Pronunciation Drills for Gifted Learners in English

The purpose of these drills is to help students acquire the phonemic

system of American English precisely. Particularly, through these drills,

students are expected to correct some pronunciation errors that are

generally caused by interference from the Korean phonemic system. In

addition, students are expected to build up supersegmental skills of

English such as stress, intonations, syllable length, etc.

Part 1. Consonant Sounds

Drill 1. /p, t, k/

Korean language does not have phonemic distinction between voice and

voice less consonants. Particularly, Korean ‘ㅂ’, ‘ㄷ’, ‘ㄱ’ are pronounced

as unaspirated voiceless consonants [p], [t], [k] (rather similar to

Spanish p, t, k) when they are in word initial positions or after voiceless

consonants. Otherwise, they are pronounced as [b], [d], [g]. Therefore,

students need to practice b, d, g sounds in these positions.

/b/ babble, baby, bacon, back, bad, badge, bag, bait,

bake, balance, balcony, bald, ball, ballad, balloon,

bamboo, ban, banana, band, bang, bank, banner, bar,

barbecue, barber, bare, bark, barley, barn, barrel,

barrier, barrow, base, basic, basket, bat, bath, battle,

bay, beach, bead, beacon, beam, bean, bear, beard,

beast, beat, beauty, bed, bee, beer, begin, behavior,

believe, bell, belly, belong, below, belt, bench, bend,

berry, best, bet, bicycle, big, bike, bill, bird, birthday,

biscuit, bit, black, blame, blank, blanket, blast, blind,

blink, blood, blow, blue, blush, board, boat, body, boil,

bomb, bond, bone, book, bottle, bottom, bough, bow,

bowl, box, boy, brain, branch, breath, breeze, brick,

bride, bridge, brow, brush, bubble, bucket, bud, bug,

build, bull, bus, bush, business, butter, button, buzz, by,

bye

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/d/ dad, daily, dairy, daisy, dam, damage, damp, dance,

dandy, danger, dare, dark, dart, dash, data, date,

daughter, dawn, day, dead, deaf, deal, dear, death,

debate, debt, decay, deceit, December, decide, deck,

declare, decline, deep, deer, defect, defense, degree,

delay, delight, delivery, demand, denim, dense, dentist,

deny, department, deposit, depression, depth, deputy,

dessert, design, desk, destroy, detain, detection,

develop, device, devote, dew, diamond, diaper, diary,

disaster, dice, die, diet, dig, dim, dinner, dip, direction,

dirty, discover, discuss, dish, disorder, divide, divorce,

do, dock, doctor, document, dog, dollar, dolphin, domain,

donkey, door, dorm, dot, double, doubt, doughnut, dove,

down, dragon, draft, drag, drain, drama, draw, dream,

dress, drift, drill, drink, drive, drop, drug, drum, dry,

duck, duke, dumb, dump, dune, dust, duty, dye, dynasty

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/g/ gain, game, gang, gap, garbage, garden, garlic,

garment, gas, gate, gather, gauge, gaze, gear, get, ghost,

gift, girl, give, glacial, glad, glance, glass, glaze, globe,

gloss, glove, glow, glue, go, goal, goat, god, gold, golf,

good, goose, gospel, govern, grab, grace, grade,

graduate, gram, grand, grape, graph, grass, grave,

gravity, great, greed, green, grey, grill, grocery, groom,

ground, grow, growth, guarantee, guard, guess, guest,

guild, guilt, gum, gun, guy

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Drill 2 /f, v, , /.

Korean language does not have dental sounds such as /f/, /v/, //,

and //. Therefore, Korean learners have difficulty not only in

pronouncing these sounds, but also in distinguishing these sounds

from /p/, /b/, /s/, /d/.

