People from many languages tend to use too much energy on final consonants. This can Cause extra puffs of air or even extra vowel sounds to attach to the ends of words. Follow the directions on the tape for stopping the consonants properly on the following drills.
[LANGUAGE NOTE: Pay particular attention to this section if your first language is ITALIAN, GREEK, or KOREAN. There's also some tendency to explode too hard with some speakers of other East Asian languages.]
L8/S1: VOICELESS FINAL CONSONANTS
ON THE TAPE | Not On The Tape |
SAFE -- A SAFE PLACE |
half -- half priced |
TOOTH -- TOOTH DECAY | fifth -- fifth generation |
ICE -- ICE CREAM | promise -- promise me |
PUBLISH -- PUBLISH THE BOOK | parish -- parish priest |
SIP -- SIP THE DRINK | tip -- tip that waitress |
SIT -- SIT THERE | top -- top drawer |
SICK -- THE SICK CHILD | rock -- rock pile |
L8/S2: VOICED FINAL CONSONANTS
HAVE -- HAVE TIME | prove -- prove that |
JAZZ -- JAZZ SINGER | praise -- praise the Lord |
CAB -- CAB DRIVER | ebb -- ebb tide |
SIDE -- SIDE STREET | road -- road work |
DRAG -- DRAG THE FURNITURE | lag -- lag behind |
Add now try avoiding any extra air puffs or vowel sounds after the final consonants inside these additional sentences from some of the earlier consonant drills.
-- I feel safe when I leave and my relief shows up.
-- Not having enough love can cause great grief.
-- This is as good as it gets.
-- This happened because his rose garden was beautiful.
-- Stop the cab!
-- Can the cop nab the criminal?
-- The baby can't sleep in that crib.
-- The hotel let me keep the rose.
-- Don't kick the dog.
-- He was struck on the back by a plastic bag.
-- The pig picked up a jug of water.
-- Crack open the keg.
-- Let the seed sit on the ground.
-- You need a hat on your head on hot days.
-- Get outside and walk around a bit.
-- He had to avoid getting hit in the head.
I. ACTING WITH AN ACCENT (Learning Dialects & Accents)
26 one-hour tapes with manuals for actors wanting to learn any of the following accents and dialects:
Standard British | American Southern | Spanish |
Cockney | New York City | Italian |
Northern British | Boston | French |
Irish | Upper Class New England | German |
Scottish | Down East New England | Russian |
Australian | Chicago & Detroit | Yiddish |
Mid-West Farm Belt | Polish | |
West Indian & | Four Texas Dialects | Norwegian & |
Black African | Swedish | |
Arabic | ||
Farsi (Persian) | American Accents for English Actors |
II. SPEAKING WITHOUT AN ACCENT (Reducing Regional Dialects)
8 one-hour tapes and manuals for speakers wanting to reduce any of the following American Regionalisms:
- New York City (also N. Jersey & Long Island)
-American Southern (including Mountain Southern and Texas)
-Pennsylvania and S. Jersey (also Delmarva -- De, DC, and MD)
-Boston (and all of Eastern New England)
-Chicago - Detroit - Buffalo (and Great Lakes Regions)
-American Black Dialects (urban and rural)
-Mid-West Farm Belt Dialects (non-Southern varieties)
-AND a special tape for learning ELEVATED AMERICAN DICTION
III. THE SOUND & STYLE OF AMERICAN ENGLISH (Reducing Foreign Accents)
3 ninety-minute cassettes with manuals for speakers of English as a Second Language wishing to reduce their foreign accents.
OTHER CASSETTES by
DAVID ALAN STERN, Ph.D.