Session 7 - DG and CH , H

This session covers:

1. ‘CH’ sound
2. ‘The American J’ sound (DG)
3. Consonant ‘H’ 

CH – Unvoiced as in Ch-ur-ch 

American J – Voiced as in J-u-dge 

‘Ch’ at the beginning of words 

• China
• Cherry
• Charge
• Chocolate
• Challenge
• Cheese
• Chunk
• Chairman

‘Ch’ in the middle of words 

• Key chain
• Lunch box
• Richard
• Picture
• Teacher
• Fortune
• Nature
• Beach ball

‘Ch’ at the end of words 

• Detach
• Teach
• Porch
• March
• Patch
• Wrench
• Coach
• Approach

‘Ch’ exercise 

Chop-chop, children, it’s Charlie’s Kitchen adventure!

Today, Chuck will be teaching future champion cooks how to make a chocolate cheesecake. 

‘American J’ at the beginning of words 

• Juice
• Jump
• Juggle
• Jury
• Japan
• Giant
• Genetic
• Junior
• Generate
• German

‘American J’ in the middle of words 

• Algebra
• Legend
• Magic
• Subject
• Digest
• Rejoice
• Objective
• Majesty
• Educate
• Suggestion

‘American J’ at the end of words

• Age
• College
• Postage
• Stage
• Pledge
• Village
• Average
• Page
• Courage
• Knowledge

‘American J’ exercise

A German judge and jury have charged and jailed a strange giant, who sat on the edge of a bridge throwing jelly onto large barges.

Consonant ‘H’ 

When an ‘H’ is at the beginning of a word it is pronounced with a strong, loud air-stream.

Practice: 

‘H’ at the beginning of words 

• Hand
• Hide
• Hope
• Hair
• House
• Harvard
• Honey
• Happy
• Who
• Whole

‘H’ word pairs 

• Old- Hold
• Is- His
• Hit
• It- Hat
• Harm
• At- Hill
• Arm- Hate
• Ill- Has
• Ate-
• As-

‘H’ in the middle of words 

• Ahead
• Behave
• Anyhow
• Inhale
• Downhill
• Dehydrate
• Wholehearted
• Overhaul

‘H’ exercise 

He thought that he should....

                                                       wash the car.

                                                       thank his teacher.

                                                       watch television.

                                                       use the telephone.

                                                       shut the door.

                                                       breathe deeply. (Voiced TH)

                                                       tell the truth. 

Henry the hungry hippo, who hogged a huge heap of one hundred hamburgers, has had hiccups for one whole week.

Session 8 - Vowel Overview I and EE

This session covers: 

 

1. American English Vowels
2. Vowel ‘EE’
3. Vowel ‘I’

The best way to learn American vowels is by Ear Training.

Listen carefully and repeat. 

Front Vowels: (From high to low)

• EE - as in - Heat
• I - as in - Hit
• AE - as in - Hate
• EH - as in - Het (nonsense word)
• A - as in - Hat

Back Vowels: (From high to low) 

• OO - as in - Boot
• U - as in - Book
• OW - as in - Boat
• AW - as in - Bought
• AH - as in - Bot (nonsense word) 

Comparing Heat (EE) and Hit (I) 

Remember,...

Heat is high

Hit is lower 

• Heat – Hit
• Keen – Kin
• Deal – Dill
• Seek – Sick
• Seen – Sin
• Reap – Rip
• Teal - Till
• Bean –Been* 

* Bean – I ate a bean (noun). – ‘high’

Been – I have been here (verb). – ‘low’ 

‘EE’ Vowel Sound ...remember, smile and think high 

• See
• Me
• Each
• Even
• Key
• Green
• Tree
• Very
• Happy
• Softly
• Mary
• Busy
• Finally
• Country

‘EE’ Practice 

• Speeding on the Freeway
• Happily eating cheese
• He and She
• Skiing very Rapidly
• She sees a monkey eating honey. We see a pony stealing money. Who can he see? It must be me!

‘I’ Vowel Sound

• Bit
• Bill
• Lift
• Fizz
• Kitchen
• Build
• Bigger
• Chimp
• Fifth
• Listen
• Business
• Fist
• Display
• Filming
• Live
• Fish
• Discuss
• Fig
• Fifty
• Been

‘EE’ and ‘I’ Practice 

(All ‘EE’ sounds are underlined.) 

