Hi Everyone,
It might be a bit late in the year to wish you all Happy New Year, but I think 2012 will be a good year for all.
Well, the holidays are well and truly over and the rapid pace of working life has returned. 2012 will hold many new things for sole to speak, as we sit here today, the small, fledgling company is rapidly expanding with many new students and teachers getting on board.
English as a foreign language is in the spotlight as Brazil prepares itself for world sporting events and becoming an emerging superpower. Last Sunday Folha de São Paulo published a special report on the growing demand for English over the country.
So this brings me to my theme today regarding pronunciation and word stress. Being able to speak without and accent is a difficult feat for any language learner, and sometimes a twinge of a foreign accent can add a certain charm and cuteness. However, there are certain things that could land you in embarrassing moments for you and your listener. let's take a look at some:
A women doing a presentation in front of some English and American guys pronounces the word shift like shit. She precedes to tell the audience how at her company they have three shits a day. One in the morning, one in the afternoon and then finally the last one at night.
Another guy confused the word like with lick and said how he licks he girlfriend. You can imagine how uncomfortable that must have been!!
Another classic example is when a Brazilian girl in London said to me "you like bitch", she was actually trying to say do you like the beach? two problems occurred here the first forgot her auxiliary verb and the second mispronounced the letter combinations "ea" .
Once student told me of the discomfort of having a tit ache rather than tooth ache or teeth ache I think he was actually trying to say. Are yes, the famous "th" sound always difficult.
Follow link to see the problems of learning English pronunciation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvpikUEIaLI
Hope you enjoyed today's entry.
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