CONCLUSION - SHORT VS LONG VOWEL SOUNDS (ENGLISH & SPANISH)

         As a conclusion, I can say that there are more vowels in English than in Spanish, for example: in English there are 11 vowels while in Spanish there are only 5 vowels.But the difference is that in  English  the 5 vowels (aeiou) are subdivided into each other  which  are called long and short vowels, an example about this is the vowel (a) this vowel has 3 different sounds). Otherwise in Spanish the vowels can not subdivide because the 5 vowels are own sounds but they can classify in open vowels (a, e, o) and close vowels (i, u).It is  similar like English vowels.Finally, English vowels have  more variants of sounds that Spanish because there are words that have different vowel sounds and people need to pronunce in a correct way in order to avoid misunderstood. for example :   bean  - bin    ......   pan   -  pincel .

CHAPTER FIVE - ENGLISH PLOSIVES

Well this chapter was the first that I learned about manner of articulation and the objective was identify the place of articulation for each plosive consonants.
Bilabial  = p (vl)     b (vd)
Alveolar = t (vl)     d  (vd)
Velar    =  k  (vl)      g  (vd)
Besides , I learned that each plosive consonant has initial, middle and final position.In conclusion, I enjoyed to much learning about this chapter because I could produce these sounds in a correct way.

More information about English plosives in these links.
http://tanvirdhaka.blogspot.com/2009/10/english-plosive-sounds.html
http://calleteach.wordpress.com/2010/01/10/sounds-of-english-plosives/
http://speech.bme.ogi.edu/tutordemos/SpectrogramReading/cse551html/cse551/node36.html
http://speech.bme.ogi.edu/tutordemos/SpectrogramReading/cse551html/cse551/node37.html

CHAPTER FOUR - DIPTHONGS & TRIPHTHONGSS

Actually this chapter liked me to much  because I didn't know how many diphthongs English language has or how to form  triphthongs.But, I learned the main part in order to understand diphthongs and triphthongs better.It consist in understand very well the short vowel positions because diphthongs divide in two groups    * centring = ending in ə (ɪə : beard, eə:  scarce,  ʊə : sure)

* closing = ending in ɪ  ( eɪ : paid, aɪ:  time, ɔɪ:  loin)   and  ʊ (əʊ: load, aʊ: loud). Triphthongs are formed with the closing diphthongs plus ə .It means that there are 5 triphthongs (eɪə=layer, aɪə =  fire, ɔɪə = loyal, əuə = lower, auə =  hour).In conclusión, diphthongs depend on the vowel end because centring diphthongs glide towards the ə and the closing diphthongs all end with a glide towards a closer vowel.It means that the second vowel is weak.

These links can help you to understand about this chapter better.

http://www.paulmeier.com/ipa/diphthongs.html

http://colasula.com/?p=530

CHAPTER THREE - LONG VOWELS

        

         A long vowel sound is the same as its name plus a length mark made of two dots                  ( : ).Actually there are some differences between long and short vowels such as : short vowels have 6 vowels and long vowels have only 5,Another is that long vowels  has quality sounds through length mark because a single vowel letter is in the end of a word (or syllable), it usually says its long sound (or its name), as in go and be. When two vowels go hand in hand in the same word (or syllable), the first vowel is usually long, and the second vowel is usually silent. e.g., bake makes the /ay/ sound (long a) and the e is silent;In conlusion, I learned that English vowel sounds varies according their context , the presence or absence of stress and  the tongue shape with the   lip position.

Links: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VJBfJPxxMw

http://www.phonicsontheweb.com/long-vowels.php

CHAPTER TWO - THE PRODUCTION OF SPEECH SOUNDS

         After seeing this video about the production of speech  sounds which are places of articulation and organs .

I learned the importance about them in order to produce the vowels and consonants sounds  because Vowels are sounds formed in the throat with the assistance of the tongue and mouth.It means that  vowels can be spoken alone.While consonants are formed by controlling the breath flow and shape of the mouth and tongue. It means that consonants cannot be spoken alone.Example :  a, bee, see, dee, e, ef, gee, ach. In conclusion,The difference between vowels and consonants is based on physiological: airflow ,acoustic: prominence and phonological: syllabicity.

Links about vowels' clasification

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxySKWXAjA8&feature=related
http://readingwithcolor.com/files/vowelcons.htm
http://clas.mq.edu.au/phonetics/phonetics/consonants/consonant_vs_vowel.html

CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION

Well, I want to start these reflections talking about the book "English Phonetics and Phonology" written by Peter Roach because it is a practical  course to learn English pronunciation.Where I could find clear explanations ,definitions and exercises used in Phonology. Pronunciation, dialects  and the accent are aspects very important in order to learn English language.For example, the BBC pronunciation is accepted as the official accent to speak English because its pronunciation in terms of phonemes , alphabet letters  and special symbols in order to  represent speech sounds were stablished in the chart of IPA. In conclusión, in this first chapter I learned definitions about dialects, accents and why there are different accents and dialects between American and British English.

Links about accents and dialects.

http://www.rachelsenglish.com/

http://www.anenglishaccent.com/

http://www.anenglishaccent.com/accents.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtXcrElq5jM&feature=related