How to improve

your pronunciation
at METEN

By David Turnbull
Contents
1……. Introduction
2……. Understanding Syllables.
3 - 4……. Rules of word stress.

5 – 7…… Word stress.

8-10…… Basic Syllable Rules.
11……. Stress Patterns.
12-14…… Phonetic Syllables.
15-20…… How to make the sounds.
21-22…… Compound words.
23-24…… Homophones.
25-27…… Homophone words.
28-29…… Phonic Rules.
30-31…… Practice Words.
32……. Linking Words.
33……. Understanding Vowels and Consonants for linking.
34-38…… Sentence Stress.
39……. Linking Consonant to Vowel.
40……. Linking Vowel to Vowel.
41-43…… Practice songs.
1. Introduction

Welcome: Learning a foreign language is one of the most difficult yet

most rewarding experiences of your life.
Although at times, learning a language is frustrating, but it is well worth the effort
in the end.
A brief introduction of myself. My name is David Turnbull, my nationality is British
and I come from England. I have been teaching in Asia for over 10 years and I
love my job teaching students in China and many parts of Asia. From my
experience with Chinese students their pronunciation is far from perfect, but their
grammar is reasonably good. The feedback I get from the students is that they
don’t practice enough to improve their pronunciation in an English environment.
Chinese students are consensus about pronunciation and grammar. So how can
they improve their pronunciation? Move to America or England perhaps? Well not
many students can afford this option, so here is a much cheaper solution;
Watch English TV programs to improve your listening skills and try to think in
English to train your mind instead of translating from English to Chinese and then
to English. This will take a lot of practice and time to achieve your desired goal to
be a good English speaker.
Secondly my book is I believe aimed to improve your English pronunciation. To
improve your English pronunciation you must first understand how the native
speaker sounds with stress and intonation. This book is based on how to
understand the rules so that you will have a good idea of the sounds. The books
easy to follow guide should help you to improve your pronunciation. Please enjoy!
2. Understanding Syllables.
To understand word stress, it helps to understand syllables.
Every word is made from syllables.
Each word has one, two, three or more syllables.

There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class
change with a change in stress. The word present, for example is a two-
syllable word. If we stress the first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an
adjective (opposite of absent). But if we stress the second syllable, it
becomes a verb (to offer).

More examples: the words export, import, contract and object can all
be nouns or verbs depending on whether the stress is on the first or
second syllable.
3. Rules of Word Stress.
There are two very simple rules about word stress:
One word has only one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. If
you hear two stresses, you hear two words. Two stresses cannot be one
word. It is true that there can be a "secondary" stress in some words. But
a secondary stress is much smaller than the main [primary] stress, and is
only used in long words.)
Rule example
Most 2-syllable nouns PRESent, EXport, CHIna,TAble
Most 2-syllable adjectives PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy

Rule example
Most 2-syllable verbs……to preSENT, to exPORT, to deCIDE, to beGIN

Rule example
Words ending in -cy-ty-phy and–gy…….deMOcracy, dependaBIlity,
phoTOgraphy, geOLogy.

Words ending in –al………………………CRItical, geoLOGical

4.
We can only stress vowels, not consonants.
There are some, rather complicated, rules that can help you
understand where to put the stress. But do not rely on them too much,
because there are many exceptions. It is better to try to "feel" the
music of the language and to add the stress naturally.
Apart from the vowel qualities and consonant qualities, stresses play a
very important role in conveying the meaning of a sentence in English.
Chinese is a tone language while English is a highly stressed
language.
Word number of syllables
Dog dog 1
Quiet qui-et 2
Expensive ex-pen-sive 3
Interesting in-ter-est-ing 4

Unexceptional un-ex-cep-tion-al 5
5. Word Stress
Word pattern
tea.cher • .
beau.ti.ful • . . un.der.stand
. . • con.ti.nue . •
. con.ti.nu.a.tion . • . • .
black.board • •

