Minimal Pairs Game Reading Paragraphs

/v/

vs.

/f/

/p/

vs.

/b/

/v/

vs.

/b/

1a. Save

1b. Safe

1a. Pat

1b. Bat

1a. Very

1b. Berry

2a. Very

2b. Ferry

2a. Pot

2b. Bought

2a. Vase

2b. Base

3a. Vase

3b. Face

3a. Cap

3b. Cab

3a. Van

3b. Ban

4a. VIN

4b. Fin

4a. Perry

4b. Berry

4a. Vaux

4b. Box

5a. Grieve

5b. Grief 

5a. Pup

5a. Pub

5a. Live

5b. Lib

6a. Van

6b. Fan

6a. Lip

6b. Lib

7a. Vaux

7b. Fox

7a. Crap

7b. Crab

/ ð/ or / θ/ vs. / t /

/t/

vs.

/d/

/θ/

vs.

/d/

1a. That

1b. Tat

1a. Lit

1b. Lid

1a. Hath

1b. Had

2a. Thor

2b. Torn

2a. Mat

2b. Mad

2a. Both

2b. Bode

3a. Bath

3b. Bat

3a. Rot

3b. Rod

3a. Math

3b. Mad

4a. Thought

4b. Taught 4a. Late

4b. Laid

4a. Wrath

4b. Rad

5a. Teeth

5b. Teat

5a. Rite

5b. Ride

5a. Faith

5b. Fade

6a. Third

6b. Terd

6a. Wrote

6b. Rode

6a. Wreath

6b. Read

7a. Those

7b. Toes

7a. Set

7b. Said

7a. Cloth

7b. Clod

/ ʃ /

/g/

1a. Chip

1b. Ship

1a. Bag

1b. Back

1a. Joke

1b. Choke

2a. Batch

2b. Bash

2a. Goo

2b. Coo

2a. Jar

2b. Char

3a. Chore

3b. Shore

3a. Lag

3b. Lack

3a. Jip

3b. Chip

4a. Much

4b. Mush

4a. Glass

4b. Class

4a. Large

4b. Larch

5a. Choose

5b. Shoes

5a. Big

5b. Bick

5a. Oh Geez!

5b. Oh Cheese!

6a. Crutch

6b. Crush

6a. Gone

6b. Con

6a. Midge

6b. Mitch

7a. Chant

7b. Shan’t

7a. Rig

7b. Rick

7a. Jew

7b. Chew

/      ʃ    /

vs.

vs.

/k/

/ dʒ /

vs.

/      ʃ    /

/ i: /

vs.

/I/

/ eI /

vs.

/e/

/ Ʌ / vs.

/ a: /

1a. Sheep

1b. Ship

1a. Mase

1b. Mess

1a. Lust

1b. Loss

2a. Wheat

2b. Wit

2a. Main

2b. Men

2a. Nut

2b. Not

3a. Feet

3b. Fit

3a. Wane

3b. When 3a. Pup

3b. Pop

4a. Leap

4b. Lip

4a. Trade

4b. Tread 4a. Rut

4b. Rot

5a. Neat

5b. Knit

5a. Face

5b. Fess

5a. Cut

5b. Caught

6a. Seat

6b. Sit

6a. Paid

6b. Pet

6a. unto

6b. onto

7a. Wean

7b. Win

7a. Pain

7b. Pen

7a. Muck

7b. Mock

1a.

1a.

1a.

2a.

2a.

2a.

3a.

3a.

3a.

4a.

4a.

4a.

5a.

5a.

5a.

6a.

6a.

6a.

7a.

7a.

7a.

1a.

1a.

1a.

2a.

2a.

2a.

3a.

3a.

3a.

4a.

4a.

4a.

5a.

5a.

5a.

6a.

6a.

6a.

7a.

7a.

7a.

__________ to the wind after dark makes my heart ______ like drums from a social revolution. I try to sit in ________ and absorb the moment but I create my own __________ . I hear the sound of the wind whispering __________the trees. I hear my symphony that compliments the ___________leaves. To allow yourself  to completely ________ in the NOW is what we live for. At this _________ moment, I am the wind; I am the trees; I am the leaves_________ ; I am the whispering wind __________ down before dawn can break the __________sky. Often times, I __________where you are as I sit ________ this tree. Sometimes it gets so lonely beneath this______, but I am equally as strong and I will live like this oak: deeply _________ and waiting for a breeze to keep me _________. Listening to the wind after dark makes my heart beat like drums from a social revolution. I try to sit in silence and absorb the moment but I create my own symphony. I hear the sound of the wind whispering through the trees. I hear my symphony that compliments the trembling leaves. To allow yourself to completely melt in the NOW is what we live for. At this precise moment, I am the wind; I am the trees; I am the leaves trembling; I am the whispering wind winding down before dawn can break the speckled sky. Often times, I wonder where you are as I sit below this tree. Sometimes it gets so lonely beneath this oak, but I am equally as strong and I will live like this oak: deeply rooted and waiting for a breeze to keep me company