• The beans have been cooking since six o’clock.
• Sit in that seat by the window.
• We ate our meal, by the mill.
• The seal will live in the ocean.
• Tim’s team grinned after seeing the green field.
• Pip and Pete shipped the sheep cheaply.
• Those bins are for Bill’s beans.
• Does Jim still steal Jill’s jeans?
• The girls put concrete on Jill’s sneakers.
• Pick cherries at their peak or you will eat the pits.

Session 9 - OW and AE

This session covers:

1. Vowel ‘OW’
2. Vowel ‘AE’
3. Vowel ‘O’

The Hidden ‘W’

“OWE, OWE, OWE, OWE, OWE” 

‘O’ Vowel Sound 

• Open
• Oatmeal
• Blown
• Bold
• Owner
• Phone
• Cold
• Robe
• Coach
• Rotate
• Loan
• Slow
• Road
• Roam

‘O’ Practice

• How did you know that?
• I don’t know where the hole is on the coat.
• Does Joe know how to drive on the road?
• I need to blow my nose when I have a cold.
• Has it ever snowed in Rhode Island?
• Cold winds will slowly blow snow over most of Ohio.
• This low is no joke. So folks, don’t go out without coats! 

Woke and Won’t 

Practice: WOWOWOWOWO

Woke = WOW + K

Won’t = WOW + ’NT

• I want the ball.
• I won’t give you the ball.
• She wants to sleep.
• She woke up.
• He wants to buy a car.
• He won’t buy a car.
• They want to speak with you.
• He won’t speak with you.

Vowel ‘AE’ 

• Age
• Aid
• Eight
• Able
• Chain
• Date
• Eighteen
• Fake
• Lazy
• Made
• Baby
• Gain
• Change
• Gave
• Nation
• Day
• Paper
• Angel
• Basic
• Face

‘AE’ Practice 

• The ape gave the trainer a cane.
• David began shaving when he was eighteen.
• The rainbow appeared when daylight changed.
• The baby snake lived in a painted cage.
• My neighbor’s basement was changed from blue to beige.
• Hey, take away the strain! Weigh the gains of a great break with Lazy
• Day Vacations. Lines are open eight till late. They aim to make your day!

The 50 United States

(Stressed sounds are in bold)

1. Alabama Montana
2. Alaska Nebraska
3. Arizona Nevada
4. Arkansas New Hampshire
5. California New Jersey
6. Colorado New Mexico
7. Connecticut New York
8. Delaware North Carolina
9. Florida North Dakota
10. Georgia Ohio
11. Hawaii Oklahoma
12. Idaho Oregon
13. Illinois Pennsylvania
14. Indiana Rhode Island
15. Iowa South Carolina
16. Kansas South Dakota
17. Kentucky Tennessee
18. Louisiana Texas
19. Maine Utah
20. Maryland Vermont
21. Massachusetts Virginia
22. Michigan Washington
23. Minnesota West Virginia
24. Mississippi Wisconsin
25. Missouri Wyoming
26. Montana
27. Nebraska
28. Nevada
29. New Hampshire
30. New Jersey
31. New Mexico
32. New York
33. North Carolina
34. North Dakota
35. Ohio
36. Oklahoma
37. Oregon
38. Pennsylvania
39. Rhode Island
40. South Carolina
41. South Dakota
42. Tennessee
43. Texas
44. Utah
45. Vermont
46. Virginia
47. Washington
48. West Virginia
49. Wisconsin
50. Wyoming

Session 10 - OO , UH, EH

This session covers:

1. Vowel ‘OO’
2. Vowel ‘UH’
3. Vowel ‘EH’

‘OO’ Vowel Sound

• Blue
• Booth
• News
• Juice
• Loosen
• Ruler
• Food
• Choose
• Mood
• Moving
• Loop
• Knew
• Tooth
• Smooth
• Pool
• Moon
• Shoes
• Zoo
• Grew
• Room

‘OO’ Practice 

• The room in the school was very cool.
• Tuesday at noon in the studio.
• Viewing the moon on June nights.
• Do you remember the woman who lived in a shoe? She hadn’t a clue what to do when her family grew. Well, through your help, they are moving in June into two big boots. 

‘Double OO’ words that are pronounced as ‘UH’ 

• Food has a high vowel – ‘OO’
• Foot has a lower vowel – ‘Uh’

‘UH’ Vowel Sound (that are spelled with ‘OO’)

• Foot
• Took
• Cook
• Shook
• Stood
• Good
• Look
• Book
• Wool
• Swoosh

Lower vowel – ‘Uh’ 

• Wood
• Would you help me?
• Hollywood, California 

‘UH’ Practice (‘OO’ sounds are in RED)

• He took a good look under the hood and found a flute.
• Julie enjoys good books after school.
• He put his foot in the new boot.
• She took her students to the brook to wash their shoes.
• We pulled him out of the swimming pool.
• The fool ate until he was full.

