Pronunciation Pro

Student Workbook
Week 1

Introduction
Ruden Phonetics
3 easy tips
Final Voiced Consonants

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Introduction Summary
How the Pronunciation Pro Program works.
How to learn to speak clear and confident American English.

Learning English Pronunciation is all about learning 2 things....

1. Learn the Sounds of English - consonants & vowels

Practice by progressing from saying the sound in:
• words
• sentences
• paragraphs
• speeches
• conversational speech

2.Learn the Rhythm of English

• word stress
• sentence stress
• intonation
• linking
• pausing
• rate of speech

An Accent is the carryover of the sounds and rhythm of your first language to your second
language (English).

To speak with a new accent, you must learn to move your mouth muscles in a new way -
like learning to ride a bike or playing the piano.

The Pronunciation Pro Program teaches the ‘Standard American English Accent’ - the most
understood accent by all English speakers.

6 steps to learning English Pronunciation

1. Decide & Commit
2.Learn the rules
3.Learn to listen
4.Learn the correct mouth movements
5. Practice
6.Use it in daily conversation

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3 Easy Tips for Clear Pronunciation
Use these 3 tips to quickly and drastically improve your spoken English.

1.Slow Down
• engages your audience - keeps them interested in your message
• gives your listener time to keep up with what you have to say
• gives your mouth more time to move into the correct position

2.Move Your Mouth

• English requires a lot of movement in the mouth
• mouth, tongue, lips, teeth, and throat need time to get into the correct position
• by opening your mouth you allow the sound to come out unrestricted (trumpet)
• practice in front of a mirror to make sure you are moving your mouth enough

3.Speak Up
• speak louder
• if your listener can hear you well, they will better understand your message, even if you
make some mistakes
• don’t be too concerned about making mistakes

The goal is to make it easier for your listener to listen to you. When you follow these three
tips you will create an easy listening experience for your audience.

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 3 Easy Tips to quickly improve my spoken English

Slow Down Move My Mouth Speak Up

Hi, my name is __________________ and I’m learning to speak

English with an American accent. I found this great program called
Pronunciation Pro where I learn everything I need to know about
English pronunciation and the American Accent. As I practice these
skills, I will be better understood by native English speakers and
English speakers around the world.

In this lesson, I’m learning how to slow down so my listener has time
to follow what I’m saying.

I’m also learning to move my mouth more. I’ve learned that if I don’t
open my mouth and move it, then my listener will have to work
harder to understand me.

The final thing I’m learning, is to speak up. I know that when I speak
louder it’s easier for my listener to hear what I have to say.

If I use these 3 tips in my daily conversation then I will find more

success in my interactions with native English speakers and English
speakers around the world.

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Ruden Phonetics Summary
A system of spelling English words the way they are pronounced!

• English has 26 letters in the alphabet but 52 sounds used.

• English spelling does not always tell us how a word should be pronounced.

• International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) - a set of symbols that represents every sound of
every language around the world. The symbols look like these: /ð/ /θ/ /æ/ /ɚ/ /ʌ/

• Ruden Phonetics: spell the word the way it is pronounced, using the spelling rules of
English.
Examples using Ruden Phonetics :
statue = /stachoo/ or ‘sta chew’
intuition = /intooishun/
parents = /pAr rints/ or ‘pair rints’
taught = /tot/

• Ruden Phonetics will be used throughout this program and website. If you have a
question about how a word should be pronounced in English, ask your trainer or ask on
the forum and we’ll use Ruden Phonetics to help you understand how to say it!

