ELVIS' song I CAN'T HELP LOVING YOU

TROUBLE WITH ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION? WHO DOESN'T?

TROUBLE WITH ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION?

Who doesn’t? Even native speakers hesitate. What about spelling? It’s a nightmare;  neither foreigners nor native speakers can cope with the chaotic English orthography. 

As a matter of fact, Pronunciation and Spelling are a couple on bad terms. They don’t  understand each other and the relationship is impossible. Pronunciation has developed,  changed along centuries and adapted to the circumstances and requirements of our time, whereas Spelling wears the ancient  heavy, hard, over-ornamented dress of former times, an  impediment  getting through in our speedy world.

Since we have no authority to change this undesirable estate of affairs, and it seems nobody has, the only thing  to be done  is to use strategies to manage to get by. This is what I offer in my blogs.

SURE OF THE PRONUNCIATION OF THESE?

SURE OF THE PRONUNCIATION AND MEANING OF THESE WORDS??

TROUBLESOME  -OU

SPELLING	PHONETICS ¿?	SPELLING	PHONETICS ¿?
course count court though tough trouble cousin rough couple country courage thought through thorough throughout drought enough coupé coupon courteous		bough brought counter doubt bout bounce bouncer bound  for couch council counsel bourbon bourgeois bourgeoisie pronunciation bouquet boutique couchette could thoroughly

    

BOLD TOM STORY SOUND suffx -OU correction

BOLD TOM

                        Although

                        this sea is rough,

                        Tom  is stout

                        and brave                                       

                       enough

                        to go fishing

                        on a frail boat

                        along the coast.

                        Tom rows

                        through

                        the waves

                        to bring home

                        enough

                        food

                        for his couple,

                        their four

                        sons,

                        a young

                         cousin,

                        and an old

                         uncle.

                       

                        Though

                        he is getting old,

                        he takes

                        the trouble

                        to go fishing

                        without 

                        a complaint

                        or doubt.

                       

                        Today

                        a strong gust

                        drove

                        the boat

                        off the coast

                        but Tom’s courage

                        managed

                        to go

                        home

                        safe and sound

SOUND -TURE suffix STORY

PRONUNCIATION STORY –TURE suffix

 RICHARD

Rachel

and Richard

are neighbours.

They meet in the orchard.

Richard

used to play truant

and skip lectures

when he was at school;

his mother would say

to his classmates:

-Tell the teacher,

 Richard

 can't go to the lecture

 because he has a temperature.

Eventually,

Richard

improved

and graduated

in literature.

He became a teacher

of literature

and currently lectures

at the University of Chester.

Rachel

studied sculpture

and architecture.

Actually,

she is a good sculptor.

She made the sculpture

of the vulture

and of the other creatures

with ugly features

that are in the pasture.

Rachel

is also very handy;

she can make a sculpture

as well as mend a puncture.

Their son Dick

likes machinery

and studies technology.

He is quite a character.

They love nature

and all  creatures

whether snakes

or teachers.

They like adventure

and are in the departure

lounge

bound for China.

They stand a chance

of visiting  Chile,

in the future;

they’ll have to save up money

for it requires

great expenditure.

More stories...

plus audio!

BOLD TOM -OU suffix SOUND STORY

Transcribe from phonetics:

BOLD TOM

PRONUNCIATION of misleading SUFIX -ture

WHY ENGLISH LOST ITS TAIL

Oh, it’s a long story. Ignorance and hesitation did it.

English originated from Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to England in the 5^th to 7^th centuries AD by Germanic invaders and settlers from northwest Germany, west Denmark and the Netherlands.

Eventually Old English developed from them. It was a very complex language with inflections, declensions, first written using a runic script. Luckily  Irish missionaries introduced the Latin alphabet  in the 9^th century.

