About this course: In this course, you’ll practice the sounds of American English that might sometimes be confusing. You'll practice both consonant and vowel sounds. You’ll also learn about the things that give English its special “music,” such as how to stress the right syllable in a word, how to make your voice go up and down in a natural-sounding melody, and how to naturally connect sounds and words. Learning these things will help you speak more clearly and make sure that others can understand what you're saying. This course is useful for English language learners who want to improve pronunciation of American English for better communication. Note that access to all of the lectures and handouts are free to anyone, but the graded assignments and quizzes are only available in the paid version of the course. You will need to submit recordings of your own pronunciation for graded assignments.

Created by: University of California, Irvine

Taught by: Tamy Chapman, Instructor, International Programs
University of California Irvine Division of Continuing Education
Taught by: Marla Yoshida, Academic Coordinator
International Programs

Level	Beginner
Commitment	3-4 hours per week for 4 weeks
Language	English
Hardware Req	You will need to be able to make .mp3 recordings of your pronunciation.
How To Pass	Pass all graded assignments to complete the course.
User Ratings	4.5 stars Average User Rating 4.5See what learners said

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Welcome

In this course, you will learn about the consonant and vowel sounds of American English and practice some of the difficult sounds. You will also learn about and practice intonation and stress. Practicing these things will help you improve your pronunciation an...

2 videos

Tricky Consonant Sounds

In this first week, you will practice the consonant sounds of American English. Consonants are the sounds where the air coming up from your lungs meets some obstacles on the way. The first sounds in the words time, sand, and moon are consonants. After a quick ...

9 videos, 8 readings, 3 practice quizzes

Graded: Assignment 1

Graded: Graded Quiz

WEEK 2

Tricky Vowel Sounds

This week, you’ll practice some tricky vowel sounds in American English. Vowels are sounds that come out of your mouth very smoothly, like the first sounds in apple, ocean, and out. Vowel sounds are very important for being understood in English. They’re the “...

9 videos, 7 readings, 3 practice quizzes

Graded: Assignment 2

Graded: Graded Quiz

WEEK 3

The Music of American English Pronunciation

This week, you’ll learn about some things that give English its special rhythm and melody. You’ll learn about syllables—the small chunks of sound that make up the “beats” in words—and word stress—the way some parts of words are emphasized more than others. You...

11 videos, 8 readings, 3 practice quizzes

Graded: Assignment 3

Graded: Graded Quiz

WEEK 4

Other Tricky Things

In this final week of the course, you'll look at a few more tricky points in American English pronunciation. First, you’ll learn about the different ways to pronounce the –s and –ed word endings, which have important grammatical meanings, and you’ll learn when...

8 videos, 8 readings, 3 practice quizzes

Graded: Assignment 4

Graded: Graded Quiz

FAQs

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University of California, Irvine

Since 1965, the University of California, Irvine has combined the strengths of a major research university with the bounty of an incomparable Southern California location. UCI’s unyielding commitment to rigorous academics, cutting-edge research, and leadership and character development makes the campus a driving force for innovation and discovery that serves our local, national and global communities in many ways.

Pricing

	Audit	Purchase Course
Access to course materials	Available	Available
Access to graded materials	Not available	Available
Receive a final grade	Not available	Available
Earn a shareable Course Certificate	Not available	Available

Ratings and Reviews

Rated 4.5 out of 5 of 49 ratings

Specially last 2 weeks are awesome for advanced users.

Great and very helpful!

很有帮助

This couse has discovered for me really English pronunciation. Thanks a lot!

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Tricky American English Pronunciation

Tricky American English Pronunciation

Tricky American English Pronunciation