Search results for 'tag:Pronunciation tag:Accents' matching tags 'Pronunciation' and 'Accents'

Re: Teachers Wanted in the Philippines

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:27:58 GMT

Dear Sir / Madam

I am a qualified and experienced English teacher and I have been teaching in Korea for the past two years. My command of the English language is superb, I speak with a clear accent and I am careful to pronounce and articulate with clarity when students are listening.

It is with full confidence in my talents, training, and experience as an educator that I offer this application for your sympathetic consideration. A review of the contents of my resume, my education, teaching, and employment record will assure you that I am equipped with extensive preparation and performance in the English education field.

I hold both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree from accredited universities (see below). My abilities as a teacher have been honed and enhanced through over ten years of consistent practice in the field. I have meticulously prepared and delivered hundreds of lesson-plans, speeches, and lectures and have taught various age groups, ranging from children to teen-agers to undergraduate students to adults. I have taught conversation techniques and have conducted reading groups and discussion groups for children, university students and adults. I have actively engaged in children's education with a high degree of satisfaction and success. I recently taught in the government Elementary school system of Korea, and I enjoyed relating to and responding to the learning-needs of the children. I was selected to be the Head Teacher for Kaya University's English Summer Camp for Kids. My task was to teach and co-ordinate the activities of 7 other teachers at this intensive English camp for both Elementary and High School students. I am presently teaching undergraduate students at a renowned university in Daegu, Korea. Letters of recommendation are available from this Elementary School.

Along with my formal training and experience, I offer myself as an intelligent, sensitive and articulate person. My vocabulary is extensive and my pronunciation is clear and distinct. I am endowed with an innate sensitivity to the needs of others. I hail from a multi-cultural context and I have adapted to various cultures very well. I am a clear thinker, communicator, and an empathetic teacher who can identify and respond to the particular needs of individual students. I love working with children and have great energy and enthusiasm in the classroomâ¦students are very responsive and positive toward me.

I am currently teaching in Korea...but I am seeking to relocate to the Philippines. I will be available from the middle of December, this year.

I would like to send you my resume and letters of reference attached. I am happy to send you scans of my degrees, passport or any other pertinent information that you require. I also welcome a telephone interview. If you reply to me I would be happy to send you my photograph - to your personal email. Please reply to me at the following email address: mr.k.leigh@gmail.com

Here is my resume and letter of reference.

CURRICULUM VITAE: MR. KEREN M. LEIGH

Address: Apt. 6 Keimyung University            Sex:        Male
2139 Daemyung Dong, Nam-Gu                     Nationality:    South Africa
705-701, Daegu                                         Age:         38
Gyeongsangbukdo, Korea                            Race:        Caucasian

Email:  xx                   Phone:     Korea 010-6874-8642

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

2003-2004    Ph.D. Candidate, University of California at Berkeley,
    Department of Near Eastern Studies
    (currently enrolled but do not wish to complete this degree)

2000-2003    Master of Divinity Degree, Golden Gate Seminary, CA.
    Graduated with honors in Theological and Pastoral studies

1988-1994    Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy and History of Art,
    University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

1987    Higher Grade Matric Certificate, Greenside High School, Jhb.

All Degree Certificates are available upon request.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

2008    English Lecturer, FISEP Department, Keimyung University, Daegu

2007    English Teacher, Daechang Elementary School, Jinyeong, Gimhae
    English Teacher, Chillam and Jangyu Libraries, Adult Classes.

2006    Assistant Manager, Pembury Hotel â Melrose, Jhb, R.S.A..

2004-2005     Self-employed, Home Construction â Sodwana Bay, Kwa-Zulu/Natal.

2003-2004    Graduate Student Instructor, University of California at Berkeley
ï· Prepared and presented course lectures for classes of roughly 150 students
ï· Conducted tutorial classes in question & answer format for classes of roughly 25 students
ï· Graded examinations and essays
ï· Conducted one-to-one student interviews

2000-2003    Senior Pastor, Hope Baptist Church, San Francisco, California
ï· Prepared and delivered messages and Bible studies on a weekly basis for congregations of roughly 50-200 people
ï· Conducted one-to-one counseling sessions with church members, including teenagers and marital counseling
ï· Managed church staff, operations, outreach and administration
ï· Trained staff and ministry leaders
ï· Chaired and set agenda for ongoing board meetings

2000-2003    Office Manager, Medical Offices of Dr. Eva Dahl, CA.
ï· Managed doctorâs calendar, patient bookings, filing systems, stocktaking and ordering of medical supplies.