‘EH’ Vowel Sounds 

• Egg
• Get
• Friend
• Next
• Entrance
• Better
• Healthy
• Lettuce
• Wrench
• Spread
• Best
• Ready
• Every
• Red
• Exit
• Check
• Fence
• Headset
• Necklace
• Wealth

‘EH’ Practice 

• Resting on the edge of the bed.
• Ten letters from the enemy.
• Dennis will enter the festival.
• The message was given to the chef.
• Hello again, friends! Let’s do a weather check. Well, whoever said temperatures are getting better, better get ready to spend a wet weekend in Tennessee.

Session 11 - AU, AH and A

This session covers:

• Vowel ‘AU’ as in Out
• Vowel ‘AH’ as in Top
• Vowel ‘A’ as in Hat 

‘A’ Vowel Sound

• Back
• Dad
• Fax
• Value
• Sat
• Hatch
• Jacket
• Taxi
• Apple
• Catch
• Rabbit
• Tack

‘A’ Practice 

• The fat cat wore a jacket.
• Pack your sack and bring your magnet.
• He sang about an actor named Jack. 

‘AU’ Vowel Sound 

This is an important sound! If mispronounced, it can often make you misunderstood.

Begin this sound with the ‘A’ sound as in ‘hat’...

Then, slide your mouth forward to form a small ‘W’ sound. 

Example: 

‘Downtown’ » “DA – wn...TA – wn”

‘AU’ Practice 

• Now
• House
• Round
• Loud
• Gown
• Sound
• Ouch
• Out
• Found
• South
• Ounce
• Rebound
• Mouth
• Bounce
• Flower
• Thousand
• Spout
• Count

The brown couch is downstairs.

Her house is on the South side of the mountain.

I was proud of the sounds that came out of my mouth. 

‘Are’ vs. ‘Our’ 

Are

• Close with strong ‘R’ sound - tongue retracts back.
• Are you going?
  

Our

• Begin with the ‘AU’ sound (‘A’ as in Hat),
• Then close your mouth and say “Were”.
• Think of the word ‘Our’ as having two syllables.
• Pronounced as ...“AU-WERE”

* (The word “Hour” is also pronounced the same way). 

Are/Our Practice Sentences

• Are you going to our house?
• Sales are down, but our projections for next year are very good.
• Our plans will be changing in the next hour.
• Are you sure that our meeting will be an hour late?

‘AH’ Vowel Sound 

‘O’ words that are pronounced with ‘AH’

• Hot
• Top
• Stop
• Probably
• Follow
• Not
• Blob
• Sock
• Mop
• Product
• Solve
• Problem

‘AH’ Practice 

(‘AH’ sounds are underlined)

• Bob opened the box and followed the instructions.
• Tom put some cotton, rocks and a doorknob in his locker.
• His mom made a concrete model of a hockey rink.

Session 12 - Tongue Twisters

This session covers:

             Tongue Twisters 

(F, W, Voiced Z)

• Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear,
• Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.
• Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t fuzzy, was he?

(Voiced V) 

          Vincent vowed vengeance very viciously.

(P) 

• Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
• A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
• If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
• How many peppers did Peter Piper pick?

(SH, S and Z)

• She sells seashells by the seashore.
• The shells she sells are surely seashells.
• So if she sells shells on the seashore,
• I’m sure she sells seashore shells.

(W, CH, and Final Consonants)

• How much wood, would a woodchuck chuck.if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
• He would chuck, he would, as much as he could,and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

(W) 

• Which witch, wished which wicked wish?
• While we were walking, we were watching window washers wash
• Washington’s windows with warm washing water.
• If two witches would watch two watches, which witch would watch which watch?

(R)

• Roberta ran rings around the Roman ruins.

(B, BR, and BL blends)

• Bradley’s big black bathbrush broke.
• Bradley’s big black bathbrush broke.

(TH)

• Tom threw Tim thirteen thumbtacks.
• He threw three free throws.
• There are thirty-three thousand birthdays on the third of every month.
• The father gathered smooth feathers for Thanksgiving.
• The sixth graders are enthusiastic about Jonathan’s birthday.

