through email. This can make the recipient feel like they were “convicted without a trial.”

Brainstorming or problem solving is attempted via email. This can also create long threads of messages with large distribution lists and usually generates less than optimal results since immediate two-way communication is not viable.

A message is sent containing content that may cause a strong emotional reaction. If an adverse reaction occurs, hours or days may pass before the sender can address the issue. Or worse, the sender may never understand that the recipient had an adverse reaction to the message.

Group decisions for complex issues are made via email. Since two-way interaction is limited and many people are less comfortable speaking out on email, only a portion of information that would be available from a group discussion is used to make the decision.

Negotiations are done via email. The ability of the sender to convince or persuade the recipient is much more limited over email. It’s very difficult to break down someone’s concerns or read their immediate reaction without direct interaction. Also, once the recipient “publicly refuses” a request over email, it is more difficult to get them to change his or her position.

As obvious as it may sound, reminding people that “talking is an option” may provide great benefit at times. People get so used to communicating via email that they often forget this point. Talking also helps to build informal relationships and networks that are critical to an organization’s success. Usually, if there’s any form of uncertainty, disagreement, or emotional content in an issue, having a discussion is the best choice. And if there’s any doubt whether an email will be effective, you should probably talk it out instead.

Talk It Out When in Doubt! – 12 Reasons to Have a Direct Conversation

When you are mad or emotional.

When the other person is mad or emotional.

When there is a conflict on an item.

When you need to convince someone to change his or her position.

When you aren’t sure that others will interpret your email properly.

When someone sends you an email that seems out of character for him or her.

When you aren’t sure how to interpret someone else’s email.

When someone asks you something ambiguous or general over email.

When you believe repeated two-way dialogue or lengthy explanation is required.

When you are concerned how the other person may respond and want to address his or her response immediately.

When many people need to provide repeated input into an issue.

When the tone of voice, body language, facial expressions, etc. will add value to communicating or understanding an issue. For example, you may want to express concern, show empathy or get an immediate read on the other person’s reaction.

Martin Rola is the author of Email Less –> Talk More: Building Productivity and Job Satisfaction — Yours & Others

Please visit http://www.emailless.com/ for more information.

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English Sayings

Common Expressions

If you are thinking about the over 145,000 word references with more than 200,000 definitions and roughly 1,200,000 vocabulary relationships between the definitions, it’s no easy task mastering the English language. People are always looking for better ways to sort and filter results that they process before speaking. Humorous English proverbs can help you with slang expressions to use in social outings.

Challenge His Story- Call His Bluff

Catch On- Learn How to Do Something

Cracks Me up- Adverb to Make Me Laugh

Drop In (On)- Verb Visit without Calling First or Without an Invitation

Fat Cat Verb- a Rich or Wealthy Person

Most Frequently Used Words in English High Frequency Spelling Words

If you suffer from poor vocabulary use often and haven’t been able to find a way to effectively use language, you may actually find some of the vocabulary words useful below. While this language can be difficult to learn, it is fairly easy to understand what you need to communicate well.

Structure, restructure, restructured, restructures, restructuring, structural, structurally, structured, structures, structuring, unstructured

The present dictionary word possessing the largest repetitiveness of use would be structure

Create, created, creates, creating, creation, creations, creative, creatively, creativity, creator, creators, recreate, recreated, recreates, recreating

The current English word having the utmost recurrence of usage would be create

Major, majorities, majority

The term possessing the most frequency of usage would be major

Environment, environmental, environmentalist, environmentalists, environmentally, environments, establish, disestablish, disestablished, disestablishes, disestablishing, disestablishment

The current word having the highest abundance of use would be environment

Principle, principled, principles, unprincipled, precede, procedural

The term having the most prevalence of usage is principle

Process, processed, processes, processing, require

The English word possessing the largest constancy of use is process

Section, sectioned, sectioning, sections

The present English word with the most repetition of use would be section

Issues, issuing

The current English word having the most abundance of usage would be issues

Derived, derives, deriving, distribute, distributed, distributing

Derived has got the current highest use for this vocalization association

Analysis, analyst, analysts, analytic, analytical, analytically, analyze, analyzed, analyzes, analyzing

Currently the word with the most frequency of utilization is analysis

Good Tongue Twisters Get Wrapped Up On Words

If you’ve ever tried to use language in the work place and stumble for words your are not pumping your brain with enough new vocabulary words. Visit a few vocabulary words sites and pick up new language skills with tongue twisters. It is an absolute challenge on your tongue and will improve your speech, not to mention getting a few chickles in your peer group. With practice the outcome can be…No stumbling on vocabulary words, no improper use of language, no miscommunication.

To help you get the most our of your vocabulary, repeat these tongue twisters below.

Two toads, totally tired.
Peggy Babcock.
SIXTH SICK SHEIK’S SIXTH SICK SHEEP
Will you, William?
What time does the wristwatch strap shop shut?
The blue bluebird blinks.
Nine nice night nurses nursing nicely.
When a doctor falls ill another doctor doctor’s the doctor.
Preshrunk silk shirts
Greek grapes.

College Slang

Another great way to learn how to communicate with younger people is to understand much of the slang used in Colleges. It is great great way to “shoot the breeze” with college classmates.

