Strong accent can have an enormous
impact on how people are perceived. In a University of Chicago study, it was
found that people with non-native
accents are perceived as” less credible”
than those with native accents.
Many non-native speakers understand
this and
believe that it is pronouncing sounds correctly that will help to make
themselves understood and to make their
point.
This is true but my advice to you – don’t focus just on
difficulties you have with some sounds. In
many cases, intonation is much more
important.
Take so called tag questions.
Tag
Questions, or, questions tags, are short phrases that change a declarative
statement into a question .For example, “You are Vanessa Del Monte, aren’t
you?”, “aren’t you?” is the tag question.
Just
as in many languages, tag questions are more common in everyday spoken conversational
English including its business variety. However, in English, different intonation or
music in tag questions, carries different meaning.
Two
examples of the same statement “You are moving to New York, aren’t
you?”:
1)
with falling intonation, “aren’t you?” implies that you
are sure of something and looking for confirmation. (I am sure that
you are moving and I want your confirmation)
2) with rising intonation, “aren’t you?”
expresses uncertainty. (I am not sure you moving and I want an
answer) . Although a sentence may be
grammatically correct and pronounced correctly, the wrong intonation of a tag
question may convey unintended meaning.
Consider
the following situation involving an ELL and ESL learner. While on a
date at a restaurant you say, “You like this restaurant, don’t you? With rising
intonation, “don’t you?”
sounds like you are asking if she likes it. However, with falling intonation don’t you? sounds like you are
telling her to like it. What do you think her reaction will be? Right,
you guessed. This could be your last date with this person.
Consider another
situation. You are planning a one day vacation and you ask your colleague to
cover your desk for a day. “You will cover my desk, won’t you?” With rising intonation, it will sound as if
you are politely asking for help. With falling it will sound as an order
or assignment which you are not authorized for anyway.
What will it do to your
relationship? You’re right again. Nothing good.
To summarize, be
careful when using tag questions. Their intonation may send a wrong
message.
Tags: accent reduction, American Eglish, american workplace, Business Communication, business English, clear speech, communication across cultures, cross-cultural communication, Dr.NAra, immigrant integration, Package Your Brilliance, succeedinamerica.com
Correct word stress is important for clear pronunciation.
To understand and properly use word stress, it necessary to understand syllables. Simply put, a syllable is a part of a word with one vowel, one beat. All words are made up of one or more syllables. For instance, “son” has one syllable (one beat) and “father” has two syllables (two beats). English dictionaries will show the different parts of a word.
An easy way to demonstrate and gain an understanding of syllables is to clap the number of parts while speaking the word. Do it now,
LOVE [luv] – one syllable /beat, realistic –RE-AL-IS-TIC – 4 syllables/beats, colleague – COL-LEAGUE – 2 beats/syllables.
Tags: accent makeover, accent reduction, clear speech, Dr.NAra, how to improve foreign acccent, improve spoken English, Nara Venditti, succeed in america, word stress in English
Every day millions of people use numbers either in face-to-face or over the phone interactions. Numbers may and do cause much confusion. This is because some numbers in English are pronounced similarly but have different stress patterns. Reversing the stress is likely to lead to disconnect between the communicating parties.
These numbers are in the teens, such as 13, 14, 15…19, and in tens, such as 30….-90. We are talking about just seven pairs of numbers, but the impact of misunderstanding is huge – we use them all the time.
Confusing these two pairs of numbers, can cause missing an important appointment, losing a sale, going to the wrong address – the possibilities are endless!
This is especially true for foreigners when accents and mispronunciation can wildly DISTORT the meaning.
SITUATION
Consider these examples
This task will take me 16 hours to complete (compared to)
This task will take me 60 hours to complete
My wife is 14/40 years old
This item costs 19/90 dollars
The address is 15/50 Main Street (and so on and so forth)
Here are two tips for you, to avoid misunderstandings when using these numbers
Make sure you stress first syllable in 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, and second syllable in 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90.
