Here you will find some tried and proven guidelines, exercises, tips and tidbits designed to help learners of all ages and stages to improve their verbal-communication skills in the language of Shakespeare and Laurence Sterne.
Audio versions have been included at the end of each section.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. PRONUNCIATION RULES
1. RULE NO. 1: ALWAYS STRESS A FINAL S
2. RULE NO. 2: NEVER PRONOUNCE "i" LIKE "ee"
3. RULE NO. 3: ALWAYS PRONOUNCE FINAL CONSONANTS
4. RULE NO. 4: say "THE" not "ZE"
5. RULE NO. 5: say "AND" not "OND"
B. USEFUL SAYINGS AND PROVERBS
1. OLD FAVOURITES
2. WORDS OF WISDOM
3. EVERYDAY SAYINGS
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver (Proverbs)
A word once uttered can never be recalled (Horace)
A. PRONUNCIATION RULES
1. RULE NO. 1: ALWAYS STRESS A FINAL S
=> AN ENGLISH SPEAKER ALWAYS STRESSES A FINAL S
he always sings parts of his texts as songs
a sinner sins, singers sing, workers work, a winner wins
Jean’s pair of jeans
verbs: for the present singular
he/she/it: needs weeds returns responds burns stares learns walks talks listens
nouns: for the plural
the: parts darts lacks shocks teachers speakers talkers ponds hands bands
Résumé (Dorothy Parker)
Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren’t lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.
Hamlet (William Shakespeare)
Polonius: What do you read my lord?
Hamlet: Words, words, words!
2. RULE NO. 2: NEVER PRONOUNCE "i" LIKE "ee"
=> IT is not EAT
=> IS is not EASE
=> SICK is not SEEK
=> FIT is not FEET
- EASY TO WIN BY PICKING WITH SKILL
- IT IS IN – IF IT IS – IT EATS – AN ILL WILL – BILL IS STILL ILL IN THE GRILL WITH JILL
- PICK – SICK – LICK – TICK – WICK
- BILL – HILL – SILL – FILL – KILL
- HIT – SIT – BIT – FIT – LIT
- THICK – STICK – WICK – TRICK – FLICK
- PIN – GIN – WIN – KIN – FIN
BUT:
- SIDE – WIDE – PRIDE – HIDE – LIED – FRIED – TRIED – TINY – MINE – I – WHY – FRY
We Real Cool (Gwendolyn Brooks)
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
3. RULE NO. 3: ALWAYS PRONOUNCE FINAL CONSONANTS
- WE WANTED TO REFRAIN AND PART BY TRAIN WITH PILES OF HARD CASH
- HARD – CARD – LARD – SHARD – WARD
- PART – CART – WART – DART – SMART
- POND – FOND – WAND – BAND – CANNED
- TRAIN – STAIN – PLAIN – MAIN – VAIN
- CASHED – WASHED – LASTED
The Waste Land (T.S. Eliot)
April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Romeo and Juliet (Uno who)
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose,
By any other name would smell as sweet.
4. RULE NO. 4: say "THE" not "ZE"
- THIS AND THAT – THE THING IS THERE – THE ONE AND THE MANY
- MUSIC HATH CHARMS TO SOOTH THE SAVAGE BREAST
- THE NAME OF THE GAME
- THE THE THE – THAT THAT THAT – THIS THIS THIS – THERE THERE THERE
- THING THOUGHT THOUGH THROUGH
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (James Thurber)
At the drugstore on the corner she said: "Wait here for me. I won’t be a minute". She was more than a minute. Walter Mitty lighted a cigarette. It began to rain, rain with sleet in it. He stood up against the wall of the drugstore, smoking....He put his shoulders back and his heels together. "To hell with the handkerchief," said Walter Mitty scornfully. He took one last drag on his cigarette and snapped it away. Then with that faint, fleeting smile playing about his lips, he faced the firing squad; erect and motionless, proud and disdainful, Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last.
5. RULE NO. 5: say "AND" not "OND"
=> block your nose!
- AND THEN THERE WAS LIGHT
- AND LAND AND SAND AND BAND AND HAND AND MANNED AND CANNED AND GRAND AND SPANNED
- THE GOOD AND THE BAD
- THE LAD WHO HAD BEEN SAD AND BAD AND GLAD
- THE SLINGS AND ARROWS OF OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock (T.S. Eliot)
And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea
B. USEFUL SAYINGS AND PROVERBS
1. OLD FAVOURITES
All that glistens is not gold
All’s well that ends well
Discretion is the better part of valour
Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise
He laughs best who laughs last
He who pays the piper calls the tune
I know on which side my bread is buttered
Keep your nose to the grindstone
Look before you leap
Make hay while the sun shines
Many hands make light work
Out of sight, out of mind
Pride comes before a fall
That’s water under the bridge
There’s many a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip
Two heads are better than one
When the cat’s away, the mice will play
2. WORDS OF WISDOM
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
All good things must come to an end
An apple a day keeps the doctor away
Better three hours too early than a minute too late
Brevity is the soul of wit
Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched
Don’t put off to tomorrow what you can do today
Every cloud has a silver lining
If a thing is worth doing, it’s worth doing well
If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again
It takes all sorts to make a world
It’s an ill wind that blows no good
It’s no use crying over spilt milk
Keep a stiff upper lip
Lightening never strikes in the same place twice
Never say die
Sarcasm is the lowest form of humour
Seeing is believing
The early bird catches the worm
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions
There are two sides to every question
Time is money
Two wrongs don’t make a right
Where there’s a will, there’s a way
You can’t have your cake and eat it too
You can’t take it with you
3. EVERYDAY SAYINGS
A penny for your thoughts
Better late than never
Birds of a feather flock together
Don’t make a mountain out of a mole-hill
Don’t be a spoilsport!
Don’t beat around the bush!
Don’t mollycoddle her/him/me!
Don’t rock the boat!
Great minds think alike
Go jump in the lake!
He’s off his rocker!
His eyes are bigger than his stomach
I know which side my bread is buttered on
In for a penny, in for a pound
It never rains but it pours!
It’s as easy as pie!
It’s not worth a hoot!
It takes two to tango
Keep your shirt on!
Let’s run a flag up the pole to see who salutes
Little things please little minds
Look on the bright side of things!
Mum’s the word!
Murphy’s Law: If something can go wrong, it will
Rain, rain go away, come again some other day
Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt me!
That’s a piece of cake!
That’s like bringing coals to Newcastle
That’s like leaping out of the frying pan into the fire
That’s like the pot calling the kettle black
That’s like water off a duck’s back for him/her
That’s no skin off my back
That’s the name of the game
That’s the way the cookie crumbles
When push comes to shove ...
You can say that again!
You can’t get blood out of a stone