Moulay Ismail University English Department

Faculty of Arts and Humanities

Meknes Groups: 3 & 10

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Spoken English
Exercises

First semester

Prof. Abdelghani Chaker

2020/2021
 speech sounds
A. How many sounds do these words contain? (Focus on pronunciation)

1. green ………... 4. knee…….. 7. thirty……. 10. once….........

2. address……... 5. all…….….. 8. next…..… 11. improve…….
3. thing….………. 6. coffee…… 9. hot………. 12. camera……...

B. Fill in the charts with the appropriate words from the lists

• /ʃ/and /tʃ/
watch - sure - nation - teacher - beach - wash - machine - change - addition - chilly - dish
/ʃ/ /tʃ/

• /ʒ/ and /dʒ/

usually - large - confusion - injury - soldier - jet - measure - just - damage - visual - gentle
/ʒ/ /dʒ/

• /θ/ and /ð/

there - three - soothe - whether - breath - though - nothing - then - thriller - threaten - the
/θ/ /ð/

• /n/and /ŋ/
nice - sting - pink - mint - reading - language - machine - change - single - ink - penny - angle
/n/ /ŋ/

C. Find the IPA symbols of the underlined letters

1. being…….. 4. yacht……….… 7. cough……….… 10. queue………..… 13. xerox...... …..
2. gender…… 5. mushroom…… 8. both………..... 11. conclusion……… 14. cancel…. …..
3. chief…….… 6. character...…… 9. uvula……….... 12. smoking………... 15. laws……..

D. Underline the silent letters in these words

1. comb 5. taught 9. autumn 13. doubt
2. guest 6. kneel 10. castle 14. cupboard
3. calf 7. whistle 11. scene 15. pseudonym
4. wrist 8. sign 12. salmon 16. two
 E. Transcribe the vowels in these words
1. map……..… 4. deep……… 7. book……... 10.start…….…
2. health……. 5. dirt………... 8. at………….. 11.north……..
3. dog……..... 6. build…….… 9. other…..… 12.goose……..

F. Put the following words into the correct columns in the charts below
▪ pull, trust, cash, kick, dog, test, company, bag, quick, fashion, watch, fence, grill, bush,
thorough, value, pleasure, shift, ready, shop, wrong, mother, ran, look, send, hunt,
add, wander, bug, wood, butcher, problem, leisure, hit

ɪ ʊ e ʌ æ ɒ

▪ Tuesday, jaw, curse, dream, calm, park, clue, cheek, term, spoon, grief, walk, father,
suit, Chinese, horse, thirsty, last, evening, church, door, food, dark, earth, brought,
quarter, threw, car, worth, beast

iː uː ɜː ɔː ɑː

▪ tone, rear, shy, clear, curious, gold, crime, boil, weird, brown, affair, fierce, moan,
avoid, rope, fail, maid, brain, bone, vital, same, out, where, soil, note, rain, hear, owl

eɪ aɪ ɔɪ əʊ aʊ ɪə eə ʊə

G. Underline the schwa /ə/ sound in the following sentences

1. We went to the theatre yesterday.
2. Can you open the soda bottle for me?
3. Our teacher speaks Russian and German
4. Susan is famous for her Christmas cake.
H. Circle the words that contain the /ɜː/ sound
thursday - warm - does - skirt - short - Tuesday - service - ear - birthday -
turn - cut - were - ball - law - early - blood - homework - party - worm
I. Find some words that rhyme with the ones given
1. red / bed 4. date / w_ _ _ 7. not / w_ _ _
2. key / tr_ _ 5. so / sh_ _ 8. beer / n_ _ _
3. blue / sh_ _ 6. lie / w_ _ 9. meet / s_ _ _

J. Complete the transcriptions with the appropriate diphthongs:

1. make /m__k/ 6. brain / br _ _n /

2. bear / b _ _ (r) / 7. island / _ _ lənd /
3. employ / ɪmpl _ _ / 8. Hear / h _ _ (r) /
4. fear / f _ _ (r) / 9. home / h _ _ m /
5. sight /s__t/ 10. coin /k__n/

K. Which triphthongs are used in the pronunciation of these words?

/aɪə/ - /aʊə/ - /əʊə/ - /eɪə/ - /ɔɪə/
1. player……….… 4. liar………….... 7. coward…………

2. trial……….….… 5. loyal…………. 8. lawyer……….…

3. royal………….… 6. mire……........ 9. lower………....

