english fluency phonetic teaching learning

8/13/2019 English Fluency Phonetic Teaching Learning

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3 ENGLISH FLUENCYDevelopment and Maintenance of Language Skills

Specially for Native Speakers of Portuguese

Introduction

Can I have good English skills as a native Portuguese

speaker?

What should I do in order to always speak English fluently?

The awareness of language structure difference is the basis forfluency development. Portuguese native speakers can masterEnglish efficiently very close to the native speaker skills whensome important details for the second language acquisition are

absorbed. This goal is attained with high confidence, as aconscious requirement of language difference is comprehended.

Most people are not totally aware that learning a secondlanguage is a strong personal challenge. This involves an

intense dedication and cares in order to acquire skills enough tocommunicate fluently enjoying such features on several

applications like professional, traveling, reading, writing, andglobal communication. The process is very similar to theopening of a new world inhabited by a different culture andoffering a new life! where the perception for the world may

vary substantially from our sweetie tropical "ra#il.

$earning a second language is time consuming, but keeping thesecond language is even more difficult to attain regarding the

constant dedication to keep a fresh fluency. %nalogically thishuman activity is very similar to the problem of keeping a

perfect balanced body weight. &iets solve temporary problemof losing weight. 'hat will happen after the diet is over( &oes

anyone want to be on diets forever( 'hat is going to be ourweight five years down the line when the last diet is over( Theunique solution is to learn to eat appropriately according to thedaily energy requirements in order to prevent breaking the law

balance of input vs. output. The same fundamentals can beapplied to the process of learning and keeping a second

language. )uman brains are biological machines highlycomple* and self+maintained. t seems not to approve keeping

words that were learned and have not been used after someperiod of spanned time, even in the native language. Then, the

process of learning a second language should considermechanisms for maintenance also that will be discussed later.Then, some principles to aim can be outlined as following

according to their importance and priorities-

. /omparative $anguage 0tructure- Portuguese is differentthan English and should be understood clearly in order toremove barriers associated to perception in all required

communication skills.1. 2ocabulary $oading- 3luency is highly dependent on

e*tensive vocabulary to offer options for e*pression ofoutgoing, and incoming information for interpretation.

4. /ontinuous $inguistic Training- &edication is a criticalfactor in order to assimilate and e*ercise interactivecomple* information in the way native communicates.

1. Comparative Language Structure

Portuguese is a language characteri#ed by a highly specificstructure very different from English. Portuguese speakersshould be conscious that their mind runs with a pattern of wordshaving a specific combination of consonants and vowels which

imposes a good correlation between the sound and the wording.3or e*ample, the Portuguese word 5ba+ta+ta6 is a good e*amplethat have been using since started to develop this newapproach of interactive English learning. was used to compare

to the English word 5wor7l7d76. Portuguese is so well

correlated between sounds and writing patterns that it is notcommon to spell Portuguese words routinely, even when somesort of precision is required for names. Portuguese names can

be spoken and written without further concern letting a clearunderstanding with a precise spelling interpretation to thelistener. Portuguese speakers are not trained in their nativelanguage to speak pure consonants, e*cept l, r, and n ending

sound. Then, purity in the consonant pronunciation of Englishwords by Portuguese speaker is one important goal to pursue inthe language skills development. They are critical to provide asound fluency.

English language does require a perfect sounding of pure

consonantal sounds. Then, performing the pronunciation at avery slow speed of specific words, like 5worrrrrrllllllddddddd6,

5girrrrrrrlllllllsssssssss8#########96 can result to a perfectpronunciation of pure consonants. 0o, increasing the speed

more and more helps the trainee to bring his or herpronunciation closer to normal without spoiling the soundpattern and making it more similar to native speaking. Thisprocess gives more time to the recipient to dominate all

muscles! movements of articulating sounds in order to be ableto emit such sound pattern, which are not so peculiar toPortuguese speaking characteristics. This approach can beemployed also to small and larger sentences.