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 RUDEN PHONETICS
Consonants

Ruden Phonetics Key Words IPA Symbol

/p/ pop, paper /p/

/b/ baby, robber /b/

/t/ top, get /t/

/d/ did, bad /d/

/k/ key, cat /k/

/g/ good, dog /g/

/s/ sun, list /s/

/z/ zoo, his /z/

/sh/ shoe, information /ʃ/

/zh/ television, treasure /ʒ/

/ch/ chip, watch /tʃ/

/j/ joke, judge /dʒ/

/y/ yes, use /j/

/f/ food, off, phone /f/

/v/ very, leave /v/

/w/ wet, always, one /w/

/h/ how, who /h/

/TH/ (voice - on) those, other /θ/

/th/ (voice - off) thank, mouth /ð/

/m/ me, summer /m/

/n/ no, nine, know /n/

/ng/ sing, think /ŋ/

/l/ (initial - light L) look, light /l/

/ul/ (dark L) fall, people /ɫ/

/r/ right, wrong /r/

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 RUDEN PHONETICS
Vowels

Ruden Phonetics Key Words IPA symbol

/a/ cat, apple /æ/

/e/ yes, bell /ɛ/

/i/ it, sit /ɪ/

/ee/ bee, leave /i/

/uh/ cup, love /ʌ/

/o/ hot, father /ɑ/

/oo/ too, blue /u/

/ooh/ book, put / ʊ̈/

Ruden Phonetics Diphthong Key Word IPA symbol

/O/ go, coat /oʊ/

/A/ day, wait, cape /e/

/ɪ/ pie, time /ɑɪ/

/ow/ house, now /ɑʊ/

/Oy/ boy, oil /ɔɪ/

Ruden Phonetics Key Word IPA symbol

R colored vowels

/er/ dinner, editor /ɚ/unstressed, /ɝ/ stressed

work, turkey

/ar/ start, car, are /ɑr/

/Ar/ square, where /ɛr/

/or/ short, poor /ɔr/

/eer/ peer, ear /ɪr/

/oowr/ sure, cure ʊr

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Ruden Phonetics Worksheet
It’s not how it’s spelled, it’s how it sounds!!!

A. How many sounds do you hear in these words?

1. oath _______
2. dinner _______
3. though _______
4. game _______
5. know _______

B. Listening Exercise. What sounds do you hear?

1. debt _______________________
2. handsome _______________________
3. design _______________________
4. knock _______________________
5. chalk _______________________

C. Using Ruden Phonetics.

1. debt det det

2. handsome ha n s u m hansum
3. design d ee z I n deezIn
4. knock n o k nok
5. chalk ch o k chok
6. public p u b l i k publik
7. economy ee k o n u m ee eekonumee
8. vacation v A k A sh u n vAkAshun
9. idea I d ee u Ideeu
10. please p l ee z pleez

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Final Voiced Consonants Summary
When a word ends in a voiced sound, make sure your voice is ON.

All English sounds are either Voiced or Voiceless sounds.

Voiced Sounds - your throat vibrates /b, d, g/

Voiceless Sounds - your throat does not vibrate /p, t, k/

Pairs - mouth position is the same, the only difference is whether your voice is on or off.

Common Error
A common error is saying the voiceless sound /p/ when you should be saying a voiced
sound /b/. This mistake happens on sounds that are pairs because the mouth shape is in
the exact same position, the only difference is the voicing. This mistake usually happens
when a voiced sound is at the end of a word. Instead of saying ‘dog’, you might be saying
‘dock’ and instead of saying ‘pig’, you might be saying ‘pick’.

The trick
When a word ends in a voiced sound, hold the vowel for 2 beats before the voiced sound.
This helps you keep your voice turned on for the entire word.

Bonus: Can/Can’t

Can - reduce the vowel to /kin/

Can’t - hold the vowel for 2 beats

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 VOICED & VOICELESS
Sound Chart

Voiced Voiceless

/b/ /p/

/d/ /t/

/g/ /k/

/z/ /s/

/v/ /f/

/zh/ /sh/

/j/ /ch/

/TH/ /th/

/h/

/w/

/y/

/m/

/n/

/ng/

/l/

/r/

All vowels

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Final Voiced Consonants
Hold the vowel longer before the voiced consonant.
Voiced Sounds - /b, d, g, z, v, zh, j, TH, w, y, m, n, ng, l, r/

/p/ - /b/
cup/cub nap/nab cap/cab mop/mob rope/robe
tap/tab slap/slab lap/lab rip/rib

Practice sentences:
1. The baby cub held the cup.
2.She needs to nab a quick nap.
3.I left my baseball cap in the back seat of the cab.
4.The mob left a mess for me to mop.
5.Where is the rope that goes with my robe.
6.The instructions for the tap are on the tab.
7.Slap the grout on that slab of tile.
8.He made one lap around the lab.
9.They found a rip on that boys rib.

