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The sounds of English

Vowels

Front vowels | Central vowels | Back vowels

English has twelve vowel sounds. In the table above they are divided into seven short and five long vowels. An alternative way of organizing them is according to where (in the mouth) they are produced. This method allows us to describe them as front, central andback. We can qualify them further by how high the tongue and lower jaw are when we make these vowel sounds, and by whether our lips are rounded or spread, and finally by whether they are short or long. This scheme shows the following arrangement:

Front vowels

• /i:/ - cream, seen (long high front spread vowel)
• /ɪ/ - bit, silly (short high front spread vowel)
• /ɛ/ - bet, head (short mid front spread vowel); this may also be shown by the symbol /e/
• /æ/ - cat, dad (short low front spread vowel); this may also be shown by /a/

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Central vowels

• /ɜ:/- burn, firm (long mid central spread vowel); this may also be shown by the symbol /ə:/.
• /ə/ - about, clever (short mid central spread vowel); this is sometimes known asschwa, or the neutral vowel sound - it never occurs in a stressed position.
• /ʌ/ - cut, nut (short low front spread vowel); this vowel is quite uncommon among speakers in the Midlands and further north in Britain.

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Back vowels

• /u:/ - boob, glue (long high back rounded vowel)
• /ʊ/ - put, soot (short high back rounded vowel); also shown by /u/
• /ɔ:/ - corn, faun (long mid back rounded vowel) also shown by /o:/
• /ɒ/- dog, rotten (short low back rounded vowel) also shown by /o/
• /ɑ:/ - hard, far (long low back spread vowel)

We can also arrange the vowels in a table or even depict them against a cross-section of the human mouth. Here is an example of a simple table:

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	Front	Central	Back
High	ɪ    i:		ʊ    u:
Mid	ɛ	ə    ɜ:	ɔ:
Low	æ	ʌ	ɒ    ɑ:

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Diphthongs

Diphthongs are sounds that begin as one vowel and end as another, while gliding between them. For this reason they are sometimes described as glide vowels. How many are there? Almost every modern authority says eight - but they do not all list the same eight (check this for yourself). Simeon Potter, in Our Language (Potter, S, [1950] Chapter VI, Sounds and Spelling, London, Penguin) says there are nine - and lists those I have shown in the table above, all of which I have found in the modern reference works. The one most usually omitted is /ɔə/ as in bored. Many speakers do not use this diphthong, but use the same vowel in poured as in fraud - but it is alive and well in the north of Britain.

Potter notes that all English diphthongs are falling - that is the first element is stressed more than the second. Other languages have rising diphthongs, where the second element is stressed, as in Italian “uomo” (man) and “uovo” (egg).

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Consonants

Voicing | Articulation described by region | Articulation described by manner

Some authorities claim one or two fewer consonants than I have shown above, regarding those with double symbols (/tʃ/ and /dʒ/) as “diphthong consonants” in Potter's phrase. The list omits one sound that is not strictly a consonant but works like one. The full IPA list of phonetic symbols includes some for non-pulmonic consonants (not made with air coming from the lungs), click and glottal sounds. In some varieties of English, especially in the south of Britain (but the sound has migrated north) we find the glottal plosive or glottal stop, shown by the symbol /ʔ/ (essentially a question mark without the dot at the tail). This sound occurs in place of /t/ for some speakers - so /botəl/ or /botl/ (bottle) become/boʔəl/ or /boʔl/.

We form consonants by controlling or impeding the egressive (outward) flow of air. We do this with the articulators - from the glottis, past the velum, the hard palate and alveolar ridge and the tongue, to the teeth and lips. The sound results from three things:

• voicing - causing the vocal cords to vibrate
• where the articulation happens
• how the articulation happens - how the airflow is controlled

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Voicing

All vowels must be voiced - they are caused by vibration in the vocal cords. But consonants may be voiced or not. Some of the consonant sounds of English come in pairs that differ in being voiced or not - in which case they are described as voiceless orunvoiced. So /b/ is voiced and /p/ is the unvoiced consonant in one pair, while voiced /g/ and voiceless /k/ form another pair.

We can explain the consonant sounds by the place where the articulation principally occurs or by the kinds of articulation that occurs there. The first scheme gives us this arrangement:

Articulation described by region

• Glottal articulation - articulation by the glottis. We use this for one consonant in English. This is /h/ in initial position in house or hope.
• Velar articulation - we do this with the back of the tongue against the velum. We use it for initial hard /g/ (as in golf) and for final /ŋ/ (as in gong).
• Palatal articulation - we do this with the front of the tongue on the hard palate. We use it for /dʒ/ (as in jam) and for /ʃ/ (as in sheep or sugar).
• Alveolar articulation - we do this with the tongue blade on the alveolar ridge. We use it for /t/ (as in teeth), /d/ (as in dodo) /z/ (as in zebra) /n/ (as in no) and /l/ (as inlight).
• Dental articulation - we do this with the tip of the tongue on the back of the upper front teeth. We use it for /θ/ (as in think) and /ð/ (as in that). This is one form of articulation that we can observe and feel ourselves doing.
• Labio-dental articulation - we do this with the lower lip and upper front teeth. We use it for /v/ (as in vampire).
• Labial articulation - we do this with the lips for /b/ (as in boat) and /m/ (as in most). Where we use two lips (as in English) this is bilabial articulation.

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Articulation described by manner

This scheme gives us a different arrangement into stop(or plosive) consonants, affricates, fricatives, nasal consonants, laterals and approximants.