Clarify and say “one three” or “three-zero” to help to visualize the number.
Watch this video on the topic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYmouJv7eyk&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
Tags: accent reduction, business English, clear pronunciation, Dr.NAra, how to stress numbers, how to stress teens and tens, Nara Venditti, succeed in america, word stress in numbers
When T&H are spelled together, they can denote two sounds – /θ/ theta and /ð/ eth. And I know, I know. These sounds may be very challenging to pronounce. Even American-born children who grew up speaking English almost normally learn these sounds last. With the exception of Castilian Spanish and Greek, English is the only language that uses these two sounds.
To pronounce /Θ/,
- place your tongue in between your upper and lower lips
- slightly blow the air the air through your teeth (as if you are blowing on something hot)
- if you look into the mirror, you should see the tip of your tongue.
In some cultures, it is inappropriate to stick your tongue out. But the more you practice, the less obvious it will be. So go to your bathroom or mirror and just practice.
Here are some words to practice: Thankful, thank you, three, thermometer, think, growth, path, math, South, North, seventh, thousand, oath, cloth
Sound /ð/
Pronunciation sound /ð/ is the same, only it is voiced (which means that your voice cords vibrate).
The, this, these, those, together, there, thanks, withdraw, think, throw
TIP: If you putt a finger or two on the throat when pronouncing ‘Th’ for the voiced sound /ð/, e.g., . ‘The’, ‘This’, ‘That’, ‘Them’, ‘They’, ‘Those’ you will feel vibration. When you do that for the unvoiced ‘Th’ sound /θ/ , as in ‘Think’, the throat does not vibrate.
Hopefully, you have learned how to pronounce these sound. If you still have difficulty, do not hesitate to contact me.
Tags: accent reduction, American accent, clear speech, how to pronounce TH sound
It is a fact of life. English language usage can be confusing.
For your information, I am going to list some of confusing groups of words. Read them through and then download a useful tool for communicating in Business English, Succeed in America Guide to Most Commonly Mispronounced, Misspelled and Confused Words in Business English. Download here.
1. Some words sound alike and spelled alike but have different meanings. These words are called homonyms.
course – direction (as in “the ship took course for the island”)
course – series (as in “course of lectures”)
course – track (as in “golf course”)
bow [bau] – as in “to bend over at the waiste”
bow [bou] – a decorative looped knot
waist [weist] — usually the thinnest part of the body between the ribs and the hips
waste [weist] — throw away, misuse
vast — very big, huge
Others sound alike but have different meaning and spelling.
piece – peace
weight – wait
plain – plane
And then there is another group of words called heteronyms. They have different pronunciation and meaning but the same spelling.
polish [‘polish], as in nationality – polish [‘palish], as in polish your car
live [liv], as I liv in New York – live [laiv], as in live lobsters
tear [tear], as in tear a paper – tear [tiar], as in she was in tears
bow [bou], as in 1. bend over, 2. loped knot – bow [bau], as in tree branch
And then there is a fourth group of words that are spelled differently, mean different things but have somewhat similar pronunciation.
alteration – altercation
sedative – sedentary – seductive
perceive – persist
vacation – vocation
And finally, there are words which are may mean almost the same thing, but cannot be used interchangeably
assure – ensure – insure
fewer – less
shovel – shuffle
walk – work
It is almost impossible to avoid mistakes with English usage, but you can avoid many of these mistakes by using Succeed in America Guide to Most Commonly Mispronounced, Misspelled and Confused Words in Business English. Download here.
Any additions? E-mail us or leave a comment below.
Tags: American English, Business Communication, business English, confusing English, confusing usage, confusing words, confusing words in English, DrNara, ELL, English word usage, ESL, mispronounced words, misspelled words, misused words, Nara Venditti, succeedinamerica.com
In the English language, there are words and expressions that are used more frequently than others. While the subtleties of how they are used can be confusing for non-native speakers of English, recognizing and using them properly will help improve conversational English – due to their higher frequency of usage in spoken English.
