The power of spoken English
Inhale fully, and sayee softly as you exhale. Do the. 
same with oh and
ah. Listen for wavering or 
irregularity of breath. Practice till the sounds
come
out in an easy flow.
(A wide-open vowel like ah takes 
(A wide-open vowel like ah takes 
more air
than slightly open vowel like ee. A friction&nbs
sound like s
{as in this} takes four or five times as much 
{as in this} takes four or five times as much 
air as an explosive sound like d
{as in hid}. You need 
{as in hid}. You need 
to use the muscles to supply the amount of air required 
to create the sound) 
Inhale, relax the throat, and exhale by counting
one 
to ten. Continue this exercise, and extend the count 
to twenty, then
to thirty, and then as far as your breath&nbs
supply will go. Do not force the
last few counts, and 
always stop before your breath supply is exhausted. 
Try this for a week, twice daily, and see how far such 
practice will
extend the count. 
Take a moderately full breath, and then inhale and 
exhale rapidly panting like a dog. 
Inhale slowly as if smelling a
flower. Feel your ribs 
expand and your lungs fill with fresh air. Hold the&nbs
breath for ten seconds.
Exhale slowly with the sound 
Exhale slowly with the sound 
of puff, puff (like
a stearn engine getting started). 
Inhale as you would in speaking. Then
exhale, makin 
the sound 5-5-5-5. Later, increase the count by holding 
it
longer. Repeat using z, f, v, sh, zh and tho
Inhale slowly and fully; then say the following words 
keeping the tone steady: feel,
haste, seen, after, 500n, 
oil, tease, over. 
If you expect permanent
development, you must do 
the exercises regularly. 
Points of Caution
(1). Do not
continue breathing activities longer 
than ten minutes at first, although
later the&nbs
(2).Never undertake breathing
activities 
immediately after a meal. 
(3). During the activities, breathe
as deeply as 
possible, and expand the . .est and abdomen 
as far as
possible without t straining any part of 
the body.&nbs
(5). Always supply
power from the muscles below 
the neck, and keep the muscles of the throat 
and the face relaxed so that they can convert 
the air stream into speech
sounds. 
Speech Drills: The Consonants
If English is the commercial language of the world, why
is there so much difficulty in spelling and pronouncing
it, you may ask? The reasons are that the English language
borrowed words rampantly from Latin, Greek, French,
German, Hindi, etc. The Hindi, patloon came to known as
the English pantaloon; and nowadays, people in England
and American drink chai-tea. Now, a word about spellings;
words are spelled in English like
the way they are pronounced in the foreign languages
from which they are borrowed;
the old English words are spelled just like they were
spelled centuries ago. (The k was once pronounced in
knife, and the w was pronounced in write.)
English spellings, as you know it today, are a mixture
of native and foreign, new and old.
The English borrowed the alphabet from the Irish, wh
borrowed it from the Romans, who borrowed it from the
Greeks, who borrowed it from the Phoenicians. Th
Phoenicians had twenty-two letters to express twenty-twO
sounds. While the English retained the Phoenicians twenty-
two letters, they flavoured them with over forty sounds .-
native and foreign, new and old!
To master the important English sounds, let us practice
the drills and learn to speak English intelligently without
twisting or contorting our mouth, lips, tongue and the throat
muscles in the process.
Some Common Phonetic Terms
Before you plunge headlong into the pool of consonants
and try to decipher their sounds, it is necessary to be sure
of some terms.
Voiced and Voiceless Consonants
A voiced consonant is one in which the vocal chords (in the
throat just above the thyroid cartilage) vibrates. During the
production of voiceless consonants these chords do not
vibrate. Following the order of the Devanagari alphabet we
find that the voiceless consonants are k, ch, t, th (q), p, f, sh,
5, h. All the others are voiced. It takes longer for the voiced
consonants to be produced. Hence, when you read or speak
fast, you inadvertently substitute the voiceless consonants
for the voiced. The end result is a jumble of distorted sounds,
for example, d sounds like t; while g sounds like k, and b
sounds like p.
When we whisper, the back part of our vocal chords is
opened but the front part is often closed (see Chapter, Make
Your Voice Your Asset ). Do not whisper when doing
pronunciation drills for whispering makes it hard to
distinguish between a voiced and a voiceless consonant.
