Search results for 'tag:Images tag:Phonetics' matching tags 'Images' and 'Phonetics'

Re: Analysing grammer structures

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 02:38:15 GMT

She used to have long hair.

Form:		used to + base form of verb
Function:		Expresses past habits and states that are no longer true in the present
Phonology:		The final 'd' in 'used' is elided. The 'o' in 'to' is often pronounced in its weak form and can sound like 'ta'. This is represented with the phonetic symbol which is called a schwa.

I was having a bath when the phone rang.

Form:		past of âbeâ + present participle form of verb
Function:		A past event that was in process when it was interrupted by another past event.
Phonology:		Word stress falls on the verb âhavingâ and the auxiliary verb âwasâ is unstressed. Point out as well to students that the âsâ in âwasâ is pronounced as /z/. In rapid and informal speech, The âhâ in âhavingâ is elided (not pronounced). End result: or

I wish I had worked harder.

Form:		wish + subject + past perfect
Function:		To express regret about something that was or was not done in the past
Phonology:		'I had' is usually contracted to 'Iâd'.

Self-Evaluation Essay

Super Sonic — Sat, 19 May 2007 22:54:48 GMT

Hi,

I had my final exam from the writing course as a home take-in, but the type of the essay sounded a little bit weird to me. Here is what my lecturer gave as information:

Writing FINAL

Write an evaluation essay on the following topic

The Self-Evaluation essay is a reflective essay assessing and describing your learning experiences. Write a self evaluation essay considering the guidelines below.
The following are guidelines for your Self-Evaluation Essay:

Include each of your learning objectives,
Describe how the learning objectives were accomplished and the steps used to complete objectives,
For objectives you did not meet, state why not. What did you learn from the failure to meet objectives? (Is this even proper English? )
What else did you learn that was not in your initial objective? Specific examples should be cited. The student should review the learning objectives set at the beginning of the term and assess what growth he or she has achieved during the term."

And here is what I have written (Could you please proofread it considering the notes above?):

This Is Only the Beginning

This is my first year in the Linguistics department of Hacettepe University. I can easily say that this university is not quite what I expected it to be. I was hoping to improve myself in many fields, but this did not happen in the first year, since I had to deal with my courses more than anything else. However, my English dramatically improved thanks to the courses. I would like to evaluate this year in terms of how I improved my English skills (speaking, writing, reading and listening), while doing nothing about the other fields I was interested in (arts and sports).

First of all, I have been able to improve my expressive English skills thanks to a native speakerâs being our lecturer, and having courses on how to express ourselves better in English. Margaret was the lecturer of our writing course. I learned many new words, idioms, grammar structures and expressions in her classes, which would have me state my thoughts in a more comprehensible way in written language. Also, both in our writing and reading classes we had discussions about various controversial subjects that helped me improve my speaking skills. We were having phonetics at the same time, and as a student trying to attend all the classes, I improved my pronunciation. So, I can say that I am grateful for my department to help me meet my objectives in expressing myself both in spoken and written language.

Secondly, my receptive skills have also improved with the help of the courses like reading, literature, and listening comprehension. Even though I did not have much difficulty in reading and understanding course books, articles, reading passages and the like, I was rather poor at literal texts, or in other words, the figurative use of English language. By the help of our literature classes, I got over this problem, and now I can mostly understand what Shakespeare or Hemingway says. My listening skills, likewise, improved remarkably after having taken the listening comprehension courses. I was unable to differentiate between the words that resemble each other like âmateâ and âmadeâ before I took those courses. I can say that listening to someone speaking English has become one of the easiest tasks ever with the help of my lecturers.

Thirdly, even though there has been a big improvement in my English skills, I have not been able to deal with arts or sports, both of which are my main interests. I was hoping to have art lessons such as painting and music. However, all the courses are academic ones. Another deficit of my department âor of the university in general- is that there are not many sports activities going on. Because of these reasons, I felt rather âantisocialâ in my first year in the university. As a result, not having done anything in these two areas is the only objective that I missed this year, but I am thinking of taking piano and karate courses next year from another university. If only my university gave more importance to these two areas!

Consequently, although I was not very content with the overall situation of the university this year, I must admit that my English skills have improved drastically within this year. I, however, still feel sad about not being able to take any courses from my areas of interest. Who knows, maybe this was only the beginning. Maybe, I am going to like this university better. Only time will show!