• Stop consonants (so-called because the airflow is stopped) or plosive consonants(because it is subsequently released, causing an outrush of air and a burst of sound) are:
  • Bilabial voiced /b/ (as in boat) and voiceless /p/ (as in post)
  • Alveolar voiced /d/ (as in dad) and voiceless /t/ (as in tap)
  • Velar voiced /g/ (as in golf) and voiceless /k/ (as in cow)
• Affricates are a kind of stop consonant, where the expelled air causes friction rather than plosion. They are palatal /tʃ/ (as in cheat) and palatal /dʒ/ (as in jam)
• Fricatives come from restricting, but not completely stopping, the airflow. The air passes through a narrow space and the sound arises from the friction this produces. They come in voiced and unvoiced pairs:
  • Labio-dental voiced /v/ (as in vole) and unvoiced /f/ (as in foal)
  • Dental voiced /ð/ (as in those) and unvoiced /θ/ (as in thick)
  • Alveolar voiced /z/ (as in zest) and unvoiced /s/ (as in sent)
  • Palatal voiced /ʒ/ (as in the middle of leisure) and unvoiced /ʃ/ (as at the end of trash)
• Nasal consonants involve closing the articulators but lowering the uvula, which normally closes off the route to the nose, through which the air escapes. There are three nasal consonants in English:
  • Bilabial /m/ (as in mine)
  • Alveolar /n/ (as in nine)
  • Velar /ŋ/ (as at the end of gong)
• Lateral consonants allow the air to escape at the sides of the tongue. In English there is only one such sound, which is alveolar /l/ (as at the start of lamp)
• Approximants do not impede the flow of air. They are all voiced but are counted as consonants chiefly because of how they function in syllables. They are:
  • Bilabial /w/ (as in water)
  • Alveolar /r/ (as in road)
  • Palatal /j/ (as in yet)

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Syllables

When you think of individual sounds, you may think of them in terms of syllables. These are units of phonological organization and smaller than words. Alternatively, think of them as units of rhythm. Although they may contain several sounds, they combine them in ways that create the effect of unity.

Thus splash is a single syllable but it combines three consonants, a vowel, and a final consonant /spl+æ+ʃ/.

Some words have a single syllable - so they are monosyllables or monosyllabic. Others have more than one syllable and are polysyllables or polysyllabic.

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Sometimes you may see a word divided into its syllables, but this may be an artificial exercise, since in real speech the sounds are continuous. In some cases it will be impossible to tell whether a given consonant was ending one syllable of beginning another. It is possible, for example, to pronounce lamppost so that there are two /p/ sounds in succession with some interval between them. But many native English speakers will render this as /læm-pəʊst/ or /læm-pəʊsd/.

Students of language may find it helpful to be able to identify individual syllables in explaining pronunciation and language change - one of the things you may need to do is explain which are the syllables that are stressed in a particular word or phrase.

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Suprasegmentals

Prosodic features | Paralinguistic features

In written English we use punctuation to signal some things like emphasis, and the speedwith which we want our readers to move at certain points. In spoken English we use sounds in ways that do not apply to individual segments but to stretches of spoken discourse from words to phrases, clauses and sentences. Such effects are described asnon-segmental or suprasegmental - or, using the adjective in a plural nominal (noun) form, simply suprasegmentals.

Among these effects are such things as stress, intonation, tempo and rhythm - which collectively are known as prosodic features. Other effects arise from altering the quality of the voice, making it breathy or husky and changing what is sometimes called the timbre - and these are paralinguistic features. Both of these kinds of effect may signal meaning. But they do not do so consistently from one language to another, and this can cause confusion to students learning a second language.

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Prosodic features

• Stress or loudness - increasing volume is a simple way of giving emphasis, and this is a crude measure of stress. But it is usually combined with other things like changes in tone and tempo. We use stress to convey some kinds of meaning (semantic and pragmatic) such as urgency or anger or for such things as imperatives.
• Intonation - you may be familiar in a loose sense with the notion of tone of voice. We use varying levels of pitch in sequences (contours or tunes) to convey particular meanings. Falling and rising intonation in English may signal a difference between statement and question. Younger speakers of English may use rising (question) intonation without intending to make the utterance a question.
• Tempo - we speak more or less quickly for many different reasons and purposes. Occasionally it may be that we are adapting our speech to the time we have in which to utter it (as, for example, in a horse-racing commentary). But mostly tempo reflects some kinds of meaning or attitude - so we give a truthful answer to a question, but do so rapidly to convey our distraction or irritation.
• Rhythm - patterns of stress, tempo and pitch together create a rhythm. Some kinds of formal and repetitive rhythm are familiar from music, rap, poetry and even chants of soccer fans. But all speech has rhythm - it is just that in spontaneous utterances we are less likely to hear regular or repeating patterns.

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Paralinguistic features

How many voices do we have? We are used to “putting on” silly voices for comic effects or in play. We may adapt our voices for speaking to babies, or to suggest emotion, excitement or desire. These effects are familiar in drama, where the use of a stage whisper may suggest something clandestine and conspiratorial. Nasal speech may suggest disdain, though it is easily exaggerated for comic effect (as by the late Kenneth Williams in many Carry On films).

Such effects are sometimes described as changing timbre or voice quality. We all may use them sometimes but they are particularly common among entertainers such as actors or comedians. This is not surprising, as they practise using their voices in unusual ways, to represent different characters. The performers in the BBC's Teletubbies TV programme use paralinguistic features to suggest the different characters of Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, La-La and Po.