/f/ face, fact, factor, factory, fade, fail, faint, fair, fairy,

faith, fake, fall, false, fame, family, fan, fancy, far, fare,

farm, fashion, fast, fat, fate, father, fault, favor, fax, fear,

feast, feather, feature, feed, feel, feet, fellow, fence,

fever, few, fiber, fiction, fiddle, field, fifth, fig, fight,

figure, file, fill, film, filter, final, finance, find, fine,

finger, finish, fire, firm, first, fish, fist, fit, five, fix, flag,

flake, flash, flat, flavor, flaw, flea, flesh, flight, float,

flock, flood, floor, flour, flow, flower, flop, fly, foam,

focus, foe, fog, fold, folk, follow, food, fool, foot, for,

forbid, force, forest, forget, fork, form, fortune, fox,

frame, free, freeze, fresh, fridge, friend, frog, from,

front, frown, fruit, fry, fuel, full, fume, fun, function,

fund, fur, furthermore, future

affect, affair, affection, affirm, afraid, Africa, after,

baffle, sophomore, if, sacrifice, catastrophe, roof,

atmosphere, photo, phone, sphere, laugh, goof, office,

official, off, chief, brief, identify, Africa, surf, significant,

difference, scarf, lifelong, self, gulf, confidence, soft,

phenomenon, conflict, deficient, shuffle, effect, enough,

left, battlefield, suffer, pheasant, cuff, differ, cough,

chaff, flop, refs, beef, coffer, reef, puff, rife, strife,

information, effort, grandfather, dolphin,

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/v/ vacancy, vacation, vaccine, vacuum, vagabond,

vague, vain, valentine, valid, validate, valley, value,

vampire, van, vanilla, vanish, vanity, vapor, variable,

vase, vast, vegetable, vehicle, veil, vein, velvet, vend,

ventilation, venture, verb, verse, vertical, very, vest,

veto, via, vice, victim, victory, video, view, villa, village,

villain, vine, vinegar, viola, violent, violin, violet, virgin,

virtue, visa, vision, visit, vitamin, vocal, voice, volcano,

volt, volume, volunteer, vomit, vote, vulgar

heaven, cave, have, television, environment, active,

believe, evidence, leave, live, naive, however, give,

slave, beaver, devil, evil, achieve, available, starve,

university, receive, converse, reverse, over, river, save,

develop, fever, move, arrive, behavior, novel, carve,

weave, wave, dive, drive, stove, grieve, poverty,

government, of, evolve, several, severe, cover,

discover, envelop, five,

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// thank, thanksgiving, theater, theft, theme, theory,

thermometer, thesis, thick, thigh, thin, thing, think, third,

thirst, thorough, thought, thousand, thread, three, thresh,

thrift, thrill, throat, throw, thumb, thunder, Thursday,

death, mammoth, bath, breath, path, faith, athlete,

sympathy, health, heath, myth, aesthetic, smith,

something, anything, everything, nothing, truth, thigh,

both, birth, pathos, ethics, youth, warmth, width, worth,

north, south, filthy,

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// than, that, the, they, then, there, this, these, though,

thus

bathe, breathe, with, further, whether, together,

altogether, gather, feather, father, farther, other,

another, either, neither, smooth, southern, northern,

bother, within, worthy,

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/f/ - /p/ face-pace, faint-paint, fashion-passion, fact-

pact, fail-pail, fair-pair, fall-pall, fan-pan, fare-pear,

fast-past, fat-pat, fate-pate, fax-pax, fear-peer, feel-

peel, fence-pence, fiddle-piddle, fig-pig, file-pile, fill-

pill, fine-pine, fish-pish, finch –pinch, fit-pit, flea-plea,

flow-plow, fly-ply, fore-pore, fork-pork, from-prom,

fry-pry, full-pull, fun-pun, fur-pur

suffer-supper, lap-laugh, pheasant –peasant, cuff-cup,

differ-dipper, chief-cheap, cough-cop, chaff-chap,

flop-plop, refs-reps, beef-beep, coffer-copper, reef-

reap, puff-pup, rife-ripe, strife-stripe

// - /s/ think – sink, thing –sing, thank –sank, thick – sick, thought – sought, thumb – sum, thin –sin, theme – seem, thigh – sigh, myth – miss, path – pass, math – mass, mouth – mouse, thrill - drill

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/v/-/b/ ban-van, base-vase, best-vest, bice-vice, bow-

vow, boat-vote, bury-very

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//-/d/ than-dan, they-day, then-den, there-dare, this-

dis, though-dough, bathe-bade

Drill 3. /s, /

Korean ‘ㅅ’ include lots of hissing sound and similar to (she) sounds.

Particularly this tendency becomes stronger when the sound comes after

high front vowel such as [i]. Therefore, students need to practice

English [s] and [] sounds.

/s/-// sack-shack, sad-shad, sag-shag, sake-shake,

save-shave, saw-shaw, sea-she, said-shed, seat-sheet,

self-shelf, sell-shell, sick-shick, sign-shine, single-

shingle, sip-ship, sir-shirr, sit-shit, sour-shower, sue-

shoe, suit-shoot, sore-shore, sort-short, suck-shuck,

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Drill 4. /, d, z/

Korean ‘ㅈ’ is close to English sound /d/ as in judge. And Korean

phonemic system does not include the sounds // in measure, or /z/ in

zoo. Because of the lack of // and /z/ sounds, Korean learners tend to

substitute // and /z/ for /d/.

