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ESL bOOK WITH AUDIO CDS

The ACE Program will help you to identify your specific pronunciation differences and set achievable goals. ACE Second Edition offers over 100 listening and speaking exercises to help you improve the clarity of your spoken English. Learn how to pronounce 20 consonants, 18 vowels and how to successfully use common stress and intonation patterns of Canadian English. Below you will find a sample of listening and speaking exercises to give you a better idea of how well ACE can work for you.

Click on the links below to view a sample exercise from each audio cd.
   

   

   

   









Audio sample from CD 1:





Structures: tongue tip between the top and bottom teeth
Air Flow: continuous
Voicing: voiceless

Place your tongue tip between your top and bottom teeth. Blow air in a continuous flow down the centre of the tongue and between the teeth. Do not vibrate the vocal cords.

Please note that the * examples are NOT recorded


thumbsome
thinksink
themeseam
*thingsing
*thawsaw
themeteam
thorntorn
thumbsTums™
*thoughttaught
*threetree


    1. thank
    2. think
    3. theatre
    4. theory
    5. thought
    6. thief
    7. thumb
    8. thousand
    9. thunder
    10. thing
    11. *thaw
 12. *thermos
13. *thigh
14. *thirty
15. *thirteen
16. *three
17. *thirsty
18. *thick
19. *theme
20. *Thursday
21. *thirty-three


    1. I said thank-you to my sister.
    2. Do you think that we should go to the theatre tonight?
    3. Darwin had many theories about evolution.
    4. Ian thought he would go to the Christmas party.
    5. The thief stole all of our belongings.
    6. *He hammered his thumb.
    7. *It is now the year two thousand (Y2K).
    8. *Did you hear the thunder in last night’s storm?
    9. *Could you thaw out three thick steaks for supper?
    10. *I get very thirsty when it’s thirty degrees.



       th            thick












Audio sample from CD 2:



Structures: sides of tongue and upper teeth; middle of tongue toward palate
Air Flow: continuous
Voicing: voiced

Raise the middle of the tongue toward the palate. Sides of the tongue are pressed against the upper teeth. The tongue tip is either pointed downward or raised to almost contact the alveolar ridge. Vibrate the vocal cords as the breath stream flows over the top of the tongue.

Please note that the * examples are NOT recorded


redwed
ringwing
richwitch
*rainWayne
*rigwig
Ricklick
rootloot
racelace
* ricelice
* redled
red same words
with “rolled”
pronunciation
race
reach
*write
*road


    1. reach
    2. rain
    3. radish
    4. wreck
    5. rhinoceros
    6. ruin
    7. run
    8. race
    9. report
    10. wrench
    11. red
 12. wrist
13. *ravioli
14. *retrieve
15. *road
16. *Red Deer
17. *rose
18. *rent
19. *retire
20. *remove
21. *retroactive


    1. Randy wrote an excellent report on the environment.
    2. Could you retrieve the records from the basement?
    3. There was a major car wreck on Range Road.
    4. The rhinoceros roamed beside the river.
    5. Have you seen my red wrench anywhere?
    6. *Roberto makes the best ravioli.
    7. *Can you reach my raincoat?
    8. *Rhonda reached the finish line first and won the race.
    9. *Does it ever rain in Red Deer?
    10. *My roommate grows radishes in the garden.



       r            road
       wr         write












Audio sample from CD 3:





Mouth shape: mouth is slightly open
Tongue height: high
Tongue position: front
Tension: lax



bitbeet
hipheap
hillheal
richreach
binbean
pickpeck
tinten
Dickdeck
winwhen
missmess


    1. kiss
    2. thick
    3. fish
    4. simple
    5. miss
    6. figure
    7. stitch
    8. lift
    9. kitchen
    10. pretty
    11. finish
    12. rich
 13. ticket
14. river
15. shiver
16. dismiss
17. list
18. dish
19. risk
20. sick
21. implosion
22. blister
23. spring
24. Mister (Mr.)


    1. He slid down the bank into the river.
    2. The problem was simple to figure out.
    3. Mickey Mouse lives in Disneyland.
    4. I lost my ticket in the thick brush.
    5. The pretty girl gave him a kiss.
    6. Did I miss a stitch on the quilt?
    7. If you’re shivering, do up the zipper on your coat.
    8. Let’s go for a swim in the river.
    9. Did you switch the fish that we caught?
    10. Kim tied a ribbon in her hair.


       i             miss
       e            pretty
       y            gym
       u*y        busy
       ie           sieve

    * Consonant sound










Audio sample from CD 4:



Here are a group of words that have two possible stress patterns depending on whether they are used as a noun or a verb. Listen carefully to the stress patterns on the CD. Can you hear the difference? Notice that the nouns tend to have stress on the first syllable and that the verbs tend to have stress on the second or last syllable.

NOUN
VERB
permit
I bought a park permit for ten dollars.
permit
Will you permit me to enter the enclosure?

object
The object is precious to us.
object
Do you object to his decision?

content
What are the contents of the locker?
content
I am content to stay at home tonight.

rebel
The rebel had an important cause.
rebel
I will rebel against the oppressive regime.

progress
What kind of progress can I expect?
progress
The assistance helped Dan to progress quickly.

contest
Sara entered the poster contest.
contest
I think he should contest his father’s will.

present
She will love that present.
present
He will present his business plan to us.

address
What is your current address?

address
Please address me as Mr. Roberts.

desert
The Sahara desert is vast.
desert
Jerry plans to desert the army.

insult
What he said is an insult to me.
insult
Do not insult my intelligence.

contrast
The color contrast is beautiful.
contrast
Should I contrast red and green in this picture?

entrance
The entrance to the theatre was blocked.
entrance
We were entranced by the performance.