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.