Stories for pronunciation practice

(Notice the word pairs which are underlined)

Sonie VO Pron Story 1

snacks       onion       oven       pizza       wrap – rape

My friend and I usually meet at the local café on Saturday evenings.  They have a delicious variety of baked dishes and other snacks. My friend likes cheese pizza but my favourite is the cheese and onion wrap. They warm it in the oven before serving. I love the aroma of coffee and frying onions especially on a cool evening.

Sonie VO Pron Story 2

hall – hole       shopping       stall – stole       tears(noun) – tearing(verb)

I have returned to town after five years. Many things have changed now. The old cinema hall has been replaced by a shopping mall and I miss the old tea stall that was next door. My grandmother said she had tears in her eyes when she watched them tearing down the old building. She felt that they stole her childhood memories when they tore down the building.

Tomorrow I’m going to take her to the shopping mall to make her feel better.

Sonie VO Pron Story 3

ground (grinded)       bowl        oven       bake – back

For this recipe I have also ground a handful of groundnuts and spread the powder at the bottom of the bowl. After gently pouring the mixture put the bowl in the oven for 45 minutes at 100 degrees. Some people bake this for a longer time at a low temperature but in my experience 100 degrees has worked the best.

Sonie VO Pron Story 4

hotel       suite (- suit)       tale (- tell)        snakes (- snacks)       hole (- hall)

The view from the hotel suite is serene. I’m keen to visit the sites tomorrow. Our tour guide is going to tell us a lot of tales about the ancient temples. One site I am scared of visiting is the forest behind the temple. I have heard that there are a lot of snakes there and I am afraid of tripping and falling into a hole.

Sonie VO Pron Story 5

sale (- sell)       carrier (- career)       stole – stall

There was a sale at the local department store a few days ago. We bought a new mattress which was very big and heavy. Three people helped us to load it on to the carrier. Just as we were about to get in somebody stole my purse. There were so many people in the stall nearby that the thief couldn’t go very far and was finally caught.

Sonie VO Pron Story 6

stall – stole       career (- carrier)       tear – tears       sew (- so – sow – sue)

There is a handicraft exhibition in the grounds near my school. My sister has set up her stall of silver jewellery and silk stoles. She started her career six years ago and is already doing great business. Her designs are very popular and I’m very proud of her.

Yesterday, while we were setting up the stall we saw a tear in three stoles. My sister was in tears but I called the tailor and he sewed them up immediately.

Sonie VO Pron Story 7

sailor – seller       ship       shop        hotel       wrapping ( – raping)

My best friends’ father, Mr. Sharma, was a sailor when he was young. He owned a big merchant ship. He travelled to different places in the world to collect a variety of objects. Now he is a seller of antique goods. His shop is next to the new hotel. He has a special counter for gift wrapping and you can select from a wide variety of wrapping paper.