British Council CD Practise Your Pron Study Guide

Welcome to Practise Your Pron, the British Councils self study pronunciation programme. This programme consists of a CD plus a study guide and script for the CD. It is suitable for students of English at all levels who want to improve their pronunciation. The programme deals with the sounds of English and with ways of making your speech sound polite and natural. It includes dialogues and short texts to help you practise your pronunciation in everyday situations. Follow the programme or select from it and you can learn how to speak more clearly and naturally and communicate more successfully. Produced by the British Council Singapore ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Producer: Allen Baird; Scriptwriter: Lesley Fellingham; Readers: Gill Atkinson, Shaza Haq, David Humphreys, Editors: Irene Cruikshanks, Paul Tolton, Alaisdair Raynham, David Kemp, Allen Baird

Practise Your Pron Study Guide Track 1

Introduction Welcome to Practise Your Pron, the British Councils selfstudy pronunciation programme. Follow the self-study guide and listen to and copy the voices on the recording. After each sound, word or sentence, there will be time on the recording for you to repeat what you hear. For the dialogues and longer texts you will need to stop the recording to practise. By following the programme you can improve your pronunciation and communicate with more confidence. We wish you all the best as you work through the programme.

Track 2
The alphabet Lets start by practising the pronunciation of the letters of the alphabet. Listen and repeat. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 A B C D E F G H I J K L M a b c d e f g h i j k l m /e/ /bi/ /si/ /di/ /i/ /ef/ /di/ /et/ /a/ /de/ /ke/ /el/ /em/ 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z n o p q r s t u v w x y z /en/ // /pi/ /kju/ // /es/ /ti/ /ju/ /vi/ /dblju/ /eks/ /wa/ /zed/

STUDY GUIDE
Track List 1 2 3 4 S 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Introduction The alphabet and spelling The phonemic symbols Intonation asking questions Yes/No questions First questions in the caf Sounding polite and friendly Sounding polite and friendly practice Sounds /v/ and /b/ /v/ and /b/ dialogue practice Sounds /l/ and /r/ Making an announcement Sounds /t/ // and // /t/ // and // dialogue Sounds /m/ and /n/ Phone conversation The wrong number Sounds clusters Clusters story Weak sounds the schwa // Long and short vowels Dialogue in a caf Word endings Story with past tense Story with s endings Syllables and word stress Stress in nouns and verbs Stress in word families Sentence stress Linking Making links Dialogue practice with linking The gorilla joke

Spelling Practise the alphabet by spelling these country names. Listen, and repeat the spelling. 1 How do you spell China? 2 How do you spell Singapore? 3 How do you spell Vietnam? 4 How do you spell Thailand? 5 How do you spell Korea? 6 How do you spell Indonesia? 7 How do you spell Britain? 8 How do you spell Cambodia? 9 How do you spell Myanmar? 10 How do you spell Japan? 11 How do you spell France? 12 How do you spell Wales? 13 How do you spell Iraq? 14 How do you spell Zimbabwe?

British Council CD Practise Your Pron Study Guide Track 3

The phonemic symbols Practising the sounds of English Look at the chart of phonemic symbols in your study guide.
1 5 9 21

/p/ (U) put happy passport /t/ (U) church march nature /f/ (U) fat coffee physics /s/ (U) city history loss /m/ (V) mad hammer some /l/ (V) led balloon candle

22

/b/ (V) back rubber bright /d/ (V) judge edge age /v/ (V) view leave of /z/ (V) zero easy please /n/ (V) know funny sun /r/ (V) red marry wrong

23

/t/ (U) tea butter walked /k/ (U) key cool cheque // (U) thing maths heath // (U) sure motion fish // (V) sung finger sink /w/ (V) wet no one queen

