Studying Vocabulary

Just as many others, I have recently been cramming all the Porter Words we are supposed to ingest and then digest, metaphorically speaking. So, how have I been doing it?

My system of studying vocab is not very exciting. First, I create a chart where I mark the different columns with "WORD", "DEFINITION", "EXAMPLE SENTENCE and "FURTHER INFO", just as we did in SuK 1 and 2 last year. Then, I sift the vocab in the Porter book, because it is impossible for me to memorise all of the, and write them down in the first column. After sorting them alphabetically, the most tedious part begins: finding the accurate definitions and trying to remember the context a word is used in.

This is how it looks like then:

Just the good ol' method.
As we do not only have to know what the definition of the word is but also how to pronounce it, I printed out the document and marked all nouns, verbs and adjectives. This is the first important step, as we all know that there are many nouns, verbs and adjectives that are written the same but are pronounced differently. Then, I highlighted the words I either had no idea how to pronounce or was not sure and asked our reliable vocabulary.com how he would pronounce it.

Dear pronunciation diary...

...I got back feedback on the pronunciation activity we did a few weeks ago. And guess what? Apparently I did "excellent" and "very good". I only had difficulties with one word, namely aluminum.  Which does not surprise me as I do not know the word. I only know the other version of the word, aluminium.

I have made some progress with my tongue twisters. Actually I had a good time challenging my friends to learn them. Only then you feel as if, in fact, you have absolutely no control over what you are babbling.

Anyway, this is the second part of my pronunciation diary and I'd like, after I focused on sounds in the English language, to have a look at how English words are pronounced. We all know how absurd English spelling really is. It has the same absurdity level as French grammar, some Facebook status or me trying to bake cookies. In contrast, it is claimed that English pronunciation has some rules that you can stick to. For example, you can pronounce the letter "G" in a word either as /d͡ʒ/ (before E, I, Y) or /g/ (before U and A) such in giant and George or garden and guacamole. 

Sounds easy, doesn't it? Alright then, I challenge you to try to read aloud a poem by Gerald Nolst Trenité, a Dutchman. Here is the link, there is a phonetic transcript beside it but I'd try first without looking at the right column. 

Do you now doubt your competence in English pronunciation? Don't worry, this poem was surely created to trouble us, all the willing people who want to acquire a good English. I think if anyone can read this poem with not a single mistake can call himself/herself King or Queen of pronunciation. 

Here are two videos that might help, the first one is performed in American English the second in British English. Whatever you prefer. 
You might prefer the first one in any case as the performer is a bit more entertaining.

Dear pronunciation diary...

...did you know that pronunciation in a foreign language is like the love at first sight? Let me explain this analogy.

Situation one: 
You are walking down the street with a friend, talking, holding waffles in your hands and suddenly your friend stops to greet someone. They small talk for a moment and then your friend turns to you and says: "This is my friend so-and-so, and this is my friend so-and-so from school". You put your waffle in your other hand, reach out to shake hands, smile politely and say "Hi, nice to meet you."... and BAM! There it was. The person you just shook hands with is now madly in love with you.

Situation two:
You are walking down the street with a friend, talking in German, holding waffles in your hands an suddenly your friend stops to greet someone. They talk about New Zealand, where this person is apparently from, and then your friend turns to you and says: "This is my friend so-and-so from New Zealand, and this is my friend so-and-so from school". You put your waffle in your other hand, reach out to shake hands, smiling politely and you say in the most perfect New Zealand accent: "Hi, nice to meet you."...and BAAMBAMBOO! There it was. The person you just talked to is now madly in love with your English. 

So you see, dear pronunciation diary, peoples' first impression about your English skills are not based on advanced grammar or vocabulary but on how good or bad your pronunciation is. 

As I am not a native speaker and as I am not perfect in English pronunciation, I am going to focus on a few problems that might cause difficulties for me. Before doing any intonation or rhythm exercises let's start with the basics. 

Pronunciation of individual sounds
may seem trivial but this is the point where a lot goes wrong without noticing. Before trying to make out the different sounds, it seems more apparent for me to have a look at homonyms. Homonyms are words that are spelled differently and have a different meaning but are pronounced the same. The most obvious ones are, for example,

• your/ you're   /jɔː, jʊə/
• male/ mail  /meɪl/
• deer/ dear   /dɪə/

there are also some that are not that obvious, such as,

• incite/ insight  /ɪnˈsʌɪt/ +  /ˈɪnsʌɪt/ (NOTE: stress not the same!) 
• boy/ buoy  /bɔɪ/
• ring/ wring  /rɪŋ/

HERE are a couple of more homonyms and some additional exercises.

Minimal pairs are the best way to differentiate individual sounds. Now, pronouncing minimal pairs as an exercise sounds relatively dull. And it is. An alternative and more fun way to practise this are tongue twisters.
It's time for Hank Green now.

Can I do this? No. Definitely not. But I am going to practise this because it's so much more fun than just pronouncing dull minimal pairs.


HERE is an application where you can write in the phonetic alphabet. It's genius, I like it!

Dear pronunciation diary, that's it for today, see you next time for more pronunciation adventures.
Best, N