SPEECH IMPROVEMENT
PRONUNCIATION
How do you understand a new word of a new language? We have to break the word to be able to correctly pronounce it.A part of a word or a word which contains a single vowel sound is known as a syllable.
E.g. Garden : gar den
It is a single unit of speech that builds up the structure of every word.
It gives a word its pronunciation.
Each word contains at least one or more syllable as a word can be formed without a consonant sound but cannot be formed without a vowel sound.
English language has 26 alphabets.
21 consonants and 5 vowels.
SINGLE SYLLABLE WORDS
Following are the examples of words with single syllable:Man 2. Cup 3. Hat
Single vowel sound can be made of more than one vowel letters. E.g.
Moon 2. Cake 3. Bought
As all of these words contain only one vowel sound, therefore, they are single syllable words.
TWO SYLLABLE WORDS
Examples of words with two syllables:Garden : gar den
Hotel : ho tel
Consist : con sist
Focus : fo cus
As all of these words contain only two vowel sound, therefore, they are two syllable words.
THREE SYLLABLE WORDS
Examples of words with the three syllables:1. September : sep tem ber
2. Department : de part ment
3. Telephone : te le phone
4. Camera : ca me ra
5. Saturday : sa tur day
FOUR SYLLABLE WORDS
Examples of words with four syllables:1. Information : in for may tion
2. Practically : prac ti ca lly
3. Photography : pho to gra phy
4. Competition : com pe ti tion
Word stress
In English, we do not say each syllable with the same force or strength. In one word, we accentuate ONE syllable. We say one syllable very loudly (big, strong, important) and all the other syllables very quietly.Let's take 3 words: photograph, photographer and photographic. Do they sound the same when spoken?
No. Because we accentuate (stress) ONE syllable in each word. And it is not always the same syllable. So the "shape" of each word is different.
Listen to these words. Do you hear the stressed syllable in each word?
4 syllables, stress on #2PHO-TO-GRAPH-ER
4 syllables, stress on #3PHO-TO-GRAPH-IC
This happens in ALL words with 2 or more syllables: TEACHer, JaPAN, CHINa, aBOVE, converSAtion, INteresting, imPORtant, deMAND, etCETera, etCETera, etCETera
The syllables that are not stressed are weak or small or quiet. Fluent speakers of English listen for the STRESSED syllables, not the weak syllables. If you use word stress in your speech, you will instantly and automatically improve your pronunciation and your comprehension.
Try to hear the stress in individual words each time you listen to English - on the radio, or in films for example. Your first step is to HEAR and recognise it. After that, you can USE it!
There are two very important rules about word stress:
One word, one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. So if you hear two stresses, you have heard two words, not one word.)
The stress is always on a vowel.
Why is Word Stress Important?
Word stress is not used in all languages. Some languages, Japanese or French for example, pronounce each syllable with eq-ual em-pha-sis.Other languages, English for example, use word stress and pro-NOUNCE DIF-fer-ent SYL-la-bles with more or less im-POR-tance.
Word stress is not an optional extra that you can add to the English language if you want. It is part of the language
Fluent English speakers use word stress to communicate rapidly and accurately, even in difficult conditions. If, for example, you do not hear a word clearly, you can still understand the word because of the position of the stress.
Word Stress Rules
There are two very simple rules about word stress:
One word has only one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. If you hear two stresses, you hear two words. Two stresses cannot be one word. It is true that there can be a "secondary" stress in some words. But a secondary stress is much smaller than the main [primary] stress, and is only used in long words.)e.g. Conversation - /,CONver’SAtion/
We can only stress vowels, not consonants.
Importance of speech in hotels
- The most important quality of a hotelier would be the capability to communicate effectively with the staff, colleagues and guests.
- In this new age of electronic communication, one should not forget that effective verbal and non-verbal communication skills should be emphasized and well-executed in the hospitality industry.
- Compelling communication skills are important in a hotel regardless of some staff members not being guest-facing.
- A few hotels spend considerable amount of money on training their staff to interact with the guests.