You must also know to distinguish between stops and
continuants. The stops are those sounds in which the stream
of air stops. All the others (all the vowels and most of the
., consonants) are continuants. When there is audible friction
in the mouth we speak of fricatives. Sounds which are
combinations of stops and fricatives are called affricates.
Those sounds in which the stream of air goes out through
the nose and not through the mouth are nasals. Some
consonants (h, hw, y, w, and r) are formed like vowels.
During the pronunciation of these sounds there is
no blocking of the stream of air. They glide from a
consonant position to the position of the vowel
which follows them. When the air stream comes out
of the mouth over the sides of the tongue, the sound is
called a lateral consonant sound. This happens when the
sound 1 is pronounced.
The place where the obstruction to the flow of air takes
place is called the point of articulation.
Putting the Mouth, Tongue, Teeth and Palate to Proper Use
The lips and teeth playa very important part in the
formation of consonants. Just above the upper teeth is the
tooth ridge or the alveolar ridge. The tongue touches the
tooth ridge in making the sounds t, d, and n, and also
somewhat less firmly,s, z, i.
The roof of the mouth is divided; the front part being
referred to as the hard palate and the back part, the end of
which hangs down, is called the soft palate or velum. The
hanging end is called the uvula.
The various parts of the tongue also come into play in
different ways during speech. The tip of the tongue may go
between the teeth as in the th (q) sound. The part of the
tongue just behind the tip is called the front of the tongue
or the blade of the tongue. This may move up and down,
or it may form a small groove as it does in s sounds. The
middle and back of the tongue may rise, or they may even
touch the roof of the mouth.
Getting Started
To pronounce the consonants, you have to:
Open your mouth.
Use your lips fully and freely.
Use your tongue, especially the tip.
We will begin with the nasal consonants, m, n, and ng.
They are called 'nasal consonants' because when'
pronouncing them all the air from the lungs escapes through
the nose and not from the mouth. Since there are a good
many nasal sounds in Indian languages, Indians do not
find too much trouble pronouncing the nasal sounds in
English.
The consonant m is formed by bringing the lips together.
This voiced sound is produced when the breath of air
escapes through the nose in a humming note.
Drill
The river meanders in a mazy motion.
If Mary's mother, Marie married for money, will Mary also
marry for money?
Mighty mountains make men feel meek.
Merry have we met, and merry have we been.
Merry let us part and merry meet again;
With our merry sing-song, happy, gay and free
With a merry ding-dong, happy let us be.
N: asin no
N is a voiced sound and it is pronounced with the tongue
tip against the palate on the tooth ridge. The tip of the
tongue also prevents the air to escape through the mouth.
Drill
With our mystic measure of rhythmic motion
We charm him in snorting sleep,
While round him the sun enchants from ocean
The walls of a cloudy keep.
Beneath the deep umbers
Of night as we watch and hark,
The dim-winged dreams which feed on
The blossoms of the day we mark
As in murmurous numbers they swarm to the slumbers
That cell the hive of the dark.
This is a voiced nasal sound but it is pronounced with the
back of the tongue touching the velum.
Drill
While bringing the bell to the room, he kept swinging and ringing it.
Everyone jumped aside as the rearing, plunging
animal dashed by, dragging along the driver, who
was clinging instinctively to the reins.
Amid the banging and clanging of bells the boy kept
hanging on the swinging rope.
Contrast Exercise:
bang - bank linger - hanger clanging ....: clanking
thing - tank longer - longing . singing - sinking
finger - singer stronger - thronging
Chant the following using the long vowel sounds after
the ing.
ing - ah
ing - 00
ing-a
ing-o
ing-e
ing-i
S.: as in sun
In making the s sound, the sides of the tongue are against
the tooth ridge. The front of the tongue forms a small groove
in order to send the stream of air against the tooth ridge
and the upper teeth. This is a voiceless fricative. If you voice
it, the s sound turns into z.
Drill
Sweet Summer, unto you this swallow drew,
by secret instincts unappeasable.
She turned with the route of her dusk South hair,
And saw the sleeping gypsy there:
And snapped and snatched it in swift child's whim
Caution: Sometimes the s sound is hissed. This results from
placing the tongue too far forward. If the tongue is kept
back so that the tip does not touch the teeth, it is impossible
to hiss the sound.
Drill
priests----- persists------ insists
Amidst the mists and coldest frosts
With stoutest wrists and loudest boasts
He thrusts his fists against the posts
And still insists he sees the ghosts.
