Exercises to Improve Resonance

Exercises to Improve Resonance

Humming is an excellent exercise to improve
resonation. Close your lips lightly and hum. Hold the
sound for fifteen counts. To check if you are humming
right (to improve resonance) your lips should tickle.
Repeat this exercise several times.

Hum with your lips closed. Feel the cranium vibrating.
Then feel the nose, then the chin, and then the chest.
Hum m-m-m-m-m-m until the whole face is vibrating.
Then open the mouth and let the sound out on e-e-e-
e-e-e. After a while do the same with other vowels:

m-m-m-m-ay-ay-ay-ay, m-m-m-m-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah, and
m-m-m-m-o-o-o-o-o.

Pronounce the following words, giving full value to
all the consonants in each word as you linger on the
vowel sounds:

just	letter	tipped	fold
left	little	granted	found
half-past	around	cold	recognise
sound	already	government	library

Read the following selection with a light touch and a
clear voice. Record it and listen to it critically:
Without our skates and sleigh bells' chime
January's an evil time.

Without carnival dance and mummers' sport
February's a trifling sort.
Lest March you lose, make this your rule:
Let folk not brand you an April fool.
When the first of April you've withstood,

You may enjoy a wealth of good.
And again in May, if Luck has called,
By another girl you'll be enthralled.
And she will busy you so much more,
Days, weeks, and months you will ignore.
-GOETHE
T.,- ZH: as in usual
This sound is produced exactly the same way as the sh
sound - except that it is a voiced fricative.

Drill

rouge (roozh)	mirage (mirahzh)
regime (rezhem)	prestige (-eezh)
camouflage (camooflahzh)	pleasure
entourage (ontoorahzh)	gendarme (zhahn-dahrm)
vision	bourgeois (boorzhwah)
bourgeoisie (boorzhwahzee)	treasure
sabotage (-ahzh or ij)	espionage (-ahzh or ij)
decision	occasional

Full measure of pleasure
We'll measure our pleasure.
Is leisure a pleasure?
Is leisure a treasure?
Make your measure of leisure your measure of pleasure,
a treasure of Parisian leisure.
An unusual division of leisure according to pleasure,
A usual division of Parisian pleasure in the measure of leisure.


W: as in will
This is a voiced glide. At the beginning of the w sound, the
lips are well rounded and the tongue is in the high back
position similar to the position it is in when pronouncing
long 00. The lips are then quickly unrounded before the
vowel which follows the w is produced. The tongue glides
smoothly into the position of the vowel following wand
the voiced sound is continuous.

Drill

we	wail	work	wish	woman
woe	worn	wind	weave	wonder
well	walk	weather	welcome	woefu
wood	west	womb(woom)	winter	rewind
away	beware	reward	weed	william

A common mistake made by many is the inability to differentiate between the v and w sounds. It must be remembered that the v sound is made correctly when the top teeth graze-the lower lip. To produce the w sound, the lips have to be fully rounded as though you were going to whistle. The following contrast words will help you to articulate the difference between the v and w sounds.


v - we
vow - wow
view - woo
vie - y
vet - wet
vane - wane
vest - west
viper - wiper


Why can't we ever vote?
When their wives leave they wave to them.
There was a vicious wind through the vines.
vision - wizen
H: as in hat
This sound is a voiceless glide made with a strong force of
breath. It is found only before vowel sounds and never
before consonant sounds. During the pronunciation of the
h the tongue and the lips are in position for the
pronunciation of the vowel which follows the h.

Drill

hot	heat	home	head	heel
heal	hymn	haul	hell	hue
hair	high	ahead	behind	perhaps
behaviour	behove	dishearten	misbehave	behold

In the following exercise, don't omit the h sound.

Drill

awl- haul air - hair ewe - hew sow - how

eye - high ill- hill ate - hate is - his

and - hand at - hat am-ham lead - head

eat - heat eaves - heaves anchor - hanker liar - hire

W: as in why
This sound is produced the same way as hand w. Don't
omit the h.