24

/d/ (V) day ladder called /g/ (V) ghost bigger bag // (V) then father either // (V) pleasure Asia leisure /h/ (U) hot whole high /j/ (V) yet Europe excuse

i e
13 15 18

2 6 10

14 16 19

3 7 11

4 8 12

25

26

27

28

e
22 26 30 34 38

e a
23 27 31 35 39 17 20

29

30

31

32

a
24 28 32 36 40

21 25 29 33 37

p t f s m

b d v z n

t k

d g h

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41 42 43 44 l r w j Numbers 1 to 12 on the chart are vowel sounds. A vowel is a sound in which the air coming out of the mouth is not restricted in any way. Vowels can be short or long. The symbol for a long vowel sound has two dots after it, like this:

41

42

43

44

/i/, /u/ Listen to the vowel sounds and the example words and repeat them. The underlined part of the example word is the sound we are practising.
1

Track 4
Intonation Asking questions Now we are going to practise some questions about your first course at the British Council. It is important to use the correct intonation when asking questions. Intonation means the way the pitch of your voice goes up or down when you speak. When we ask an open (or wh) question, we generally start with a high pitch and go down at the end. Example: Whats your name? Listen and practise. 1 Excuse me. Where can I register for the Intermediate course? 2 How much are the course fees? 3 How long does the course last? 4 What time does the class usually start? 5 Which floor is my classroom on? 6 Where can I buy my coursebooks? 7 Where can I buy coffee? 8 Who will my teacher be? 9 When can I go to the next level? 10 How do I join the library?

/i/ eat cheese team /e/ edge said friend

// it system begin // asleep colour the

// put could good // earth journal heard

/u/ boot move kangaroo // ball floor caught

10 11 12 // // // // at cut art pot bad some heart watch glad blood march clock Numbers 13 to 20 on the chart are diphthongs. A diphthong is a vowel sound that starts as one vowel but changes into another one. Practise the diphthongs. 9 13

// here ear beer

14

/e/ make tail aim

15

// pure tour cure

16

// boy oil lawyer

Track 2
Yes/no questions Now listen to these questions. Does the voice go up or down at the end? 1 Can I buy you a drink? 2 Are you married? 3 Are you a student? 4 Do you like your teacher? 5 Do you like the weather here? 6 Do you like spicy food? 7 Have you got any brothers or sisters? 8 Did you come here by bus? 9 Would you like a cigarette? 10 Is there a phone near here? When we ask a closed or yes/no question, we often make our voice go up at the end. Listen again and practice the yes/no questions. 2

18 19 20 // /e/ /a/ /a/ note there sky cow soap air bite owl open care pie mouse Numbers 21 to 44 on the chart are consonants. A consonant is a sound we make when we restrict the air in some way before it leaves the mouth. Consonants can be voiced or unvoiced. If a consonant is voiced, the cords in your voice box vibrate when you make the sound. You can check you are making the sound correctly by placing your fingers on your throat, just in front of the voice box. You should be able to feel the vibration when you make the sound. With unvoiced consonants there will be no vibration. Practise the consonants. <U = unvoiced; V = voiced> 17

British Council CD Practise Your Pron Study Guide Track 6

First questions In the caf Here is our first dialogue. We are in the caf at the British Council. Listen to the whole dialogue. Then practise it by yourself or with a partner. A: Hi! Im Hong Lei. Whats your name? B: Hello, Hong Lei. My names Ricky. A: Hi Ricky. Are you a new student here? B: Yes, I had my first lesson this morning. Are you a new student too? A: No, Ive been here for six months. B: Six months. Thats a long time! A: Its not so long really. What class are you in? Intermediate or ? B: Intermediate Three. And what about you? A: Im in Advanced One. Whos your teacher? B: I cant remember her name, but shes got curly, red hair. A: Ah! Does she wear glasses? B: Yes, I think so. A: Thats probably Anne Wallis. B: Yes thats right. Do you know her? Is she your teacher too? A: No. But she taught me last term. How long have you been here? B: Only a week. A: Wow, not long. Where do you live? With a family? B: Well, Im staying at the YMCA at the moment. Im looking for somewhere more permanent. Do you know of any good places? A: Yes. Actually, my friend has a spare room in her apartment and shes looking for a flatmate. Would you like her phone number? B: That would be great! Thanks for your help. Can I buy you a coffee? Hostess: Guest: Hostess: Guest: Hostess: Guest: Hostess: Come and sit down. Would you like a drink? Oh, yes please! Id love a gin and tonic. Do you like olives? Or would you prefer crisps? Oh, just olives please. What music is this? Do you like it? Its Irish music. Its great! Where did you get the CD? Erm I think it was in the CD Shop in the Mall. Have you been there? Guest: Yes. I buy a lot of stuff from there. Its a good shop, isnt it? Hostess: Yes. Hey, Ive got some photos of our holiday in Ireland. Would you like to see them? Guest:. Why not? Id love to! Listen to the second dialogue again. Practise it by yourself or with a partner. Try to use polite intonation.