Thanks in advance

Re: Cote D'livore

Conchita57 — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 00:25:21 GMT

What happened to my previous post?? It looks like a joke, but I swear I didn't mean for all those fancy symbols to appear! It was supposed to make things clearer, but I'm afraid it's all tangled up now. Well, let me try again:

Except for the 'c', which should indeed be a 'k', Iâm using the phonetic symbols Iâve used all my life, as I learnt them 35 years ago from the Oxford Progressive English Course, by A. S. Hornby (EFL/ESL coursebooks have come a long way since then!). If you replace my âoâ and 'o:' with [ ] and [ÉË], it should be less confusing for you.

The French âoâ in âCÃ´teâ isnât a diphthong â it rhymes with âcaughtâ in RP. The ProvenÃ§als, however, say it as âcotâ in RP.

Re: Cote D'livore

Conchita57 — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 00:08:17 GMT

Marvin A. wrote:
>> Now, said with a Southern French accent, it becomes [cot] <<
>> The sound I meant is [o:] as in RP or Standard British English. <<

Now you're really confusing me. Are you using IPA, or similar system for transcription? The letter "c" in the IPA, X-SAMPA, and Kirshenbaum transcription systems is a voiceless palatal plosive, that is only found in Hungarian. The letter "o" in IPA is the "o" sound in the word "coat" in North Central dialects of NAE--most dialects of England English use a diphthong for the "o" sound. The vowel that is used to transcribe the "au" in "caught" in RP is not /o:/, but is /ÉË/, the long open-mid back rounded vowel.

[cot] (I'm assuming /kot/), would be how someone from Minnesota pronounces the word "coat". It is not how an RP speaker pronounces the word "cot".

The [ ] and / / marks represent IPA or X-SAMPA transcription.

I would pronounce "cote d'ivoire" as /kot divwA/.

Except for the , which should indeed be a , Iâm using the phonetic symbols Iâve used all my life, as I learnt them 35 years ago from the Oxford Progressive English Course, by A. S. Hornby (EFL/ESL coursebooks have come a long way since then!). If you replace my âoâ in and [o:] with [ ] and [ÉË], it should be less confusing for you.

The French âoâ in âCÃ´teâ isnât a diphthong â it rhymes with âcaughtâ in RP. The ProvenÃ§als, however, say it as âcotâ in RP.

Re: four-letter man

Anonymous — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 21:29:58 GMT

Anonymous answer to your question.

four O.E. feower, from P.Gmc. *petwor- (cf. O.S. fiwar, O.Fris. fiuwer, Frank. fitter-, Du. and Ger. vier, O.N. fjorir, Dan. fire, Sw. fyra), from PIE *qwetwor (cf. Skt. catvarah, Avestan cathwaro, Pers. catvar, Gk. tessares, L. quattuor, Oscan petora, O.C.S. cetyre, Lith. keturi, O.Ir. cethir, Welsh petguar).The phonetic evolution of the Gmc. forms has not been fully explained. Fourteen is O.E. feowertyne. Slang four-eyes "person who wears glasses" first recorded 1874. Four-flusher is 1904, from verb four-flush "to bluff a poker hand, claim a flush with only four cards in the suit" (1896). Four-letter word first attested 1934; four-letter man, however, is recorded from 1923 (as a euphemism for a ***). A four-in-hand (1793) was a carriage with four horses driven by one person; in the sense of "loosely tied necktie" it is attested from 1892. To study The History of the Four Kings (1760, cf. Fr. Livres des Quatre Rois) contains euphemistic slang phrase for "a pack of cards" from the time when card-playing was considered a wicked pastime for students. Slang 4-1-1 is from the telephone number called to get customer information.Anonymous! Don't reply.

help

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 04:42:29 GMT

Veris wrote:

Does anyone know in which site can i find phonetic transcrptions ? or Dictation with its phonetic transcrption? Because i've to practice phonetics in English.
It would be very helpful.
Thank you.
Vero

could you tell me from where i can find a good new essay on phonetic or it`s branches?i want it to be written between 2005 to 2006.thank you for your help.

Re: take the second turn to

Vanyatka — Sat, 14 Oct 2006 17:39:27 GMT

Huh, the key answer to this issue is that "a turn" and "a turning" are not synonims. They have slightly different meanings. I have to take my words back about turining, didn't know it had a separate meaning.

--- dictionary.cambridge.org
turn Hide phonetics
noun
1 a change in the direction in which you are moving or facing:
We got as far as the school, and there we had to make a right turn.

turning Hide phonetics
noun
a place, especially a road, track or path, where you can leave the road you are on:
Take the third turning on the left after the traffic lights.