More recently the analogical process has been based in theword 5chocolate6 which is attainable for both languagesEnglish and Portuguese with a very abrupt change in the

pronunciation pattern. 3or e*ample as some other patterns

below-

Analogy of Language Structure between Portugueseand English

/ho+co+la+te : /hocolate ;Ch k_- !-lt_;

2a+mos : 2amoose ;v-"m s; < $et!s go=

> &e+do : 3inger ;!f -gr;

% Me+sa : Table ;te-#_l_;

> "ra+?o : %rm ;r_m_;

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% /a+ne+ca : Mug ;mg_;

> /as+te+lo : /astle ;!k s-l;

% PA+ro+la : Perl ;pr_l_;

% Me+ni+na : Birl ;gr_l_;

> Mun+do : 'orld ;$r_l_d_;

> /ir+co : /ircus ;!sr-ks;

% 3er+ti+li+da+de : 3etility ;fr-"tl-t_-i;

1.1. Speed of Delivery and Natural LanguageCompressing.

$inguists have analy#ed the speed dynamics of speaking and

concluded that a fast native speaker can easily deliver up to fivesyllables per second in a fast talking, which can reach up to 4CCwords per minute, near a full page of common novel books. tdoes require a strong brain processing to capture, analy#e and

understand the content of such communication pace. There arearound 4C muscles in the articulatory system involved in theemission of speaking sounds. Then, in a fast speaking the brainhas around one+fifty of a second to position the appropriate

muscles in order to achieve the goal of making a commondelivery of sounds at five syllables per second. 0omecontinuous training is required until the process is learned

effectively and become a natural instinctive functioning in theprocess of speaking in a different pattern from the Portugueselanguage as the first maternal language.

%ll these physiological comple*ity requires a deep

comprehension that mastering a second language requires yearsof training in order to acquire several skills associated to the

speaking, listening, reading, and writing. %lso, it should beincluded a long list of vocabulary acquisition added to spelling,

pronunciation and some variety of definitions applied to eachword besides its comple* grammar ruling. t seems that English

can become even more difficult to Portuguese speakers becauseof some natural compression associated to the soundingcomposition. 3or e*ample, the word 5chocolate6 have the samespelling in Portuguese and English. n Portuguese it is spoken

as a four syllables pronouncing clearly all consonants andvowels. n English this work is pronounced as two syllablesonly omitting the last vowel and optionally the second vowel5o6. Then the sound of 5chocolate6 in English is pronounced as

two syllables having two consonants each. Then, consideringthat each syllable in Portuguese and English takes the sameenergy and effort, English would have an edge of near DC ofcompression rate. This pattern of clustering consonants around

a vowel as a syllable makes English a highly compressiblelanguage compared to English speaking patterns.

t should be observed also that English would cluster

consonants toward a nucleus of a vowel allowing an e*plosivefast talking taking advantage of the plosive consonants. Plosive

vowels like p, t, k, b, d, and g produced without vowels in asyllable cluster is an important factor for increasing language

compression and high speed of delivery. 0tudies have shownthat it is easier to the brain to listen than to speak at high speed.

$istening capabilities do not require a full listening of acomplete word or sentence. /onte*t and logical interactionhelps to bring a fast and efficient listening in an ultra+fastspeaking approach. Then, in conclusion it is naturally much

more difficult to speak fast than to listen to a fast speaking.

1.2. Wording Gender

Portuguese is characteri#ed for having a flag in the word endingproviding gender definition for most words. Fsually masculine

words end with 5o6 and feminine words end with 5a6, like in5dedo6 and 5mesa6. This propriety makes Portuguese very richwith vowels in the end of the words and also brings someconception about dividing the whole vocabulary in the language

half for male and half for female. t is logically awkward that inPortuguese inanimate objects have gender orientations. %t least

it solves some cultural gender arguments regarding the divisionof the Portuguese world in two halves for males and females.

)owever, when dealing with inanimate objects the genderdefinition provides some worthless information in the

etymological conception. have observed culturally that"ra#ilians have much less concern about social gender disputethan English speakers. 'ords gender pattern in Portugueseremediate gender differences in society, at least regarding the

e*pression of our perceptional world.

0ince English is a rich consonantal language, then the words donot bear any cue in their end about its gender e*pression, which

generally is provided by vowels in Portuguese. /onsequently,this fact e*plains why English becomes a language that mostwords will finish with consonants. 2owels are not needed inEnglish to e*press gender option. n addition e letter in the end

of English words become silent.