Track 9
Sounds /v/ and /b/ To make the /b/ sound close your lips together tightly. Push the air forward in your mouth. Then open your lips quickly. Make sure you use your voice. Try these words. baby butter Bobby Barbara hairbrush bubble birthday ribbon bottle club Now try reading these sentences. 1 Barbara, wheres your hairbrush? 2 Its Bobbys birthday in September. 3 Look, the babys blowing bubbles. To make the /v/ sound touch your bottom lip with your top teeth. Now, blow the air out between your lips and your teeth. Use your voice. Try these words. village Victor arrive view vinegar November love valley vowel vase Now try reading these sentences. 1 Victor lives in a village in Vietnam. 2 The plane leaves at 5 p.m. 3 I love this view of the valley.

Track 7
Sounding polite and friendly Heres some more practice of intonation. We can use intonation to show our feelings and attitudes. If your intonation is too flat, you will sound bored or impolite. You can sound friendlier by using a wide range in your intonation. Listen to this conversation between a husband and wife. Notice how the husbands intonation is flat, making him sound bored and slightly rude. Wife: Hello darling! Did you have a good day? Husb: It was okay. Wife: Would you like a drink? Husb: No thanks, Im not thirsty. Wife: Dinner will be ready at six. Are you hungry? Husb: Not really. Wife: Oh. Did you pick up the suits from the cleaners? Husb: Yes, I did. Wife: Good. Are you going to the pub tonight? Husb: Yes. Ill be back at the same time as usual.

Track 10
/v/ and /b/ Dialogue practice Listen to the dialogue and then practise it by yourself or with a partner. Pay attention to the /v/ and /b/ sounds. Barry: Im going to the shops in a minute. What do we need? Valerie: Were okay for vegetables but we should stock up on meat. Can you go to the butchers and get some veal and some beef? Barry: No problem. We also need bread, so Ill go to the bakers. Ill get some vol au vents* for Victors birthday bash* on Friday. Well need balloons for that too. Valerie: Better visit the supermarket then. Well need some other things for the party. Get some vanilla ice cream, some butter and some vinegar, and twelve bottles of beer. Barry: Okay. The librarys beside the bakers. Id better take back the videos we borrowed last week. Theyre overdue. Valerie: Ill see you later then. Barry: Bye! Ill be back before seven. * vol au vent = a small, savoury pastry often served as finger food at parties bash = party

Track 8
Sounding polite and friendly practice Now listen to a conversation between a hostess and her dinner guest. Notice how the guests replies sound polite and friendly because of the varied intonation.

British Council CD Practise Your Pron Study Guide

Just for fun! Try these tongue twisters! Vincent vowed vengeance very vehemently. Betty and Bob brought back blue balloons from the big bazaar.

Track 14
/t/ // and // Dialogue Keith and Cathy are trying to arrange a business meeting. Listen and then practise the dialogue by yourself or with a partner. Keith: Are you free on the thirteenth in the afternoon? Cathy: No, Im afraid not. Im meeting Ruth then. How about the fourteenth in the morning? Keith: Im sorry. Im attending a meeting at the Hilton then. Cathy: What about the next day? Keith: No, Im busy then too. Im meeting Dorothy Heath at North Bridge Road. Are you free on Thursday afternoon? Cathy: Yes, I think I am. Lets meet for lunch at Mouth restaurant. Keith: Good idea! Is two oclock okay? Cathy: Thats fine. See you there! Just for fun! Try this tongue twister. Lesser leather never weathered wetter weather better.