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IPA symbols for the sounds of English

The examples show the letters in bold that correspond to the sound that they illustrate. You will find guidance below on how to use these symbols in electronic documents. The IPA distributes audio files in analog and digital form, with specimen pronunciations of these sounds.

• The document in the frame below uses unicode symbols. If you do not see them, then you can open a PDF version of the page. 

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A phoneme is a speech sound that helps us construct meaning. That is, if we replace it with another sound (where this is possible) we get a new meaning or no meaning at all. If I replace the initial consonant (/r/) from rubble, I can get double or Hubble (astronomer for whom the space telescope is named) or meaningless forms (as regards the lexicon of standard English) like fubble and wubble. The same thing happens if I change the vowel and get rabble, rebel, Ribble (an English river) and the nonsense form robble. (I have used the conventional spelling of “rebel” here, but to avoid confusion should perhaps use phonetic transcription, so that replacements would always appear in the same position as the character they replace.)

But what happens when a phoneme is adapted to the spoken context in which it occurs, in ways that do not alter the meaning either for speaker or hearer? Rather than say these are different phonemes that share the same meaning we use the model of allophones, which are variants of a phoneme. Thus if we isolate the l sound in the initial position in lick and in the final position in ball, we should be able to hear that the sound is (physically) different as is the way our speech organs produce it. Technically, in the second case, the back of the tongue is raised towards the velum or soft palate. The initial l sound is called clear l, while the terminal l sound is sometimes called a dark l. When we want to show the detail ofphonetic variants or allophones we enclose the symbols in square brackets whereas in transcribing sounds from a phonological viewpoint we use slant lines. So, using the IPA transcription [l] is clear l, while [ɫ] is dark l.

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If this is not clear think:

• Am I only describing a sound (irrespective of how this sound fits into a system, has meaning and so on)? If so, use square brackets.
• Am I trying to show how the sound is part of a wider system (irrespective of how exactly it sounds in a given instance)? If so, use slant brackets.

So long as we need a form of transcription, we will rely on the IPA scheme. But increasingly it is possible to use digital recording and reproduction to produce reference versions of sounds. This would not, of course, prevent change in the choice of which particular sounds to use in a given context. When people wonder about harass (hærəs) orharass (həræs) they usually are able to articulate either, and are concerned about which reveals them as more or less educated in the use of the “proper” form. (For your information, the stress historically falls on the first syllable, to rhyme with embarrass - thus in both Pocket Oxford [UK, 1969] and Funk & Wagnalls New Practical Standard [US, 1946]. The fashion for hu-rass is found on both sides of the Atlantic and we should not credit it to, or blame it on, US speakers of English.)

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Phonologists also refer to segments. A segment is “a discrete unit that can be identified in a stream of speech”, according to Professor Crystal. In English the segments would correspond to vowel sounds and consonant sounds, say. This is a clear metaphor if we think of fruit - the number of segments varies, but is finite in a whole fruit. So some languages have few segments and others many - from 11 in Rotokas and Mura to 141 in !Xu. The term may be most helpful in indicating what non-segmental or supra-segmental (above the segments) features of spoken language are.

Phonology, phonemes and phonetics

You may have known for some time he suffix “-phone” is to do with sounds. Think, for instance, of telephone, microphone, gramophone and xylophone. The morpheme comes from Greek phonema, which means “a sound”.

• Telephone means “distant sound”
• Microphone means “small sound” (because it sends an input to an amplifier which in turn drives loudspeakers - so the original sound is small compared to the output sound)
• Gramophone was originally a trade name. It comes from inverting the original form,phonograph (=sound-writing) - so called because the sound caused a needle to trace a pattern on a wax cylinder. The process is reversed for playing the sound back
• Xylophone means “wood sound” (because the instrument is one of very few where the musical note is produced simply by making wood resonate)

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The fundamental unit of grammar is a morpheme. A basic unit of written language is agrapheme. And the basic unit of sound is a phoneme. However, this is technically what Professor Crystal describes as “the smallest contrastive unit” and it is highly useful to you in explaining things - but strictly speaking may not exist in real spoken language use. That is, almost anything you say is a continuum and you rarely assemble a series of discrete sounds into a connected whole. (It is possible to do this with synthesised speech, as used by Professor Stephen Hawking - but the result is so different from naturally occurring speech that we can recognize it instantly.) And there is no perfect or single right way to say anything - which is just as well, because we can never exactly reproduce a previous performance.

However, in your comments on phonology, you will certainly want sometimes to focus onsingle phonemes or small sequences of phonemes. A phoneme is a sound segment of words or syllables. Quite a good way to understand how it may indicate meaning is to consider how replacing it with another phoneme will change the word - so if we replace the middle sound in “bad” we can make “bawd”, “bed”, “bid”, “bird” and “bud”. (In two cases here one letter is replaced with two letters but in all these cases it is a single vowel sound that changes.)

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The first people to write in English used an existing alphabet - the Roman alphabet, which was itself adapted from the Greek alphabet for writing in Latin. (In the Roman empire, Latin was the official language of government and administration, and especially of the army but in the eastern parts of the empire Greek was the official language, and in Rome Greek was spoken as widely as Latin, according to F.F. Bruce, in The Books and the Parchments, Chapter 5). Because these first writers of English (Latin-speaking Roman monks) had more sounds than letters, they used the same letters to represent different sounds - perhaps making the assumption that the reader would recognize the word, and supply the appropriate sounds. It would be many years before anyone would think it possible to have more consistent spelling, and this has never been a realistic option for writers of English, though spelling has changed over time. And, in any case, the sounds of Old English are not exactly the same as the sounds of modern English.