Z: as in was
While s is a voiceless hissing sound, z is a voiced buzzing
sound. They are both made with the tip of the tongue very
close to the palate, a little behind the teeth, so that the air
has to force its way past and make the noise of the sounds.
Place your fingers on the larynx (throat) during this exercise
and note the absence of any vibration during the production
of s. During the sound of z you will feel the vibrations.
Often the letter s is pronounced like z. Note especially the
following.
Drill
In the following exercise, the first two lines have the z
sound, while the next two lines have the s sound.
eyes dams wars cries zebras closes
news fees oars axes trays calls
caps laps maps walks talks calfs
mats laughs troughs prevents presents relates
Contrast the voiceless s sound with the voiced z sound.
Drill
sink - zinc said - zed
house - houses loose - lose
soon - zone
bus- buzz
place _ plays looser -loser refuse (n-s) - refuse (v-z)
dosing - dozing buses - buzzes close (adj-s) - close (v-z)
Sara goes to the zoo to see some animals.
Is his suit the same as this one, or is it like these?
Seven zebras swam in the south zones.
V as in vow
To make this sound, place the upper teeth on the lower lip
and allow the air (breath) to pass through, at the same time
making the vocal chords vibrate. If there is no vibration,
you will get f. If you use only your lips, upper and lower,
and not your upper teeth, you will surely get w (which
comes from forming the lips as if to say 00). Note that when
forming the v sound, the upper teeth graze along the inner
edge of the lower lip. When forming the f the upper teeth
seem to be slightly more centred on the lower lip. While the
f sound comes easy to us; you may have to work hard to
get the v sound right.
Drill
Vanity of vanities.
He arrives at the grave for the service.
Various waves vanished iJllP the cave.
E: as in few
To form the f sound, place the upper teeth on the lower lip.
There should be no vibration in the throat. If you use only
the lips you will get the sound p.
Drill
A fly and a flea in a flue
Were imprisoned, so what could they do.
Said the fly, "Let us flee."
"Let us fly," said the flea.
So, they flew through a flaw in the flue.
Fanny Fuss fanned Fluff quite enough.
"Fie," said the funny fairy, "fie".
Find fair fresh fields for frolic and fun.
Contrast the v and f sounds in the following words.
Drill
Speech Drills: The Consonants
If English is the commercial language of the world, why
is there so much difficulty in spelling and pronouncing
it, you may ask? The reasons are that the English language
borrowed words rampantly from Latin, Greek, French,
German, Hindi, etc. The Hindi, patloon came to known as
the English pantaloon; and nowadays, people in England
and American drink chai-tea. Now, a word about spellings;
words are spelled in English like
the way they are pronounced in the foreign languages
from which they are borrowed;
the old English words are spelled just like they were
spelled centuries ago. (The k was once pronounced in
knife, and the w was pronounced in write.)
English spellings, as you know it today, are a mixture
of native and foreign, new and old.
The English borrowed the alphabet from the Irish, wh
borrowed it from the Romans, who borrowed it from the
Greeks, who borrowed it from the Phoenicians. Th
Phoenicians had twenty-two letters to express twenty-twO
sounds. While the English retained the Phoenicians twenty-
two letters, they flavoured them with over forty sounds .-
native and foreign, new and old!
To master the important English sounds, let us practice
the drills and learn to speak English intelligently without
twisting or contorting our mouth, lips, tongue and the throat
muscles in the process.
Some Common Phonetic Terms
Before you plunge headlong into the pool of consonants
and try to decipher their sounds, it is necessary to be sure
of some terms.
Voiced and Voiceless Consonants
A voiced consonant is one in which the vocal chords (in the
throat just above the thyroid cartilage) vibrates. During the
production of voiceless consonants these chords do not
vibrate. Following the order of the Devanagari alphabet we
find that the voiceless consonants are k, ch, t, th (q), p, f, sh,
5, h. All the others are voiced. It takes longer for the voiced
consonants to be produced. Hence, when you read or speak
fast, you inadvertently substitute the voiceless consonants
for the voiced. The end result is a jumble of distorted sounds,
for example, d sounds like t; while g sounds like k, and b
sounds like p.
When we whisper, the back part of our vocal chords is
opened but the front part is often closed (see Chapter, Make
Your Voice Your Asset ). Do not whisper when doing
pronunciation drills for whispering makes it hard to
distinguish between a voiced and a voiceless consonant.
