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If you are from India and have spoken English all your life, there is still the possibility that people around you in the USA have trouble understanding what you say – especially on the phone.
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1. Speak slowly! This action alone will eliminate many miscommunications.
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2. Watch out when you say words that begin with a /w/ or a sound the letter /w/ makes, such as, the word /one/. If you pucker your lips like a fish, and your lips don’t touch any of your teeth, the correct /w/ sound will come out. Practice the basic words you say on a continual basis – what, where, when, why, which, etc.
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3. When you say words that being with /v/, make sure that you are making the right sound by putting your upper teeth on your lower lip and then saying the words -vintage, village, voice, VC, Silicon Valley, and so on.
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4. Don’t speak through your teeth -open your mouth so that sounds can come out clearly.
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5. Put your tongue between your teeth when you say a word with a /th/ in it – the sound /d/ for /th/ doesn’t sound educated. For example, say /then/ instead of /den/ or /though/ instead of /dough/.
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6. The long vowels in English take longer to say than the short ones – i.e., there is a distinct difference between /bet/ and /beat/. Therefore, if you hold that word with the long vowel for just another moment when you say it, /take/ not /tek/ – people can figure out to which word you are referring.
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7. Don’t swallow words that don’t carry the main meaning in a sentence. For example, all words should be enunciated clearly in “this is a great opportunity,†including the (main) word /opportunity/, which in American English, has five syllables.
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8. Take care with the short /o/ sound, so it is a /caller/ not a /color/.
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| 9. Learn which parts of a word take the stress and which ones don’t -profile, percentage, permanent, additional, etc. Usually, if the word is a noun, the beginning letters will be stressed. If it is a verb, the stress is on the end syllable. Examples: therecord – to record, the project – to project. There are web sites which can teach you the rules, or come and see me and I can practice the intonations/stresses with you.
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