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As linguists have become aware of more and more languages, many with sounds never heard in English, they have tried to create a comprehensive set of symbols to correspond to features of sound - vowels, consonants, clicks and glottalic sounds and non-segmental or suprasegmental features, such as stress and tone. Among many schemes used by linguists one has perhaps more authority than most, as it is the product of the International Phonetic Association (IPA). In the table below, you will see the phonetic characters that correspond to the phonemes used in normal spoken English. To give examples is problematic, as no two speakers will produce the same sound. In the case of the vowels and a few consonants, the examples will not match the sounds produced by all speakers - they reflect the variety of accent known as Received Pronunciation or RP. Note that RP is not specific to any region, but uses more of the sounds found in the south and midlands than in the north. It is a socially prestigious accent, favoured in greater or less degree by broadcasters, civil servants, barristers and people who record speaking clock messages. It is not fixed and has changed measurably in the last 50 years. But to give one example, the sound represented by θ is not common to all UK native speakers. In many parts of London and the south-east of England the sound represented by f will be substituted. So, in an advertisement, the mother-in-law of Vinnie Jones (former soccer player for Wimbledon and Wales; now an actor) says: “I fought 'e was a big fug” (/aɪ fɔət i: wɒz ə bɪg fug/).

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You may also wonder what has happened to the letter x. This is used in English to represent two consonant sounds, those of k and s or of k and z. In phonetic transcription these symbols will be used.

“Consonant” and “vowel” each have two related but distinct meanings in English. In writing of phonology, you need to make the distinction clear. When you were younger you may have learned that b,c,d,f and so on are consonants while a,e,i,o,u are vowels - and you may have wondered about y. In this case consonants and vowels denote the letters that commonly represent the relevant sounds. Phonologists are interested in vowel and consonant sounds and the phonetic symbols that represent these (including vowel and consonant letters). It may be wise for you to use the words consonant and vowel (alone) to denote the sounds. But it is better to use an unambiguous phrase - and write or speak about consonant or vowel sounds, consonant or vowel letters and consonant or vowel symbols. In most words these sounds can be identified, but there are some cases where we move from one vowel to another to create an effect that is like neither - and these arediphthongs. We also have some triphthongs - where three vowel sounds come in succession in words such as “fire”, “power” and “sure”. (But this depends on the speaker - many of us alter the sounds so that we say “our” as if it were “are”.) For convenience you may prefer the term vowel glides - and say that “fine” and “boy” contain two-vowel glides while “fire” contains a three-vowel glide

The physics and physiology of speech

Man is distinguished from the other primates by having the apparatus to make the sounds of speech. Of course most of us learn to speak without ever knowing much about these organs, save in a vague and general sense - so that we know how a cold or sore throat alters our own performance. Language scientists have a very detailed understanding of how the human body produces the sounds of speech. Leaving to one side the vast subject of how we choose particular utterances and identify the sounds we need, we can think rather simply of how we use our lungs to breathe out air, produce vibrations in the larynx and then use our tongue, teeth and lips to modify the sounds. The diagram below shows some of the more important speech organs.

This kind of diagram helps us to understand what we observe in others but is less useful in understanding our own speech. Scientists can now place small cameras into the mouths of experimental subjects, and observe some of the physical movements that accompany speech. But most of us move our vocal organs by reflexes or a sense of the sound we want to produce, and are not likely to benefit from watching movement in the vocal fold. The diagram is a simplified cross-section through the human head - which we could not see in reality in a living speaker, though a simulation might be instructive. But we do observe some external signs of speech sounds apart from what we hear.

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A few people have the ability to interpret most of a speaker's utterances from lip-reading. But many more have a sense of when the lip-movement does or does not correspond to what we hear - we notice this when we watch a feature film with dubbed dialogue, or a TV broadcast where the sound is not synchronized with what we see.

The diagram can also prove useful in conjunction with descriptions of sounds - for example indicating where the airflow is constricted to produce fricatives, whether on thepalate, the alveolar ridge, the teeth or the teeth and lips together.

Speech therapists have a very detailed working knowledge of the physiology of human speech, and of exercises and remedies to overcome difficulties some of us encounter in speaking, where these have physical causes. An understanding of the anatomy is also useful to various kinds of expert who train people to use their voices in special or unusual ways. These would include singing teachers and voice coaches for actors, as well as the even more specialized coaches who train actors to produce the speech sounds of hitherto unfamiliar varieties of English or other languages. At a more basic level, my French teacher at school insisted that we (his pupils) could produce certain vowel sounds only with our mouths more open than we would ever need to do while speaking English. And a literally stiff upper lip is a great help if one wishes to mimic the speech sounds of Queen Elizabeth II.

So what happens? Mostly we use air that is moving out of our lungs (pulmonic egressive air) to speak. We may pause while breathing in, or try to use the ingressive air - but this is likely to produce quiet speech, which is unclear to our listeners. (David Crystal notes how the normally balanced respiratory cycle is altered by speech, so that we breathe out slowly, using the air for speech, and breathe in swiftly, in order to keep talking). In languages other than English, speakers may also use non-pulmonic sound, such asclicks (found in southern Africa) or glottalic sounds (found worldwide). In the larynx, the vocal folds set up vibrations in the egressive air. The vibrating air passes through further cavities which can modify the sound and finally are articulated by the passive (immobile)articulators - the hard palate, the alveolar ridge and the upper teeth - and the active(mobile) articulators. These are the pharynx, the velum (or soft palate), the jaw and lower teeth, the lips and, above all, the tongue. This is so important and so flexible an organ, that language scientists identify different regions of the tongue by name, as these are associated with particular sounds. Working outwards these are:

• the back - opposite the soft palate
• the centre - opposite the meeting point of hard and soft palate
• the front - opposite the hard palate
• the blade - the tapering area facing the ridge of teeth
• the tip - the extreme end of the tongue

The first three of these (back, centre and front) are known together as the dorsum (which is Latin for “backbone” or “spine”)

What is phonology?