1.3. Consonantalization and Clustering

English sound pattern does not like to keep vowels even insidethe words. 0ee the e*amples below-

3amily ;fm-li;$eave ;liv_;

Braduate ;gr -!-$t7;

/hocolate ;Chk_-!-lt7;

n the same way that Portuguese is a language prone to e*pressitself strongly using vowel sounds, English would have

preference to consonants. This is my common remark using to

emphasi#e such conceptions. used to say that dogs would barkin Portuguese or in English perfectly according to theirlanguage rules. % "ra#ilian dog would bark in Portuguese asound very rich in vowels making the sounds like 5au-au-au6

while %merican dogs would bark in their local Englishlanguage rich in consonants making the sounds 5ruff-ruff-ruff6.This shows clearly the tendency of Portuguese language patternto use preferentially vowel sound while English employs more

consonants. To e*press words rich in vowels in Portuguese like5goia#a% Cuia#a6 represents the same level of difficulty toEnglish speakers as it happens to Portuguese speakers

pronouncing English words rich in consonants like 5$orlds%isnt% girls6.

Poor listening skills occurring to Portuguese speakers areassociated to the low perception awareness toward language

structure differences. t does require some time and training todevelop such skills in order to offer a more precise understand

of the functioning of a new language clearly different from thenative one. %ll the brain processing needs to adjust itself to anew pattern of language structure in order to have an effectivecommunication. Then comment to my pupils that their

language skills will improve after their remove their 5#atata6

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from their brain, which is true regarding the language structure

behind this word.

1.. Wording !lural

"asically, Portuguese plurals are made of adding 5s6 to the endof the words while English also follow this same basic rule inthe writing conception. )owever, there is no acknowledgementto the problem that Portuguese speaking is not affected by some

inertial patterns in the language structure regarding thecontinuous sequence of voicing the sounds. Plurals as well as

past in the end of the words is variable to the counterpart voicedor unvoiced sounds in the pairs of the cognate. 'hat happens is

very simple in terms of inertial velocity. f the preceding soundis unvoiced, then the plural of the word is made with unvoiced

sound by 5s6. f the vocal cord preceding the plural 5s6 is notvibrating, then the plural is made with a perfect long continuousfrictional 5s6 sound, like in 5cats6. >n the other hand, if the

preceding sound is voiced, having the effect of the vibrating

vocal cords, then the plural change to 5#6 which is the cognatevoiced sound of 5s6. Then the plural of 5dogs6 is made with 5#6sound in the end. t is notorious to mention that most of wordsin English end with voiced sound mainly because of the vowels,

nasal, and lateral sounds are all done requiring vibration in thevocal cords.

Portuguese speakers take some time to bear in their mind that a

plural in English most of the time is made with 5#6 soundinstead of 5s6. This is simple to check asking students to readwords like 5is, was, knows6 and then later asking them to readtheir similar voiced sounds 5isn!t, wasn!t, and nose6. 0tudents

need to develop awareness that the sound in 5is6 should be thesame as in 5isn!t6. 0ome continuous alternate repetitions may

bring some adjustment to such sounding patterns. Then,analogical procedure is very efficient in order to attain fine+

tuning of English sounds as well as repetition in increasingspeed of delivery.

1.". Wording !ast

Portuguese is a $atin language where past is attained by a

comple* combination of radicals to e*press verbal tenses andpersons. %lso Portuguese can have radicals ending in ar GamarH,er GsaberH, ir GpartirH and or GporH for regular verbs. 3ore*ample, the ndicative Present Tense of the verb 5amar6 is Eu

amo, tu amas, ele ama, nIs amamos, vois amais, eles amam. nEnglish the past tense of regular verbs is attained by adding aunique radical&edto the infinitive form and it applies to allsingular and plural persons.

Even the grammar English verbs looks easier than Portuguese,the sounding has a variation following some inertia in thevoicing sounds. The&edis added to all regular forms of past

tenses, but the sounding can be :tif the precedent sound isvoiceless, can be&dif the precedent sound is voiced, or car be

&idif the verb sounds end in dor t. 3rom the logical point ofview it can be e*plained by a simple reason of fast delivery of

sounds. Then, the pronunciation of the past of regular verbs isvoiced if the previous sound also is voiced, or voiceless if the

previous sound is also voiceless. "ecause tand dis alreadyused to make the past, then if the last sound is also tor d, then

another vowel is added in conjunction with d.