When a syllable is stressed, it is pronounced; longer in duration, higher in pitch,

and louder in volume.
Try this with the word teacher.
How you say teacher?
longer teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee cha
higher tea cha
louder TEA cha
all three combined TEEEEEEEEE cha
6.
Exercise:
Say these words with the stressed syllables (in bold) more prominent. Try
to stress them by lengthening the vowel. Try NOT to exaggerate the pitch
difference.

two syllables - de.sign, a.bout, af.ter,

three syllables - va.nil.la, Ca.na.da, graf.fi.ti
four syllables - in.dif.fe.rent, A.ri.zo.na, a.vai.la.ble,
five syllables - u.ni.ver.si.ty , ca.fe.te.ri.a, la.bo.ra.to.ry,

** Some native speakers (particularly British) pronounces this word

la.bo.ra.t(o)ry (three syllables).
7.
All words of more than one syllable have what is called word stress. This
means that at least one of the syllables is
l o n g e r and louder than the other syllables.
In the following examples, stressed syllables are in capital letters:

Column A Column B Column C

PHOtograph phoTOgraphy photoGRAphic
PENcil comMITtee volunTEER
MANchester soCIety inforMAtion

In many cases, word stress must simply be learned as new vocabulary is

acquired.

However, there are several rules for word stress which can make it
easier to deal with.
8. Basic Syllable Rules.
1. To find the number of syllables:
---count the vowels in the word,
---subtract any silent vowels, (like the silent "e" at the end of a
word or the second vowel when two vowels a together in a syllable)
---subtract one vowel from every diphthong, (diphthongs only
count as one vowel sound.)

---the number of vowels sounds left is the same as the number

of syllables.
The number of syllables that you hear when you pronounce a word
is the same as the number of vowels sounds heard. For example:
The word "came" has 2 vowels, but the "e" is silent, leaving one
vowel sound and one syllable.

The word "outside" has 4 vowels, but the "e" is silent and the "ou" is
a diphthong which counts as only one sound, so this word has only
two vowels sounds and therefore, two syllables.
9.

2. Divide between two middle consonants.

Split up words that have two middle consonants. For example:
hap/pen, bas/ket, let/ter, sup/per, din/ner, and Den/nis.

The only exceptions are the consonant digraphs. Never split up

consonant digraphs as they really represent only one sound.

The exceptions are "th", "sh", "ph", "ch", and "wh".

3. Usually divide before a single middle consonant.

When there is only one syllable, you usually divide in front of it, as in:
"o/pen", "i/tem", "e/vil", and "re/port".

The only exceptions are those times when the first syllable has an
obvious short sound, as in "cab/in".
10.
4. Divide before the consonant before an "-le" syllable.

When you have a word that has the old-style spelling in which the "-le"
sounds like "-el", divide before the consonant before the "-le".
For example: "a/ble", "fum/ble", "rub/ble" "mum/ble" and "this/tle".

The only exception to this are "ckle" words like "tick/le".

5. Divide off any compound words, prefixes, suffixes and roots

which have vowel sounds.

Split off the parts of compound words like "sports/car" and "house/boat".
Divide off prefixes such at "un/happy", "pre/paid", or "re/write".
Also divide off suffixes as in the words "farm/er", "teach/er",
"hope/less" and "care/ful".

In the word "stop/ping", the suffix is actually "-ping" because this word
follows the rule that when you add "-ing" to a word with one syllable, you
double the last consonant and add the "-ing".
11. Stress Patterns

Example:
1. Sing a song.