The Norman Conquest in 1066 brought the French language to England. French, with a flourishing literature, was the language of the court, the aristocracy, the church  and the administration. Whereas, English was relegated to the common people, mainly uneducated. This, eventually, resulted in lost of inflexions, declensions and to the SVO word order.

Long words were shortened for the same reason. The need to communicate led speakers to put the emphasis on the lexeme syllable, while relaxing the pronunciation of the rest of the vowels to a shwa [E], which caused the lost of the tail, and abundance of monosyllables.

Luckily, that creole spoken by commoners simplified English.

. 

[ ʃ ] SOUND : MIND MAP!

More colorful Mindmaps here:

SILENT [ ʃ ]: SOUND to impose SILENCE !

TAMING of the PRONUNCIATION and her bad relationship with her unruly partner, SPELLING:

PRONUNCIATION MIND MAPS.

A Mind Map is a visual show of pronunciation. Target  sound is in the center and different strings of spellings radiate  from it.

Attractive layout, enhanced with color and icons. The procedure is sound, effective and appealing.

Display of the complex English phonic system  in 22 maps.

Elegant procedure, addressed to both, right and left brain hemispheres; it caters for unconscious and conscious learning. It is easy, pleasant, and interesting.

Mind Maps attract attention, awake interest, associate words, help retention and  retrieval.

PRONUNCIATION FUN PUNS correction

PRONUNCIATION FUN PUNS – GUESS???

Answer & write the spelling:

5 MOST USEFUL LANGUAGES TO LEARN

5 Most Useful Languages To Learn (To Make More Money)

·         SEAN KIM

·         LANGUAGE LEARNING

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Deciding to learn a new language is one thing.

Deciding which of the most useful languages to learn is another. This is the question we’re going to address today.

We’ve talked about the amazing benefits of learning a language, such as clearing our mind to improve our decision making skills.

But did you know that it can help you make more money?

You’ve probably heard the popular saying by Warren Buffet, “the more you learn, the more you earn.” I1t turns out this rule applies more than ever for learning a new language.

Even with the addition of over 295,000 jobs in the United States, there are millions of people struggling to find full-time work, or any work at all.

The good news is, learning a language has shown to not only increase your chances of finding amazing work opportunities, but it’s shown to increase your earnings.

CareerBuilder.com’s hiring forecast showed that 39 percent of U.S. employers said they plan to hire bilingual candidates, and half said that if they had two equally qualified candidates, they would be more inclined to hire the bilingual one.

Make More Money

Learning a language has shown to add between 10–15% to your wage, according to language specialist recruitment agency, Euro London.

This only goes to show that learning a language is a wise investment for anyone, at any age, whether you’re preparing to enter the workforce, or looking to expand your opportunities.

Assuming an average salary of around $45,000, a 2% “language bonus” average over 40 years, and also a 1% raise annually, you’d have an extra $67,000 by the time you retire. Since you can learn a new language quickly with the right solution, that’s a pretty good investment of your time.

What’s more, salary bonuses vary depending on the exact language in which you’re proficient. Here’s a quick breakdown of a few different secondary languages and their annual bonuses as reported by The Economist:

·         Spanish — 1.5 percent bonus

·         French — 2.3 percent bonus

·         German — 3.8 percent bonus

This means that you can make an additional $50,000 to $125,000, just for knowing how to speak a foreign language!

Expand Your Career Opportunities

More importantly, with the rise of globalization, there’s an exponential demand for jobs that require a foreign language.

Interpreters and translators are among the top five fastest growing occupations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with opportunities expected to increase by 46% between 2012 and 2022. For example, members of the U.S. military can earn up to $1,000 more per month if they are proficient in multiple languages.

You can open your doors to new career opportunities, such as this Brand Specialist job opening for Google, or this Game Translator position for Nintendo, where you’ll be paid to translate video games!

5 Of The Most Useful Languages To Learn

Let’s dig into the 5 most useful languages to learn if you want to make more money and improve your career.