- Good communication skills are a learned art and not a natural skill so one should consider training to enhance staff skills.
- Excellent communication skills enhance guest experience as it conveys that you are listening to your guests, valuing their feedback and conveying clear messages.
- Apart from communicating with the guests, you ought to know how to write emails.
- Good communication skills will impress your guests which will further prove beneficial to your hotel business.
- Lack of communication skills leads to;
- Failing to communicate well with guests which may result in lack of confidence among the staff members
- Failing to process written documents such as emails, reports and other collaterals
- Failing to understand the hotel management software hotels use these days
Results of Great Communication Skills
- Improved customer service
- Better understanding of the instructions from supervisors among the staff members
- Great understanding of the latest technology used by hotels
- Boosted confidence to approach guests
- Positive attitude towards the workplace and higher level of understanding between the department heads and colleagues.
Common phonetic difficulties
Like all languages, spoken English is made up of phonemes (or ‘units of sound’).It is important to distinguish between phonemes and the letters of the Roman alphabet that are used to spell English words.
The difference between phonemes and letters
To illustrate the difference between phonemes and letters, let’s compare the phoneme that is the consonant sound at the beginning of the word ‘cat’ to the phoneme that is the beginning consonant of the word ‘cycle’. Both are spelled with the letter ‘C’ but they are pronounced differently. These two sounds are sometimes described as a ‘hard ’ and ‘soft ’.
however there are other ways of representing them, such as by the phonetic symbols /k/ and /s/.
PHONETIC EXAMPLES
- CONCEAL - /kən'si:l/
- PATTERN - /'pætən/
- PERMANENT - /'pɜ:mənənt/
- CONVERSATION - /,kɒnvə'seɪʃən/
Introduction to frequently used foreign WORDS
Foreign phrases are words that have been introduced to the English language that have etymologies/origins from other countries. Etymology is the study of word origins or beginnings. All of the following foreign phrases have come from other languages. It will be helpful to note that the foreign phrases that have similar origins look and sound similar.1. RSVP: /rā-pōⁿ-dā-sēl-vü-ple / an expression that represents the French words “respondez s’il vous plait.” short definition “please respond.”
Situation that the word will be used: This word will be used in many cases when you receive an invitation.
If the person has this on their invitation, they intend for you to let them know if you will be in attendance.
Why do you think they would need to know this?
2. Deja vu: /ˌdā-ˌzhä-ˈvü/ a french term that means feeling of having seen or experienced something before it has been actually seen or experienced for the first time.
A short definition of this word is “already seen.”
Situation in which this word can be used: If you have ever been somewhere before, or had a conversation with your friends, and you feel like it has happened before; although you know it has not. Have you ever experienced deja vu before?
3. Faux pas: /ˈfō-ˌpä/ a French term that means a social blunder or violation of social norms, customs, etc. Short definition is “false step.”
Situation in which a faux pas occurs: Imagine that Jalen, coming from a family that never eats together or blesses the food before they eat, goes to dinner over his friends house. Jalen feels really embarrassed when he starts tearing into his food only to find that everyone is staring at him in amazement? Why are they staring at Jalen? Did he commit a faux pas? What was it?
4. Du Jour: /dü-ˈzhər/ a French term that means “of the day,” or “of the moment.” Situation in which du jour is used: Often when you go into a restaurant they will offer a special of the day. Imagine that you go into a restaurant and see a sign that says the soup du jour is clam chowder. What does that mean?
5. Bon voyage: /bän ˌvȯi-ˈäzh / a French word that is used to express farewell and good wishes to a traveler. Short definition is “good journey/trip”
Situation in which this word is used: On movies you probably have seen a ship leaving dock for the ocean with the passengers waving and the onlookers screaming, “Bon voyage!”. Why were the onlookers screaming this word and not the passengers?
6. Espirit de corps: /i-ˌsprē-də-ˈkȯr / is a French word that means group spirit; a sense of pride and honor showed by those in the same group or undertaking. Short definition is “spirit of the body”.