2. I’d love to.

3. I’ve heard of it.
4. I want to know.

5. She asked me to go.

12. Phonetic symbols for English

Consonants: p………
………………………………pen, copy, happen b……
…………………………………back, baby, job t…
…………………………………….tea, tight, button
d………………………………………day, ladder, odd
k………………………………………key, clock, school
g………………………………………get, giggle, ghost
tʃ………………………………………church, match, nature
dʒ……………………………………..judge, age, soldier
f……………………………………….fat, coffee, rough, photo
V…………………............................view, heavy, move
θ ……………………………………..thing, author, path
ð ……………………………………..this,
other, smooth s ……………
…...............................soon, cease, sister
z ……………………………………..zero, music, roses, buzz
ʃ ……………………………………..ship, sure, national
ʒ ……………………………………..
pleasure, vision h …………………
………………….hot, whole, ahead m
……………………………………more, hammer, sum
13.
Ŋ ……….. ring, anger, thanks, sung
l ………….light, valley, feel
r …………right, wrong, sorry, arrange
j ………… use, beauty, few
w ……….wet, one, when, queen
ʔ ………..(glottal stop) department, football

Vowels:
ɪ ………………..kit, bid, hymn, minute
e ……………….dress, bed, head, many
æ ………………trap, bad
ɒ ……………….lot, odd, wash
ʌ ……………….strut, mud, love, blood
ʊ ………………foot, good, put
I ː……………..fleece, sea, machine eɪ
……………..face, day, break aɪ
……………..price, high, try
14.
ɔɪ …………….........................................choice, boy
u ː………………………………………..goose, two,
blue, group əʊ ………………………………
………..goat, show, no aʊ ………
………………………………..mouth, now
ɪə …………………………………………near, here, weary
eə ………………………………………..
square. fair, various ɑː …………
….....................................start, father
ɔː ……………………………………….thought, law, north, war
ʊə ……………………………………….poor, jury,
cure ɜː ………………………………
……….nurse, stir, learn, refer
ə …………………………………………about, common, standard
I ………………………………………….happy,
radiate. Glorious u …………………
………………………thank you, influence, situation
n̩ …………………………………………suddenly, cotton
l̩ ……………………………………
…….middle, metal
15. How to make some of the most important sounds.

These activities ， have some

exercises that you can use to
practice these sounds.

First, here is a picture of the inside of your mouth and the important
articulators, the parts of your mouth that help you to make the sounds.
Your lips, teeth, tongue, nose, and roof of your mouth are all important
for pronunciation. The epiglottis is also important. That is the thing that
you use to hold your breath and to swallow. It closes your windpipe so the
air cannot come out.
We make the sound in "heed" (/i/) with our tongue very close to the top
of our mouth. We also spread our lips so it looks like we are smiling.
16.

When we make the sound in "hid" (/I/), we don't look as much like we are
smiling, and our tongues are lower in our mouths. Here is a picture of our
mouths so that you can compare where the tongue is for these two
sounds.

/i/ sounds: /I/ sounds:

Meat mitt
sheep ship
leak lick
17.
We make the sound in "head" with our mouth open wider than for /i/ or /I/
and our tongues not as close to the top of our mouths.

The sound in "hate" is actually a diphthong, which means it is a

combination of the sounds /e/ and /I/. You can feel your tongue moving
closer to the roof of your mouth when you say it.

"head" sounds: "hate" sounds:

Head hate
Shepherd shape
Leg lake
Met mate
18.

We make the sound in "hot" (/a/) with our mouth open the widest.
Pretend you are going to the doctor and saying "ahhhhhhhh".

See how open your mouth is and how far back your tongue is.
The sound in "hat" is made with your mouth open not as wide and the
sound is not as far back in your throat. Pretend someone is choking you.
The sound you will make is this "hat" vowel.

"hat" sounds: "hot" sounds:

hat hot
lack lock
mat Mott's
sap sop
19.

We make the sound in "hoot" (/u/) with our really rounded. Sing "ooh,
baby, baby" or pretend you are going to kiss someone.

"hoot" sounds: "hood" sounds:

who'd hood
pool pull
Luke: look
20.
The vowel sound in hoed is called a diphthong. This means it is actually
two vowel sounds that slur together. As you say the sound, your mouth
will get more closed and your lips will get more round. At the end of this
sound, you will be making the same vowel sounds as in /u/, and your lips
should not be as round as they as when you say "hoot".

