Set of exercises in order to improve the students pronunciation in English

2. Vowel contrasts
3. Consonant contrasts
4. Conclusions
5. Recommendations

Introduction

         "(…) the learner"s ear can be made more sensitive by training"

                                                                                       David Jones.

The following exercises may help you to get a better pronunciation, in addition to learning different aspects about English as a second language, also, some tips such as: stress, rhythm which is very important in a Foreign Language; moreover, intonation, liaisons and thought groups. You could also have the chance to appreciate vowel and consonant sounds and the way they take when are transcribed. I hope you will find on this project a very interesting instrument for you to study and practice.

Here you will get the opportunity to see the description of each sound and the position of the mouth when it is pronounced. Remember that if we all work together, we can win this battle too, and with the help of your teacher you are going to learn how to obtain an accurate utterance always thinking that we are here to help you speak English more clearly.

This work has been done due to the necessity of our students to strike up a conversation with a foreigner or Cuban person in the classroom or out of it, and the hard work done for the country on building our future generations and the real problems with English pronunciation at school. This is all I have to say, so the magic phrase is "listen and repeat", that is going to be my advice.

                                                                                                            The author                   

 Vowel Contrasts

In this chapter the English vowel sounds are presented for practice, but the sounds which are confused or have been found "difficult" for Spanish speakers have been given greater attention.

                                                     Exercise 1

                                                      /i/ and /І/

1. Listen while the teacher pronounces the following sentences and select the correct one.

                                               The sheep is old.

                                               The ship is old.

The sound /i/ is a high front vowel, that is, the tongue is high in the front of the mouth. The muscles of the tongue and throat are tense. If the lips are drawn back the vowel sound will be pronounced more accurately. This sound is long.

The sound /І/ is also a high front vowel, but it is pronounced with the tongue in a slightly lower position than for /i/. The muscles of the tongue, throat, and lips are relaxed. This sound is short.

2. Practice pronouncing the words in the column below. You may use as many of the exercises as you think you need.

(1)   Pronounce all of the words in column 1, then, all of the words in column 2.                           

                                     1                                  2

                                    /i/                                 /І/

                                  sheep                           ship

                                  beet                              bit

                                  leek                              lick

                                  heat                              hit

(2)   Pronounce pairs of words from the above columns. Be sure that you make a difference in the vowel sounds.

(3)   Listen while the teacher pronounces a word from either column. Tell which column each word is from by giving the number of the column or by holding up either one or two fingers.

(4)   Pronounce a word from one of the columns and have the teacher tell which column it is from.

(5)   Pronounce a word from one of the columns and have another student tell which column it is from.

(6)   Pronounce a word from one of the columns and ask another student to give the contrasting word in the opposite column.