Sunday, July 11, 2010

Don't Give Up!

How is this about accent reduction? Well, I believe that any time we have a goal, sometimes we will feel like giving up. I try to encourage all of my students to keep trying, to follow their dreams. It brings me much joy to see them succeed. Some are Hollywood actors trying to get a part in a movie, some are recently graduated MBA's going on their job interviews and others are people who are simply tired of always being asked to repeat themselves and what country they come from. I post these quotes by famous people to inspire you to keep going. Never let your dreams die! :)

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
-- Mark Twain

It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer. ~Albert Einstein


“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
-- Dale Carnegie

Don't be discouraged. It's often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock. ~Author Unknown

"Studies indicate that the one quality all successful people have is persistence."
-- Joyce Brothers (1928-) U.S. psychologist and talk show host

"All of us have bad luck and good luck. The man who persists through the bad luck - who keeps right on going - is the man who is there when the good luck comes - and is ready to receive it."
-- Robert Collier

"It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop."
-- Confucius

"Our greatest joy is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
-- Confucius (551-479 BC), (K'ung Fu-tse) Chinese philosopher "

"Decide carefully, exactly what you want in life, then work like mad to make sure you get it!"
-- Hector Crawford

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Most Common English Words

Below is a link to a list of the 100 most common English words. These 100 words make up about one half of all written material. Learn to pronounce them perfectly and your accent will sound much better!!

Here are some from the list that are very commonly mispronounced by non-native speakers:

1. the
2. of
3. were
4. water
5. some
6. look
7. could
8. other
9. from
10. this
11. these
12. word

Can you say the above words perfectly?
Click here for the whole list.