John online, with the most off-the wall internet marketing concepts that people don’t think about. http://www.createonlinebusiness.com/wordpress/seo-sem/lsi-seo-explained/

More on Slang http://www.wordsplural.com/college-slang1.php

More on idioms http://www.wordsplural.com/idioms/idioms-a-cut-above-with-it.php

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In this section we will try to clarify the difference between the voiced consonants and the unvoiced consonants.

If you want to master English pronunciation you have to able to distinguish between these two types of consonants. This is necessary for you to learn the proper pronunciation when you learn new vocabulary. And more importantly you need to know the difference between voiced and unvoiced consonants to be able to pronounce the words of English correctly. What makes one consonant be voiced and another not?

A consonant is voiced when it makes the vocal cords vibrate. It is voiceless when it is pronounced without vibrating the vocal cords.

The sound of the letters “p” and “b”

For example, the sounds indicated by the letters “b” and “p” differ only in their vocalization (voicing). The are both “bilabials”, that is, they are produced by closing both lips. But the “b” is voiced and the “p” is unvoiced. In this article, we will follow common practice and indicate the letters of the alphabet with quotes (“b” and “p”) and the sounds with slashes (/b/ and /p/)

You can appreciate the difference by lightly touching with the tips of your fingers your “Adam’s Apple” (the voice box that you can see in the front of your throat) as you pronounce the word bowl . You can feel the vibration with the tips of our fingers. Concentrate on the first sound, the consonant /b/ before passing to the vowel represented by the “o”. Notice that you can lengthen the sound (something is heard!) without the “o”. This is because /b/ is a voiced consonant.

Now pronounce the word pole. Do you feel the vibration in the vocal cords? No. The reason is that /p/ is an unvoiced consonant. Notice that you you can’t lengthen the sound or hear anything.

When you pronounce these sounds, don’t forget the advice we already gave you in other articles: exaggerate the value of the vowel “o” with a strong English accent!

Listen to the following exercise until you can distinguish betwen the two sounds and produce them yourself.

You should be able to telll the difference between the /p/ and the /b/ in the sentence The doctor said: “Bill, take your pill!

Try it now!

The sounds of the English letters /k/ (sometimes “c”) and /g/

It is not only the sounds /p/ and /b/ that are voiced or unvoiced. The same distinction holds for the sounds represented by the letters “k” y “g” in the International Phonetic Alphabet. By the way, do you see that it will not be hard for you to learn the symbols of the IPA? Many of the symbols, like the k and the g are already familiar to you. They are the normal letters of the alphabet.

The IPA symbol k interests us now. It is the “hard” sound of the letter “c”, the sound that the letter “c” usually takes before the letters “a”, “o”, and “u”, for example in the words car, coat, cube.

Now can you see how the IPA system makes it easy for you to learn the pronunciation of new words? Now, we don’t have to worry that sometimes the letter “c” has the sound of the IPA symbol k (as in the word cold) or that sometimes the same letter “c” of the English alphabet is pronounced as the IPA s (as in the words cell ).

Now try to feel in your voice box the vibration in the word coal! You can’t because it is the unvoiced partner in the pair. If you touch your voice box while you pronounce the word goal, you do feel the vibration because the sound g is voiced.

Practice the two words coal and goal. But keep on pronouncing the the English vowel with its lengthening. Exaggerate the English language character of the vowel. Don’t pronounce it as if it were col or gol in your language. And also remember the explosive nature of the consonant represented by the “c” in English when it is pronounced as the IPA k. Blow out the candle when you say coal.

Pero… ¡Qué no suene como si hablaras del repollo (la col en el Perú) o del fútbol (el gol)! ¡Cuidado con tu acento hispano!

Did you notice that we review various important things about the English sounds as we move along in this book. From now on, in your listening and in your practice, you must remember the explosive consonants, the special English vowels, and the voiced or unvoiced consonants.

Listen and practice all these essential elements of English pronunciation.

The sound of the letters “t” and “d”

Consider the pair of words tear and dear. Do the same with these words as you did above with the pairs of words coal and goal, and pole and bowl. Can you distinguish which of the initial sounds is voiced and which is unvoiced? Both are pronounced in almost the same place in the mouth but the initial sound of these two words is different in that the letter “t” is usually voiceless and the “d” is usually voiced. However, do NOT think that the letter “d” in English is always voiced. You will see that sometimes this letter “d” represents a voiceless sound. This is a VERY important lesson in the pronunciation of English and when you learn how and when the “d” is unvoiced it will be a valuable tool for you in your mastery of English.

This difference between the letters “d” and “t” in English is very important in the matter of the past tense of verbs. We will treat this elsewhere.

Also there is another pair of voiced and unvoiced consonants, the sounds represented in English by the letters “s” and “z”. We will study them in their most important contexts, that of the third person singular of the present of verbs, and that of the plural of nouns.

But for now, concentrate on the consonants we just looked at.
Now listen and practice! Listen wherever you can (or listen in our book) to the different pairs of voiced and unvoiced consonants. Then make them yourself.

P and B

K and G

T and D

This lesson is taken from the book, “Word Power” which contains sound files that let you hear the vowels and consonants and practice their pronunciation.

Frank Gerace Ph.D has worked in Latin America in UN and national Educational and Communication Projects, and has taught in Bolivian and Peruvian Universities. He currently teaches English in New York City at La Guardia College/CUNY. He provides resources on accent reduction and the proper American English accent at [http://www.GoodAccent.com]http://www.GoodAccent.com. He also maintains resources for Spanish Speaking learners of English at http://www.InglesParaLatinos.com

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