Two such words are “can” and “can’t”. These words have opposite meaning and are often confused by non-native speakers (ELL and ESL students and professionals) because they may sound the same to a foreigner’s ear. What is confusing is that native speakers tend to reduce the vowel in “can” and omit the “t” in “can’t”. Misunderstanding and misusing them may create havoc in business.
I will illustrate using a few examples:
CAN: What a baby can do? A baby can cry. A baby can eat. In these two sentences, CAN is used along with a verb (cry and eat). Here “can” is pronounced as [kÉ™n] or [kn]. In other words the “a” sound [æ] is reduced.
However, in some cases [æ] is not reduced, not stressed:
1. When CAN is the last word in a sentence: E.g., Yes I CAN – [kæn], or:I will do it as soon as I CAN.
2. When used as negative, both in full – CANNOT and abbreviated – CAN’T. E.g., You CANNOT or CAN’T use the pool after 9 PM.
3. When it is stressed, or emphasized. E.g., I will prove to you that I CAN run a marathon.
CAN’T: What a baby can’t do? A baby “CAN’T” speak or A baby “CAN’T”walk. A non-native speaker may not distinguish this subtle difference and this may sound much like “CAN” [kæn].
So, CAN is not stressed Except for thee three situations listed above). CAN’T is always stressed which means the negative form of can is very strong.
One Last tip, to be 100% sure 1) Ask to clarify – Do you mean “CAN” or “CANNOT?; 2) Use the full word – To express negative, say – I “CANNOT”.
Practice: read aloud the sample sentences listed in this article a few times until you get it right.
Tags: accent reduction, American English, american workplace, clear speech, communication across cultures, cross-cultural diffences, cultural diversity, Customer Service, multiculturalism, succeedinamerica.com
Sound is the basic element of the spoken language.
Out of approximately 1100 sounds among the thousands of different languages spoken in the world, English utilizes of only about 44 of them.
One can imagine the difficulty in articulating the many different patterns of speech sounds from ones native tongue into English and, conversely the difficulty of English speakers understanding the colorful though confusing mispronunciations of foreigners. Especially in business, this may have serious consequences.
There are, however, ways to minimize many of the common pronunciation mistakes that are made by the majority of non-native speakers of English. Here is the list of seven mistakes that many English language learners regardless of their language background make.
- Intonation. Using the intonation of your native language can distort and confuse the meaning of what is being said. When speaking English, be conscious that the rising or falling pitch of your voice should be consistent with American intonation.
Tip: Learn and change your intonation to American intonation and you will make your speech more dynamic, understandable and confident.
2. Rate of speech.
There is a mistaken notion among some non-native speakers that the faster one speaks the more authentic and credible they sound. This is a misconception. Fast, not even accented speech, may be misunderstood even by speakers of the same language.
However, many of us speak too fast. Some factors that influence how fast we speak are characteristics of the individual, familiarity with the subject, and emotional state.
This is especially true for speakers of Indian languages where rate of speech is much faster than in English.
Tip: speak slower to make your speech more understood and … enunciate. This brings me to my next point.
3. Enunciating. Pronounce words distinctly, in other words, enunciate. While speaking, concentrate on enunciating each sound. This brings me to another important point.
4.Grammar sounds. If you mispronounce or drop word endings, your speech will be unclear. It will sound uneducated, unprofessional, and your listener will be distracted by mistakes you make.
Many non-native speakers know grammar well. But when it comes down to pronouncing the forms correctly, that’s when they fail. ELL and ELS speakers of English are often unaware or take lightly the importance of basic English grammar pronunciation and intonation of words and mispronounce and drop word endings primarily in the following cases:
- regular past tense verbs such as used, started, changed
- 3rd person singular present such as speaks, walks, talks
- regular plural count nouns such as friends, cars, sisters, and
- possessive nouns such as Mike’s, Rick’s, Isabella’s
Tip: Remember, noun and verb endings change the meaning of a sentence. Make sure you practice grammar sounds to improve the clearness and professionalism of your speech.
