ODPCE is now RDPCE

In 2001 Oxford University Press published the Oxford Dictionary of Pronunciation for Current English at the fairly decent price  of less than £ 20.00. After more than a decade a second edition has become available, which is now sold by Routledge. The hardback edition costs £ 180.00 - a price that really puts me off. There's no paperback edition available, just an e-book at almost £ 36.00 to be consulted either online or offline. Offering dictionaries online seems to be an increasing trend - like it or not.

Pronunciation exercises for EAL students - no. 9

This blog is about word-final /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ and pre-fortis clipping.

1. I have a batch of documents here for you to sign.
2. We are delighted to have the first batch of products.
3. I was handed a badge with my name on it.
4. I see this as a badge of honour.
5. The eighth letter of the alphabet is the aitch.
6. In the word heir you drop the aitch.
7. She's 23 years of age.
8. Hyacinth is the same age as me.
9. The bird balanced on a branch of a larch.
10. The larch is a popular tree species.
11. The sums of money he had lost were large.
12. Charities, by and large, do not pay tax.
13. The police did not ban the march.
14. She started work last March.
15. In informal spoken British English margerine is often pronounced marge.
16. Marjorie and Margaret are often shortened to Marge.
17. The Nile perch is an edible fish.
18. A high place where you can watch things is called a perch.
19. Were there any plans to purge ethnic minorities?
20. You should purge your hard disks before you leave the company.
21. She was obviously stinking rich.
22. The houses in this street belong to the rich and famous.
23. The sun disappeared behind the ridge.
24. It was just a small ridge of sand.
25. Do an online search on ‘rabbit’ and see what it brings up.
26. It was too dark to search further.
27. Last year there was a surge in our profits.
28. Adrenalin will surge through your veins.

Pronunciation exercises for EAL students - no. 8

'Uckly' sounds ugly

Some of my phonetics students tend to replace the consonant sequences /-gl-/, /-gn-/ and /-gr-/ by their partners /-kl-/, /-kn-/ and /-kr-/.

1. He thinks he's ugly but he's not.
2. They live in an ugly block of flats.
3. Jealousy is an ugly emotion.
4. It's a really ugly picture of me.
5. Indoctrination is such an ugly word.
6. The couple are in an ugly fight over who will get the children.
7. An igloo is a house made from blocks of hard snow or ice.
8. The house is shaped like a gigantic igloo.
9. The Inuit word 'igloo' means house.
10. The evening sky was still aglow.
11. Her face was aglow with happiness.
12. The title of Tracey Peterson's book is Hearts Aglow. 
13. This chemical will agglutinate the cancer cells.
14. The virus has lost the ability to agglutinate blood cells. 
15. When powders are added to liquids, they tend to agglomerate.
16. After contact, the wetted particles agglomerate rapidly
17. The candle ignited the plastic. 
18. These were the events that ignited the war in Europe.
19. The compound ignites at 450 degrees Celsius.
20. You can’t ignore the fact that many criminals never go to prison.
21. Paul left his key in the ignition again.
22. This is the most likely source of ignition.
23. The phone rang but they ignored it.
24. John rudely ignored the question.
25. Just ignore him and he'll stop pestering you.
26. The waiter totally ignored Glen. 
27. He was derided as an unschooled ignoramus.
28. I don't believe in God - I am an agnostic. 
29. Dreaming is a highly complex cognitive activity.
30. This substance is said to enhance cognitive functions.

Newspaper article headline

The renowned German daily FAZ published an article on business English on November 4th this year bearing this headline: