A Bit of Syllabic Consonants for Practice

Definition of what a syllabic consonant is

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syllabic_consonant

Syllabic consonants in British English

http://www3.hi.is/~peturk/KENNSLA/02/TOP/syllcons.html

Syllabic consonants as substitutions for vowels in a syllable

http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/encap/contactsandpeople/academic/tench/syllabic.html

Audio practice for syllabic consonants with text transcript

http://www.pronuncian.com/materials/podcasts/Episode_66.aspx

Syllabic consonants practice

http://www.scribd.com/doc/3417190/Pronunciation-in-English?fb_xd_bust#?=&fb_xd_fragment&cb=fb5e3ca79018cf&relation=parent&transport=fragment&frame=fe97ffc729d5e7&result=xxRESULTTOKENxx

Content Words VS. Function Words

Part I

Instructions. Work with a partner and read the following shortened version of the Myth of Prometheus. Read it allow and concentrate on giving special emphasis to the content words in the text below.

Prometheus was a young Titan, no great admirer of Zeus. Although he knew the great lord of the sky hated explicit questions, he did not hesitate to beard him when there was something he wanted to know.

One morning he came to Zeus, and said, "O Thunderer, I do not understand your design. You have caused the race of man to appear on earth, but you keep him in ignorance and darkness."

"Perhaps you had better leave the race of man to me," said Zeus. "What you call ignorance is innocence. What you call darkness is the shadow of my decree. Man is happy now. And he is so framed that he will remain happy unless someone persuades him that he is unhappy. Let us not speak of this again."

***************

Prometheus was not satisfied. All that night he lay awake making plans. Then he left his couch at dawn, and standing tiptoe on Olympus, stretched his arm to the eastern horizon where the first faint flames of the sun were flickering. In his hand he held a reed filled with a dry fiber; he thrust it into the sunrise until a spark smoldered. Then he put the reed in his tunic and came down from the mountain.

***************

"This that I have brought you is called 'fire,'" Prometheus said. "It is an ill-natured spirit, a little brother of the sun, but if you handle it carefully, it can change your whole life. It is very greedy; you must feed it twigs but only until it becomes a proper size. Then you must stop, or it will eat everything in sight -and you too. If it escapes, use this magic: water. It fears the water spirit, and if you touch it with water, it will fly away untill you need it again.

***************

Then one day Zeus looked down from the mountain and was amazed. Everything had changed. Man had come out of his cave. Zeus saw woodmen's huts, farm houses, villages, ... He saw forges blazing, men beating ploughs, keels, swords, spears ... They were wearing helmets, riding out in chariots to do battle, like the gods themselves.

Zeus was full of rage. Then he thought: Let them destroy themselves with their new skills. This will make a long twisted game, interesting to watch. I'll attend to them later. My first business is with Prometheus.

Text taken and adapted for educational purposes from Heroes, Gpds and Monters of the Greek Mythology by Bernard Evslin.

Part II

Instructions. If you want to read more about the myth of Prometheus and how he gave manking fire, read the information on the following links. Try to read allow so you can improve your sentence stress and rhythm while reading.

http://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanPrometheus.html

http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/prometheus.htm

http://studyguide.org/prometheus_myth.htm

Pitch Patterns and Intonation

Part I

Instructions. Identify the pitch pattern in the following sentences. Remember that depending on the kind of sentence you have, you can have rising intonation or falling intonation, or a combination of both patterns.

1. Alicia seems to be a good student, but lately, she has trouble with her assignments.
2. Shall I buy Albert's present in a mall or in a departmente store downtown?
3. Don't tell me that Mr. Parker is indeed a pilot for British Airways?
4. Have you noticed that all the color pencils are on the desk?
5. How many chairs and desks are there in the classroom? Enough for all of us?
6. Who's your twin brother? Allan?
7. The he-dog chased the she-cat all around the garden.
8. Who's calling? Ann or Wilbert?
9. How often do you go to the movies by yourself?
10. Tim always does his homework on time. He's way too punctual.
11. This message was written for you, not for me.
12. Why do you think a dog wags its tail?
13. Seldom do my students use Spanish in class.
14. I can understand Miss McGrady's position, but not Mr. O'Connor's.
15. Could you possibly open the door for the guests?

Note: Don't forget that in a single sentence we should focus on the last content word.

Part II

Homework. To continue practicing pitch patterns, intonation, and sentence stress, work on the following links to assess your understanding.

Practice 1

http://esl.about.com/library/speaking/blpronounce_stress_words1.htm

Practice 2

http://esl.about.com/library/speaking/blpronounce_stress_words2.htm