Learning to pronounce English words correctly can be one of the most difficult parts of the language, especially if there are sounds that your native language does not have or if you tend to stumble over the pronunciation of complicated vowels.
Just look at how “way”, “weigh” and “whey” are pronounced the same, for example, while “comb”, “bomb” and “tomb” are pronounced differently.
Therefore, in the following article we will tell you how you can improve your pronunciation to sound like a real English speaker.
English pronunciation
English spelling has not evolved much over time, but the way words are pronounced has. This makes pronunciation a real challenge for language learners. But good pronunciation is not just about how words and letters sound.s, but there are other equally important features to consider, such as intonation, accent and connected speech, i.e. how words can sound different when put together in natural speech. All of these characteristics contribute to good pronunciation, but they should not be confused with the accent.
When learning English, you don’t need to sound British or American. Good pronunciation means that you are understood; not necessarily that you sound like you were born in New York or London. In fact, many native speakers love to hear English spoken with a Spanish, Italian or French accent. So how can you work on your pronunciation so that people from all over the world can easily understand you, even if you keep your native accent?
Tips to improve English pronunciation:
1. Learning to listen
In order to be able to pronounce words correctly, you must first be able to hear the differences between the different types of pronunciation. Improve your ability to tell the difference by listening to many native English speakers. Podcasts are excellent for this. You’ll find more ideas for listening activities in our guide on how to create your own English immersion course.
2. Practice moving the mouth in a different way.
An important part of pronunciation involves making the muscles of the mouth work differently than they are used to. The lips, tongue, throat and jaw are involved in the production of sounds.
– Observe yourself pronouncing the words with a mirror.
– Think about your mouth. In English we tend to use a more open mouth position, as opposed to the closed mouth position used in many languages.
– Watch videos that explain the pronunciation.
– Do tongue twisters. They are great for your mouth to practice making sounds.
3. Use podcasts
Podcasts are great for learning English in general and are great when it comes to practicing your English pronunciation. Listening to native speakers gives you a little guidance that you can use for your own pronunciation.
4. Shadowming
Another way to use a podcast to practice pronunciation is to shadowing. It is very effective for practicing the physical aspects of fluency, such as pronunciation, rhythm, pitch, tones and the development of muscle memory in the mouth. We love it.
5. Record yourself
One of the best ways to correct your English pronunciation is to listen to native speakers and compare your pronunciation with them. It is often difficult to hear ourselves well when we speak because we are busy thinking about what to say and how to say it.
This is why it can be very useful to record yourself talking. You will then be able to re-listen to the points where you get stuck or where your pronunciation is very different from that of a native speaker.
6. Practice speaking
One of the best ways to practice pronunciation is to speak, especially through English conversation courses. Ideally, you should find some native speakers to talk to so that you have constant exposure to the accent you want to achieve, as well as instant feedback on whether they understand you, but even talking to non-native speakers is better than not talking at all.