// rouge, vision, division, decision, confusion, fusion,

visual, casual, usual, pleasure, measure, seizure, Asia,

Persia, version,

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/d/ jack, jacket, jade, jail, jake, jam, jar, jargon, jasmine,

jaw, jay, jazz, jealousy, jeep, jell, jenny, jeopardy, jerk,

jest, jet, jewelry, Jewish, jibe, jigsaw, jill, jingle, jinx,

jitterbug, jive, job, jocular, joey, jog, join, joint, joke,

jolly, journal, journey, joy, judge, jug, juice, juke, jumbo,

jump, jumper, junction, juncture, June, jungle, junior,

junk, juror, just, justice, Jute, juvenile,

cage, badge, surge, Dodge, charge, change, fridge,

huge, gage, urge, large, page, wage, edge, knowledge,

advantage, wager, major, pager, damage, image,

package, passage, massage, message, sage, refuge,

stage,

/z/ zeal, zealot, zealous, zebra, zenith, zero, zest, Zeus,

zigzag, zinc, zip code, zipper, zit, zone, zoo, zoom,

cozy, lazy, exotic, anxiety, luxurious, is, hose, these,

dozen, criticize, fuse, use, compromise, hesitate, raze,

razor, laser, nasal, nose, cause, because, muse, maze,

music, musician, amuse, amaze, AIDS, abuse, mosaic,

weasel, measles, refuse,

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Drill 5. /l, r/

Korean phoneme system does not have the distinction between /l/ and /r/.

Particularly, Korean speakers pronounce ‘ㄹ’ as [l] when they occur in

word initial position or after consonants whereas they pronounce it as [r]

when they occur after vowel. In addition, Korean learners have difficulty

in distinguishing between dark l as in bull and syllable final r as in bur.

/l/ - /r/

lie - rye line - Rhine

low - row look - rook

light - right lobe - robe

lace - race lock - rock

lid - rid lake - rake

road - load rip - lip

dark /l/

film realm kiln

full wool hole

golf fault bold

dark /l/ - syllable final /r/

dill – deer mire – mile

rear – rill boll – bore

pole – pour nil - near

/r/ after /l/

already walrus all right

railroad double room

Drill 6. [w]

In English, [w] sound is a glide (semi-vowel) that accompanies a vowel.

Korean learners do not pronounce it well particularly when it comes with

the sound [u] as in wolf. They also frequently do not pronounce the

sound (e.g. question [kwe stʃən] *[kestʃən], quiz [kwiz] *[kiz])

wolf, woman, wood, wound

squeeze, squid, squall, square

quart, queen, quick, quit, question,

Part II. Vowel Sounds

Drill 1. Distinction between stressed central mid vowel // and unstressed

central mid vowel //.

//

cud, cut, putt, gut, gun, hut, buddy, bum, bun, done, but,

suck, thumb, some, come, up, bunch, punch, truck, sun,

son, dust, dusk, sum, money, product, production, bud,

punk, buck, butt, nut, sudden, mud, gun, pun, bucket,

Russia, russet, rush, dunk, fun, other, otherwise, duck,

pug, cup, yuppie, young, club, love, glove, rub, rubber,

bubble, buckle, budge, budget, buff, bluff, cuff, button,

onion, color, fudge,

// rapidity, pearl, computer, competition, medicine,

infamous, telegraphy, Canadian, conductor, phonetic,

American, innovator, permanent, alien, polite,

achievement, machine, paradox, movement, support,

children, potential, available, consider, freedom,

perhaps, central, certain, method, instance,

Drill 2. Distinction between // and /æ/

// air, heir, flare, glare, bare, bear, pear, tear, mare,

snare, apparent, spare, share, wear, ware, hair, rare,

care, swear, dare, flair, lair, fair, fare, scare, dairy, fairy,

scary, pair,

/æ/ apple, natural, past, land, canal, abbey, grammar,

automatic, absolute, at, back, pat, man, can, that, ask,

bad, as, catch, glad, last, has, Saturday, cab, laugh, have,

perhaps, understand, half, had, matter, bag, class, glass,

mad, mass, clap, dad, map, add, pass, salad,

Drill 3. Distinction between // and //

// pot, not, got, box, doctor, lot, hot, dollar, October,

job, clock, watch, chart, part, dart, art, tart, wash, card,

smart, far, large, spark, marble, lock, knot, knob, cotton,

dodge, monitor, clog, wallet, park

// dog, chalk, gone, tall, often, song, water, call, long,

lost, coffee, off, appall, fall, fallen, all, mall, ball, bought,

thought, blonde, August, corn, torn, chocolate, dwarf,

wall,

Drill 4. Distinction between tense vowel (e.g. i, u) and lax vowel (, )