Phonology is the study of the sound system of languages. It is a huge area of language theory and it is difficult to do more on a general language course than have an outlineknowledge of what it includes. In an exam, you may be asked to comment on a text that you are seeing for the first time in terms of various language descriptions, of which phonology may be one. At one extreme, phonology is concerned with anatomy andphysiology - the organs of speech and how we learn to use them. At another extreme, phonology shades into socio-linguistics as we consider social attitudes to features of sound such as accent and intonation. And part of the subject is concerned with finding objective standard ways of recording speech, and representing this symbolically.

For some kinds of study - perhaps a language investigation into the phonological development of young children or regional variations in accent, you will need to use phonetic transcription to be credible. But this is not necessary in all kinds of study - in an exam, you may be concerned with stylistic effects of sound in advertising or literature, such asassonance, rhyme or onomatopoeia - and you do not need to use special phonetic symbols to do this.

EXPLAINING INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR EDUCATION, WORK EXPERIENCE & ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS/TRAINING

The simple past is used to talk about an activity or situation in the past which is
finished now:
• I attended the Model School on Haramaya University campus from September
1989 to July 1997.  I completed Grades 1-4 and then Grades 5-8 there.
• I then attended Alemaya Secondary and Senior Secondary & Preparatory Schools
from September 1997 to July 2001.  I completed Grades 9-12 there.
• I worked as a secretary in the FOE, department of Afan Oromo from February
2003 to September 2005.
• From 22 May to 28 June 2007, I participated in an English training course for
secretaries.
• I completed an IT training course in May 2007.
The present perfect is used to talk about an activity or a situation that started in the
past but is still happening now:
• I have worked as Head Secretary in the Faculty of Business & Economics at
Haramaya University since September 2005.
• I have taken part in a number of training courses to help me develop my
professional skills.
The present continuous tense is used to talk about an activity or a situation that is
happening now:
• I am participating in a training course, ‘English for Secretaries – Level 2’, for 6
weeks.
Writing Activity
 
My educational background, professional experience  and additional
qualifications/training:
       
Write a paragraph of information in English with details of your
education, work experience, additional qualifications and training
courses you have completed.

A PROFESSIONAL REFERENCE

Read the following information to be included in a professional reference.  It is
not in the correct order.  Re-order the boxes so that the information forms a
professional reference for an employee.
(1) In addition, she has very strong computer skills and a good
command of both spoken and written English.  
(2) Dejene Nigussie Dean, Faculty of Business and Economics
(3) TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
(4) Abebe Tegegne is a valued member of staff at HU and I have no
hesitation in recommending her for suitable employment.
(5) During this time, she has shown herself to be a reliable, wellorganised and efficient employee.  Her rate of absence from work is
low and her punctuality is excellent.
(6) She has participated in training courses to develop her professional
skills.
(7) Abeba Tegegne has worked in the Faculty of Business and
Economics since September 2005.
(8) She is caring and helpful and is well-liked and respected by her
colleagues.
LANGUAGE RESOURCE:        FOR, SINCE, FROM……TO……
FOR
(+ length of time)
SINCE
(+ a point in time)
FROM……TO……
(from + a starting time &
to + a finishing time)
for 10 years since February 2007 from September 2005 to
November 2006

WRITING A CURRICULUM VITAE

Curriculum vitae (noun): a brief account of one’s education, qualifications and
previous occupation(s).  (Latin = course of life)
Your CV is a summary of your academic and professional life up to now.  It usually
concentrates on your personal details, education, work experience and additional
training/qualifications.
• A CV should be written in simple, clear language with short words and
sentences so that it is easy for the prospective employer to read.
• It should concentrate on facts.
• Headings are used to organize the information and a maximum of 5/6 is
sufficient.
(1) PERSONAL DETAILS
(2) PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
(3) EDUCATION
(4) ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS/TRAINING COURSES
(5) SPECIAL INTERESTS/SKILLS
(6) REFERENCES
• List the information under the headings in reverse chronological order
(last/most recent piece of information first).

CURRICULUM VITAE
PERSONAL DETAILS
Surname: Tegegne
First name(s): Abeba
Date of birth: 2 May 1984
Place of birth: Alemaya, Ethiopia
Nationality: Ethiopian
Religion: Orthodox Christian
Contact address: P.O. Box 53, Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, ETHIOPIA
Telephone number (mobile): 0915 76 15 26
E-mail: abebat@hotmail.com
 
