Quick & Easy Pronunciation Practice Ideas! (Heather Hansen)
- 11 years ago
Register for the FREE pronunciation short course at:
http://englishpronunciationcourse.com
http://www.hansencommlab.com
Quick & Easy Pronunciation Practice Ideas!
with Heather Hansen of English Pronunciation Lab
Today I'd like to share with you some really quick and easy ways that you can integrate speech and pronunciation practice into your daily routines.
1) Newspaper Practice
Do you read the newspaper in the morning? Ok, take just 10 more minutes to do an analysis of a short passage -- mark the work stress, break the content into chunks, read it out loud to practice flow. Concentrate on sounds that you know are difficult for you. There you go. 10 minutes of practice. Check!
2) Morning Commute
How do you get to work? Do you drive? If you're one of my clients, you have some pronunciation CDs and listening materials you can stick in your CD player. If you're on the bus, metro, subway, listen to the mp3s on your phone. Obviously if you're in a public place you probably won't want to be doing production practice, but you could get away with it in your car. Either way, you're at least working on your listening skills. That's at least 15 more minutes of practice, and it's really good practice if you're able to also practice your speaking at that time. Check!
3) Boring Meetings
Now what about when you're sitting in that incredibly boring meeting at work? Instead of letting your mind wander to all kinds of crazy things, put your speech awareness hat on and make some notes about how the person speaks. If they're a good speaker, what can you learn from them? If they aren't so good... what can you learn from them? Listen for pronunciation, timing, flow, use of examples and stories, audience engagement techniques (or lack thereof). Turn your daily experiences into learning experiences. We just got about 30 more minutes of practice in! Not bad!
4) Waiting Times
Now, another opportunity! Think about all the time you spend waiting during the day. Maybe you're stuck on
http://englishpronunciationcourse.com
http://www.hansencommlab.com
Quick & Easy Pronunciation Practice Ideas!
with Heather Hansen of English Pronunciation Lab
Today I'd like to share with you some really quick and easy ways that you can integrate speech and pronunciation practice into your daily routines.
1) Newspaper Practice
Do you read the newspaper in the morning? Ok, take just 10 more minutes to do an analysis of a short passage -- mark the work stress, break the content into chunks, read it out loud to practice flow. Concentrate on sounds that you know are difficult for you. There you go. 10 minutes of practice. Check!
2) Morning Commute
How do you get to work? Do you drive? If you're one of my clients, you have some pronunciation CDs and listening materials you can stick in your CD player. If you're on the bus, metro, subway, listen to the mp3s on your phone. Obviously if you're in a public place you probably won't want to be doing production practice, but you could get away with it in your car. Either way, you're at least working on your listening skills. That's at least 15 more minutes of practice, and it's really good practice if you're able to also practice your speaking at that time. Check!
3) Boring Meetings
Now what about when you're sitting in that incredibly boring meeting at work? Instead of letting your mind wander to all kinds of crazy things, put your speech awareness hat on and make some notes about how the person speaks. If they're a good speaker, what can you learn from them? If they aren't so good... what can you learn from them? Listen for pronunciation, timing, flow, use of examples and stories, audience engagement techniques (or lack thereof). Turn your daily experiences into learning experiences. We just got about 30 more minutes of practice in! Not bad!
4) Waiting Times
Now, another opportunity! Think about all the time you spend waiting during the day. Maybe you're stuck on