reach – rich, beach – bitch, beat-bit, deep-dip, deal-dill,

peel-pill, feel-fill, peach-pitch, teen-tin, seen-sin,

fool-full, pool-pull, Luke-look, seat-sit, deed-did,

bean-been, dean-din, …

Part 3. Suprasegmental Skills

Drill 1. Stress I

In Korean, stress does not play an important role. As an influence of the

Korean phonological system, many Korean learners neglect stress even

when they speak English. Learners need to recognize the importance of

stress in English. In addition, they need to acquire various phonological

patterns related to stress and stress change. Particularly, they have to

recognize that the vowels in unstressed syllable have weak sound value

such as // and //

orchestra, police, ability, breakfast, examination,

impossible, interesting, sixteen, university, voluntary,

computer, buffet, amateur, vitamin, patrol, opera, robot,

racket, chandelier, kangaroo, boomerang, macaroni,

spaghetti, papyrus, cashier, guitar, terrible, terrific,

violin, origin, agenda, medicine, museum, oasis, omnibus,

ombudsman, universe, veranda, domino, allegory,

inventory, basilica, brochure, career, taboo, tattoo,

serenade, mayonnaise, bamboo, bazaar, canoe, casino,

avocado, ambassador, interview, dinosaur, diabetes,

curriculum, aluminum, category, lemonade

Drill 2. Stress II

A: Sometimes, the change of stress changes the meaning or function of

the word.

Empty the content of the box.

I am content to watch such a wonderful movie.

He spoke perfect English.

He needs to perfect his English.

We do not permit noise in this room.

We need a permit for fishing.

We import coffee from Brazil.

We insisted on restrictions on the import of cigarette.

additional examples:

Noun Verb

address address

conduct conduct

conflict conflict

contest contest

contrast contrast

decrease decrease

desert desert

export export

increase increase

present present

produce produce

object object

record record

refill refill

B: Sometimes, the change of the meaning or function of a word does not

result in the change of its stress pattern.

There is no cause for concern.

I am concerned about his health.

C: The change of word forms may result in the change of the stress

pattern.

neutrality - neutral

residue - residual

acid - acidic

anonymous - anonymity

communicate - communication

various - variety

compete - competition

D: Some words should be distinguished on the basis of stress.

can – can’t I can do it. – I can’t do it.

Drill 3. Phrasal Stress

A: Content words such as noun, main verb, adjective, etc. host stress

whereas function words such as conjunction, preposition, articles,

demonstratives, etc. do not.

I bought a book.

a day

at home

to think

B: In general, pronouns do not have stress.

do it

tell them

C: In phrasal verbs, particles (or prepositions) have a stronger stress.

put on get off

take off call up

get on bring up

D: In Complex nouns, the first noun has a stronger stress

Post office coffee break tie pin

phone call swimming pool pie tin

shaving cream ball game girl friend

E: Primary stress is placed on noun, verb, and verb in Adjective + Noun,

Verb + Adverb, and Noun + Verb sequences, respectively.

Adjective + Noun Verb + Adverb

big boy walk fast

beautiful woman sing well

white cap come now

black car eat quickly

White dress jump off

Noun + Verb

John’s gone.

Dick sings.

Marian decided.

Cows moo.

Dogs bark.

cf. Each phrase pair below has different meaning:

white house white house

yellow cap yellow cap

black board blackboard

Drill 4. Intonation

In this drill, lecturers are expected to let students practice and acquire

the intonation patterns:

A: declarative sentences

He is reading a novel.

There were apples, pears, bananas, and watermelon.

B: Questions

Is he reading a novel.

What did you read?

C: Imperative sentences

Read the novel.

D: Tag Questions

When the speaker is in doubt?

You read the book, didn’t you?

When the speaker want to obtain the hearer’s consent..

You read the book, didn’t you?

Read aloud the passage below paying attention to the intonation.

Way back when, the Sun and the Moon were very good friends with the

sea. Every day, Sun and Moon visited Sea. They talked and laughed and

had a good time. But Sea never visited Sun and Moon, and that hurt their

feelings.

