Useful Resources

Pronunciation Fundamentals (Beginning Level)

• Ideal if you're just starting to focus on U.S. English pronunciation.
• Emphasizes vowel and consonant sounds, syllable structure, and basic rhythm.
• Great for Hindi speakers who may need to adjust to the stress-timed rhythm of English.

Intermediate Pronunciation Courses

• Focus on:
  • Segmentals: Sounds like /v/ vs /w/, /z/ vs /s/, and final consonant clusters.
  • Suprasegmentals: Stress, intonation, and linking.
  • Hindi speakers often benefit from targeted practice with word stress and sentence-level intonation.

Advanced Pronunciation through Creative Projects

• Combines all skills in real-world tasks like presentations, storytelling, or podcasting.
• Helps refine fluency and naturalness in spoken English. 

• Minimal Pair Activities: Focused on Hindi-English contrasts (e.g., bat/bad, this/dis).
• Shadowing Exercises: Mimic natural speech using videos or tools like https://youglish.com.
• Improvisation Games: Practice rhythm and stress in fun, spontaneous ways.
• IPA Quizzes: Learn to recognize and produce US English sounds using the International Phonetic Alphabet. 

Pronunciation Fundamentals (Beginning Level) 

• Focuses on vowel length, consonant clarity, and syllable structure.
• Especially helpful for Mandarin speakers adjusting to final consonants and unstressed syllables. 

Intermediate Pronunciation Courses 

• Segmental focus: /l/ vs /r/, /θ/ vs /s/, /v/ vs /w/, and final consonant clusters.
• Suprasegmental focus: word stress, intonation, and rhythm.
• Great for learners working on intonation patterns and sentence stress. 

Advanced Pronunciation through Creative Projects 

• Encourages fluency and naturalness through storytelling, interviews, and presentations.
• Helps Mandarin speakers refine connected speech and intonation flow. 

• Minimal Pair Activities: Focused on Mandarin-English contrasts (e.g., rice/lice, van/wan).
• Shadowing Exercises: Use tools like https://youglish.com to mimic native-like rhythm and intonation.
• Improvisation Games: Practice stress-timed rhythm in spontaneous speech.
• IPA Quizzes: Learn to distinguish and produce US English sounds using the International Phonetic Alphabet. 

Pronunciation Fundamentals 

• Ideal for beginners or those unfamiliar with US English sound patterns.
• Covers segmental features (vowels, consonants) and introduces suprasegmentals (stress, rhythm). 

Intermediate Pronunciation 

• Focuses on minimal pairs, consonant clusters, and intonation practice.
• Includes peer feedback, recording analysis, and interactive games. 

Advanced Pronunciation 

• Combines all skills through creative projects like podcasts or presentations.
• Emphasizes connected speech, register, and pragmatic choices in real-world contexts. 

• Record and compare: Use your phone to record yourself and compare with native-like models on Youglish.
• Shadowing: Repeat after speakers in TED Talks to match rhythm and intonation.
• Minimal pairs: Practice pairs like ship/sheep, bat/bet, bad/buzz.
• Improvisation games: Practice stress-timed rhythm in fun, spontaneous ways.
• Use IPA: Learn the symbols for US English sounds to improve accuracy. 

Vietnamese is a tonal and syllable-timed language, which differs significantly from the stress-timed rhythm of U.S. English. Here are some areas where Vietnamese speakers often benefit from focused practice: 

1. Final Consonants 

• Vietnamese often omits final consonants, especially /s/, /z/, /t/, /d/.
• This can affect clarity in words like cat, bad, or buzz.
• AEC courses include targeted drills and listening discrimination exercises to improve final consonant production. 

2. Consonant Clusters 

• Vietnamese syllables typically don’t allow clusters, so learners may insert vowels (e.g., blue → buh-loo).
• We use segmental practice and minimal pair exercises to help learners master clusters. 

3. Vowel Length and Quality 

• Vietnamese has fewer vowel contrasts than US English.
• Learners may confuse /i/ vs. /ɪ/ (beet/bit) or /æ/ vs. /ɛ/ (bat/bet).
• Our courses include IPA training and interactive quizzes to build awareness. 

4. Stress and Intonation 

• Vietnamese uses tone for meaning, while US English uses stress and intonation to convey emotion, emphasis, and structure.
• We teach thought groups, intonation patterns, and shadowing exercises using TED Talks and Youglish. 

Pronunciation Fundamentals 

• Great for learners new to US English pronunciation patterns.
• Focuses on vowel/consonant sounds, syllable structure, and basic stress patterns. 

Intermediate Pronunciation 

• Emphasizes segmentals (individual sounds) and suprasegmentals (stress, rhythm, intonation).
• Includes minimal pair activities and interactive listening tasks. 

Advanced Pronunciation 

• Combines all skills through creative projects like podcasts or presentations.
• Ideal for learners aiming for clear, confident communication in academic or professional settings. 

• https://youglish.com/: Hear how words are pronounced in real US English contexts.
• Smartphone recording: Record yourself and compare with models.
• IPA quizzes: Practice identifying and producing sounds.
• Shadowing exercises: Repeat after a speaker to match rhythm and intonation.
• Improvisation games: Practice stress-timed rhythm in a fun, low-pressure way. 

While each language is unique, learners from Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo backgrounds may encounter some shared patterns when learning U.S. English pronunciation: 

1. Vowel Distinctions 

• US English has more vowel sounds than most Nigerian languages. For example, distinguishing between /ɪ/ (bit) and /i/ (beet) can be tricky.
• Minimal pair practice (e.g., ship/sheep, bit/beat) is especially helpful. 

2. Consonant Clusters 

• Nigerian languages often avoid consonant clusters (like str in street), so learners may insert vowels (e.g., es-treet).
• We offer segmental practice to help with these clusters. 

3. Stress and Rhythm 

• US English is stress-timed, while many Nigerian languages are syllable-timed.
• This affects rhythm and intonation. We use shadowing exercises and improvisation games to help learners internalize stress patterns. 

4. Final Consonants 

• Final consonants may be dropped or devoiced (e.g., bad may sound like bat).
• Our courses include listening discrimination and production drills to target this.