Phonetic Transcription

Veris — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 14:21:49 GMT

Does anyone know in which site can i find phonetic transcrptions ? or Dictation with its phonetic transcrption? Because i've to practice phonetics in English.
It would be very helpful.
Thank you.
Vero

Re: :::::: HOW TO SPEAK AND LEARN EGNLISH ::::

Exclusive — Thu, 04 May 2006 22:16:55 GMT

Part I: Want to 'neutralise' your accent?

Many deserving candidates lose out on job opportunities because of their vernacular accent.

Can I 'neutralise' my accent?

Yes, you can. All you need to do is train yourself to speak English as comfortably and perfectly as you speak your mother tongue.

How do you train yourself? By inculcating certain practices in your daily lifestyle. These will get you closer to sounding like a native English speaker and equip you with a global accent -- and you will speak not American or British English, but correct English.

This is the first step to learn any other accent, be it American or British or Australian.

Lisa Mojsin, head trainer, director and founder of the Accurate English Training Company in Los Angeles, offers these tips to help 'neutralise' your accent or rather do away with the local twang, as you speak.

i. Observe the mouth movements of those who speak English well and try to imitate them.

When you are watching television, observe the mouth movements of the speakers. Repeat what they are saying, while imitating the intonation and rhythm of their speech.

ii. Until you learn the correct intonation and rhythm of English, slow your speech down.

If you speak too quickly, and with the wrong intonation and rhythm, native speakers will have a hard time understanding you.

Don't worry about your listener getting impatient with your slow speech -- it is more important that everything you say be understood.

iii. Listen to the 'music' of English.

Do not use the 'music' of your native language when you speak English. Each language has its own way of 'singing'.

iv. Use the dictionary.

Try and familiarise yourself with the phonetic symbols of your dictionary. Look up the correct pronunciation of words that are hard for you to say.

v. Make a list of frequently used words that you find difficult to pronounce and ask someone who speaks the language well to pronounce them for you.

Record these words, listen to them and practice saying them. Listen and read at the same time.

vi. Buy books on tape.

Record yourself reading some sections of the book. Compare the sound of your English with that of the person reading the book on the tape.

vii. Pronounce the ending of each word.

Pay special attention to 'S' and 'ED' endings. This will help you strengthen the mouth muscles that you use when you speak English.

viii. Read aloud in English for 15-20 minutes every day.

Research has shown it takes about three months of daily practice to develop strong mouth muscles for speaking a new language.

ix. Record your own voice and listen for pronunciation mistakes.

Many people hate to hear the sound of their voice and avoid listening to themselves speak. However, this is a very important exercise because doing it will help you become conscious of the mistakes you are making.

x. Be patient.

You can change the way you speak but it won't happen overnight. People often expect instant results and give up too soon. You can change the way you sound if you are willing to put some effort into it.

Quick tips

Various versions of the English language exist. Begin by identifying the category you fall into and start by improving the clarity of your speech.

~ Focus on removing the mother tongue influence and the 'Indianisms' that creep into your English conversations.

~ Watch the English news on television channels like Star World, CNN, BBC and English movies on Star Movies and HBO.

~ Listen to and sing English songs. We'd recommend Westlife, Robbie Williams, Abba, Skeeter Davis and Connie Francis among others.

Books to help you improve your English

Essential English Grammar by Murphy (Cambridge)
Spoken English by R K Bansal and J B Harrison
Pronounce It Perfectly In English (book and three audio cassettes) by Jean Yates, Barrons Educational Series
English Pronunciation For International Students by Paulette Wainless Dale, Lillian Poms

more info: www.ingilizcepratik.net

Re: Free software for spoken english

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Aug 2005 07:32:17 GMT

hi this is shekar

from hyderabad

india

i want also spoken english materials

if anybody have plz send to me

Webster's on-line dictionary. Has audio facility. Hear words spoken in AmE

http://www.m-w.com/

BBC learn English site. Has audio in BrE
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/index.shtml

Randall's basic self-study guide. useful words and phrases in AmE accent
http://www.esl-lab.com/guide.htm

AmE pronunciation (you need Real player for this one)
http://evaeaston.com/pr/a-pattern.html

This site says they offer free software
http://www.free-english.com/english/Home.aspx

Users should note that http://www.free-english.com/english/Home.aspx is not, strictly speaking, free. You will be required to register and to give personal details such as your address, telephone number, date of birth etc. etc. You will also be required to pay 'shipping fees' on any items you add to your 'shopping cart'. (Thanks to Mike in Japan for this info)

Another talking dictionary
http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?s=dictionary#Dictionary

Have any text read in English/American

http://www.elllo.org

This is a great site for phonectics: animated diagrams to show production of sound, video and audio of certain words.

http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/about.html

Hope that helps. Abbie