AMERICAN ENGLISH FOR JAPANESE SPEAKERS, TEACH PRONUNCIATION BETTER, PART 1: Vowels and Consonants

Note: This book has been re-published to make it iPad ‘friendlier’.

Written by experienced pronunciation teacher, Peggy Tharpe, this guide will walk you through every important part of teaching English pronunciation, discussing the impact and interference between Japanese and English.

Part 1 deals exclusively with vowels and consonants. Part 2 addresses what we do with those sounds to create messages-- from syllable stress, to word stress, to phrasal melodics, to sentence intonation.

THIS GUIDE IS FOR YOU IF
1. You want to understand English pronunciation better
2. You want to teach English pronunciation more effectively and efficiently
3. You want to explore the differences between the sound of Japanese and the sound of English
4. You want to know why and how Japanese pronunciation interferes with learning English pronunciation
5. You want to hear a veteran teacher’s perspective and learn her system, methods, and tools

IT’S PROBABLY NOT FOR YOU IF
1. You’re looking for shortcuts
2. You’re in a hurry because you don’t have a worksheet for next class

IT’S WRITTEN FOR THIS AUDIENCE
1. ESL and EFL teachers working with Japanese students
2. Accent reduction coaches working with Japanese clients
3. English pronunciation tutors
4. Japanese students of English, working on their own pronunciation

I SHARE MY SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TEACHING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION that is designed specifically for Japanese speakers and the pronunciation and accent problems they have. There are two parts to this challenge:
1. Understand (and share with your students) how the Japanese sound system compares and contrasts with the English sound system. This is the RAISING AWARENESS part…the first ingredient for any change.
2. Teach using methods and strategies that actually result in the development of new habits and ultimately a change in their sound in English. This is the PHYSICAL HARD WORK part…we make speech our first language sounds unconsciously, so after awareness must come retraining.

Because there’s a lot to talk about and think about, this guide is written in two interdependent parts.
PART 1: VOWELS and CONSONANTS.
PART 2: EVERYTHING ELSE—syllable stress, word stress, phrasal intonation, melody, and all of prosody.

WHAT’S INSIDE PART 1
In Part 1, we will study what is most different and difficult about English for Japanese speakers. I propose that, in terms of sound, Japanese is a form-based language, and English is a function-based language. We’ll go deeply into the nature or characteristics of individual sounds in both languages: vowels and consonants. Japanese and English give very different ‘values’ to sounds. If a person has an accent, it’s because they are using their unconscious first language system of rules for speech sounds, in English, which has a different set of speech sound rules. Since our first languages are unconsciously developed, we have to build awareness of our own language’s sound characteristics, and then develop new awareness, and new, conscious articulation habits that work for English. I will show you how I do it.

My system has been developed over 10 years of working one-to-one with Japanese speakers on their English sound. It is based on the knowledge (gained from experience) that TEACHING VOWELS AND CONSONANTS WELL MAKES EVERYTHING ELSE FALL INTO PLACE MUCH EASIER.

Even with advanced level English students, I start with vowels and consonants and re-teach them as a part of the English code of sounds, and this guide tells why, how and what to teach.

I hope to see you on LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com/in/peggytharpe
Watch my videos on my YouTube Channel (search my name)
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And there is quite a bit to explore on my website:
http://www.AmericanPronunciationCoach.com

Keep up with my publications on my Amazon Author Central page:
http://geni.us/2w21

I hope to see you around!