"hoed" sounds: "hoot" sounds:

Moat mute
Hoed who'd

Local Luke
soap soup
21. Compound words.
I.  Compound Nouns:
Listen to the following compound nouns. Can you hear the word stress?
In each of these examples, the first part of the compound gets the stress.

2. Noun+Noun Compounds (2-word compound nouns)

air conditioner, computer programmer, nail polish, French fry,
Geiger counter, doctor's office.

Similar to the rule for compound nouns, the first part of the compound--
here, the first word--gets the stress. (Note: If the "unstressed" part of the
noun+noun compound is more than one syllable, it will have some word
stress. However, the first part of the compound will get even more
stress.)
22.
3. Phrasal Verbs versus Compound Nouns derived from phrasals

Phrasal verbs (a.k.a. two-word or two-part verbs) are generally

made up of a verb and preposition. For many of these, correct word
stress is especially important as they have compound noun
counterparts. In the following examples, the words on the left are
phrasal verbs.

The words here are nouns.

let down, (letdown), shut out, (shutout) print out (printout) turn off
(turnoff) take over (takeover)
In phrasal verbs, the preposition gets the word stress.

If they have a noun counterpart, however, it gets the stress on the

first part.
23. Homophones.
Homophones are words that have exactly the same sound
(pronunciation) but different meanings and (usually) spelling.
For example, the following two words have the same sound, but different
meanings and spelling:
hour
our
In the next example, the two words have the same sound and spelling,
but different meanings:
bear (the animal)
bear (to carry)
Usually homophones are in groups of two (our, hour), but very
occasionally they can be in groups of three (to, too, two) or even four. If
we take our "bear" example, we can add another word to the group"
bare (naked)
bear (the animal)
bear (to tolerate)
"Our bear cannot bear to be bare at any hour."
24.

What does homophone mean?

The word homophone is made from two combining forms: homo-
(from the Greek word "homos", meaning "same“

-phone (from the Greek word "phone", meaning "voice" or "sound”

You will see many other English words using one or other of these
combining forms.

The following page is a list of 68 groups of homophones, contains only

the most common homophones, using relatively well-known words.
They are only headwords. No inflections (such as third person singular
"s" or noun plurals) are included.
25. Homophone words.

air heir cell sell fir fur

aisle isle cent scent flower flour

Ante- Anti- cereal serial for four

eye i coarse course hair hare

bare bear bear dam damn heal heel

be bee dear deer hear here

brake break die dye him hymn

buy by fair fare hole whole

26.

hour our meat meet poor pour

idle idol morning mourning pray prey

in inn none nun profit prophet

knight night oar or real reel

knot not one won right write

know no pair pear root rout

made maid peace piece sail sale

mail male plain plane sea see

27.
NB: In a few cases, a third homophone, although possible, has not been included
for simplicity. Different varieties and accents of English may produce variations in
some of these pronunciations. The homophones listed here are based on British
English.
seam seem stationary stationery wait weight

sight site steal steel way weigh

sew so sow suite sweet weak week

shore sure tail tale wear where

sole soul their there

some sum to too two

son sun toe tow

stair stare waist waste

28. Phonics Rules

The vowels are "a,e,i,o, and u"; also sometimes "y" & "w". This also
includes the diphthongs "oi,oy,ou,ow,au,aw, oo" and many others.
The consonants are all the other letters which stop or limit the flow
of air from the throat in speech. They are:
"b,c,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,m,n,p,qu,r,s,t,v,w,x,y,z,ch,sh,th,ph,wh, ng, and gh".
1. Sometimes the rules don't work.
There are many exceptions in English because of the vastness of
the language and the many languages from which it has borrowed.
The rules do work however, in the majority of the words.
2. Every syllable in every word must have a vowel.
English is a "vocal" language; Every word must have a vowel.
3. "C" followed by "e, i or y" usually has the soft sound of "s".
Examples: "cyst", "central", and "city".
4. "G" followed by "e, i or y" usually has the soft sound of "j".
Example: "gem", "gym", and "gist".
29.
5. When 2 consonants are joined together and form one new sound,
they are a consonant digraph. They count as one sound and one letter
and are never separated. Examples: "ch,sh,th,ph and wh".