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
September 2005 – present   Head secretary, Faculty of Business &
      Economics, Haramaya University
February 2003 – September 2005  Secretary, Faculty of Education,
      Department of Afan Oromo,
      Haramaya University
October 2002 – February 2003  Temporary trainee secretary,
      ABC Language School, Harar
EDUCATION
September 2001 – September 2002  XYZ College, Harar – diploma in typing
September 1997 – July 2001   Alemaya Secondary and Senior
      Secondary & Preparatory Schools,
      Grades 9-12.
September 1989 – July 1997   Model School, Haramaya University
      Campus, Grades 1-4 & Grades 5-8
ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS/TRAINING COURSES
September 2005 – present   Secretarial Science & Office Management
      course, Lucy College, Harar
      (3-year evening programme)
21 May – 28 June 2007   Training course: ‘English for Secretaries-
      Level 1’, English Language Improvement
      Centre, Haramaya University
May 2007     IT training course, Haramaya University
      4-day workshop
SPECIAL INTERESTS/SKILLS
Fluent speaker of Amharic and Afan Oromo
Good knowledge of English
Member of the Women’s Group on Haramaya University campus
In my free time I like to listen to music, spend time with my family, attend
church regularly and read.
REFERENCES
PROFESSIONAL
Ato Dejene Nigussie, Dean – Faculty of Business & Economics, Haramaya
University
& address & telephone number
PERSONAL
W/o Emebet Lemma, Secretary – School of Graduate Studies, Haramaya
University
& address & telephone number

EDITING PRACTICE: CHECKING FOR ERRORS IN A COVERING LETTER

Read the following word-processed covering letter for a job.  There are 10 errors.
Work with a partner to find the mistakes and correct them.
     P.O. Box 61
     Haramaya University
     Dire Dawa
     ETHIOPIA
Ms Susan Smith
Head of personnel
Millenium International College
P.O. Box 95
Harar
ETHIOPIA
Dear Mrs Smith
application for the post of Head Secretary to the College Dean
I would like to apply for the post of Head Secretary to the Dean which I see
advertised in ‘The Reporter’ of 29 September 2007.  I have been a secretary at
Haramaya University since 1997 and I have worked as Head Secretary for the Dean
of the Faculty of Education since October 2004.  Please find attached my curiculum
vitae which indicates my qualifications to date and my experience relevant to this
post  I would be willing to attend an interview at any time suitable for you.
Thank you very much in advance for considering my application and I look forward
hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Yours faithfully,
Fasika Ahmed  
Fasika Ahmed
Enc  CV

Job Application and Curiculum Vitae

(1)WRITING A COVER LETTER
SOME REMINDERS ABOUT FORMAL
CORRESPONDENCE
• Your address should be at the top, on the right and in the middle of the page
WITHOUT your name above it.
• The rest of the letter is written in block format.
• 12-point Times New Roman or Arial are most frequently used in this type of
correspondence.
• The letter should be on ONE A4 page.
• The date is NOT given as numbers only, it is written out (4 July 2007).  This is
due to the fact that British English speakers use the sequence ‘day, month, year’
but American speakers place the month first…so the use of numbers can cause
confusion.
• If you do not know the name of the recipient, write ‘Dear Sir’ if you know it’s a
man or ‘Dear Madam’ if you know it’s a woman.  If you do not know whether
you are writing to a man or a woman, write ‘Dear Sir/Madam’.
• If you know the name and the recipient is European or American, remember to
write ‘Dear + title + surname (second name)’.  ‘Dear Mr. Wilson’ is correct and
NOT ‘Dear Mr. John’.
• ‘Yours sincerely’ (US = ‘Yours truly’) is used at the end of a letter if you know
the person’s name.  If you start your letter with ‘Dear Sir’, ‘Dear Madam’ or
‘Dear Sir/Madam’, use ‘Yours faithfully’ at the end of the letter.
A COVERING LETTER   Application for a Job as a Secretary
The information in italics in the letter can be changed to suit the application.
   
P.O. Box 20
     Haramaya University
     Dire Dawa
     ETHIOPIA
Mr. John Wilson
Head of Personnel
ABC International University
P.O. Box 56
Addis Ababa
ETHIOPIA
30 September 2007
Dear Mr. Wilson
Application for the post of Head Secretary to the Vice-President
I would like to apply for the post of Head Secretary in the Academic and Research
Vice-President’s Office which I saw advertised in  ‘The Reporter’ of  28 September
2007.  I have been a secretary at Haramaya University since February 2003 and I have
worked as Head Secretary in the Faculty of Business & Economics since September
2005.
Please find attached my curriculum vitae which indicates my qualifications to date
and my experience relevant to this post.  I would be willing to attend an interview at
any time suitable for you.
Thank you very much in advance for considering my application and I look forward
to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely,
Abeba Tegegne  
Abeba Tegegne
Enc: CV