“Being so ________while the seasons pass, I sometimes forget about _______ animals who silently sit ________ me. Why me? I __________. What makes these ________ chose me to sit under? Ahhhh, here comes my favorite part of the day. ________ of spring air seem to always ________my worries away.__________, I pass them on to those ______________ souls that are trying to find ____________ in my shadow. Do they hear me __________ as the wind _________me? Do they hear at all? I have seen such a __________of individuals: crying, ___________, laughing, sleeping, meditating, ___________, touching me, hugging me, __________their names in me, painting me, caressing me, ___________in my death. I find it ________ interesting how my death fills their life with joy. Well,

here comes fall. I suppose it’ s time to ________ orange.” “Being so sturdy while the seasons pass, I sometimes forget about those animals who silently sit below me. Why me? I inquire. What makes these folks chose me to sit under? Ahhhh, here comes my favorite part of the day. Gusts of spring air seem to always wipe my worries away. Perhaps, I pass them on to those unfortunate souls that are trying to find solitude in my shadow. Do they hear me chuckle as the wind tickles me? Do they hear at all? I have seen such a myriad of individuals: crying, pondering, laughing, sleeping, meditating, sighing, touching me, hugging me, carving their names in me, painting me, caressing me, frolicking in my death. I find it quite interesting how my death fills their life with joy. Well, here comes

fall. I suppose it’s time to turn orange.”

Instructions on how to use the Minimal Pairs Worksheet. * Some of the words will have to be changed to reflect regional dialects. This worksheet is based on American pronunciation.

This exercise has been composed to address common pronunciation problems that my Spanish speaking students fall victim to. Throughout my 3 ½ years of teaching in Mexico and Peru, I have noticed some common pronunciation errors that majority of my students, ranging from basic to advanced, continuously say. I would like to explain how I go about presenting this worksheet and how to use the following paragraphs. 1) Start the class off brainstorming the most difficult aspects of the English language. In most classes, pronunciation seems to be the biggest obstacle 2) For each aspect, try to come up with a couple of ways to help your students confront this difficulty. ( Most students don’t have very good studying habits or methods, so this is a real help for them.) 3) Ask your students, “Why do you think that English is so dif ficult/has so many irregulars? Answer: Due to the mixture of many other languages: Germanic, Celtic, Latin, Greek, Polish and many more.

4) To exemplify further the difficulty of English pronunciation, I write on the board the following words: Cough, Rough, Through, Bough Off

Puff

New

Bow(the action of leaning forward to show respect)

I ask them to try and pronounce the first row of words followed by the second. Then after I pronounce the first row correctly and then pair them up with the second row, we all start talking about how confusing the English language can be. (-ough all with all different pronunciations) 6) First, isolate each sound that will be covered in the minimal pair wksht and work on its pronunciation. 7) Pair each sound up with its confusing counterpart. Preferably ones that a ren’t found in the wksht. eg. Those / Toes Vun / Fun (It’s ok to use words that aren’t actually words to create a minimal pair. The objective is not to build vocabulary but rather, to distinguish between confusing sounds.) 8) After a brief review and explanation of the articulation points and manner of articulation for each sound to be covered, pass out the wksht to each student. 9) Student A will start with the first box and RANDOMLY choose one of words in each pair. Student A can only say the word one time and must try and say it normally. Student A underlines the word that they chose.

10) Student B puts a dot next to the word that they hear and a dot with a circle if it was a guess. Student A finishes all the words in all the boxes in the same manner. Then, they switch.

11) Once they both have finished, they compare the words they said to the words their partner heard. 12) For each word that was heard correctly, the speaker receives one point. For each word that was guessed correctly, the speaker gets a half a point. Tally up the points at the end to see who has the most points. 13) If you would like to change this up a bit, after each box make your students chose a different partner. 14) Review answers and have a brief Q&A. I have left some blank spaces so you can add 6 more minimal pairs groups to the worksheet depending on the nature of your class. In addition, I used the IPA format so your students can learn some of the symbols to help them use their dictionary more proficiently.

Instructions on how to use the 2 paragraphs. 1) First make copies of each page and cut them into two, so you have the original paragraph on one piece of paper and the same paragraph with blanks on another. 2) Pair your students up and have Student A read to Student B. Student B must write the word s/he hears in the blank. 3) The first paragraph is from the perspective of a tree. The second is from the perspective of  someone sitting underneath the tree. You should see if the students can figure this out just from reading. 4) After they finish, review the answers and talk about any abstract concepts that were difficult to understand or confusing words, which there will be.

I wrote these paragraphs one day because I was tired of doing boring reading assignments that were putting my students to sleep and demotivating them. These always produce conversation and the students seem to be more involved in the reading. I hope this can help you and make teaching pronunciation more fun and not such an intimidating topic to tackle.

Cheers to all,

Gitane Jazz