Finally, Sun and Moon asked Sea why he never visited. “Your house is

not big enough,” said Sea. “You would need to build a very, very, big

house for me to visit.”

So Sun and Moon built a huge house. It was so big that it took a whole

day to walk from one end to the other. Sun and Moon felt confident that

Sea would fit.

The next day, Sea visited. He flowed into the house until the water was

waist high. “Should I stop?” he asked.

“No, no,” said Sun and Moon. “Come on in.” So Sea kept flowing. Soon,

he reached the ceiling. Sun and Moon had to sit on the roof.

Finally, the whole house was underwater, including the roof. Sun and

Moon had to leap onto a cloud floating by. And that’s how Sun and Moon

came to live in the sky.

Drill 5. Syllable Pattern

Korean syllable structure allows each one consonant after and before

vowel. Because of the language interference, Korean learners tend to

increase syllable number of English words. Students need to acquire the

English syllable pattern.

strike [straik] *[su.tu.ra.ik]

church [tʃəːrtʃ] *[tʃəːr.tʃi]

e.g. slow, sleep, student, special, scream, scratch, straight,

strong, free, floor

sharp, church, heard, third, fourth, north, harsh, girl, curl,

maps, deaths

Part 4. Phonological Phenomena

Drill 1 Flapping in American English

When [t] appears between a vowel and an unstressed vowel, it is

pronounced as a flap [t] as in atom, Italy and later.

later, battery, duty, visiting, little, letter, litter, better,

butter, bottle, cattle, glitter, attic, pretty, greater,

scatter, matter, charity, sweetie, heater, flatter, setting,

glottal, autumn, settle, cutter, meeting, visitor, battery,

committee, computer, beautiful, item, lettuce, motor,

pattern, society, activity, thirty, exciting, vitamin, water,

cottage

When [t] occurs before a stressed vowel, it cannot be pronounced as a

flap sound.

Italian (cf. Italy), student, taste, teacher, test, determine

Drill 2 Consonant Deletion

A: If the same consonants occur one after another across word

boundaries, they are reduced to one.

next task; talked to; bus stop; played the piano

B: [t] / [d] deletion

I don’t know. ; Stand behind me; student; worst choice;

C: th deletion in them

hook them hook’em

stop them stop’em

Drill 3. linking

read it [ri:d it] [ri: dit]

Did you go there?

Didn’t you go there?

Stop it.

He is not going to give up.

You need to back up the data.

Cut it out!

I want to sit it on your class.

Part 5. Avoiding the interference from Korean

Drill 1. Don’t nasalize

A: In Korean, if a word ending with p, t, or k appears before a word

beginning with a nasal sound, the final consonant becomes nasalized.

Korean learners tend to activate this rule even when they speak English.

nick name [níkneim] * [ní neim]

pop music [pɑp mju ːzik] *[ pɑm mju ːzik]

at noon [ət nuːn] *[ən nuːn]

it means, pop music, rock music, equipment, shipment,

batman, a back number, black market, stock market,

B: In Korean, if p, t or k comes before l, r, w, or y across word

boundaries, the two sounds are pronounced as nasal sounds. Korean

learners tend to activate this rule even when they speak English.

black list: [blǽk lìst] *[blǽ nìst]

black rice: [blǽk rais] *[blǽ nais]

not really: [nɑt ríː-əli] *[nɑn níː-əli] stop yelling at your kids : [stɑp jeli ət juər kiz]

*[stɑm njeli ən njuər kiz]

not yet, basic right, meet you, jobless, upright, uprising,

potluck, hotline, outlaw, outline, outlook, outrageous,

quick lunch, traffic lights,

Drill 2 Avoid consonant assimilation

A: Don’t pronounce [n] as [l]

In Korean, if [n] comes before or after [l], it is pronounced as [l] (it is

also possible that the [l] sound is changed to [n]; see B below.). Korean

learners tend to activate this rule even when they speak English.

only: [ounli] * [oulli] (or [o unni])

moon light [mu:n lait] *[mu:l lait] (or [mu:n nait])

all night, sunlight, unlike, commonly, common law,

enlarge, manly, enlist, Finland, unlimited, unreal,

mainland, non-local, illness, well-known, stillness,

vulnerable, walnut,

B: Don’t pronounce [l] or [r] as [n] when it comes after a nasal sound.

homeroom: [houmru(ː)m] *[houmnu (ː)m]

homerun: [houmrn] [ho umnn]

comrade, kingly, long-lived, downright, enroll, non-

resident, moonrise, bombload, formless, homeless,

homely, warmly, wormlike,