Did you ever wonder why people have accents? In this month's issue, you will learn the reason why. Also, try incorporating this issue's new vocabulary words into your everyday conversation, as well as our new idioms of the month.
Don't be afraid to use new words when you talk to others. It's fun to expand your vocabulary and to impress others with new words!
Take a look at the following words, their definitions, and examples of how they may be used in sentences. Then, try to use some this month when you speak to others.
1. extraordinary (pronounced "eks-strore-din-air-ree). This word means amazing, unusual, fantastic.
The new car John bought is so extraordinary. I've never seen anything like it!
2. superficial (pronounced "super-fish-ull"). This word means shallow, only being concerned or understanding what is on the surface or obvious.
Those models on the catwalk seem so superficial.
3. fabulous (pronounced "fab-yih-liss). This word means great, fantastic, wonderful.
The party tonight was absolutely fabulous.
Idioms of the Month
Because spring has just begun, this month's idioms all have the word "spring" in them. Once you familiarize yourself with them, you may notice other people using them. Maybe you'll even feel comfortable trying one out at the appropriate time!
1. no spring chicken: no longer a young person
My aunt always says that her grandmother is no spring chicken.
2. spring a leak: a leak that occurs suddenly or unexpectedly
Ex: My faucet just sprung a leak this morning.
3. spring fever: feeling of excitement because spring is coming soon.
Ex: Every year in February I get spring fever!
Question and Answer Corner
Question: I've tried other accent reduction programs and they didn't work. People still have trouble understanding me. What makes your different from the rest?
Answer: Cheryl Posey is a licensed and nationally certified speech pathologist. She was trained in the area of speech and language and understands how to make the necessary changes to improve your speech. When you speak, she can tell where you are placing your tongue to create your accent and what changes you need to make in order to say sounds the American English way. Other professionals, such as ESL teachers, who claim they can improve your speaking skills do not have this specialized trainiing. Therefore, you can't achieve the same results.
I hope you enjoy the Speaking Your Best Newsletter and continue to read our monthly informational tips to help you improve your speech.
We are all born with the capability to learn all the sounds of all human languages. When we are infants, we begin to learn the sounds that are important to us, based on what language we hear around us. These sounds become part of our native language.
When we learn a second language as an adult, it is more difficult to pronounce sounds that don't exist in our native langauge. We have lost the capability we had as infants to easily learn all human sounds. What happens is that we try to match new sounds with those that are closest to sounds in our native language. This is what makes an accent in pronunciation.
Spanish speakers learning English often have difficulty pronouncing the American English "r" sound. This is because they pronounce this sound with the tip of their tongue and not in the back of the mouth the way Americans do. When they try to say the American "r" it comes out rolled.
Japanese speakers often have difficulty pronouncing "l" and "r" sounds in American English because they do not distinguish between the two in their native language. When they speak English, they tend to pronounce "l" like ""r" and "r" like "l".
Because spring has just begun, this month's idioms all have the word "spring" in them. Once you familiarize yourself with them, you may notice other people using them. Maybe you'll even feel comfortable trying one out at the appropriate time!
