Final task

I went through all my recordings and reflections which I recorded and wrote this semester and I must say I have made some progress. To be specific – at first, I absolutely did not have any idea about the correct pronunciation of words beginning with t. Sounds like θ or ð did not exist for me at high school. Now I know the correct pronunciation and I think I improved my θ and th sound. Maybe it is not perfect enough yet, but it is definitely much better than four months ago. The next thing I improved is to distinguish strong and weak forms of prepositions and conjunctions. Thanks to the self-recording, now I can speak more fluently, because I know what strong and weak forms are. And when I speak English, I focus on strong and weak syllables more. I think it makes my English better. I definitely improved my pronunciation of names of celebrities, titles of series and so on. I remember recording this kind of activity, like pronunciation of these names and I must say it was fun and interesting, too. Now, when someone says a name of some celebrity incorrectly to me, I must smile. And the last thing I improved and I would like to mention is my ability to speak English with some kind of intonation, some kind of sense. It is hard to describe, but I think it is obvious when I listen to my recordings. What I think I did not improve is difference between American and British English. I recognise the difference when I hear both American and British, but when I want read something in both ways, it is hard for me. This is what I need to improve. Generally, I still have some problems with spoken English, but I think the self-recording helped me a lot and it is always good to reflect on what I say and the way I say it.

WEEK 10: individual task

It’s Christmas time, so this week I found a Christmas story on the internet and decided to read it, because I wanted to hear my English when I read some kind of longer text, without any preparation. And I found that I a little improved my th and θ sound, at least I think it is better than in October for example. However, in the word that I say it still incorrectly in this recording. I found that as I concerned on other things, I forgot to put some words together - like for example his ear or his eyes, I said it unnaturally separately. In the end, I said absolutely incorrectly the question Where were you? – I remember one of the lessons where we tried to say exactly this example like it should be and in this recording, I did not pay attention to it and now I can hear it. And now I noticed that I said He’s given us the best possible present to us as well. – It was written in the story itself, but I think I should have said just He’s given us the best possible present as well.

WEEK 10: video talk

Although we were supposed to use the present simple in this type of recording, I used the present continuous sometimes, which I should not use next time I will do this kind of activity. But it is quite hard not to use it. I said the word some many times, which sounds like I don’t know any other words. I said the word argue incorrectly, I said something like [ergju:] and it should be [ˈɑːrɡjuː]. On the other hand, I found out that I always said –s concerning 3rd person singular and it is quite good news, because people often have problem with it. The whole recording and describing the action could be more fluently, I should focus on that next time.

WEEK 9: my correction

WEEK 9: talking about a picture

WEEK 9: individual task

I focused on sounds like ɪ and i:; u and u:; ʌ and ɑː; æ and ɑː and the difference between these sounds. I think it is important to differ all of the sounds like these, because in many cases, just a small inaccuracy in the pronunciation and the meaning of the particular word is changed. I tried to say the words correctly, but I noticed I said the word half with the l and there should not be any l, it should be just ha:f. Other sounds, I think I said correctly, because I found out the correct pronunciation of saying them.

WEEK 8: individual task

I focused on the th and the sound, which I did earlier, but I need to practise it more so I did it again. I hope this practising was better than last time. I was practising in front of the mirror to be more successful. I said three incorrectly as well as these. I should have place my tongue between my teeth better. Otherwise, I think that I finally say the correctly what is a great news, because it is one of the most important words and I say it many times every day. All I have to do is to focus on it in spoken English and say it automatically correctly.

WEEK 8

I chose Hank Moody’s speech from the TV series Californication. To be more specific, it is a speech addressed to his daughter and every fan of the series knows that this speech is some kind of change in Hank’s attitude. Despite the fact that I recorded the man’s voice, I think I nailed it concerning the intonation, pauses and speed of the speech. What I didn’t like was my pronunciation in some cases, especially one of my biggest problems – the th and the sound. I tried to say it correctly, but as I focused on the other things to say, I ruined it. P.S. I skipped one sentence in the beginning of the speech, because I didn’t want to be impolite and say some rude words.

WEEK 8: the original recording

WEEK 7: individual task

This week I focused on the most important sound in English – the schwa. I think I try to pronounce the schwa correctly, but sometimes it can be better, I need to learn how to pronounce it exactly like it should be pronounced. I should have reduced the schwa in about more and I should have definitely said the word continue better, I said [kont] and I should have said [kən] at the beginning of the word. The same is with the word several, it could be pronounced better. I think focusing on this sound is really important so I will focus on it more.

WEEK 7: Identifying statements

I think my pronunciation in this recording is acceptable, I listened to the original recording many times, I tried to talk simultaneously with the lady and then I recorded as same recording as possible. As I listen to it now, the original one and mine, I think I focused on pauses and intonation well and I succeeded because I recorded it many times until it was perfect for me. Next time I should focus more on my accent, it still sounds quite Czech, I should speak more American or British, because Czech accent is not good enough if I want really speak English properly.

WEEK 6: individual task (a special task)

Honestly, I am really disappointed with this recording. I must say that I thought I had better pronunciation of English words and in general, I thought I had better speech. When saying something in English I should think before I say something, because the grammar is quite imperfect in some cases. For example – I should have said “Yes, I do have one” when my partner asked me “Do you have…”. I have also noticed that I say simple sentences and sometimes, I should have said more concrete information about myself for example. Also I do make pauses all the time, so there is no fluency during my speech. I should work on that and focus on my speaking in general.