Situation in which the word will be used: When President Obama came to BTW, all Memphians had a sense of pride to be from this city. Also, football team, basketball team, and the military are organizations that have a sense of pride. Do these groups have espirit de corps?
7. Avante garde: / a-ˌvōⁿ -ˈgärd/ is a french word that refers to a group of people usually artistic(singers, dancers, actors, etc.) who use innovative, new and different ways to express themselves. The short definition is “advance garde”.
Situation in which this word will be used: The singers on the new show X Factor use new ways to sing old songs. What foreign phrase can be used to describe these singers?
8. Carte blanche: / ˈkärt-ˈbläⁿsh , -ˈblanch / is a French term that means having unlimited and complete freedom to do whatever you wan to. The short definition is “unlimited freedom”.
Situation in which the word will be used: Imagine that Bill Gates gave you a blank check that you could write for any amount, and they would let you cash it at their bank. At that moment would you have carte blanche?
9. Alma mater: / ˌal-mə-ˈmä-tər / is a Latin term that means the school college or university that you have attended. It also means school song.o Short definition: “school song; old school”.
Situation in which the word is used: On the movie Lean On Me the principal asked the boys who were skipping in the restroom if they knew the alma mater. Then he asked them to sing it to him. Which definition of alma mater was he talking about?
10. Bon appetit - /bó-nä-pā-tē/
Language: French (“good appetite”)
How it’s used: A cheerful phrase that’s said to someone who is about to enjoy a good meal or—if you want to be ironic—about to eat a very bad meal!
Example: After grilling a thick and hearty burger, Joe served it to Henry and said “bon appétit!”.
11. À la carte - / ˌä-lə-ˈkärt , ˌa-lə- /
Language: French
If you eat à la carte, you choose each dish from a separate list instead of eating a fixed combination of dishes at affixed price.
Example: What would you prefer ma’am? Buffet or would you place an order from the a la carte menu?
12. Bona fide - /ˌbō-nə-ˈfī-dē /
Language: Latin (from “bona fides” or “good faith”)
How it’s used: It indicates sincerity, honest intention, or something that actually is true to its representation.
Example: A jeweler certified that the pearl necklace was bona fide before Jill sold it to Kenny.
13. Per capita - /pər- 'ka-pə-tə/
Language: Latin (“by head”)
How it’s used: This term is generally found in statistics in lieu of “per person.” Per capita suggests that something is equally applied to each individual.
Example: Each person in Switzerland consumes 22.7 lbs. of chocolate per year, giving Switzerland the highest per capita rate of chocolate consumption worldwide.
14. Tête–à–tête - /'teitə 'teit/ /tĕtatĕt/
Language: French (“head to head”)
How it’s used: Broadly, a tête–à–tête describes a private conversation between two people. The word suggests that the conversation might be secret, intimate, or even romantic.
Example: The quiet café’s private little room was a perfect place for a tête–à–tête.
15. Karate - /kə- 'rä-tē/
Language: Japanese (“empty hand”)
How it’s used: A Japanese art of self-defense employing hand strikes and kicks to disable or subdue an opponent.
Example: Dean wanted to learn karate not only for self-defense, but also to get in shape.
16. Modus operandi - / ˌmō-dəs-ˌä-pə-ˈran-dē , -ˌdī /
From Latin meaning method of operating. “My modus operandi when studying is to set very specific goals.”
WORDS ADOPTED FROM THE FRENCH LANGUAGE
amourau gratin
avant-garde
beret
bistro
bonbon
bourbon
cadet
cadre
café
camaraderie
camouflage
carafe
cartel
champagne
chef
chiffon
cliché
clique
collage
commune
corsage
Crêpe
crevasse
critique
crochet
croutons
décor
enclave
entrée
foyer
fuselage
garage
lecture
levee
litre
mademoiselle
masseur
montage
motif
naiveté
parfait
parole
partisan
pastel
penchant
portage
purée
rapport
reprise
revue
ricochet
rouge
roulette
sabotage
saboteur
sauté
savant
suite
timbre
toupee
vignette
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