Track 11
Sounds /l/ and /r/ People often have problems pronouncing these sounds correctly and distinguishing between them. To make the /l/ sound your lips should be slightly parted; your tongue should touch the roof of your mouth behind your teeth and you should force the air over the sides of your tongue and out of the mouth. Use your voice. Try these words. land lily long label lesson table help milk usually final To make the /r/ sound keep your lips lightly parted. Turn up the tip of your tongue. Your tongue should not touch the roof of your mouth, but the sides of the tongue should touch the back teeth. Try these words. right read orange mirror horror really wrong problem

Track 15
Sounds /m/ and /n/ To make the /m/ sound press your lips together. Use your voice and try to make the sound come through your nose. Practise these words. man May from some small Mum bomb home-made marmalade summer To make the /n/ sound you should touch the roof of your mouth with your tongue, just behind your front teeth. Your tongue should touch your side teeth too. Use your voice. Try to make the sound come through your nose. Try these words. know number nine funny name November foreign plan hand even

Track 12
Making an announcement You hear this on the PA system of a large department store. Listen and then read. A small girl of about three years old has lost her parents. She was found crying near the leather goods section on the fourth floor. She is wearing a red dress and her hair is tied up with two red ribbons. She looks Chinese, but she doesnt answer to questions in English, Mandarin or any other Chinese dialect. Will the parents of this child please come to the Customer Service Department on the first level? Just for fun! Try this tongue twister. Lesley loves Roger, but Roger doesnt love Lesley. Roger rather likes Lucy.

Track 16
Phone conversation The wrong number Listen and then practice the conversation by yourself or with a partner. Melvin: Hello. Manchester 6739792 Nancy: Hello. Is that Nicholas? Melvin: Nicholas? Nicholas Nickleby? No. He doesnt live here any more. Hes moved to Morecombe. Nancy: Never! Do you know his new number? Melvin: Yes. Ive got it somewhere. Let me see. Where did I put it? Ah I remember, its on the memo. Here it is. Do you have a pen to write it down? Nancy: Yes, I do. Go on. Melvin: His numbers 4945939. Nancy: 4945939. Marvellous! Thanks for your help. Just for fun! Try this tongue twister. Many an anemone sees an enemy anemone.

Track 13
Sounds /t/ // and // To pronounce the /t/ sound make sure your lips are slightly parted. Put the tip of your tongue behind your front teeth. Push the air in your mouth forward and pull your tongue back. This is an unvoiced sound. Try these words. top ten table teacher tunnel tomato potato later fatter hat built To pronounce the // sound stick your tongue out between your teeth. Blow the air out between your tongue and your front teeth. This is an unvoiced sound. Try these words. thin think teeth both thing healthy breath The // sound is exactly the same, but you must use your voice. Try these words. then those mother together that with weather breathe

Track 17
Sounds Clusters A cluster is a combination of two or more consonant sounds in a word. These combinations can be difficult to pronounce. Practise these words. The consonant clusters are underlined in your study guide. against asked carrots clothes facts faults holds crisps months prompt receptionist lumps sports switched socks sixth 4

British Council CD Practise Your Pron Study Guide Track 18

Clusters story Listen to this story and then practise reading it. Judith thought she was unfit. She wanted to do more exercise so she decided to join a gym. She asked the receptionist about membership and joined up for six months. There was an extra charge for a locker and she also took out a subscription for the monthly fitness magazine. She spent lots of money on sports clothes too. She needed special socks and trainers, and they were very expensive. She changed her diet as well. She switched from crisps to carrots at snack times. Just for fun! Try this tongue twister. Top chopstick shops stock top chopsticks.

