Learn how to use final consonant sounds and spellings
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Braden: Are you running late for your English meeting? |
| In this lesson, you’ll learn about final consonant sounds and spelling and Promotions. |
| Barbara: This conversation takes place on the phone after lunch. June is at work and Cody is in his car returning to work. |
| Braden: And it’s between Cody and June. |
| Barbara: The speakers are co-workers, therefore the y’ll be speaking informally. |
| Braden: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Cody: June! Has the meeting started already? |
| June: Not yet. The meeting was scheduled for two-thirty. |
| Cody: It's two-ten. Making it to the meeting on time is something I'm not going to be able to do today. |
| June: Save yourself the stress. Big John called and he's late too. |
| Cody: It's that, with this horrible weather...Oh! Good! That means I can drive a bit slower and be safe. What a relief! |
| June: When he called, Big John mentioned he's in need of a new assistant manager. Wouldn't that be neat? |
| Cody: Are you being sarcastic? |
| June: No. Why? |
| Cody: Are you going to apply for the position? |
| June: I don't know yet. Why? Are you? |
| Cody: No, no. I've been here long enough to know it's not worth the 2 dollar an hour raise. |
| June: I think there's a reserved parking place too. It's extra wide and has "reserved" in large white letters. |
| Cody: But even with that it isn't worth it. Big John makes you take care of everything. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Braden: So, we wanted to talk a little bit about Promotion |
| Barbara: A promotion is an advancement or movement in the position or rank of an individual within an organized hierarchy. In other words, a promotion is a shift from a lower position to a higher position. |
| Braden: Within a company, a promotion is usually accompanied by 1. An increase in responsibilities. |
| Barbara: 2. An increase in compensation or salary. |
| Braden: and 3. A change in the individual's official title within the organization. |
| Barbara: In some industries and in some organizations, more or less can accompany a promotion. |
| Braden: For example, in some industries health benefits, travel benefits, and vacation benefits may also be improved through a promotion. |
| Barbara: At the store “Big Buys” there is a two dollar an hour raise and a specialized parking place accociated with this promotion. |
| Braden: The opposite of the promotion is a demotion. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Braden: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we'll look at is... |
| Barbara: slower [natural native speed] |
| Braden: move slowly in relation to something else |
| Barbara: slower [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: slower [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| worth [natural native speed] |
| Braden: equivalent in value to the sum or item specified |
| worth [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| worth [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: relief [natural native speed] |
| Braden: a feeling of reassurance and relaxation following release from anxiety or distress |
| Barbara: relief [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: relief [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| sarcastic [natural native speed] |
| Braden: use of irony in order to mock or convey contempt |
| sarcastic [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| sarcastic [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Barbara: reserve [natural native speed] |
| Braden: retain or hold for someone |
| Barbara: reserve [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Barbara: reserve [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| raise [natural native speed] |
| Braden: an increase in salary |
| raise [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| raise [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Braden: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Barbara: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase “was scheduled for.” |
| Braden: our tip here is about pronunciation. depending on the region you live in, Or the dialect of English you are studying you could pronounce the word “scheduled” in two ways. |
| The first way is “scheduled.” with an SH sound at the beginning. This is a less common way of pronouncing the word and some might even say that it is wrong. The second, And most frequently heard, way is “scheduled” using a K sound. |
| Braden: The other pronunciation variable is the –dul syllable. In some dialects, schedule is pronounced “schejul.” While in other dialects, is pronounced “schedule.” (with a U sound at the end.) Could you break this down? |
| Barbara: was scheduled for (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast? |
| Barbara: was scheduled for (fast) |
| Braden: Great! What’s next? |
| Barbara: Our next words are "it’s not" vs "it isn’t." |
| Braden: Here again is a pronunciation tip. In this case, the contraction “it’s not” sounds like “it snot.” |
| “Snot” is a colloquialism for the mucus in the nasal passage. |
| Braden: For that disagreeable reason, many people prefer using the contraction, “it isn’t.” The meaning is the same and the disagreeable sound is avoided. Could you break down “it’s not?” |
| Barbara: it’s not (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast. |
| Barbara: it’s not (fast) |
| Braden: And now, could you break down “it isn’t?” |
| Barbara: it isn’t (slowly) |
| Braden: And one time fast. |
| Barbara: it isn’t (fast) |
| Braden: Excellent! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Braden: Let’s take a look at the grammar point. |
| Braden: So, Barbara, what’s the focus of this lesson? |
| Barbara: The focus of this lesson is final consonant sounds and spelling |
| Braden: In the dialogue, we heard the phrase… |
| Barbara: Are you going to apply for the position? |
| Braden: Final consonants make speech clear, yet they are especially troublesome. Some students cut final consonants; they might say “bo–answer–” for “both answers. Other students confuse final voiceless and unvoiced consonants; they might say "Half a good day!” for “Have a good day!” |
| Barbara: Just to be clear, final consonant sounds are either voiceless (no vocal cord vibration) or voiced (vocal cord vibration). |
| Braden: Sometimes spelling indicates whether the final consonant is voice or voiceless. For example, "need" and "neat." |
| Barbara: Sometimes, however, it does not. For example, "close" as a verb has a "z" sound at the end and close as an adjective has an "s" sound at the end. These final consonant guidelines will help make your speech clearer. |
| Braden: So first rule is that vowels sound longer before final voiced consonants. For example, “safe” as in “safe houses,” compared to “save houses.” Do you hear how the “a” is longer? “safe” vs. “save” |
| Barbara: Another voiceless example is the word “white” as in “a white shoe.” the corresponding voiced word is “wide” as in “a wide shoe” |
| Braden: Can you hear the difference in the length of the “i”? white - wide |
| Barbara: Okay, so rule 2, You can sometimes use parts of speech to help determine pronunciation. The following word pairs are spelled the same but pronounced differently because of their parts of speech. |
| Braden: For example, “use” is a noun. but “use” is a verb. and “close” is an adjective but “close” is a verb. |
| Barbara: The pattern here is that final consonants are voiceless in nouns/adjectives and voiced in verbs. Notice also that the vowels still sound longer before word-final voiced consonants. |
| Braden: To use a phrase for an example, “half a cookie” compared to “have a cookie.” |
| Barbara: Another example would be “house guests” compared to “house guests.” |
| Braden: Our last example is “safe money” which either means money that is put in a safe. or money that is safe to use for some purpose. Compare that to “save money” which means to retain money for the future. |
Outro |
| Braden: That just about does it for today. Thanks for listening. |
| Barbara: See you later! |
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