TAAW awareness journal all lessons - nneclub.comnneclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/AwarenessJournal.pdf · Something that is starting to make sense about word intonation is: _____

Awareness JournalBy Sheri Summers and Mark Bev

www.AccentWorkshop.com

http://www.AccentWorkshop.com

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© 2009 Accent on Speaking All Rights Reserved

The American Accent Course Introduction

www.accentworkshop.com

Notes:Introduction

Congratulations! You’ve taken the action necessary to improving not only your pronunciation, but more importantly your accent. Be proud of your first action step! Now, let’s take the next step together.

This Awareness Journal accompanies the American Accent Course Workbook. In the Workbook, each lesson has a presentation of how native speakers produce the language and a practice for you to put your newly attained knowledge into valuable, practical everyday use.

This Awareness Journal is another tool for you to use to get the most out the course. Just as the title suggests, we want you to become more aware of how you have been speaking, and how you are trying to speak now with your new knowledge from this course. We strongly urge you to keep in touch with how you think and feel about what the changes you are making to your accent.

Whether you keep an electronic journal or print out this journal and put it in a binder, answering these questions will help you to make the changes last.

Finally, if you’re not already a member of the American Accent Workshop, we believe you will find enormous benefit by joining. You can sign up at www.accentworkshop.com. As a member of this online community, you can come to Help Sessions and live classes and get real time feedback from expert instructors. Okay, let’s begin!

“There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality, and then there are those who turn one into the other.” Douglas Everett

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The American Accent Course Lesson 1


Something that I learned from this first lesson

was: ______________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson One

• Attitude

• Spelling and Pronunciation

• Four Parts of Accent

• Diagram Intonation

___________________________________________________________________________

When watching the online videos for voicing and facial movements, I noticed that:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

When observing people speaking English around me or in movies, I:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

I think the biggest difference between the way I speak English and the way native speakers

speak English is: ________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Other observations and notes:

_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






The thing that surprised me most about this

lesson was:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Two

• Stress

• Basic Sentence Rhythm and Intonation

• Emphatic and Contrastive Stress

• Word Connections

• Questions

• Inflection

I am starting to recognize some of the intonation patterns of native English speakers such

as:_________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

When I compare my intonation pattern with American English intonation patterns, I notice:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






My initial feeling about the schwa is:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Three

• Examples of the Schwa

I think this sound is going to be easy/ difficult for me because:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

I am starting to recognize the schwa in native English speakersʼ speech such as:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

Some of the words I use everyday that contain this schwa are:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

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Before I learned all about the American T, I was:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Four

• The strong T

• The “soft” T

• The “held” T and glottal T

• The silent T

Now that I’ve learned all about the American T, I will:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Some words containing the T that surprise me are:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






Something that is starting to make sense about

word intonation is:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Five

• Learning about Intonation Patterns

• Primary Stress

• Secondary Stress

• Weak Stress

• Words with 1 Syllable

• Words with 2 Syllables

I’m beginning to notice the length of words ending in a primary stress such as:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Some two syllable words that donʼt occur under any of the patterns/ categories in this lesson

are:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






Something I’m starting to notice about intonation

patterns in English is:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Six




Some words that don’t fall under any of the categories we have learned so far are:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

My awareness of the intonation patterns of native English speakers is:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






Of the consonants and vowels I’ve worked on so

far, I’m still having problems or doubts about:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Seven


• Words that shift stress

• Words with -ate

Since I’ve started learning more about the American accent, I’m beginning to realize that

North Americans:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Some other words Iʼve noticed that shift stress are:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






It is easy/ difficult for me to drop a syllable in

certain words because:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Eight


• Words that Lose a Syllable

• Words that are very different from their

spelling

I have noticed native English speakers dropping syllables in the following words:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Some other words Iʼm working on that end in –ed are:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

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_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

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Before this lesson, I didn’t realize:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Nine

• Content Words

• Descriptive Phrases

• Descriptive Phrases vs. Compound

Nouns

• Compound Nouns

I think I may have been stressing the following words in the wrong section:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

I am starting to notice the difference between descriptive phrases and compound nouns in

words and phrases such as:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

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So far, my biggest accomplishment regarding my

American accent is:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Ten

• Prepositions

• Phrasal Verbs

• Acronyms

• Numbers

So far, my biggest challenge regarding my American accent is:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Some phrasal verbs Iʼm working on are:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






I think I link/don’t link words well together in

English. For example:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Eleven

• Link consonants with vowels

• Link vowels with vowels

• Link consonants with consonants

• Link certain letters with Y

• Linking Sentences

The hardest thing about linking words together is:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

I have noticed how native speakers link words when they say things like:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






Something that I didn’t know before I listened to

this lesson was:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Twelve

• Content and Structure Words

I’m starting to get a feeling for American intonation because:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

I notice things about the intonation of native English speakers such as:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






In my native language we use/don’t use reduced

sounds like in English. It makes me aware that:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Thirteen

• Commonly reduced words (Structure

Words)

When I listen to native speakers something that I notice about their structure words is:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

When trying to reduce sounds in English, I feel:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

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_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






Before I learned about American rhythm and

timing, I thinking my speaking was:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Fourteen

• Tonal Groups

I notice that the timing that native English speakers use is:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Timing is going to be easy/ difficult for me because:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

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___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

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___________________________________________________________________________






I feel that the rhythm and timing of my English

is:________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Fifteen

• Reducing Modal Verbs

I’m having the most trouble with:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

When I listen to their rhythm and timing, I notice that native English speakers:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






The way that I group words together in my native

language is:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Sixteen

• Phrasing

I notice how a native English speaker paused when he/ she said:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

I realize that in English I tend to pause:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






Getting the sentence stress right in English is

making me feel:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Seventeen

• Stressing in Sentences

I noticed a native English speaker saying the following sentences and I have underlined his

stressed syllables.

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Something Iʼd still like to know about the American accent is:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






I think my American accent is:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Eighteen

• Emphatic Stress

• Contrastive Stress

I heard emphasized words in the following sentences:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

The reason people emphasized those words is because:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






When asking questions in my native language, the

intonation pattern is: _______________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Lesson Nineteen

• Yes/No Questions

• “Wh” Questions

• Mixed Questions

• Choices

• Expressing Doubt or Disbelief

I think that asking questions in English is easy/ difficult for me because:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Some questions Iʼve heard in English lately that I have examined are:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






Before this lesson, my knowledge about tag

questions was: ___________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Week Twenty

• Tag Questions

Connecting words together feels comfortable/uncomfortable to me because:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

I feel that my accent American English is:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






Something I didn’t realize before I heard this

lesson was: ________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Week Twenty-one

• Sequencing and Conversational Tone

I noticed someone using conversational tone in the following sentence(s):

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

I noticed someone using a rise in intonation while giving the sequence:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






Some things about American English intonation

that are becoming normal for me are: ________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Week Twenty-two

• Intonation in Complex Sentences

I’m still having difficulty with:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

My observations about American English newscasters are:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






The most important aspect of the four parts of

accent for me when I express emotion is:

________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Week Twenty-three

• Showing Emotion with Tone

• Tonal Length, Intensity, and Direction

• Gender and Tone

I realize that the emotion expressed in my native language differs/is similar to American

tones in particular ways (think of length, intensity, and direction):

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________






So far I feel that my accent has improved in:

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

Week Twenty-four

• Putting it Altogether

I would still like to improve:

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

My attitude towards the American accent since I started this course has:

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________


_______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________



Documents

TAAW awareness journal all lessons - nneclub.comnneclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/AwarenessJournal.pdf · Something that is starting to make sense about word intonation is: _____