Drill

white (hwite) which (hwich)

when (hwen) where (hwere)

why (hwy) what (hwat)

In the following exercise, don't omit the h sound. Also note,
you sound the h before you pronounce the w sound.

Drill

whale - wail where - wear whoa - woe whither _ wither whacks - wax what - wart

what - watt whet - wet whit - wit why - rye whining - wining

wheel - weal whether - weather which - witch white - Wight while - wile

Mr. Watt asked which way Ms. Wight went.
William considered whether it was wise to wear the white
wig and whiskers.
He whirled about and inquired whether Mr. Whitney
whistled when he worked.
Whether or not the weather is pleasant, I know where we
shall go and which dress I shall wear.
We wonder whether whales are whimsical.
Why does Walter whistle while he waits?
What whim led Wendy to whistle near the wharf where a
whale may whirl or wheel?

 T"1' L: as in love
This is a voiced lateral. When I comes before vowels, the
front part of the tongue is spread out and touches the tooth
ridge. The middle of the tongue is high.

Drill

leave	live	let	line	learn
luck	long	lesson	life:	last
lust	lemon	look	limp	letter
liver	length	level	lace	lump
lose	loose	lead	linger	loving

When I comes after vowels, the tip of the tongue touches
the tooth ridge. The middle of the tongue is low. (In some
books this is referred to as a dark 1.)

Drill

ill	pill	pull	tell	peel
all	fill	pole	knell	reel
milk	help	self	felt	dale
child	meal	early	small	wall
apple.	girls	awful	field	called

IR' in Various Situations. .
R: as in deer
fhe letter r after the vowels tends to make a change in the vowel sounds. At the beginning of the r sound, the tip of the tongue is turned up sharply toward the palate and the lips are rounded a bit. The vowel sound (voiced) is continued to the r which follows it. There is no contact of the tongue with the palate and the tongue does not vibrate.

Drill
Read across:

ear	air	or	bear	beer	gear
peer	pair	pore	pire	purr	poor
mere	mare	more	mar	myrrh	moor
tear (n)	tear (v)	tore	tar	turn	tour
seer	share	sore	sire	sir	sorry
leer	lair	lore	large	learn	lorry
err	bare	bore	bard	bird	boor
deer	dare	door	darn	dirty	dairy
fear	fare	for	far	fir	fairy
hear	hare	hoard	hard	heard	hairy

R: as in root
To form the r sound before vowels, the tip of the tongue is turned up sharply toward the palate and the lips are rounded. As the voicing begins the tip of the tongue lowers to produce the vowel sound which follows the r. The voiced sound is continuous during the pronunciation of r and the vowel which follows it.
Drill

tude	round	right	rote	red
Writing	riding	rung	ran	reed

wren	room	rum	rid	raid
rule	reel	ream	rue	read

R: as in dream (after consonants)
After stop sounds, such as, p, t, k, b,.d, g in the same syllable the r is almost voiceless and slightly fricative. Do not touch the tooth ridge of the palate with the tongue.

Drill

grain	grin	grim	greed	grill
dress	drown	brown	tree	trample
brew	prune	drain	praise	drink
drool	train	prig	prick	broom

A.
The following-are a list of words that are often given the wrong accent by fairly well educated persons. Check these words to correct your accent.


Drill

a cumen	, ill as ,	a wry
cat a strophic	com bat ant	com pa ra ble
de bate	des' ul tory	dif i gi ble
dis claim	dis close	en tire ,
for mi da ble	ho ri' zon	i de a
im pi ous	. ' im po tent	in com pa r able
in fa mous	in de fat i ga ble	ir rev 0 ca ble

B.
The following words have two accents, one when they are used as verbs and another when they are used as nouns or adjectives. Check the words and learn to pronounce them correctly.

Drill

, con flict (v)	con flict(n)
di gest (v) ,	di gest (n)
in crease (v)	ill crease (n)
ob ject , (v)	ob ject (n)
pre sent' (v)	pre sent , (n)
pro gress (v)	pro gress . (n)
re fill (v)	ne fill (n)