Track 21
Dialogue in a caf Listen to the dialogue. Practise saying the /i/ and // sounds correctly. In a caf. Jean: Where shall we sit? Look! There are some free seats in the corner. Jill: The seats by the window are better. Itll be cooler there. Jean: Okay. What would you like to eat? Jill: Im really hungry. I think Ill have chicken and chips with baked beans. Why dont you have the chicken too? Jean: I dont eat meat. It makes me ill. Ill have a cheese sandwich instead. Jill: And what about drinks? I think Ill have some mint tea. Jean: No thats really expensive! Its three dollars sixty cents! Ill have a coffee; its much cheaper. Waiter: Good evening. Jill: Good evening. Well have one chicken and chips with baked beans and one cheese sandwich please. Waiter: No problem! What would you like to drink? Jean: A mint tea and a coffee please. Oh and please bring me some cream for the coffee. Waiter: Okay. Let me repeat your order. One chicken and chips with beans, one cheese sandwich, a mint tea and a coffee with cream. Just for fun! Try this tongue twister. I ship cheap ice chips in cheap ice chip ships.

Track 19
Weak sounds the Schwa // Because we usually only stress one syllable in each word, the other syllables are unstressed or weak. This means that we dont pronounce the vowel sound strongly in these weak syllables. Instead we use the schwa sound, //. Practise the following words. Take care not to stress the schwa. America forgotten amateur astronomer /merk/ /fgtn/ /mt/ /strnm/ about photographer abacus familiar /bat/ /ftgrf/ /bks/ /fml/

conclusion /knklun/ upon /pn/ In questions that begin with Can the letter a in can is also pronounced as a schwa. Practise reading these questions. Make sure you pronounce the word can with a schwa sound. 1 Can you call me later? 2 Can you drive? 3 Can I help you? 4 Can I sit here? 5 Can you remember when Johns birthday is? 6 Can you tell me where the supermarket is? The word to is usually pronounced with a schwa sound. Practise reading these sentences. Make sure you pronounce the letter o in the word to as a schwa sound. 1 Im going to work. 2 Shed like to meet you on Thursday. 3 I dont want to be late. 4 What would you like to drink? 5 Im going to the beach on Sunday. 6 Take it to the garage to get it serviced. Now try some more sentences. Stress the underlined syllables. Try to make the others weak. 1 Sir Edward Anderson is a government official. 2 A professional burglar has entered the apartment. 3 An observant amateur photographer took her picture.

Track 22
Word endings The ends of words are very important in spoken English. They often give grammatical meanings such as singular/plural, subject-verb agreement and tense choices. The letter s at the end of words can be pronounced in three sometimes /z/ and sometimes /z/. Repeat the following pairs of words. Pay attention to the sounds at the ends of the words. Singular/Plural 1 cake cakes groups 2 group boys 3 boy beans 4 bean roads 5 road houses 6 house 7 orange oranges 8 watch watches Subject-verb agreement beats 1 beat rests 2 rest shuts 3 shut saves 4 save 5 break breaks feels 6 feel different ways. Sometimes the final s is pronounced /s/,

Track 20
Long and short vowels Learners of English often make short vowels too long, and long vowels too short so that they all sound about the same length. Practise saying these groups of words. 1 bean bin 5 caught cot 2 sheep ship 6 sport spot 3 dark duck 7 Luke look 4 march much 8 fool full

British Council CD Practise Your Pron Study Guide

Regular Past Tense Some past tense endings are pronounced /t/, some are pronounced /d/ and some are pronounced /d/. Repeat the following pairs of words. Try to pronounce the past tense endings correctly. 1 live lived 2 touch touched 3 start started 4 wash washed 5 lease leased 6 aim aimed 7 move moved 8 wait waited 9 expect expected 10 depend depended calendar lavender vegetable souvenir secretary comfortable thermometer certificate passenger pronunciation maintenance basically chocolate ancestor career Now check the key to see if you have underlined the correct syllable.