(GR, and GL blends) 

          Green glass globes glow greenly. 

(L, ‘OO’ vowel) 

Aluminum, linoleum, aluminum, linoleum, aluminum, linoleum,aluminum, linoleum.

(Won’t) 

I would if I could! But I can’t, so I won’t!

(Woke) 

• I woke, he woke, she woke, they woke.
• We all woke up.

Session 13 - Phrase Reductions, Intonation

This session covers:

1. Phrase Reductions
2. Intonation

Phrase Reductions

(Going to try) becomes ‘gunna try’

      I’m gunnatry to finish this book.

(Want to eat) becomes ‘wanna eat’

     Do you wannaeat at seven o’clock?

(Have to start) becomes ‘hafta start’

    I haftastart a diet tomorrow.

(Has to try) becomes ‘hastatry’

    He hastatry harder.

(Got to leave) becomes ‘gotta leave’

     I gotta leave in fifteen minutes.

(Ought to believe) becomes ‘oughta believe’

     She oughta believe what he is saying.

(Out of bed) becomes ‘outabed’

     I got outabed when I heard the alarm clock.

(Did you go?) becomes ‘Didjago’

    Didjago to the store?

(Would he help?) becomes ‘Woody help’

     Woodyhelp me move the furniture?

(Won’t you play?) becomes ‘Woncha play’
    Woncha play one more song on the piano?

(Didn’t you know?) becomes ‘Didinchaknow’
    Didinchaknow that she was coming home tomorrow?

(Is he?) becomes ‘Izzy’

    Izzy the one that called?

(What do you want?) becomes ‘Whadaya_want’

(Give it to me.) becomes  ‘GividaMe’

    Gividame right away.

Intonation Practice

Have you ever tried one of Diane’s Donuts? They are so delicious. I have eaten many different kinds of donuts, from all over the country; however, I have never tasted anything, quite like Donuts made by Diane. I have been told that she uses the finest and freshest ingredients that money can buy. The best flour, the best eggs and the best milk. I am sure, that once you taste these incredible donuts, you will run and tell all of your friends. 

 

Syllable Stress

Generally, two-syllable words have stress on the first syllable.

Two-Syllable Words (stress 1^st syllable)

• Sofa
• Oven
• After
• Finger
• Station
• Second
• Enter
• Often
• Uncle
• Carpet
• Father
• Children
• Walking
• Jacket
• Lucky
• Comment

Two-Syllable Words (stress 2^nd  syllable)

• Delete
• Decline
• Survive
• Protect
• Adopt
• Advance
• Below
• Resolve
• Advice
• Acquit
• Control
• Arrive
• Involve
• Massage
• Disease
• Relate

Generally, three-syllable words have stress on the second syllable.

Three-Syllable Words (stress 2nd syllable)

• Reduction
• Arrangement
• Audition
• Companion
• Detective
• Ambitious
• Companion
• Appliance
• Discover
• Unlawful
• Conclusion
• Assemble
• Adjustment
• Affected
• Acceptance
• Ferocious

Syllable Stress Practice

• The pictures are fantastic.
• He needs permission to find a solution.
• The party is in honor of his retirement.
• Her son exhibited bad behavior on their vacation.

Comparative Sentences

• Joe drinks cheap wine.
• Sue only drinks expensive wine.

• Don’t forget his birthday.
• We would never forget his birthday.

• She’s planning to leave tomorrow.
• He made plans to leave a month ago.

• The Teacher’s meeting is at 9:00.
• The students announced that they will never have a meeting.

• My telephone isn’t working.
• The telephone needs to work by lunchtime.

• He’s painting his house blue and green.
• Your house would look terrible if it were green.

Session 14 - Reading Passages

This session covers:

1. Putting it all together – Part I
2. The 10 Key steps towards Improvement

Photo album

Keeping a family photograph album is a good way to save family memories for yourself and future generations of your family. Very old pictures can be taken to a photo shop and reprinted so that they can be placed in an album. Be sure to write on the back of the picture any information you remember about the people in it. Also, write the date if you remember it. Looking at photo albums is a relaxing way to spend the day and it is a fun activity to share with family and friends. Your children, grandchildren and their children will appreciate your efforts too.

The Public Library

Your library card can be your ticket to entertainment, current events and new ideas. Almost every city has a public library and there is no charge for a library card. Libraries have books about many subjects, but there are also other things at the library. These include books on cassette tape, videotapes, large print books, CD’s, DVD’s and magazines. Many have free programs in the afternoon or evening about travel, hobbies or other topics of interest. Some cities also have a bookmobile or traveling library, which brings the library right into your neighborhood.

