What is the Music of English?

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來自 University of California, Irvine 的課程

Tricky American English Pronunciation

226 個評分

University of California, Irvine

Tricky American English Pronunciation

226 個評分

In this course, you’ll practice the sounds of American English that might sometimes be confusing. You'll practice both consonant and vowel sounds. You’ll also learn about the things that give English its special “music,” such as how to stress the right syllable in a word, how to make your voice go up and down in a natural-sounding melody, and how to naturally connect sounds and words. Learning these things will help you speak more clearly and make sure that others can understand what you're saying. This course is useful for English language learners who want to improve pronunciation of American English for better communication. Note that access to all of the lectures and handouts are free to anyone, but the graded assignments and quizzes are only available in the paid version of the course. You will need to submit recordings of your own pronunciation for graded assignments.

從本節課中

The Music of American English Pronunciation

This week, you’ll learn about some things that give English its special rhythm and melody. You’ll learn about syllables—the small chunks of sound that make up the “beats” in words—and word stress—the way some parts of words are emphasized more than others. You’ll also see how some words become shorter and weaker when we talk. Since these words are used very often in ordinary speaking, we can’t understand spoken English without them. Our goal this week is to help you use the music of English to communicate more effectively and to be understood more easily when you speak. Enjoy learning about the music of American English pronunciation.

What is the Music of English?4:21

Syllables and Word Stress6:13

Syllables and Word Stress Practice4:49

與講師見面

Tamy Chapman
Instructor, International Programs
University of California Irvine Division of Continuing Education
Marla Yoshida
Academic Coordinator
International Programs
Brad Gilpin

What Is the Music of American English Pronunciation?

What do you think of when you hear the word pronunciation?

Is it tricky consonant sounds that make words like berry and

very hard to tell apart?

Or vowel sounds like the ones in sheep and ship?

Or written words that can be said more than one way, like read and

read, or bow and bow.

These are certainly an important part of pronunciation, and

you do need to say these sounds well.

But if you want listeners to understand you easily, and

get the full meaning of what you say, you need more than just sounds.

You need to think about the music of English pronunciation.

So what is the music of pronunciation?

It includes these things.

First, there's word stress,

which gives English words their special pattern of stronger and weaker syllables.

Putting the stress on the right syllable helps listeners recognize the words

you're saying.

For example, in introduction, the third syllable is stressed.

Putting stress in the wrong place can cause confusion.

If someone says inTROduction or introducTION,

it would be hard for listeners to understand the word.

Try saying these words paying attention to the stressed syllables.

Monkey, giraffe,

rhinoceros, Leopard,

elephant, Hippopotamus,

Next we need to think about intonation.

This is the way your voice goes up and

down as you speak, the melody of a sentence.

Different patterns of intonation can change the meaning of a sentence or

show different emotions.

Can you hear the difference in the melody of these sentences?

I've already written my paper.

Have you written your paper?

Why didn't you write your paper?

Try saying these three sentences, paying attention to intonation.

I've already written my paper.

Have you written your paper?

Why didn't you write your paper?

Next is connected speech.

You've probably noticed that when people talk,

they don't say each word separately and clearly.

They don't talk like this.

I want you to find Debbie and give her a message.

Instead, they join all the words together, so they sound like one long word.

I want you to find Debbie and give her a message.

Changes in sound that happen when words are joined together

are called connected speech.

Understanding how connected speech works and getting used to listening to it

will help you improve your understanding of ordinary spoken English.

Try saying this sentence quickly, so that the words all join together.

I want you to find Debbie and give her a message

We need to know about the music of American English Pronunciation,

because it helps us be understood more easily.

Some of the most important parts of this music are word stress,

Intonation, and connected speech.

We'll learn about each of these things in the next lessons.

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