To start with listen to this poem first: http://international.ouc.bc.ca/pronunciation/poem01.html
To practise English pronunciation these sites can be very valuable:
- http://fonetiks.org/spokenenglish/
- http://englishconversations.org/
- http://www.soundsofenglish.org/
- http://www.englishclub.com/speaking/
- http://www.eslgold.com/speaking.html
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/
- http://www.studygs.net/oralexams.htm
- http://international.ouc.bc.ca/Pronunciation/
- http://www.eslflow.com/pronunciationlessonplans.html
How do they speak English in the World?
Check out how Daniel Radcliffe (a.k.a. Mr. Potter) deals with the elements: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSAaiYKF0cs.
And check out the poem Talking Turkeys by the fantastic Jamaican poet Benjamin Zephanaiah: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4AgPSjzXkw
Here are for some terrific BBC youtube takes, good for your pronunciation, good for your English, and perhaps good for your social skills:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0JIlOc5nH0&feature=endscreen&NR=1
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkzsoJf-UsA
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ1BfI5y91s
(or: just type in “funny interpretative dance” in youtube)
Go to http://www.shiporsheep.com/ to practice differences in vowel sounds.
COLLOQUIAL EXPRESSIONS
Colloquial expressions are expressions that often occur in popular language use. If you use them you will leave a native impression. What is most important is that you recognize the meaning. Do the quiz on: http://mbm.dotnet11.hostbasket.com/iis/testy/test13.asp to see if you know some.
TONGUETWISTERS
“Betty Botter bought a bit of butter.
The butter Betty Botter bought was a bit bitter
And made her batter bitter.
But a bit of better butter makes better batter.
So Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter
Making Betty Botter’s bitter batter better”
As a preparation for the oral exams it is absolutely useful listening to ‘tonguetwisters’ and use them for your vocal training. As ‘Wikipedia puts it, “a tongue-twister is a phrase that is designed to be difficult to articulate properly” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongue-twister)
Together with you I hope we will put a lot of these tongue twisters on this blog! Have a look for yourselves at: http://www.tonguetwisters.us/
Print out this text: https://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~jdevor/links/you-said-a-mouseful.txt and, while reading, listen to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIu4fP4fOHE (th-th-thanks again Q-Q-Quincy!)