L. Circle the odd one out

1. theme, time, tone, text 6. horse, habit, heir, happy
2. sad, now, mash, pan 7. short, sort, caught, shark
3. break, weight, great, heat 8. fifth, author, either, path
4. sour, toy, road, tear 9. dough, tough, rough, laugh
5. snow, load, found, row 10. exam, excuse, extra, excite
 TRANSCRIPTION

A. Circle the word that the transcription represents; then,

transcribe the other one

1. /bɔːn/ burn………………………..….… born ……………………………..…..…

2. /sɪŋ/ sing………….…………..……… sin ………………..……..………………
3./fiːlɪŋz/ fillings……………………..….… feelings……………………….….….…
4. /vaɪn/ vine……………………..…….… wine……………………..…………..…
5. /fɜːst/ first………………………..….… fast….……………………….….….……
6. /fʌn/ fan..……………………..……… fun..……………………..…………..….
7. /wɜːd/ word……………………..…..… worried…………………………………
8. /fəget/ forget……………………..…… forged……………………………..……
9. /aɪs/ eyes……………………..……… ice……………………..…………….…..
10. /huːz/ whose……………………..…… house ……………………………..……

B. Which words represent the following transcriptions?

1. / θɪŋ/ __________ /θɪn/ __________ /θɪŋk/ __________

2. /hel/ __________ /held/ __________ /hi:l/ __________
3. /peɪn/ __________ /peɪnt/ __________ /peɪnts/ __________
4. /nek/ __________ /nest/ __________ /nekst/ __________
5. /tæn/ __________ /tʌn/ __________ /ten/ __________

C. Transcribe the words below

1. cough………………….….. 6. path………………………… 11. hotel……………………….

2. thirst..…………………..... 7. curly………………..…….. 12. nation……………….……
3. pineapples………………. 8. blood……………..………. 13. pot………………………….
4. potato……………………… 9. clear……..……………….. 14. cupboard……………….
5. debt………..……………… 10. needed…………………… 15. truth………………………
D. Find the transcribed sentences

1. lʊk æt ðɪs naɪs pɪktʃə(r) hɪə(r)………………………………………………………….…….…………………..…..

2. ðə pændə nɪə(r) ðə triː ɪz ðɪ əʊnli wʌn ɪn ðə zuː…………………..…………………………….…....…….
3. ɒrɪndʒ ɪz maɪ feɪvərɪt kʌlə(r)………………………………………………..…………………………..………..…..
4. aʊə(r) tiːʧə(r) hæz givn ʌs ən eksəsaɪz tə duː æt həʊm………………………………….……………....
5. kæn aɪ liːv maɪ lʌgɪʤ æt ðə rɪsepʃn?………………………………..………………………………………………
6. ðə frenʧ rʌnə(r) krɒst ðə laɪn bɪfɔː(r) ðɪ ʌðəz.…………………………………………………………………..
7. ðɪ ɪŋglɪʃ drɪŋk ə lɒt ɒv bɪə(r)……………………………………………………………………………..……………..
8. ðeɪ stɒpt sməʊkɪŋ bɪkɒz ðeɪ wɜː(r) verɪ ɪl…………………………………………………..…..…..…………..

E. Transcribe the following sentences using the IPA symbols

1. She’s bought a new smart phone online.……………………………………….…………………………………

2. When did your sister graduate from university? ……………..……………………………………………..
3. Rugby is a dangerous sport, but I like it……………………………………………………………………………
4. We can’t go now because we are busy……………………………………………………………………………..
5. Eating couscous on Friday is a deeply-rooted tradition in Morocco……………..………………….
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………..

F. Transcribe the following paragraph

After having got my high school degree, I decided to study English at the university. The
choice was actually due to a number of reasons. First, I’m fond of the language. Second,
With English, I can communicate with people from different nationalities. In addition,
being able to speak and write the language perfectly well may enable me to have a good
job in an international company.

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Moulay Ismail University Prof. A. Chaker

G. Find the appropriate words to complete the following minimal pairs.

Then, transcribe them and underline the phonemes.

• Example: cup / cap → /kʌp/ - /kæp/ (/ʌ/and /æ/ are phonemes in English)

1. she / ………….. 6. game /…………..... 11. seek /………………

2. boat /…………. 7. very /……………... 12. shop /………………
3. wet /…………... 8. chin /……………... 13. melt /………………
4. while /………… 9. back /……………… 14. alive /………………
5. win /…………... 10. three /………….... 15. born /…………........