1.    German

As we shared in the graph above, German is known to be the best language that will earn you the big bucks, earning you over 125,000 (Euros) in bonuses!

This may come as a surprise to many people, because one would assume a language like Mandarin, Japanese, or Spanish, with a higher GDP (by language) will correlate to higher earnings. While this is true for most cases, German is a special case, as Germany is one of the three European powerhouses. This means that the language will be more economically valuable for an outsider than the language of a relatively more closed economy.

2. French

With over 200M people in 5 different continents around the world speaking French, you can see why it ranks as one of the most useful languages to learn.

At first glance, French may appear to be spoken by only those living in France, but it happens to be the second most widely learned language after English. Knowing how to speak French opens the doors to French companies in not only France, but other French-speaking parts of the world such as Canada, Switzerland, Belgium, and North and sub-Saharan Africa. As the world’s fifth biggest economy and number-three destination for foreign investment, France is a key economic partner.

For students looking to pursue their Masters or MBA degrees, knowing French can act as a big advantage. Renown French universities and business schools are ranked as some of the top higher education institutions in Europe and the world. Students who can speak French are eligible for additional scholarship opportunities, which can save you tens of thousands of dollars in the end.

3. Spanish

Over the past decade, knowing how to speak Spanish has not only been an advantage for job seekers, but it’s become a necessity. In the United States and Europe, Spanish is theforeign language of choice after English, and it’s also the official language to over four continents around the world.

No matter what industry you are in, the numbers alone present a strong case to learn Spanish, especially in business. In addition to the sheer number of people you can reach by knowing how to speak Spanish, countries like Mexico, Chile, and Colombia are quickly becoming a powerhouse in the global economy.

Here’s the cherry on top of the sundae. Spanish is the easiest language out of the most useful languages to learn, if you already speak English. You can quickly learn Spanish by taking advantage of online solutions like Rype, where you’ll receive unlimited privateSpanish lessons, and get to work with a dedicated language coach online.

4. Mandarin

It’s no secret that China is the world’s new dominant economy, with a growing influence from Africa to the Americas. If you’re in business, then China is a goldmine of opportunities, with over a billion people that you can target.

According to London-based search firm Ascentator, demand for executive positions by American and multinational companies in China has risen 35 percent from the previous years, echoing similar figures from other recruiting firms.

However, unlike Spanish, Mandarin is a complicated language to learn.

The good news is, everyone knows it. If you can manage to learn Mandarin, you can bet that your future boss and co-workers will be impressed.

5. Arabic

The Arab world is recognized as one of the wealthiest regions in the world, with over $600B in GDP. The size of the Middle Eastern economy alone as a whole has increased by approximately 120% in the five year period from mid-2003 to mid-2008.

Due to the abundance of market opportunities in the Middle East, Western Arabic speakers are in very high demand, but in very low supply. Those who speak Arabic have the opportunity to develop an international career in a variety of industries such as education, finance, journalism, foreign services and more.

What’s your favorite out of the 5 most useful languages to learn?

We’d love to hear from you below.

PRONUNCIATION NIGHTMARE

PRONUNCIATION NIGHTMARE

61 of the English commonest verbs have strong and weak forms. Don’t panic, expect  the weak forms in normal conversation;  the strong forms exist, but they are occasionally used.

Strong & Weak forms of Anomalous Finites

spelling	weak	strong
am	Em, m	ym
is	z, s	Iz
are	E	A:
was	wEz, wz	Woz
were	wE	wE:
have	hEv, Ev, v	hyv
has	hEz, Ez, z	hyz
had	hEd, Ed, d	hyd

USES

Strong forms

1)     Isolated:                        DE wE:d “nVn”

2)   Stressed:                        bEt ju A: hiE

3)    Followed by nt             ju  A:nt in E ‘hVri

4)    At the end                       Dei E not  ‘bizi, bEt wi A:

WEAK  forms                     in all other cases