Literacy Bin Activities to Build Vocabulary and Word Skills

The Literacy Bin Activities presented in this chapter are examples of
ideas you could use to build vocabulary and word skills. Many activities
may also help reinforce other objectives, such as constructing background
knowledge or developing fluency (and may appear in those chapters, too),
yet their emphasis here is on working with words, their meanings, and their
structure. A general description of each activity and suggestions for ways
in which it could be modified are provided. Information you might wish
to place in the Literacy Bin compartment, such as instructions or student
materials, are also listed (see Appendix A for examples). Use the activities
featured here, modify them as you wish, or create your own using these as
models. As you review the activities, you might also consider materials you
have available or can readily locate to use with an activity.
Imaginative Phonics
Students take a word list from the Literacy Bin
and read each word very slowly, pronouncing
each sound (see Figure 30). This comical
activity encourages students to apply their skills
with letter–sound relationships to unfamiliar
content words. Including the names of
significant individuals related to your theme,
such as explorer Giovanni da Verrazano, and
places of historic significance, such as the
Caribbean, will help students tackle these tricky
stumbling blocks. Students can perform in front
of an audience, invite classmates to recite words
with them, use technology to record their
presentation, or even dress in character.
Figure 30. Literacy Bin
Activity Game Board Square
for Imaginative Phonics64
Syllabification Snap-Alongs
Students use a word list from the Literacy Bin
and create a rhythmic performance by breaking
words into syllables (see Figure 31). Encouraging
students to break apart multisyllabic words
will help them with many other commonly
used word-attack skills. Students can create
an instrument or use one they already have.
They can also group words with similar syllable
patterns or be whimsical. You might wish to
display each student’s word list during the
performances.
Imaginative Characters
Assuming the role of a comical character, the
“Pronunci-ator,” students practice pronouncing
words from a vocabulary list in the Literacy
Bin (see Figure 32). This activity helps students
master difficult, multisyllabic words. Also,
including words that stray from the standard
rules of pronunciation may be a good way to
clarify some of these troublesome words and
challenge students as well (i.e., a Literacy Bin
featuring the science theme electricity could
include the word solder, pronounced “sodder”). Students may want to work with others
and stage a comical competition. Students can
listen to words using an online audio dictionary.
Imaginative Word Games
Students use a vocabulary list from the Literacy
Bin and locate root words and prefixes (see
Figure 33). This activity is good if you’ve
provided instruction in Greek and Latin roots,
and your keyword list includes appropriate
words. Other word-attack skills, such as those
that uncover word derivatives, are also good
choices for this activity (e.g., government,
Figure 32. Literacy Bin
Activity Game Board Square
for Imaginative Characters
Figure 33. Literacy Bin
Activity Game Board Square
for Imaginative Word Games
Figure 31. Literacy Bin
Activity Game Board Square
for Syllabification SnapAlongs65
govern, governor). You might have students use letters in a word to make
new words as an alternative or a challenge.
Spelling and Word Close-Ups
Students use a vocabulary list and rewrite words in a fancy style. Encourage
students to carefully craft every letter for those troublesome and tricky
words (see Figure 34). This activity helps build
students’ spelling skills within a content area
and strengthens their word consciousness,
too. You might want students to select five
tricky words from the list and feature them in
one picture. Using computers and any word
program that has fun fonts is another way
to engage students. Another variation of this
game is to have students create a flag or poster
for the time period or theme featured in the
Literacy Bin (e.g., prehistoric times, dinosaurs)
and decorate the flag with appropriate
vocabulary words.
Drawing Activities
Students create pictures of the words on their
vocabulary list (see Figure 35). Encouraging
students to attach a visual image to the new or
unfamiliar word may help some students create
a memorable connection to the word. This
strategy works well in the early elementary
grade levels as well as at the upper elementary
levels. You might wish to have students create
digital books and incorporate photographs or
other visual technology.
Drama Activities
In “Casting Call!” students act out words from a keyword list (see Figure
36). Suggesting that students use simple props may help them with words
that are difficult to demonstrate through actions. Recalling the comical ways
Figure 34. Literacy Bin
Activity Game Board Square
for Spelling and Word CloseUps
Figure 35. Literacy Bin
Activity Game Board Square
for Drawing Activities66
in which students may perform content words
often enables others to remember the meaning
of the word. Students may wish to work alone
or in small groups. Suggesting that students
consider three different ways to convey a word
meaning may encourage a deeper level of
understanding.
Use of Online Websites
Students are provided with websites to visit
and are asked to locate specific words or
other targeted categories of words related
to the thematic Literacy Bin (see Figure 37).
This activity helps students develop their
online reading skills while also strengthening
their content vocabulary. Many educational
sites also include links that may help students
with difficult content words (i.e., many sites
highlight words that link to definitions provided
in a dictionary or other resource). You might
wish to include some type of web or chart for
students to use as they search online.

Effective Ways To Build Your Vocab

Building vocabulary is a powerful way to enhance your life and career

Learning how to build a better vocabulary can be a pleasurable and profitable investment of both your time and effort. At least fifteen minutes a day of concentrated study on a regular basis can bring about a rapid improvement in your vocabulary skills, which in turn can increase your ability to communicate by writing, conversing, or making speeches. Acquiring a large vocabulary can benefit you in school, at work, and socially. It will enable you to understand others' ideas better and to have the satisfaction of getting your thoughts and ideas across more effectively.
Of course, you already know thousands of words, and you will continue to learn more whether you work at it or not. The fact is that many of the words you know were probably learned simply by coming across them often enough in your reading, in conversation, and even while watching television. But increasing the pace of your learning requires a consistent, dedicated approach. If you learned only one new word a day for the next three years, you would have over a thousand new words in your vocabulary. However, if you decided right now to learn ten new words a day, in one year you would have added over three thousand to what you already know, and probably have established a lifetime habit of learning and self-improvement.

Four basic steps to a better vocabulary

While there are not any magic shortcuts to learning words, the larger your vocabulary becomes, the easier it will be to connect a new word with words you already know, and thus remember its meaning. So your learning speed, or pace, should increase as your vocabulary grows. There are four basic steps to building your vocabulary:

1. Be Aware of Words

Many people are surprised when they are told they have small vocabularies. “But I read all the time!” they protest. This shows that reading alone may not be enough to make you learn new words. When we read a novel, for instance, there is usually a strong urge to get on with the story and skip over unfamiliar or perhaps vaguely known words. But while it is obvious when a word is totally unknown to you, you have to be especially aware of words that seem familiar to you but whose precise meanings you may not really know.
Instead of avoiding these words, you will need to take a closer look at them. First, try to guess at a word's meaning from its context—that is, the sense of the passage in which it appears; second, if you have a dictionary on hand, look up the word's meaning immediately. This may slow down your reading somewhat, but your improved understanding of each new word will eventually speed your learning of other words, making reading easier. Make a daily practice of noting words of interest to you for further study whenever you are reading, listening to the radio, talking to friends, or watching television.
2. Read