You must also know to distinguish between stops and
continuants. The stops are those sounds in which the stream
of air stops. All the others (all the vowels and most of the
., consonants) are continuants. When there is audible friction
in the mouth we speak of fricatives. Sounds which are
combinations of stops and fricatives are called affricates.
Those sounds in which the stream of air goes out through
the nose and not through the mouth are nasals. Some
consonants (h, hw, y, w, and r) are formed like vowels.
During the pronunciation of these sounds there is
no blocking of the stream of air. They glide from a
consonant position to the position of the vowel
which follows them. When the air stream comes out
of the mouth over the sides of the tongue, the sound is
called a lateral consonant sound. This happens when the
sound 1 is pronounced.
The place where the obstruction to the flow of air takes
place is called the point of articulation.
Putting the Mouth, Tongue, Teeth and Palate to Proper Use
The lips and teeth playa very important part in the
formation of consonants. Just above the upper teeth is the
tooth ridge or the alveolar ridge. The tongue touches the
tooth ridge in making the sounds t, d, and n, and also
somewhat less firmly,s, z, i.
The roof of the mouth is divided; the front part being
referred to as the hard palate and the back part, the end of
which hangs down, is called the soft palate or velum. The
hanging end is called the uvula.
The various parts of the tongue also come into play in
different ways during speech. The tip of the tongue may go
between the teeth as in the th (q) sound. The part of the
tongue just behind the tip is called the front of the tongue
or the blade of the tongue. This may move up and down,
or it may form a small groove as it does in s sounds. The
middle and back of the tongue may rise, or they may even
touch the roof of the mouth.
Getting Started
To pronounce the consonants, you have to:
Open your mouth.
Use your lips fully and freely.
Use your tongue, especially the tip.
We will begin with the nasal consonants, m, n, and ng.
They are called 'nasal consonants' because when'
pronouncing them all the air from the lungs escapes through
the nose and not from the mouth. Since there are a good
many nasal sounds in Indian languages, Indians do not
find too much trouble pronouncing the nasal sounds in
English.
The consonant m is formed by bringing the lips together.
This voiced sound is produced when the breath of air
escapes through the nose in a humming note.
Drill
| man | room | dimple |
| men | broom | dreamed |
| main | come | small |
| music | farm | December |
| may | warm | seemed |
| mouse | him | team |
The river meanders in a mazy motion.
If Mary's mother, Marie married for money, will Mary also
marry for money?
Mighty mountains make men feel meek.
Merry have we met, and merry have we been.
Merry let us part and merry meet again;
With our merry sing-song, happy, gay and free
With a merry ding-dong, happy let us be.
N: asin no
N is a voiced sound and it is pronounced with the tongue
tip against the palate on the tooth ridge. The tip of the
tongue also prevents the air to escape through the mouth.
Drill
| near | on | any |
| not | van | went |
| name | been | envelope |
| new | gone | under |
| neck | soon | mantel |
| night | lesson | meaning |
With our mystic measure of rhythmic motion
We charm him in snorting sleep,
While round him the sun enchants from ocean
The walls of a cloudy keep.
Beneath the deep umbers
Of night as we watch and hark,
The dim-winged dreams which feed on
The blossoms of the day we mark
As in murmurous numbers they swarm to the slumbers
That cell the hive of the dark.
This is a voiced nasal sound but it is pronounced with the
back of the tongue touching the velum.
Drill
| hang | uncle (ung-kl) | string | strength |
| tingle | song | mingle (ming-gl) | unction |
| funcation | twinkle (gkl) | stug | single (sing-gl) |
| length | tinkle | anxious (angk-) | swinging |
While bringing the bell to the room, he kept swinging and ringing it.
Everyone jumped aside as the rearing, plunging
animal dashed by, dragging along the driver, who
was clinging instinctively to the reins.
Amid the banging and clanging of bells the boy kept
hanging on the swinging rope.
Contrast Exercise:
bang - bank linger - hanger clanging ....: clanking
thing - tank longer - longing . singing - sinking
finger - singer stronger - thronging
Chant the following using the long vowel sounds after
the ing.
ing - ah
ing - 00
ing-a
ing-o
ing-e
ing-i
S.: as in sun
In making the s sound, the sides of the tongue are against
the tooth ridge. The front of the tongue forms a small groove
in order to send the stream of air against the tooth ridge
and the upper teeth. This is a voiceless fricative. If you voice
it, the s sound turns into z.
