5 A Problems with pronunciation Phonetics With many languages you can look at a word and know (more or less) how to pronounce it. With English this is not true: it is often very difficult to know the pronunciation from looking at a word. For example: cough (pronounced like ‘off’) enough (like ‘stuff’) through (like ‘too’) and dough (like ‘so") The only way you can be sure about the pronunciation is to learn some phonetic symbols, which tell you the pronunciation. Dictionaries use them, and there is a table of phonetic symbols, with examples, on page 246. Phonetic symbols are used next to many words in the index, and there is a special list of words on page 247, which cause pronunciation problems for speakers from different countries. Word stress When a word has two or more syllables, one of them has the main stress. In these examples, the main stress follows the symbol ': ‘accent —pre'fer_—edu'eation ‘nee ssary Ja'pan Japa'nese If you put the stress on the wrong syllable, it may be difficult for listeners to understand what you are saying. fal Probably the most important sound in English because it is often the pronunciation of the letters ‘a’, ‘o’ and ‘e’ if they are not part of a stressed syllable. ma'chine /ma'fisn/ ‘mother /'mada’_—_po'tato /pa'tertav/ ‘cinema /'sinama/ Key letters and sounds A common problem is that a single letter or combination of letters has more than one pronunciation, e.g. -ough in section A. Here are some more examples: the letter ‘o’ is often /o/, e.g. hot; or /al, €.g. some; or /aul, e.g. no the letter ‘a’ is often /e/, e.g. hat; or /et/, e.g. same; or /at/, e.g. fast the letter ‘u’ is often /a/, e.g, run; of /u/, e.g. put the letter ‘is often /1/, e.g, sit; or Jail, e.g. side lent letters and short syllables There are many words in English where a letter is not pronounce: fasten plumber calm knee ~— wrong. comb There are also many words where we almost ‘eat’ one of the syllables, and as a result a vowel sound almost disappears and a word, for example, with three written syllables may be two (or two and a half) in spoken English. For example: interested /intrastid/ fattening /feetnuy’ vegetable /vedstabl/ Note: The exercises on the next page practise some words with difficult pronunciation. English Vocabulary in Use (pre-intermediate & intermediate)5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Exercises ‘Try using some phonetic symbols. Using your dictionary or the index, fill in the pronunciation of these words (put the symbols between the/ _/). Then practise saying the words and make sure you can see and hear the difference in the pronunciation of the words in each pair. soap / ! 4 vase / I razor / / Look at the underlined letters in these words. Which one is the odd one out in each case? 1 bread dream — spread _— dead 2 spoon room —_— flood —_choase 3 fast phrase blame —_ sunbathe 4 cousin wound (n) rough trouble 5S virus pilot diet__—_since 6 hyphen symptom — type _ psychology Which syllable has the main stress in these words? Put them in the correct column. cathedral policy palace lee 1 opposite police understand —_| first econ facesea advertisement desert (n) competition organise assistance education Now look at the words again. How many examples of the // sound can you find? Look at the underlined letters in these pairs of words. Is the pronunciation the same or different? know / knife muscle / scissors island / Islam climb / bomb listen / western honest / hope aisle / Christmas wrong / wrist hand / handsome calf / calm English Vocabulary in Use (pre-intermediate & intermediate) 15OHT (overhead, transparency) Classroom language Equipment These are some of the things you may use in your classroom or school. pencil video (cassette) briefease sharpener bag socket _. rubber board pen cassette tape/cassette recorder + lead Note: We can use some of these nouns as verbs with little or no change: to video record a programme on video), to photocopy (= to use the photocopier), to highlight and to file (= to put things in a file) Classroom activities Here are some classroom activities. Look carefully at the verbs in bold, Things you do in the classroom Look up a word if you don’t understand it. Borrow someone’s dictionary or rubber. Rub out mistakes in your notebook. find the meaning of a word in a dictionary) use it and then return it) fakes / remove them using a rubber) erase mii Things the teacher may do in the classroom: Plug in the tape recorder. (= put the plug in the socket and turn on the electricity) Turn up the tape recorder (= increase the volume) if the students can’t hear it. Rub things off the board. (= remove writing from the board) Correct students’ English. (= give the correct English if students make mistakes) ‘Things your teacher may ask you to do in the classroom: Could you clean the board, Carlos? (= remove all the writing from the board} Write these words down. (= write these words on a piece of paper / in a notebook) Enrique, could you swap places (= exchange places) with Lorena? Repeat this sentence (= say it again) after me, Questions about vocabulary What does X mean? [Not what means X2] How do you pronounce it? How do you spell bicycle”? How do you use ‘anyway’ in a sentence? What's the difference between X and Y? English Vocabulary in Use (pre-intermediate & intermediate)6.2 6.3 6.5 Exercises Label these pictures then check your answers on the opposite page. Answer these questions. What do you rub off the board? What do you put in a tape recorder? What do you put on an OHP? What do you keep in a file? What do you put in a briefcase? What do you put in a socket? What do you use a dictionary for? What do you use a rubber for? What do you use a photocopier for? Why do you turn up a tape recorder? Seorusaueune 1 Match the verbs on the left with the nouns on the right. 1 clean places 2 tum up a word 3 borrow mistakes 4 swap the board 5 video a dictionary 6 do the OHP 7 correct the tape recorder 8 look up a programme 9 plug in an exercise Think about your last lesson (in English or any other subject). Did you do any of these things? clean the board swap places with someone use a rubber look up a word borrow something make a mistake watch a video write something down in a notebook Here are some answers. What are the possible questions? a‘ ? Br It means to exchange places. A B: /swop/ Like ‘cop’ or ‘stop’. Al >? B: S-W-A-P. a‘ 2B: [can’t see the board from here. Will you swap places with me? English Vocabulary in Use (pre-intermediate & intermediate) 7