1996-1999    Operations Controller, Wheel-A-Waste Recycling Company, Jhb.
ï· Managed the routing and timing of trucks
ï· Orchestrated drivers schedules
ï· Maintained customer relations
ï· Accounting, book-keeping and banking

Letter of Reference (Translated from Korean â Original Available on Request)

From:     Jinyeong Daechung Elementary School
    Gimhae Municipality
    Gyeongsangnam Province
    South Korea

Dear Sir / Madam                            6 November, 2007

Concerning: Mr. Keren M. Leigh

This person served as a Native Speaking English Teacher at our school during 2007. I was his Korean co-teacherâ¦and we worked closely together during this year.

1. He complied with all school regulations. He understood his roles and responsibilities and fulfilled all of his duties admirably.

2. He has a neat and clean appearance and dressed very well. He was professional in all of his conduct. He has a very good nature and was sensitive to our needs.

3. He was active in class-preparation and came up with many good ideas for our classes. He collaborated with me, his co-worked, to solve any problems that we encountered when students had difficulties. He did his very best to meet the needs of students and to make sure they were satisfied.

4. He dealt with the students very kindly and he was open to listening to the students and to respond to their needs. He has a very good sense of humor and all the students liked him tremendously. They were sad to hear he was leaving us at the end of the year.

5. He was very concerned that students felt they were progressing and learning every day. He taught the students using a variety of teaching styles and methods and he made each class fun and interesting. He has excellent teaching skills and achieved our class purpose, following the lesson plans and teaching objectives.

6. He has a positive attitude and put all of his effort into teaching. He tried to find studentâs strong points and to praise everyone he worked with and taught. He is kind, polite, and sociable, so he got along very well with all our other staff members, even though he comes from a culture different to ours.

These things prove his is a good teacher in terms of his teaching ability, personal nature, and the success he achieved in the classroom. Our school strongly recommends him to you as a teacher who will benefit your school.

Kim Son Hee
Korean English Teacher - Jinyeong Daechung Elementary School

I have always had a knack for relationship building and have no doubt that I will be able to foster firm and effective working relationships with my employer. I am certain that I will make a valuable contribution to the minds and lives of the young students that you entrust to my pedagogic care. Thank you for your kind consideration of my application. I earnestly await your response.

Yours sincerely

Mr. Keren M. Leigh (B.A. M. Div)

Re: Newcastle accent?

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 01:06:08 GMT

I wouldn't necessarily recommend someone learning English to learn a regional accent at all - not even south-eastern or estuary English (and that's not because I am from Newcastle, and biased (although I am from Newcastle!).

People from different UK regions use different accents and dialects, and while some are regional, others are social. The kind of Standard English (SE) which people talk about is an example of a social form; it's the language of formal situations, education, news, and so on. People can use this dialect, and a local one interchangeably, depending on their situation - it's called code-switching, and is a phenonmenon common to many languages. While that is a dialect, Standard English does not have an accent, although for many people it is associated with Received Pronunciation (RP; sometimes known as Queen's or BBC English). In fact, SE can be spoken in any accent, and RP is the natural accent of only a tiny proportion of people in the UK.

For a learner of English, the choice of accent depends on how they will use English - whether they will live in the UK, or an English speaking country, for how long, and so on... Personally, I have never been in favour of 'neutralising' learners' accents, as it is part of their identity - although it is necessary for speakers to be understood clearly by others. There are also social and identity issues concerned with the use of local accents which, for learners, could cause problems or misunderstandings. By that I mean, for example, not everyone from Newcastle speaks 'Geordie' - part of the use of accents and dialects is concerned with how people are located (in terms of the social construction of identities) in their local societies.

If any English accent (or perhaps pronunciation is better) is to be learned for international use, the most effective may be a Standard American English one, for that is the most widely used.

Anyhow, this thread seems old - but thanks for making me think about this topic!

Cheers mara, whehey the lads, gan the toon an all that!!!

Re: How do you pronounce words like 'resources' and 'prices'?

MissMandy — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:11:57 GMT

I think you're right on, Kooyeen. And thanks for the reply. I am a stickler in my pronunciation classes that students learn to say the -s (and -ed) endings correctly. Even though I do this, I know that native English speaking Americans rarely say that voiced endings as perfectly voiced, yet it doesn't sound like the unvoiced counterpart sound (s sound and t sound, for these endings).

I knew we said the vowel differently depending on the consonant that follows, but I didn't realize it was also changing the perception of the consonant as well. I think I will also pay attention to how my students are producing the vowels before the final consonant sound.