Track 26
Stress in nouns and verbs Many English words can be both nouns and verbs. Could you record that film on Channel 5 tonight? In this sentence record is a verb and the stress is on the second syllable. We have no record of your application. In this sentence record is a noun and the stress is on the first syllable. Listen to the following sentences. Underline the syllable in the words in italics which you think is stressed. Then check the answer key. 1 He was convicted of murder. 2 Please record that in the minutes Mrs Lim. 3 The object of the game is to win as many cards as you can. 4 Imports of oil have risen dramatically in recent years. 5 The teachers object to students using their mobile phones in class. 6 He has broken the world record for the 100-metre dash. 7 Any convict had the right to appeal to the Prison Governor. 8 The headmaster will present the certificates. 9 Its Jennys twenty-first birthday next week. Well have to buy her a present. 10 Singapore imports a lot of dairy products from Australia.

Track 23
Story with past tense Listen to the story and practise the past tenses. The meeting was interesting. Mr Wong invited me to The Italian Kitchen at The Quay. We ordered a drink and talked for a while before he wanted to start talking business. However, soon after we asked for the menu, he said he wished to get straight to the point and asked me what I thought about the new factory project. I hinted that I thought it was located in the wrong place and asked him if he had considered moving it to Shanghai. He agreed that that would be a better idea.

Track 24
Story with s endings Listen to the story and practise the s at the ends of the words. She gets up at about seven oclock and then drinks a cup of coffee. When she feels a bit more alert she showers and changes. She buys breakfast at the caf below her block and takes it to work to eat. She likes something sweet in the morning so she gets croissants and Danish pastries. She travels to work on the underground and arrives at about 8:45. She chats to her colleagues for a while and starts work at 9 oclock. She checks her email and then spends the rest of the morning on the telephone to customers. She leaves the office for lunch at 12 oclock. She goes home after work or sometimes eats out or meets her friends for a drink. She goes to bed at midnight most weekdays and saves her energy for the weekends.

Track 27
Stress in word families Underline the stressed syllable in these words before you listen to the recording. Then listen and check. Repeat the words using the correct stress. You can also check the stress in the answer key. managerial 1 manager infamous 2 famous reputation reputable 3 reputed sympathetic 4 sympathy personality 5 personal executive execution 6 execute 7 communicate communication photographer photographic 8 photograph contribution contributor 9 contribute

Track 25
Syllables and word stress Every word is made up of syllables. Some words have only one syllable. For example, book house fast well Most words however, have more than one syllable. For example, ta-ble has two syllables, a-gen-da has three syllables, in-tro-duc-tion has four syllables, con-grat-u-la-tions has five syllables, In-ter-contin-en-tal has six syllables. In every English word of more than one syllable, one of the syllables is stressed. This means we say it louder and stronger than the other syllables. Putting the stress on the wrong syllable can make it difficult for your listener to understand you. Listen to the following words. Repeat each word, and decide which syllable has the main stress. Underline the stressed syllable. For example, purchase

Track 28
Sentence stress Not all words in a sentence are stressed. It is important to know which ones to stress. When the wrong words are stressed, speech can be difficult to understand. Look at this example. Where do you prefer to go on holiday? To read this sentence naturally, you should not give equal stress to each word. We generally stress the more important words in the sentence. These are the words which carry most of the meaning, the content words. For this sentence, the content words are: Where prefer go holiday Listen and repeat. 6

British Council CD Practise Your Pron Study Guide

Where do you prefer to go on holiday? Look at these sentences. Mark the words you think are stressed. Then listen and check. You can also check the sentence stress in the answer key. 1 Ill type the letters and send them to him. 2 Jane will call you later. 3 If Id known she was a vegetarian, Id have cooked something special for her. 4 The parcel should arrive by Friday. 5 I enjoyed the meal but it was a bit expensive. 6 Youd better take an umbrella. It looks like its going to rain.

Track 7
Dialogue practice with linking Mark the links in these dialogues. Then listen and repeat. Dialogue 1. Assistant: Can I help you? Customer: Yes, Im in a bit of a rush. Could I just have a piece of apple pie please? Assistant: Certainly. Would you like it with ice-cream? Customer: No, thanks. Dialogue Sharon: Steve: Sharon: Steve: 2. How are you? Im fine, thanks. How about you? Im OK. What are you doing these days? Not a lot, actually. Busy at work, of course weve got a big project coming up in Malaysia. I may have to go KL in a few weeks. Sharon: Thats great. When are you starting? Steve: Probably in a week or two. Ill let you know.