5. Long and short vowel distinction. For instance, pronouncing long vowels as short. Here is how it can change the meaning. “Sheet” – a common word used in business English (as in sheet of paper, spreadsheet). Don’t pronounce the long /i:/ and you will have the entire room full of people trying to suppress the smile (“shit” is not “sheet”!). Many Russian speakers make this mistake.
Tip: if you find it difficult to pronounce long and short sounds, try to find a synonymous word (for instance, “page” in case of “sheet”), and, whenever appropriate, use it instead.
6. Mispronouncing diphthongs. As a rule, ESL speakers pronounce the diphthong as a single vowel missing the second part. Forinstance, [no] instead of [nou], [ska] instead of [skai]. These can be very confusing to native speakers who do not recognize that two letters together are pronounced as one single sound.
7. Substituting one sound for another. For instance, Spanish speakers may substitute /sh/ for /ch/. For instance, “cheat” versus “sheet.” A native speaker might hear cheat in place of sheet!
Tip: Find out which words you mispronounce more frequently and practice how to pronounce them correctly.
I will not exaggerate if I state that if you eradicate or even minimize these seven types of mistakes, your speech clarity will improve by 80 percent; and you will make your speech more clear, confident, and credible to the listener.
Tags: accent reduction, American Eglish, Business Communication, business English, clear speech, communication, conversational English, ELL, ESL, improve spoken English, spoken English
This article is about possible pronunciation challenges that Indian speakers may encounter. Recognizing these challenges will help to eliminate them and improve pronunciation.
Sanskrit is the Indian mother tongue from which sprang up many other Indo-European languages languages including Hindu, Urdu, Telugu, and Punjabi. Although there is no single Indian language, those who speak these languages may have common pronunciation mistakes.
- Intonation. The Indian accent tends to exhibit an up and down lilt. This quality is sometimes referred to as a “Bombay Welsh”. This inherent music of Indian languages while pleasant, carries over to English making it somewhat distracting and difficult to understand.
- Vowel pronunciation. As inferred by the name Bombay Welsh, both Indian and Welsh speakers tend to pronounce almost all vowels as they written. Both languages seem to lack a “schwa” sound. For instance, the word “compartment” will be pronounced “cOmpartment”.
- Stress. Indian speakers tend to give equal emphasis to all vowels. So, to an American ear, Indian speech sometimes sounds very staccato. Also, many Indian speakers tend to always stress next to the last syllable. For instance, “lo’gical” instead of ‘logical.
- Adding a vowel before consonant clusters. Because consonant clusters at the beginning of the word are more common in English than in Indian languages, Indian speakers add a vowel before a consonant at the beginning or between consonants in the middle of the word. For instance, “start” versus “istart”, “state” versus “estate”.
- Reversing /v/ and /w/. Indians often reverse /v/ and /w/. For instance, “He vent to school”, “Please close the went”.
Tags: accent reduction, american workplace, Business Communication, business English, Chinese speakers of English, clear speech, ELL, ESL, improving conversational English
This post is about most common pronunciation challenges that Chinese speakers of English (ELL and ESL) encounter.
There are many Chinese dialects, Northern Chinese, or Mandarin, being the native tongue of 70% Chinese speakers. When speaking English, some mistakes are common to many Chinese speakers, however, they vary by region. For example, people from Liaoning or Shandong provinces may have different problems from Fujian or Guangdong provinces. What are the differences between Mandarin Chinese and English? The most notable difference is what role pitch (or musical intonation) plays in both languages. Pitch (musical intonation or tone) has different roles in English and Chinese.