6. When a syllable ends in a consonant and has only one vowel,

that vowel is short. Examples: "fat, bed, fish, spot, luck".
7. When a syllable ends in a silent "e", the silent "e" is a signal that
the vowel in front of it is long. Examples: "make, gene, kite, rope, and
use".
8. When a syllable has 2 vowels together, the first vowel is usually
long and the second is silent. Examples: "pain, eat, boat, res/cue, say,
grow". NOTE: Diphthongs don't follow this rule; In a diphthong, the
vowels blend together to create a single new sound. The diphthongs are:
"oi,oy,ou,ow,au,aw, oo" and many others.
9. When a syllable ends in any vowel and is the only vowel, that
vowel is usually long. Examples: "pa/per, me, I, o/pen, u/nit, and my".
10. When a vowel is followed by an "r" in the same syllable, that
vowel is "r-controlled". It is not long nor short. "R-controlled "er,ir,and
ur" often sound the same (like "er"). Examples: "term, sir, fir, fur, far, for,
su/gar, or/der".
30. Practice These words.

.Cap Clap Flap Gap Lap

.Can Fan Man Pan Ran

Mad
.Flat Hat Mat Rat Bag

.Drag Dragon Flag Rag Mad Sad

.Bank Plank Prank Sank Spank

.Cramp Damp Lamp Ramp Stamp

31. Practice 2.
.Hatch Latch Patch Scratch Thatch

.Cash Crash Dash Flash Lash

.Ball Call Fall Hall Mall

.Bait Chair Nail Paint Rain

.Clay Day Play Pray Ray

.Ate Late Mate Plate Skate

.Bang Fang Gang Hang Rang

32. Linking Words.
When we say a sentence in English, we join or "link" words to each
other. Because of this linking, the words in a sentence do not always
sound the same as when we say them individually. Linking is very
important in English. If you recognize and use linking, two things will
happen:
You will understand other people more easily
other people will understand you more easily
There are basically two types of linking:

Consonant > Vowel

We link words ending with a consonant sound to words beginning with a
vowel sound

Vowel > Vowel

We link words ending with a vowel sound to words beginning with a
vowel sound
33. Understanding Vowels & Consonants for Linking.

To understand linking, it is
important to know the
difference between vowel
sounds and consonant
sounds. Here is a table of
English vowels and
consonants:
Vowels a e i o u
consonants b c d f g h j k l m n p q r s t v w x y z

The table shows the letters

that are vowels and
consonants. But the important
thing in linking is the sound,
not the letter. Often the letter
and the sound are the same,
but not always.
34. Sentence stress

Sentence stress is the music of spoken English. Like word stress,

sentence stress can help you to understand spoken English, especially
when spoken fast.
Sentence stress is what gives English its rhythm or "beat". You
remember that word stress is accent on one syllable within a word.
Sentence stress is accent on certain words within a sentence.
Most sentences have two types of word:
content words
structure (form) words

Content words are the key words of a sentence. They are the important
words that carry the meaning or sense.

Structure words are not very important words. They are small, simple
words that make the sentence correct grammatically. They give the
sentence its correct form or "structure".

If you remove the structure words from a sentence, you will probably still
understand the sentence.
35. example:

If you remove the content words from a sentence, you will not
understand the sentence. The sentence has no sense or meaning.
Imagine that you receive this telegram message:

Will you sell me car because I’m gone to England

This sentence is not complete. It is not a "grammatically correct"
sentence. But you probably understand it. These 4 words communicate
very well. Somebody wants you to sell their car for them because they
have gone to England. We can add a few words:

Will you sell my car because I’ve gone to England

The new words do not really add any more information. But they make
the message more correct grammatically. We can add even more words
to make one complete, grammatically correct sentence. But the
information is basically the same :
36. example.

