Difficult Sounds Same or Different PairworkStudent A Rules of the Game You have to decide with your partner if the pronunciations of the word you have and the word they have are the same of different. Note that different words that have the same pronunciation count as the same. You can read out the individual words and/ or the whole sentences You cannot spell the words out You cannot translate the words You can pronounce the words slowly and carefully You can explain words that have similar pronunciation if you know them
Useful languageV for violin/ B for birthday You have to put your lips together It’s a long sound You don’t use your voice box You have to touch your teeth with your tongue Your mouth should be more open/ round | If I won the lottery, I would / / give most of the money to charity. I have taken a long-distance overnight bus / /, but I would never take one again If I don’t know the way / / to do something, I always ask my boss how to do it
If I was offered a job with lots of travel / /, for example an air steward or
When I next have a holiday, the first / / thing I’ll do is sleep a long time Do you think any of the sentences above are true for your partner? Tell them which sentences and check. Difficult Sounds Same or Different Pairwork Student B Rules of the Game You have to decide with your partner if the pronunciations of the word you have and the word they have are the same of different. Note that different words that have the same pronunciation count as the same. You can read out the individual words and/ or the whole sentences You cannot spell the words out
You cannot translate the words You can pronounce the words slowly and carefully You can explain words that have similar pronunciation if you know them Useful languageV for violin/ B for birthday You have to put your lips together It’s a long sound You don’t use your voice box You have to touch your teeth with your tongue Your mouth should be more open/ round | If I buy some flooring for my house, I want it to be made of wood / / If I can choose between a bath / / and a shower, I always have a shower
If I didn’t weigh / / myself everyday I would get fatter When I get in trouble / / I always speak to my mother about it before anyone else If I lived on a main road / /, I wouldn’t be able to sleep because of the noise If I have a hole / / in my clothes, I just throw it away and buy something new If I had a cordless / / home phone I would lose it around the house all the time I always use both sides of a sheet / / of paper because it’s good for the environment.
Before I buy new furniture, I always measure / / the room carefully. If I had learnt how to type faster / / at school, I would’ ve done better at university. Do you think any of the sentences above are true for your partner? Tell them which sentences and check. Difficult Sounds Same or Different Pairwork Read the words below and decide if their pronunciation is the same or different. Made/ maid / / / / Food/ hood / / / /
Right/ write / / / / Sauce/ source / / / / Fur/ far / / / / Double/ W / / / / Weight/ wait / / / / Be/ bee/ B / / / / Fund/ found / / / / There/ their/ they’re / / / /
Lawn/ loan / / / / To/ two/ too / / / / Low/ law / / / / Knew/ new / / / / We’ll/ well / / / / Flour/ flower / / / / C/ she / / / / Know/ no / / / /
Eye/ I / / / / Quota/ quarter / / / / Eight/ ate / / / / Fare/ fair / / / / Sent/ cent / / / / For/ four / / / / By/ buy / / / /
Meet/ meat / / / / Brake/ break / / / / Sweet/ suite / / / / Tyre/ tire / / / / Bunker/ banker / / / / Check your answers with a dictionary and write the phonemic symbols in the space given for each word (either the whole word, just the difficult sounds or just the sounds that are different) 15 top fun pronunciation games1.
Shadow readingStudents try to speak at exactly the same speed and rhythm as the CD, then try one more time with the sound turned down in the middle of the recording to see if they are still in time when the sound is turned back up. 2. Syllables snapStudents take turns turning over cards with [… ] Alex Case 1. Shadow readingStudents try to speak at exactly the same speed and rhythm as the CD, then try one more time with the sound turned down in the middle of the recording to see if they are still in time when the sound is turned back up. 2. Syllables snapStudents take turns turning over cards with words written on them from their packs.
If the two words have the same number of syllables, the first person to say “Snap” and/ or slap their hands down on the cards wins all the cards that have been turned over so far. The person with most cards at the end of the game is the winner. This also works with vowel sounds in one syllable words and word stress. 3. Word stress pellmanismPellmanism (= pairs/ memory game) can be played with the same cards as Snap, but is a slower game. All the cards are spread face down on the table and students take turns trying to find matching pairs of cards by which syllable is stressed.
This is easier if all of the words have the same number of syllables. This game can also be played with students matching by vowel sounds or number of syllables. 4. The yes?! gameStudents try to give as many different feelings and meanings to one word or sentence as they can by varying the stress and intonation. The other students guess what feeling they were trying to convey. 5. Yes. Yes! YES! Similar to The Yes?! Game, students compete to say a word or sentence in the most extreme way they can, e. g. they take turns being as angry as possible and the angriest person wins. . Sounds brainstorming board raceTeams of students try to write as many words with the sound they have been given on the board as quickly as possible. Each team member can only write one word before they pass the pen onto someone else, but they can prompt each other. This also works for number of syllables and word stress. 7. Minimal pairs stationsStudents show which of two words they think they have heard by racing to touch one of the things that the teacher or class decided will be used to represent that thing, e. g. the table for /l/ or the chair for /r/.
More active classes can run and touch things like the door and the window, while shyer classes can just raise their right and left hands. 8. Sounds same or differentIn this variation on Minimal Pairs Stations, rather than indicating which sound they hear, students indicate if they think two words you say have the same or different pronunciation. This is good for homophones as well as minimal pairs. The easiest way to explain the task is to give students pieces of paper with “Same” and “Different” written on for them to hold up or race to slap. 9.
Sounds same or different pairworkYou can add lots more speaking practice, both controlled pron practice and free conversation, to Sounds Same or Different by giving students worksheets with the words you want them to compare highlighted on Student A and Student B sheets. First they read out just the word to decide if the pron is the same or not, then they read out their different sentences to see if the context gives them any more clues. When they have finished, they can spell the words out to each other and then look at each other’s sheets. 10.
Tell me when I’m oddIn this variation of Sounds Same or Different, students listen to a whole string of words with the same sound (e. g. the same vowel sound) and race to indicate the first word they hear that is different. 11. Silently mouthingStudents try to identify the word or sentence that the teacher or a student is mouthing silently. This is good for awareness of mouth position for English sounds. 12. Sounds puzzleYou can get the logical parts of their brain working during pronunciation practice by hiding the sounds that make up a word that is the answer to the puzzle.
Students find the sounds in common in each pair of words, put all the sounds together (mixed up or in order) and write the word they make. 13. Pronunciation mazeThis game also allows them to use a little bit of logical problem solving to help with a pronunciation task. In a grid, write a string of words with a common sound, e. g. the same vowel sound, between the top left corner and the bottom right corner. In all the other squares, write in words that people might think have the same sound but don’t. Students then have to get from the starting point to the end by the right route.
After they have finished, drill the words on the right route, and then all the surrounding ones with different sounds. 14. Common pron picturesStudents draw lines between the pairs of words that share the same sound on their sheet, and see what kind of picture is made by those lines. This can take a lot of preparation, but is easier if you just have the thing they draw as a letter of the alphabet, usually an upper case one as there are more straight lines. 15. No sounds listening comprehensionStudents try to identify which sentence in a dialogue the teacher or a student has chosen without them using any English sounds.
This can be done by waving your arms around to show sentence stress or intonation, or beating out the rhythm on the sentence on the table or your palm. OTHER IDEA : a minimal pairs bingo. I made a list of minimal pairs that the group has trouble with (tree/three, light/right, ship/sheep) and made a set of bingo cards with them. To make it go faster, the squares are only 4? 4, but not every word is on every card! For the first round, I read the words. Once someone gets a bingo, I check their answers, and then they get to be the caller.