When you have become more aware of words, reading is the next important step to increasing your knowledge of words, because that is how you will find most of the words you should be learning. It is also the best way to check on words you have already learned. When you come across a word you have recently studied, and you understand it, that proves you have learned its meaning.
What should you read? Whatever interests you—whatever makes you want to read. If you like sports, read the sports page of the newspapers; read magazines like Sports Illustrated; read books about your favorite athletes. If you are interested in interior decorating, read a magazine like House Beautiful—read it, don't just look at the photographs.
Often people with very low vocabularies don't enjoy reading at all. It's more of a chore for them than a pleasure because they don't understand many of the words. If this is the way you feel about reading, try reading easier things. Newspapers are usually easier than magazines; a magazine like Reader's Digest is easier to read than The Atlantic Monthly. There is no point in trying to read something you simply are not able to understand or are not interested in. The important idea is to find things to read you can enjoy, and to read as often and as much as possible with the idea of learning new words always in mind.
3. Use a Dictionary
Most people know how to use a dictionary to look up a word's meaning. Here are some pointers on how to do this as a part of a vocabulary-building program:

• Have your own dictionary

Keep it where you usually do your reading at home. You are more likely to use it if you do not have to get it from another room. At work, there may be a good dictionary available for your use. At home, most people do not have a big, unabridged dictionary; however, one of the smaller collegiate dictionaries would be fine to start with.

• Circle the words you look up

After you have done this for a while, your eye will naturally move to the words you have circled whenever you flip through the dictionary. This will give you a quick form of review.

• Read the entire entry for the word you look up

Remember, words can have more than one meaning, and the meaning you need for the word you are looking up may not be the first one given in your dictionary. Even if it is, the other meanings of the word will help you understand the different ways the word is used.

Also, the word's history, usually given near the beginning of the entry, can often give a fascinating picture of the way the word has developed its current meaning. This will add to the pleasure of learning the word as well as help you remember it.

4. Study and Review Regularly

Once you have begun looking up words and you know which ones to study, vocabulary building is simply a matter of reviewing the words regularly until you fix them in your memory. This is best done by setting aside a specific amount of time each day for vocabulary study. During that time you can look up new words you have noted during the day and review old words you are in the process of learning. Set a goal for the number of words you would like to learn and by what date, and arrange your schedule accordingly. Fifteen minutes a day will bring better results than half an hour once a week or so. However, if half an hour a week is all the time you have to spare, start with that. You may find more time later on, and you will be moving in the right direction.
In order to review words effectively, all the information on a word should be kept in one place—in a notebook, for example, or on an index card. Index cards are convenient because the words can be placed in alphabetical order, which makes them easy to find when reviewing; and the cards can be carried around with you, so you can study them anywhere. You should try to be systematic about studying, so that you are sure to review each word at least once every couple of weeks.
Do not throw cards away, though; you can get a great feeling of accomplishment by looking at the growing stack of words you have learned and by occasionally glancing at an old card and thinking, “Once I actually didn't know the meaning of this word!”

Other vocabulary building materials

The steps we have just discussed do not involve the use of vocabulary-building aids such as books, tapes, or CDs; all that is required is a dictionary. But what about such materials? Are they worth using? We say yes.
The first advantage of vocabulary-building books is that they present you with words generally considered important to know, thus saving you time. Another advantage of many of these books is that they will use the words in several sentences, so that you can see the words in different contexts. A third advantage is that they usually have exercises that test what you have learned, which gives you a clear sense of progress.
The major disadvantage of many of these books is that the words in them may sometimes be too difficult for the person who does not have a large vocabulary. Such a person would have a hard time learning these words and could quickly become discouraged. We suggest, therefore, that you scan the materials you are interested in before buying. If most of the words are totally unfamiliar to you, you will probably not get very much out of it. If, however, you recognize many of the words but do not quite know them, then the material is probably at the right level for you.
Many books approach vocabulary building by teaching you word parts—prefixes, suffixes and roots—and showing you how these parts can go together to form many different words. You might find this approach useful, because it will make you sensitive to how words are formed, and this can often be a help in figuring out a word's meaning from its context.
The important thing to keep in mind is that these materials are not a complete substitute for the process we have been talking about. One book will not give you all the words you need to know. Besides, you are establishing a lifetime interest in building your vocabulary, and just selecting one way to approach it may not be enough. However, the use of vocabulary-study materials as a supplement to the “Four Basic Steps” will reinforce your learning and speed your progress immediately.

Motivation

Perhaps the most important factor in a successful vocabulary-building program is motivation. It will be very difficult for you to study words month after month without a strong feeling that it is worth doing, that a larger vocabulary will help you in school and on the job, and that it can well lead to a more exciting and fulfilling life. We certainly feel that this is true, for nothing we measure at the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation contributes more to success in life more than vocabulary. Your time could not be better spent.
We know you can expand your vocabulary almost as fast as you wish. There are countless examples of people who have done so. Remember, you started out in life knowing no words, and now you know thousands. You can learn many more. Why not start today?

Vocabulary Wordbooks

The Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation offers a vocabulary development program of 1,440 words selected based on the results of studies of over 15,000 public and private school students. To learn more about this fantastic and fun way to learn new words, visit theWordbook page.