/t/ - /d/
beat/bead cut/cud mate/made pat/pad bet/bed
pot/pod bat/bad hit/hid bite/bide

Practice Sentences:
1. Dancing to the beat, a bead fell off my bracelet.
2. Cut the cud the calf chews.
3. Pirate captains made their crew call one another “mate.”
4. He likes to pat the pad of papers before the test.
5. I bet you never go to bed on New Year’s Eve!
6. My iPod fell into a pot of water!
7. He had a bad dream about a bat.
8. After he hit his sister, he hid under his bed.
9. Bite your lip to bide some time before the verdict.

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/k/ - /g/
rack/rag sack/sag lack/lag whack/wag
back/bag dock/dog lock/log frock/frog

Practice Sentences:
1. The rag on the metal rack smelled bad.
2. A wet sack of laundry will sag.
3. Jet lag is caused partly by lack of sleep.
4. My dog will wag his tail and whack everyone.
5. He placed the heavy bag on the boy’s back.
6. A dog sat at the edge of the dock.
7. We needed to lock the log cabin.
8. In stories, the ugly frog wears a nice frock.

/s/ - /z/
rice/rise cease/seize mace/maze hiss/his bus/buzz
face/phase fuss/fuzz lace/lays use/use advice/advise

Practice Sentences:
1. The water of the rice paddies is on the rise.
2. The boy will cease to seize your hand.
3. Bring your mace to the haunted maze.
4. His snake will hiss if you get too close.
5. The buzz of the bus made me nervous.
6. My face went through a chubby phase.
7. My baby will fuss when you put fuzz by his face.
8. Our cat lays on the lace cloth.
9. It’s no use to fix a thing you don’t use.
10. I tried to advise him but he won’t take my advice.

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/f/ - /v/
thief/thieve half/halve safe/save grief/grieve leaf/leave
strife/strive wafer/waver life/live proof/prove

Practice Sentences:
1. The thief will thieve the jewelry.
2. He will have half this pie.
3. Save your money by putting it in a safe.
4. Handle grief by giving yourself time to grieve.
5. Mom wanted to leave the leaf on the table.
6. Strive to be glad though you feel strife.
7. Do not waver to eat that wafer.
8. The video of my life will go live.
9. We cannot prove his guilt without proof.

/ch/ - /dg/
witch/widge* catch/cadge rich/ridge
etch/edge search/surge batch/badge

Practice Sentences:
1. The witch named her cat “widge”.
2. Cadge less to catch the perfect mate.
3. The rich man lives near the ridge.
4. Please etch your mark into the edge of the glass.
5. Electricians search to find the power surge.
6. He got a badge for his batch of cookies.

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Can/Can’t difference
Can: 1 beat /kin/ {reduced vowel}
Can’t: 2 beats /kant/ {full vowel}

Practice Sentences:
1. He can go.
2. He can’t go.
3. I can take you to work.
4. I can’t take you to work.
5. She can afford it.
6. She can’t afford it.
7. I told him I can.
8. I told him I can’t.
9. I can help you.
10. I can’t help you.
11. I told you we can go tomorrow.
12. I told you we can’t go tomorrow.
13. If you can come, tell me.
14. If you can’t come, tell me.
15. Are you saying we can?
16. Are you saying we can’t?
17. Who thinks they can make it?
18. Who thinks they can’t make it?
19. When can you meet?
20. When can’t you meet?

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