WEEK 6: individual task (a special task)

At first, when I read something in English, I read it really quickly and I should definitely slow down next time. It spoils the whole impression of the recording. That’s what I do not like about this recording and I am quite surprised, because I thought I was speaking normally, not so quickly. This influences everything – my pronunciation, the word stress and the intonation which I think is important too. I noticed that I said the word servants wrong as well as many words with r – I should really focus on my pronunciation next time, my pronunciation sounds Czech, not English.

WEEK 6: British and American

My biggest problem while recording this was the word ‘brother’. I was recording this many times because of this word, I could not say it correctly, especially the British pronunciation of the word. The next problem, my th and θ sound. I said at the British bartender with the correct pronunciation only using the American pronunciation, using the British pronunciation I said it wrong with no θ sound. Also, I should have said New York with British pronunciation better, more like [nju: yo:k]. But in general, now I think I can distinguish some basic differences between American and British pronunciation.

WEEK 5: individual task

I know I have some problems with the syllable and word stress, so I focused especially on the stress in this recording. First, I said each word separately and then I put the word in the sentence. I should have said differently the word uniform – not as for the stress in it, but as for the pronunciation – it should be pronounced [ˈjuːnɪfɔːrm] but I said it wrong, with no [fɔːrm] in the end, I said [ˈjuːnɪfərm]. Next, I said the open E in the word excursion, it should be [ɪk] at the beginning of the word, not E.

WEEK 5: strong and weak

I must admit that I had some problems with this exercise. I had to repeat these phrases many times before I actually recorded them. But this is actually what is expecting from me, so I think practising is good for me. I think I still say to like a strong form although it is a weak form. I should have said to less clear in the phrase ‘What are you going to do?’ or in the phrase ‘It’s going to rain’. On the other hand, I think I said and very well in all of the phrases.

WEEK 4: individual task

This time I have recorded some tongue twisters I found on the internet. I must say it was quite fun, both looking for them and recording them. I must confess that I expected saying these tongue twisters a little harder, but in the end, some of them were not so easy. The hardest thing actually was saying she and sea consecutively, I said it a couple times wrong. Next time I will record tongue twisters, I should try to say them faster and faster, because then it really would be hard.

WEEK 4: a list of phrases

I think this recording is quite good, my pronunciation sounds right. I focused on connecting the words beginning with a vowel to the word that comes before and I hope I succeeded. While listening to it again and again, I think I tried to speak naturally, but maybe I have tried more than I should have, so the connecting is a little unnatural in some cases, which is ironic. I should speak really naturally next time and I should not think on the fact that my voice is recording. Now I know that I should have said the 'z' sound instead of 's' in the phrase diner's in the kitchen.

WEEK 3: an individual task

This week I focused on the word stress. I think I have some problems with the word stress and I want to try to improve my skills. I have chosen words with suffixes like – logy; -graphy, -nomy or –cracy. I tried to say the words correctly and I think I succeeded. Maybe I should open my mouth more next time. The problem is that I think I say it correctly when recording it, but while talking to someone I don´t realise that I should pay attention to the word stress. I must be careful and realise this in real life, because I think it´s important.

WEEK 3: 20 names or titles

This task was fun and I had a great time while recording it. I found and listened to the correct pronunciation first and then I recorded my pronunciation. I was looking for some names connected with me, I recorded names of people I like or I admire. I expected the pronunciation of these names, but in some cases I was a little surprised. I think I should focus on the stress on words next time, I think my pronunciation is quite monotonous and I should work on it. On the other hand, I think this recording is much better than the previous one.

WEEK 2 ASSIGNMENT individual task

I found this pronunciation lesson on youtube.com. I wanted to improve my skills in saying 'sh' / ʃ / vs. 'ch' / tʃ / sounds and I found a perfect video for practicing, I think this is ideal for improve pronunciation. I noticed that I should not say G in the end of words washing and watching, it should be more nasal. As I heard my voice and pronunciation of the words, I think there´s still some work to do, but in my personal opinion, my pronunciation is going to be better while recording my voice, because I try to speak good and correctly.

WEEK 2 ASSIGNMENT word list

I think this word list was quite difficult task, but I checked the correct pronunciation first and listened to it carefully. Then I tried to say these words exactly like the speakers and I am quite satisfied with the result. I noticed that I say some words quite at length sometimes, I should say them shortly next time. And maybe I should focus on stress in some words next time. In most cases, I noticed that i chose the American English which I prefer more.

My first audio.recording

reflection: I must say that hearing my voice is totally weird. I do recording my voice for the first time, so it is definitely a new experience for me. I was quite nervous when recording it, because it is something new and unusual. Unfortunately, I am ill now and the recording does not sound as good as it should. Now I think I spoke quite slowly, I should speak more naturally next time. I think my pronunciation is quite good, but this recording is only 2 minutes long so I do not have much material to write about. I noticed that sometimes I could not remember the word I wanted to say and I made a pause. I hope I will not be so nervous next time, because it is no big deal and I know it.