English Communication: The Clarity is Simple

All of life is relationship.  Love, compassion, helping, encouraging.  Hope, faith.

April 2, on his birthday, my beloved passed.

I, more than anyone, know which words were his.  Which ideas sprang from his fertile mind.  Where the science is that he was chief architect for.   Our evolution springs forth from all that.

Our mission is to help others communicate more clearly in English.  For what purpose?  So that those whom we help may live a more fulfilling life in relationship– wherever they are, whatever they do.  And so that they may, through their clear communication in English, help others.

One of my students once said:  It is all so simple — love.  It is all about love.

So shall we go forth.

Click here: www.cleartalkmastery.com/scheduler to sign up for a Free Sample Lesson with us!

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercise.

Rerun from 05/17/2017

Communication Skills

 According to a survey of faculty members at engineering schools:  Opinion of the faculty members was that 15% of an engineer’s future success depends on his or her engineering skills, while 85% depends upon communication skills.

Rerun from 05/22/2017

English Communication: The Clarity is Simple

All of life is relationship.  Love, compassion, helping, encouraging.  Hope, faith.

April 2, on his birthday, my beloved passed.

I, more than anyone, know which words were his.  Which ideas sprang from his fertile mind.  Where the science is that he was chief architect for.   Our evolution springs forth from all that.

Our mission is to help others communicate more clearly in English.  For what purpose?  So that those whom we help may live a more fulfilling life in relationship– wherever they are, whatever they do.  And so that they may, through their clear communication in English, help others.

One of my students once said:  It is all so simple — love.  It is all about love.

So shall we go forth.

Click here: www.cleartalkmastery.com/scheduler to sign up for a Free Sample Lesson with us!

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercise.

Rerun from 07/05/2017.  04/16/2014

English Speaking: The Grammar is in the Pronunciation, Part Two

Last time, I told you about how the grammar is in the pronunciation of “ed” for regular verbs for past tense and grammar “s” for subject and verb agreement.  You also got that the grammar is in the pronunciation of grammar “s” for plurals and possessive.

Grammar for English articles (“a,” “an,” and “the”) is also in the pronunciation.  You think articles are unnecessary and a waste of time?  No!  A punch of meaning goes with the use of the “indefinite” articles “a” and “an” or the “definite” article “the.”  People need to hear the important information that goes with “a” or “an”  versus “the.”

Case in point: when I was about 8 years old, my mother gave me money to go to the store to get “a pound of butter.”  I took the money and searched the dairy section for the cheapest pound of butter.  I got home and my mother was upset.  I got the wrong kind. She wanted “the” butter that we always used– the unsalted, more flavorful brand that she used when special company was coming for dinner.

If you slur through the pronunciation of the articles, then you are sending inaccurate information.  If you slur through or omit the articles, then people may think you are not well educated, because young, native-speaker elementary school children get the pronunciation and use of articles right all the time.

A lovely bonus to getting grammar accurate in your speech is that people who speak with accurate grammar will write with accurate grammar!  A pretty powerful bonus.  People who write with inaccurate grammar are often perceived as not being well-educated.   Think of yourself.  I’ll bet you are well educated.

Next time:  Grammar, pronunciation and prefixes and suffixes

Click here: www.cleartalkmastery.com/scheduler to sign up for a Free Sample Lesson with us!

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercise.

Rerun from April 2, 2014, May 3, 2017

English Speaking – Grammar, Pronunciation, And Magical Changes in Words

Once my genius linguist and priest pointed out that “grammar is in the pronunciation,” I starting seeing so, so many instances of this.

Some of my favorites are suffixes and prefixes.  Those are the little syllables that we put on the end of the word to change the word perhaps from a verb to a noun, or a verb to an adjective, or one kind of verb into another kind of verb.  A suffix is a syllable we put at the end of a word.  A prefix is a syllable we put at the beginning of a word.

Examples of suffixes:

“Paint” is a verb; “painter” is a noun.

“Judge” is a verb; “judgment” is a noun.

Put “-ly” at the end of a word, and it is now an adverb.  Love to lovely. High to highly.

Examples of prefixes which also change the meaning of the word:

“model” to “remodel”

“cycle” to “bicycle” to “tricycle”

Here is a take-home message:  If you slur through the pronunciation of prefixes and suffixes, you have slurred through other people understanding your word and the information you are giving them.

If you swallow or leave out prefixes and suffixes,  the listener simply does not get the meaning.

Bonus for you.  If you speak prefixes and suffixes accurately, you will also hear more readily when other people say them.

It is very important to hear spoken communication accurately.  It is a compliment when someone says “You are mature.”   It is NOT a compliment when someone says  “You are immature.”    For you to hear the word “immature” accurately, the talker has to emphasize the “im-” – the prefix—so that you hear it.

Yes, yes. You certainly want to hear the prefix of this word, “im-.”  If you are acting “immature,” you probably want to change your behavior to “mature.”  That’s a sign of character.

So, pronounce prefixes and suffixes clearly. And listen for them!

Click here: www.cleartalkmastery.com/scheduler to sign up for a Free Sample Lesson with us!

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercise.

Rerun from 05/10/2017, 04/09/14