The Sound of English

The art of speaking is all about mastering the language spirit. When a person speaks, most of the time we draw our ears to the music of his words rather than the structure of his sentence. The role of accent is undeniably important for us to communicate effectively. All accents are not bad; it is simply nonstandard to an average American. Do you want to sound more natural and relaxed like them? Take this as an adventure and let your mouth do the magic for you!

First let us learn that there are three components of accent: intonation, liaisons, and pronunciation.

Intonation is the high and low of speech music. It produces symphony in words and shows the mood in sentences. For example, "It looks like smoke" can mean introducing a new information or merely an opinion. When the word smoke is stressed, it gives a new knowledge to the listener; thus you can substitute any words prior to it and put emphasis on having smoke in a given situation. On the other hand, when the word looks is stressed it gives rise to an opinion or judgment. It's like saying, "It looks like smoke, but I'm not sure about it." See how everything changes as we raise the pitch in words.

Next is liaisons. It is simply the connection of words without necessarily saying every single word or letter. When articulating a word, it is the sound that matters and not how it is spelled. For instance, the phrases "work on and turn off" are pronounced as [wor kon] and [tur noff]. We say "Wouldn't you? and "Don't you know?" as [wooden chew] and [dont chew know]. Now try it yourself. Did you see the distinction?

And last is pronunciation. Sounds are produced in different locations of the mouth which could be forward or backward depending on the letters or diphthongs involved. The consonant "L" for example requires the tip of the tongue to touch the roof the mouth behind the teeth. The tongue should look very tensed and air comes out on its sides. Letter "R" on one hand, makes a distinctive sound in the throat. After saying "ah", that's the time the tongue curls up to produce "err" sound. Try to look at the mirror and exaggerate l and r first to make a better sound. But in order to enunciate words with clarity, warm up exercises are directed first to the facial muscles. They aid in alternating contraction and relaxation of the mouth. Some of the most common exercises are smiling, clenching of teeth, rolling of tongue, lip pursing, making "O", dropping of jaw and raising of eyebrows.

After knowing these 3 relevant concepts, it is never too late to repair your "fractured" speech or "decrepit" accent. Be thoroughly guided by the techniques that I'll be posting here and be very much willing to practice your speech on a regular basis. Claim for your new-found faith in English and start to act on it now!