Track 29
Linking When speech is linked, it flows and sounds softer and less disjointed. There are different types of linking, but they all involve the final sound of one word connecting to the first sound of the next word. Linking a consonant to a vowel. When a word ending in a consonant comes before a word beginning with a vowel, English speakers usually link up the two words. When this happens, the final consonant slides into the following vowel. For example, we write, get up But we say, ge-tup Try these phrases, linking the final consonant of the first word to the vowel at the beginning of the second word. get away in Australia look over green apple set up live in Linking a vowel sound to a vowel sound. Sometimes, a word which ends in a vowel sound is followed by another word that begins with a vowel sound. In this case, an extra sound is inserted between the words to make the link easier to pronounce, This can be /w/, /j/, or /r/. Practise these links: /w/ Do I? /j/ weigh up /r/ Where is it? go out be aware there isnt no ink I am mother and father

Track 32
Just for fun The gorilla joke Listen to the following joke and mark where the links are. Then practise reading the text yourself. A gorilla went in to a bar and ordered a whisky. The barman thought that it was unusual to see a gorilla in a bar drinking whisky and, thinking that gorillas must be stupid, he thought he would try to take advantage of the situation and overcharge him. He served the gorilla his whisky and said, Thatll be fifty dollars please. The gorilla immediately took out his wallet and paid the barman, who was very happy. The gorilla drank his whisky quietly and then ordered another. The barman served him and charged him another fifty dollars. As the gorilla was drinking his whisky, the barman got curious and decided to find out why the gorilla was in the bar. So, to strike up a conversation, he said, Its funny, we dont get many gorillas in here. Im not surprised with the price of your whisky, the gorilla replied.

Conclusion
Thats the end of our pronunciation CD. We hope youve enjoyed it and feel more confident about your pronunciation. But dont stop now; keep practising. Goodbye and good luck.

Track 30
Making links Look at the following sentences. Where will the links be? Mark them in. Then listen and check and repeat. 1 Its almost eight oclock. 2 Could I have a cup of coffee, please? 3 Im in an awful hurry, Im afraid. 4 Switch on the light, love, I think I heard a noise. 5 There isnt anything else I can say. 6 Anne and a friend are in Orchard Road. 7 Stop and ask around. 8 Get on a boat to Africa. 9 Im going to be away for a few days.

British Council CD Practise Your Pron Study Guide

Answer key
Syllables and word stress Track 25
calendar souvenir thermometer pronunciation chocolate lavender secretary certificate maintenance ancestor vegetable comfortable passenger basically career

Stress in nouns and verbs Track 26

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 He was convicted of murder. Please record that in the minutes Mrs Lim. The object of the game is to win as many cards as you can. Imports of oil have risen dramatically in recent years. The teachers object to students using their mobile phones in class. He has broken the world record for the 100-metre dash. Any convict had the right to appeal to the Prison Governor. The headmaster will present the certificates. Its Jennys twenty-first birthday next week. Well have to buy her a present. Singapore imports a lot of dairy products from Australia.

Stress in word families Track 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 manager famous reputed sympathy personal execute communicate photograph contribute managerial infamous reputation sympathetic personality executive communication photographer contribution

reputable

execution photographic contributor

Sentence stress Track 28

1 2 3 4 5 6 Ill type the letters and send them to him. Jane will call you later. If Id known she was a vegetarian, Id have cooked something special for her. The parcel should arrive by Friday. I enjoyed the meal but it was a bit expensive. Youd better take an umbrella. It looks like its going to rain.

Making links Track 30

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Its almost eight oclock. Could I have a cup of coffee, please? Im in an awful hurry, Im afraid. Switch on the light, love. I think I heard a noise. There isnt anything else I can say. Anne and a friend are in Orchard Road. Stop and ask around. Get on a boat to Africa. Im going to be away for a few days.