Mastering the American Accent » Review of /r/ and /l/

Review of /r/ and /l/

Practice Dialogues

  1. a. Laura has curly brown hair.
    b. However, her brother Carl has straight blond hair.
  2. a. What is that lawyer’s overall priority?
    b. Probably to win every trial.
  3. a. I am gradually learning to pronounce all the vocabulary correctly.
    b. Really? It’s truly wonderful to hear that!
  4. a. I heard he speaks several languages fluently.
    b. Yes, he speaks French, English, and Italian fluently.
  5. a. Have you heard the fairy tale about Cinderella?
    b. Yes, she was a poor girl who rarely felt pretty.
  6. a. Central Park is a great place for rollerblading.
    b. And it’s only several minutes from her large apartment.
  7. a. He’s an incredibly talented flute player.
    b. He also regularly plays the clarinet.

Poems for Practice

Alchemy

I lift my heart as spring lifts up
A yellow daisy to the rain;
My heart will be a lovely cup
Altho’ it holds but pain.

For I shall learn from flower and leaf
That color every drop they hold,
To change the lifeless wine of grief
To living gold.
Sara Teasdale

Barter

Life has loveliness to sell,
All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fire that sways and sings,
And children’s faces looking up,
Holding wonder like a cup.

Life has loveliness to sell,
Music like a curve of gold,
Scent of pine trees in the rain,
Eyes that love you, arms that hold,
And for your spirits still delight,
Holy thoughts that star the night.

Spend all you have for loveliness,
Buy it and never count the cost;
For one white singing hour of peace
Count many a year of strife well lost,
And for a breath of ecstasy
Give all you have been, or could be.
Sara Teasdale

Advice from a Successful Student

“My friend and I are both Chinese and both are studying accent reduction. We get together and speak only in English and we try to correct each others’ mistakes. We are able to point out a lot of mistakes to each other even though we are not American. We have learned what our main weaknesses are, and it’s now just a matter of reminding each other and practicing in order to break those old habits.”

Fang Lee and Mei Wu, China

Favorite Books

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 6: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

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The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 5: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

Read more

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 4: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

Read more

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 3: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

Read more

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 2: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

Read more

The activities in "4000 Essential English Words" are specially designed to make use of important learning conditions. Firstly, the words are introduced using sentence definitions and an example sentence. 4000 Essential English Words 1: 600 words (Unit 1 - Unit 30).

Read more

If you already speak some English and now would like to speak more like a native, “Speak English Like an American” will help you. One of the keys to speaking like a native is the ability to use and understand casual expressions, or idioms. American English is full of idioms. Speak English Like an American will help you understand and use idioms better. It contains over 300 of today's most common idioms.

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