Content words
Will you sell my car because I’ve gone to England

Structure words

In our sentence, the 4 key words (sell, car, gone, England) are
accentuated or stressed. Why is this important for pronunciation? It is
important because it adds "music" to the language.

It is the rhythm of the English language. It changes the speed at which

we speak (and listen to) the language. The time between each
stressed word is the same.
 37.. example.
In our sentence, there is 1 syllable between SELL and CAR and 3
syllables between CAR and GONE. But the time (t) between SELL and
CAR and between CAR and GONE is the same. We maintain a
constant beat on the stressed words. To do this, we say "my" more
slowly, and "because I've" more quickly. We change the speed of the
small structure words so that the rhythm of the key content words stays
the same.

syllables

2 1 3 1
Will you sell my car because I’ve gone to England
beat beat t1 beat beat
t1 t1 t1
38. examples.

For example, the word "pay" ends

with
the consonant letter "y“ and the
vowel sound "a“
through Know

Here are some examples: Ends with the h w

letter….
ends with the o o
sound…
uniform honest

Begins with the u h

letter
Begins with the y o
sound
39. Linking Consonant to Vowel.

When a word ends in a

consonant sound, we often
move the consonant sound to We write it like this: turn off
the beginning of the next word if
it starts with a vowel sound. We say it like this: tur noff
For example, in the phrase "turn
off":

Remember that it's the sound

that matters. In the next
example, "have" ends with:
the letter "e" (vowel) We write like this: Can I have a bit of egg?
the sound "v" (consonant) We say like this: Ca-ni-ha-va-bi-to-fegg?
So we link "have" to the next
word "a" which begins with a
vowel sound:
40. Linking Vowel to Vowel
When one word ends with a vowel
sound and the next word begins with a
vowel sound, we link the words with a
sort of W or Y sound.
If our lips are round at the end of the
first word, we insert a W sound:
oo We write like this: too often who is so i do all
i
o We say like this: tooWoften whoWis soWi doWall

If our lips are wide at the end of the first

word, we insert a Y sound:

oo We write like this: May is I am the end she asked

i
-- We say like this: MayYis iYam theYend sheYasked
41. Practice this song.

The Beatles – Blackbird

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free
Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night
Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

You were only waiting for this moment to arise

42. Practice this song.
Queen - We Will Rock You:
Buddy you’re a boy make a big noise
Playin’ in the street gonna be a big man some day
You got mud on your face
You big disgrace
Kickin’ your can all over the place
We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you
Buddy you’re a young man hard man
Shoutin’ in the street gonna take on the world some day
You got blood on your face
You big disgrace
Wavin’ your banner all over the place
We will we will rock you
We will we will rock you
Buddy you’re an old man poor man
Pleadin’ with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day
You got mud on your face
You big disgrace
Somebody better put you back in your place
We will we will rock you
43. Practice this song.
Singin’ in the Rain
I'm singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feelin'
I'm happy again
I'm laughing at clouds
So dark up above
The sun's in my heart
And I'm ready for love
Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I've a smile on my face
I walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
Just singin',
Singin' in the rain
Dancin' in the rain
Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
Dee-ah dee-ah dee-ah
I'm happy again!
I'm singin' and dancin' in the rain!
I'm dancin' and singin' in the rain...
44.
This book is to help you with your pronunciation to help you to
develop a clear, understandable pronunciation with appropriate
intonation and stress.

Intelligibility is the most important thing in pronunciation and being

understood by a listener in a given situation.

Poor, unintelligible speech will make your attempts at conversing

frustrating and unpleasant for you and your listeners. Beware of the
major differences between Chinese and English pronunciations.

A good attitude and a well disciplined self motivation will help you in
this competitive world of developing China to achieve your goal as a
good English speaker.

“Good Luck!”
Copy rights by D.Turnbull.