1.#. Some !atterns of Word $nding Sounds

/lintonJewtonMedicine$atin

$istening

0peakingKeading

'riting

2ocabulary

%pplied /omparative Phonetics

0hort MemoryPerception/hocolate/atalog

Madison, Medicine

Fltimate, /olumbus, circus, surface,

2. Grammar Conceptions and Language Comple%ity

The learning process of the second language is highly comple*

and the intellectual effort should be guided toward the mostcritical requirements in the learning process. t can be estimated

that near DC of the time spend learning a language could havebeen saved if there had been developed some concern about

simplicity and functionality. $anguages bear some impuritiesassociated to the inner characteristics of human nature in the

processing of creating sounds, associating written symbols, and

fostering simplicity toward accessibility. 0ociety developedhigh praise toward a comple* language accessible mainly to theupper class status in order to protect or limit some cultural

values of wealthy domination. People in the past wereconsidered supreme when they belonged to a rich class capableof using a comple* language not accessible to the commoners.'ealthy classes control the thinking of the day and what

humans consider as the social values. 0implicity of knowledgein the past allowed such human frivolity.

The present educational system could be simplified and reduced

to less than half of time required for learning if the languagewere simplified. $ots of energy, time consuming, andintellectual efforts are wasted learning what could be muchsimpler. 3or e*ample, if silent letters were transformed to

invisible letters GremovedH, lots of time learning andmemori#ing them would have been saved. Then a simplequestion can be produced- 'hy do have to learn about silentletters if they are not pronounced( 'ell, silent letters are not

used in the speaking mode, so why to bother to keep them inthe writing mode of symbolic representation of word( 0aving

time in the learning process could be guided toward othernecessities like e*panding vocabulary in order to increase

e*pression potential and capacity to provide a more structuredchain of reasoning in the language fluency. %nother point to

consider is that human intellectual power may be reaching itslimits of tolerance being the cause of stress and frustration.

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0ome sort of entertaining and spare time for leisure and resting

may be the missing component toward a healthy and happysurvival for modern humans. t can be assumed that humanquality of life is degrading because of high consuming time inthe learning process, which could have been simpler.

The educational process is becoming a burden to the younggeneration due to its increased comple*ity and time required foradopting something that certainly have lots of room to be easier

and better. Then, being a highly educated human is not achallenge but a question of standing a high load of unhappy

e*perience learning things that are not necessarily important.ntelligent people think they are, and would question if they

really are intelligent to evaluate what really is important to asuccessful life. would like to see a logical argumentation

e*plaining to me that spend around four years of my lifelearning something that was a waste of time because the humansociety has no insights to make a life easier and more joyful forall of us. 3orcing humans to learn what is not necessary cannot

be considered fair to human e*istence. )umans are certainly

becoming infidels to nature laws.

Brammar can be divided in two important distinct categorieslike functional and stylistic. 3unctional grammar can be

assumed as highly critical to the complete understanding of theinformation transmitted. Then, mistakes of functional grammarare prone to compromise the comprehension of the informationdelivered. 3or e*ample, a mistake like 5she have6 only hurts

grammar standard, but not the comprehension of theinformation delivered while 5she had6 instead of 5she has6

deeply violates the time frame of the e*pression of the verb notallowing an indication of past action. n summary, the precision

of the verb e*pression should be concentrate toward a morerealistic e*pression of time frame of the verb action or state. t

is possible to quantify and e*press some sort of range in thelevels of effect in the precision of communication that mistakes

bear in their variability. 0o, some grammar features are moreimportant than the others.


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*ig' !erformance Level for +ntellectual Development

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- 'orldwide 0poken English available through the nternet by computer multimedia technology

Classroom !lanning &pproac'- two+hour classes divided into four half+hour sections

& 3ree conversation and opportunities for techniques of public speech training

/ %pplied comparative phonetic training and grammar reviewing

C Keading e*ercise for pronunciation training and vocabulary acquisition. 0urveyed reading

D $istening activities for development of language perception and fluency flow

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english fluency phonetic teaching learning

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