English Improve Your Pronunciation Skills – Part 1
For Intermediate to Advanced level English learners.
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Sat 26 Aug
- TEC-subsidised course fee for qualifying citizens, permanent migrants and refugees: $15.00 incl. GST
- $70.00 incl. GST
Sessions
Saturday workshop
Sat 26 Aug 09:30 - Sat 26 Aug 15:30At Selwyn College, Auckland. -
Sat 28 Oct
- TEC-subsidised course fee for qualifying citizens, permanent migrants and refugees: $15.00 incl. GST
- $70.00 incl. GST
Sessions
Saturday workshop
Sat 28 Oct 09:30 - Sat 28 Oct 15:30At Selwyn College, Auckland.
Description
COURSE DATES 2023
- Saturday 4 March
- Saturday 6 May
- Saturday 26 August
- Saturday 28 October
Further classes will be scheduled when there is demand. If you wish to attend this course in the future, please notify the office of your interest.
The Part 2 workshop will run on the following dates for those who have completed this course:
- Saturday 1 April 2023
- Saturday 29 July 2023
- Saturday 18 November 2023
ABOUT THE COURSE
This one day intensive course is for those with English as a second language. Improve your pronunciation skills in order to be more clearly understood in New Zealand. We welcome Intermediate to Advanced speakers of English to this workshop.
Learn the English sounds (phonemes):
- Recognise phonemic symbols (symbols of how to pronounce)
- Identify personal pronunciation challenges and address them
- Learn word and sentence stress; and the rise and falls of pitch and intonation
- Learn sound changes with connected speech and linking
Maximum class size 12 students.
COURSE FEES
NZ citizens and permanent migrants: $15. This course fee is subsidised by the Tertiary Education Commission and conditions apply.
Partners of NZ citizens and permanent migrants: If you are on a work visa or visitor visa, you may also qualify for the subsidised rate. Please enquire at the office.
Temporary migrants: $70. If you are awarded a resident visa while you are studying with us, please let us know. You may qualify for a fee rebate on your current course.
Refugees may qualify for a free course. Please contact the office for more information.
TERTIARY EDUCATION COMMISSION FEE SUBSIDY
This applies to New Zealand citizens, permanent migrants and refugees
The Tertiary Education Commission offers a fee subsidy for this course to qualifying students.
NZ citizens, permanent migrants and refugees who are offered a place on this course will be offered the fee subsidy providing you agree to the following conditions:
- for weekend workshops, you will attend the whole workshop
- you prove your right to reside permanently in New Zealand through presentation of your passport or refugee papers before starting your course.
If you are unable to agree to these conditions, please contact the office to discuss your situation.
NOTE: This course offers a course fee subsidy through funding from the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) for NZ citizen and permanent migrant adults, their partners on work visas or visitor visas, and refugees. To qualify, registrants should be over the age of 16 years and not currently enrolled in a secondary school. We need to collect extra information such as age, ethnicity, educational achievement and gender for statistical purposes. You must also provide evidence of NZ citizenship, residency or refugee status if requested. A condition of accepting a course fee subsidy is that you commit to at least 80% attendance of your course.
IMMIGRATION STATUS
Permanent migrant: student holds NZ Resident Visa or NZ Permanent Resident Visa
Temporary migrant: student holds Guardian Visa, Work Visa, Student Visa, Visitor Visa or other visas
Refugee: student has been personally granted refugee status in NZ
Prerequisites
Minimum of Intermediate level of English. Please contact the office if you need your level assessed.
Testimonials
2022:
- Thanks for the outstanding class! It was fabulous. Very useful information, back to basics, keep it simple and open our mouth(s) when talking. We’ve enrolled for your second class – Workshop Part 2. Lisa and Gerry, China
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I really enjoyed the Pronunciation Workshop with Cathie. It was a useful session where I could learn new things, such as phonemics, and get plenty of tips and tricks to help with our most common (English) challenges. Loved Cathie’s enthusiasm and how she kept everyone engaged through the day. Alexandre, Brazil
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I highly recommend this workshop. Cathie is great! She has a lot experience as the teacher. (It) helped me with phonemes in English that do not exist in Spanish language. Gabriela, Mexico
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The pronunciation course is intense but has a great quality. Cathie is very professional and makes the class enjoyable, fun and that we can all learn from it. I personally knew before attending the course that I had different problems with pronunciation, after this course helped me focus on what I should prioritise and work harder to improve my level of English. I recommend it and I am already registered and waiting for the second part of the course. Marcela, Colombia
From 2021:
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I can say 'rent review' to my clients and they understand me now. Pronouncing 'r' has always been a problem with me
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My boss told me how my speech has got clearer and it is easier to understand me.
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My confidence has improved because I am speaking English more. Pronouncing the letter 'l' is getting better too
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I know the difference of unvoiced and voiced English sounds now - so I can pronounce the letter 'g'. Now, when I say to our customers 'would you like a bag?' they understand me
From June 2019 workshop:
- There are really words I could pronounce properly (after). I got the chance to do a lot of practice. I will come back to do more in September.
- I really liked the course. It cover(ed) all my expectations and more. I definitely will come back in September. Cathie, you are an amazing teacher. I never got bored or tired during the 6-hr course.
- Good practice and review of pronunciation
- I liked this course very much, Cathie Joyce is (an) excellent teacher, she is patient with students and also funny. I enjoyed the course a lot and will continue the next course.
- The course was good. I’ve enjo(y)ed much patien(t)e of Cathie trying hard in explaining little details of English pronunciation. Thanks heaps! Couldn’t think of a thin(g) to improve. Everything is perfect!
- I really liked the course. But I understand the pronunciation comes with practice. So I am going to train myself really hard and come back to Part 2 of the course.
- I (have) enjoyed this course a lot, this is a very useful topic. I feel the difference. I love it. Thank you.
From May 2019 workshop:
- Awesome class, very detailed and lots of exercises. Learned a lot...difference between /th/, /r/, and /l/ sounds; linking; and intonation etc. I want to join next month’s class
- I improved my pronunciation and fixed a lot after this workshop
- A very good and intensive pronunciation course. Achieved my goals – now I know my speaking mistakes and how to correct it. Will definitely recommend this course to my friends.
- Helped me to be aware of the words I’ve always pronounced wrongly.
- Great structure...A lot of information, lots of examples and practical exercises. I liked the individual help for each student with their problems. I feel more confident now with the /th/ sounds … lovely teacher
- Very helpful...I know (now) the ‘th’ sound, and learned the pronunciation rules about the simple past tense
- I really enjoyed the workshop. The class was dynamic and helped me in several ways – word stress, correct use of phonemics etc. A big thank you for Cathie and her patience.
- I learned how to pronounce ‘twelve’.
- It was a great course because I’ve learnt not only pronunciation but also listening skills.
- I learned how to pronounce the ‘th’ and ‘r’ sounds. Fun learning – Cathie taking time to teach and show us all the tricks of intonation and (word and sentence) stress
From June 2018 course: "Linking and sound change is useful for me".