Back to the original question, it must be correct, then, to point out that the schwa sound in the final syllable of "prices" and "resources" needs to be prominent enough to make the final z sound be perceived as a z sound, even if it ends up being unvoiced. Otherwise, it will sound like an s sound, which native English speakers can tell the difference between. It wouldn't cause a miscommunication to say it as an s sound, it is just telling of a foreign accent.

~Miss Mandy

need to improve pronunciation (in Korea)

Jaesung Lee — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:17:46 GMT

Hello there,
I am trying to improve my English pronunciation (British accent)
I've never had a experience to study about any English accents before, but now I decided to learn Brithsh English accent.
Is there anyone who's staying in Seoul and do speak British Accent?

you can e-mail me : (please put your personal information in your profile)

Re: Easy as Pie, Almost!

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:30:12 GMT

Frequently listen to English spoken by native speakers and repeat them.
Watch English movies, listen to music, audio clips, BBC news and presentations.
Control your rate of speech to get the correct intonation and rhythm of English.
Use your dictionary.Familiarize yourself with the phonetic symbols used for different words in the dictionary and look up the correct pronunciation.This method helps in neutralizing an accent tremendously.
Make a list of commonly used words that are difficult to pronounce.
Record your own voice and listen for pronunciation mistakes.
Read English newspaper regularly.
Work on how to pronounce the vowel and consonant sounds.Mostly vowel sounds play vital role for accent variation.
Hence pronounce the vowels clearly.
Practice English sincerely. Don't feel shy to speak English as a beginner.

courtesy: http://www.neutralaccent.com

Mimicking an actor's accent

Christanford — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:29:01 GMT

I actually asked this one before but don't seem to have gained quite enough knowledge about this actor's accent. What are some distinguishing features of this accent in terms of pronunciation, rhythm, inflection, choice of words and whatever else you think is important. This is another video.

I've asked two teachers about it and they both agree that it would be quite a good accent for an ESL student to mimic but they are kind of stuck when it comes to identifying the accent, although they both think it is a "very polished upper class London accent.

Thanks in advance and please correct any grammatical or even logical mistakes I've made.

Questions about flapping and glottalisation.

Lincoln Punch — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:42:32 GMT

Hello. I'm a student from Korea (South) trying to learn English based on received pronunciation. And it's kind of hard because everyone here tries to learn American English.

Here goes the questions:

1. I reckon Americans often use 'flapped d', but it seems that British people don't flap 'd' sound as much as Americans do.
Is it considered 'lazy' to flap 'd' pronunciation in British English? Like, when you say 'had a', or 'bad eighties'.

2. How about flapping 't' sound in one word? i.e., little, bottle...

3. Using glottalisation is THAT bad? I know it's originated from Cockney accent but I love the sound when 't' is glottalised.
If I glottalised the 't' sound when it's in end of the word, for example, 'I got a', 'about it', would I be considered as a 'lazy' speaker?

4. Am I using 'reckon' properly? :p

Sorry for asking so many questions, but I'm a very curious student.

Thanks for reading. Have a good one!

Re: crappy pronunciation...

nona the brit — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:40:52 GMT

It's a common problem so don't be too upset by it.

If you ever have the opportunity to live among native speakers you will find it much easier to reduce your accent a bit. It is very difficult otherwise.

Can you ask your teacher which specific sounds are causing you the most problems and ask for exercises to work on those? Do you listen to any native English radio or language tapes and try to copy their pronounciations?

When I find it difficult to understand someone it often isn't their accent so much as the rhythms and stresses of their speech being too different to what I am used to. Again, you could ask your teacher for extra help in these areas.

crappy pronunciation...

akstylish — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:42:22 GMT

After years of speaking English, it's not changed much. No matter how hard I try, I can't control my tongue. My English teacher in Korea once said it's nearly impossible to correct the accent once you become an adult, and I believe it now. Maybe I should give up and just stick with typical Asian accent....

Re: I Want To Be Fluent English Speaker How Please?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:39:31 GMT

Hi Saudi,

Just watching DVDs is not enough.

If you want to be a better English speaker then you need instruction from an expert. There are many experts who teach English pronunciation. It is also called accent reduction. There are also a few great software programs available as well as videos.

For software just google "accent reduction software" and you will find a bunch. Software lets you practice with a good model and you can record yourself.

For videos you can go to YouTube.com and search for "accent reduction" and you will find a bunch of free ones.

Good luck!