John D. Rockefeller

John D. Rockefeller did three amazing things. First, he acquired probably the greatest fortune in all history. He started out in life digging potatoes under the hot sun for four cents an hour. In those days, there were not half a dozen men in all the United States who were worth even one million dollars. Eventually, John D. managed to collect a fortune said to be anywhere from one to two billion dollars. And yet, the first girl he fell in love with refused to marry him.

The reason given was because her mother refused to allow her daughter to “throw herself away” on a man who had such poor prospects.

Stars

How many stars can you see on a dark, clear night? You can see about 3,000 stars with your eyes alone. But keep in mind that you are viewing only part of the sky. If the whole sky were visible, you could count about 5,000 stars. If you look through a small telescope you might see as many as 600,000 stars. Through the most powerful telescopes, astronomers can spot millions of stars. No one is sure exactly how many stars there are altogether, but astronomers believe there are at least 200 billion, billion stars out in space.

The 10 Keys towards Improvement

Number 1.  Practice and listen.

Number 2.   Do not leave off the endings of words.

Number 3.  Make a list of frequently used words.

Number 4.   Open your mouth more when you speak English.

Number 5.  Don’t be afraid to speak.

Number 6.  Read aloud in English for ten to 15 minutes every day.

Number 7.  Record your own voice and listen for pronunciation errors.

Number 8.  Watch the mouth movements of native speakers and imitate them.

Number 9.  Buy books on tape. Read along with the tape - out loud.

Number 10.  Be patient.

Session 15a - Reading Passages

This session covers:

1. Putting it all together – Part II

A foreign student

When a student from another country comes to study in the United States, he has to find out for himself the answers to many questions, and he has many problems to think about. Where should he live? Would it be better living in a dormitory or in a private room off campus? Should he spend all of his time studying, or should he take advantage of the many cultural and social activities that are offered? At first, he may not feel that he fits in with the American culture. He may not feel confident when he speaks. Little by little, however, he learns how to handle himself in various situations. Finally he begins to feel very secure and ‘at home’. Unfortunately, this long-awaited feeling doesn’t develop suddenly. It takes time.

Volcanoes

Volcanoes are holes in the Earth’s crust which allow molten rock to escape from beneath. The molten rock, or lava, may flow out gently or it may be blasted high in the air with gas and ash in a violent explosion. There are eight hundred and fifty active volcanoes around the world. Do you know where these mountains of fire are found? Three quarters of them are found within a zone called the “Ring of Fire.” One edge of the zone stretches along the west coast of the Americas from Chile to Alaska. The other edge runs along the east coast of Asia from Siberia to New Zealand. Twenty percent of these volcanoes are located in Indonesia. Other big groupings are in Japan, The Aleutian Islands, and Central America. 

The Chinese Language

Chinese is a most unusual language. It differs from English and most other major languages in that it has hundreds of different dialects. A person who lives in one section of the vast country of China, often cannot understand a fellow Chinese who lives in another section. These two major dialects are Cantonese and Mandarin. Cantonese is a southern dialect. Mandarin, a dialect that originated in northern China, is spoken by more Chinese than any other dialect.

Non-Chinese people often say that the Chinese seem to “sing” their language. Chinese sounds as though it is sung, because many words are only one-syllable long and because the tone of voice changes for each word. As in English, many words have more than one meaning. The speaker’s tone of voice indicates each word’s specific meaning.

Even more fascinating than the variety of spoken sounds is the Chinese written language. It has no alphabet. Instead, it employs signs called “characters.” Each spoken word in the language is represented by a separate character. Originally, the characters were drawings that depicted the meanings of words, but over the years, they have simplified, and most no longer look like the things they represent.

The Supercontinent

Around 100 to 150 million years ago, there may have been only one continent on our planet. At least that is what some earth scientists have decided after years of research. If you look at the map of the world carefully, you can see that the present-day continents could be thought of as the pieces to a gigantic jigsaw puzzle. In your imagination carefully put the pieces together to form the super continent. You will see that if you took away the South Atlantic Ocean and pressed South America and Africa together they would fit very nicely. You could continue removing oceans and seas and put other parts of the world together quite easily until you get to those last two pieces of Australia and Antarctica. Scientists believe that the continents of Australia and Antarctica were once linked together. They may have split slowly off from the super continent and then separated from each other as recently as 40 million years ago.