• In English, pitch is used to express emotion or used for emphasis. Often many Chinese speakers lack natural English language music and adopt monotone intonation.
• In Chinese, pitch will change word meaning. A good example is the word “ma” which has three different meanings depending on the tone.
In addition, Chinese speakers may have the following top pronunciation challenges
• Difficulty distinguishing and pronouncing the /n/ sound. For instance, “nice” may be pronounced as “lice”.
• Difficulty distinguishing and pronouncing the /r/ sound, “surprise” may be pronounced as “supplies” • Tendency to omit final consonant or substitute it with a vowel. Because many Chinese characters start with a consonant and end with vowels or a nasal sound /n/ or /ng/, Chinese speakers often omit final consonants or substitute it with a vowel. For instance, “tell him” may become “teo him,” “about” – “abou”. • Chinese speakers often pronounce /r/ as /w/ at the beginning or middle of the word. For instance, “row” may become “wow” and “grow” – “gwow”.
Tags: accent reduction, American Eglish, Asian employees, Chinese speakers of English, clear speech, ELL, ESL, Foreign-born professionals, pronunciation, pronunciation mistakes
Question: Why is it important to promote multicultural employees?
Answer: One big reason—shifting demographics. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, minorities—which made up roughly one-third of the U.S. population in 2008—are expected to become the majority in 2042. Moreover, by 2030, nearly one-in-five U.S. residents is expected to be 65 or older.
As the demographic makeup of the U.S. population continues to shift, organizations will need to tailor their recruitment, retention, promotion and succession planning practices to meet the needs of the available workforce in order to maintain their competitiveness in the future.
Yet it is not solely up to employers—employees and employers have a stake in the success of multicultural employees.
Multicultural employees who are interested in advancing their careers should seek the answers to questions such as: What are my shortfalls? Why haven’t I been promoted? Why isn’t my voice heard and what can I do to change this? If an employee is not willing to put in hard work, he or she is not good material for transformation and growth.
Yet, it is important to realize that it is more effective to influence people if you act within the confines of their culture. As author Stephen Covey said, “Seek first to understand and then be understood.” If organizations fail to build awareness of cultural and language differences and do nothing to encourage managers to be inclusive, little progress will be made.
Therefore, to prepare high-potential minorities for management and leadership roles, organizations should:
*Seek opportunities to talk about the organization and its industry with students at local high schools. Interested employees can volunteer to teach students about self-marketing, building a personal brand, interpersonal skills and networking.
*Tailor orientation programs for diverse new hires. Set expectations by explaining that participation in company-sponsored training does not guarantee a promotion. Invite career development experts who have knowledge of the multicultural workforce as well as other diverse executives to share their experiences for inspiration and motivational purposes.
*Create career management courses that are tailored to the cultural and linguistic needs of culturally diverse employees, including individual coaching sessions, if necessary. Pay special attention to soft skills as well as cultural and behavioral differences, make sure that career development activities are mandatory, and note progress toward career goals during performance reviews.
*Provide opportunities for outside training and education including books and other self-study resources.
- Encourage employees to tap into experienced executives as mentors and sponsors. Emphasize the importance of networking to find people who have a personal stake in an individual’s success. Provide opportunities to build relationships.
- Encourage participation in company volunteer projects and membership and involvement in organizations relevant to their industry, profession and career development needs.
- Provide frequent feedback to culturally diverse employees rather than waiting for an annual or semiannual review.
As the economy and the job market improve, organizations will seek, and rely on, increasing numbers of talented minorities. HR’s role will continue to evolve as a strategic partner in helping companies to recruit, retain and promote high-potential multicultural employees.
Author Nara Venditti, Ph.D., is the founder www./succeedinamerica.com a Conn.-based cross-cultural consulting firm specializing in multicultural and foreign-born employee development and cultural competence. She can be reached at (203)791-1107 or nara@SucceedinAmerica.com.
