Linking while speaking is probably something you never even thought about. But if you are a native English speaker, you do it. Can you explain it? Probably not, but it does come naturally to many of us. Some non-native English speakers speak a language that doesn’t inherently ‘link’ (like Chinese). How can you train yourself to do this, so that when you speak English it doesn’t sound choppy, or cut off? By taking this workshop!
Partner and AXIOM friend Lauren Supraner of CAL Learning (Cultural and Language Training) has a half day workshop that focuses on this topic.
Linking makes speech sound fluid and not choppy. With Lauren, you will learn to run words together by joining the last sound of the first word to the beginning of the next. You will practice linking within phrases, short paragraphs, and music lyrics. This workshop is beneficial to all non-native speakers, but is especially recommended for Chinese speakers, who do not have linking in their native tongue.
You will learn:
- How to apply consonant to vowel, consonant to consonant, and vowel to vowel linking.
- To apply correct linking at word and syllable juncture.
- To smoothly add prefixes and suffixes through linking.
- How linking affect rapid and conversational speech.
This is part of a 7-part series on accent reduction and pronunciation for non-native speakers. Each session is one topic that Lauren can really dive into. These classes for up to 15 participants are more intensive that a longer session that might include several accent reduction techniques.
They also function singularly, so you can chose to attend one, a few, or all sessions. You don’t need to take them in order and you will not miss anything if you choose to take only a small subset of workshops.
Please contact us if you have any interest in these workshops. We’re happy to set up a schedule that works for your group.
-L&D thoughts
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