Drill
| sum | see | saw | sit |
| soon | miss | pass | worse |
| race | ice | mess | missing |
| crossing | castle | grocer | person |
Sweet Summer, unto you this swallow drew,
by secret instincts unappeasable.
She turned with the route of her dusk South hair,
And saw the sleeping gypsy there:
And snapped and snatched it in swift child's whim
Caution: Sometimes the s sound is hissed. This results from
placing the tongue too far forward. If the tongue is kept
back so that the tip does not touch the teeth, it is impossible
to hiss the sound.
Drill
priests----- persists------ insists
Amidst the mists and coldest frosts
With stoutest wrists and loudest boasts
He thrusts his fists against the posts
And still insists he sees the ghosts.
Z: as in was
While s is a voiceless hissing sound, z is a voiced buzzing
sound. They are both made with the tip of the tongue very
close to the palate, a little behind the teeth, so that the air
has to force its way past and make the noise of the sounds.
Place your fingers on the larynx (throat) during this exercise
and note the absence of any vibration during the production
of s. During the sound of z you will feel the vibrations.
Often the letter s is pronounced like z. Note especially the
following.
Drill
| is | cause | those | refuse | treason |
| his | these | wisdom | present | disease |
| was | close | reason | possess | thousand |
| easy | noise | season | physics | business |
| nose | tease | praise | because | president |
In the following exercise, the first two lines have the z
sound, while the next two lines have the s sound.
eyes dams wars cries zebras closes
news fees oars axes trays calls
caps laps maps walks talks calfs
mats laughs troughs prevents presents relates
Contrast the voiceless s sound with the voiced z sound.
Drill
sink - zinc said - zed
house - houses loose - lose
soon - zone
bus- buzz
place _ plays looser -loser refuse (n-s) - refuse (v-z)
dosing - dozing buses - buzzes close (adj-s) - close (v-z)
Sara goes to the zoo to see some animals.
Is his suit the same as this one, or is it like these?
Seven zebras swam in the south zones.
V as in vow
To make this sound, place the upper teeth on the lower lip
and allow the air (breath) to pass through, at the same time
making the vocal chords vibrate. If there is no vibration,
you will get f. If you use only your lips, upper and lower,
and not your upper teeth, you will surely get w (which
comes from forming the lips as if to say 00). Note that when
forming the v sound, the upper teeth graze along the inner
edge of the lower lip. When forming the f the upper teeth
seem to be slightly more centred on the lower lip. While the
f sound comes easy to us; you may have to work hard to
get the v sound right.
Drill
| vote | dove(duv) | various |
| of (uv or ov) | naval | over |
| oven(u-) | vanish | government(gu-) |
| vain | gave | love (luv) |
| survive(ser-) | heaven | advise (z) |
| very | have | servise |
| hover | advice(s) | wave |
| favovur | virgin | average |
| loveable | five | vanity |
| ever | prevent | stove |
| fervent | five | hovel |
He arrives at the grave for the service.
Various waves vanished iJllP the cave.
E: as in few
To form the f sound, place the upper teeth on the lower lip.
There should be no vibration in the throat. If you use only
the lips you will get the sound p.
Drill
|
defy
|
shaft
|
foreign(-rin)
|
february
|
|
offer
|
fever
|
phantom
|
draught(drahft)
|
|
off (awf)
|
fifty
|
pharaoh
|
draft (drahft)
|
|
photo
|
forty
|
foreword(for-werd)
|
physique(-zek)
|
|
fife
|
phone
|
forward
|
father
|
|
fork
|
film
|
fat
|
often (aw-fn)
|
A fly and a flea in a flue
Were imprisoned, so what could they do.
Said the fly, "Let us flee."
"Let us fly," said the flea.
So, they flew through a flaw in the flue.
Fanny Fuss fanned Fluff quite enough.
"Fie," said the funny fairy, "fie".
Find fair fresh fields for frolic and fun.
Contrast the v and f sounds in the following words.
Drill
| very-fairy | vandal-fondle | service-surface |
| have-half | five-fife | van-fan |
| veal-feel | veil-fail | veer-fear |
| leave-safe | carve-calf | of-off |
This is really too useful and have more ideas and keep sharing many techniques. eagerly waiting for your new blog and useful information. keep doing more.
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