Speaking and Pronunciation Skills: Steps to Take, and Tips to Follow for Mastering Pronunciation in English.
To sound, or not to sound like a native speaker, that is
the million-dollar question!
Whilst there
are many different kinds of English accents in the world, historically, the two
most common are the British and the American. But, is it really as simple as that when you
realize the reality that within both the United States and the United Kingdom,
there are many different regional accents, each with their own distinct
pronunciation, A native of New York sounds as distinctly different to a native
of New Orleans as a Londoner does from someone from Birmingham.
An accent
is a way of pronouncing common words from a particular region or country.
American pronunciation and British pronunciation are completely different. The
consonant sounds are generally the same (except for the T sound and the
r-colored vowel sounds), but the vowel sounds are completely different. The British accent has more vowel sounds, and most vowel letters are pronounced completely
differently.
The truth is that learning to pronounce English correctly
can be one of the hardest aspects of learning the language. English has some
sounds that many other languages might not have so students have to learn new
shapes for their mouths and lips and positions for their tongues in order to
make sounds that are completely new to them. This can be hard, because like a
computer, our mouths, our tongues, our minds have been programmed since our
very first words to move and form sounds in a particular way.
Additionally, vowels in English can make it quite
difficult to know exactly how to say certain words.For example:
Read – /riːd/ (the
same as “reed”) means to perceive the information provided in a written
form; Read -- /rɛd/ (the same as “red”)
is the past tense of the verb “to read”.
Live – to /lɪv/ (rhyming
with “give”) is a verb meaning “to be alive” Live--/əˈlaɪv/; /laɪv/ (rhyming
with “dive”) is an adjective meaning “being alive”.
Wind – /wɪnd/ (rhyming
with “pinned”) is a movement of air (it can also be a verb meaning “to blow to
a wind instrument”); to Wind -- /waɪnd/ (rhyming with “kind”)
is a verb meaning “to turn, especially something around something else”. For
example, a river or a way can “wind” /waɪnd/, or you can wind /waɪnd/ a wire
around a coil.
The most common
pronunciation problems, generally speaking, are the same for everyone. The hardest part about identifying your problems,
and then improving your pronunciation is actually working out what you may be
doing wrong in the first place.
Here are some of the most common reasons why people
may have problems understanding what you are saying.
1. The incorrect stressing of individual words.
2. Stressing the wrong words in a sentence.
3. Pronouncing certain consonant sounds incorrectly
4. Mixing up short and long vowel sounds
5. Not finishing your words
English Grammar and 11 Guidelines for Making it More Understandable.
https://englishforyoutheteachersvoice.blogspot.com/2020/07/understanding-grammar-11-key-rules-for.html
Making the Rules of Grammar Easy to Understand
https://englishforyoutheteachersvoice.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-essential-rules-of-english-grammar.html
8-word stress rules to help you to improve
your English pronunciation
1. Nouns and adjectives with two syllables
The rule: When a noun (a word referring to a person, thing,
place or abstract quality) or an adjective (a word that gives information about
a noun) has two syllables, the stress is usually on the first syllable.
Example: Heaven / HE-aven, Stable / STA-ble
2. Verbs and prepositions with two syllables
The rule: When a verb (a word referring to an action, event
or state of being) or a preposition (a word that comes before a noun, pronoun
or the “-ing” form of a verb, and shows its relation to another word or part of
the sentence) has two syllables, the stress is usually on the second syllable.
Example:
Resent / re-SENT,
Colide / co-LIDE
3. Words that are both a noun and a verb
The rule: In English, some words can be both a noun and
a verb. In those cases, the noun has its word stress on the first
syllable, and with the verb, the stress falls on the second syllable.
4. Three syllable words ending in “er” and “ly”
The rule: Words that have three syllables and end in “-er” or
“-ly” often have a stress on the first syllable.
5. Words ending in “ic,” “sion” and “tion”
The rule: When a word ends in “ic,” “sion” or “tion,” the
stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable. You count syllables backwards
and put a stress on the second one from the end.
Example:
Illusion / ill-LU-sion,
batallion / ba-TA-llion
6. Words ending in “cy,” “ty,” “phy,” “gy” and “al”
The rule: When a word ends in “cy,” “ty,” “phy,” “gy” and
“al,” the stress is often on the third to last syllable. Similarly, you count
syllables backwards and put a stress on the third one from the end.
7. Compound nouns
The rule: In most compound nouns (a noun made up of two or
more existing words), the word stress is on the first noun.
Example:
Blackboard / BLACK-board,
breakfast BREAK-fast
8. Compound adjectives and verbs
The rule: In most compound adjectives (a single adjective
made of more than one word and often linked with a hyphen) and compound verbs
(a multi-word verb that functions as a single verb), the stress is on the
second word.
Example: Clear cut / cl-EAR-cut, Whitewash /
wh.ITE- wash
12 Tips for Improving your
English pronunciation.
1. Learn
to listen to those you hear.
Pay close attention to everything that
you hear. The first part to learning how to speak a second language is to learn
how to listen to it. There is no doubt that in English, some sounds can be hard
to tell apart. For example, did the speaker sleep or slip? Did he hit his chin
or hit his shin? If you can hear the difference, it will be easier to speak the
difference.
2. Play close attention to the shape and
movement of your mouth and tongue.
When you speak, you move your mouth. How you move your mouth affects how you pronounce a word. The first step to correcting your mouth shape is to notice it and to pay attention. One useful suggestion is to stand in front of a mirror and to pronounce a selection of words. Watch yourself in the mirror, see how you move your mouth, and then with a series of words with corresponding sounds, practice.
The main difference between the words ice, spice and mice is in the positioning of your tongue. When you speak, you move your tongue to make sounds. This is something that is automatic when we speak our own language, we don’t even notice that we do it. An excellent way to improve your pronunciation is to constantly check the position of your tongue and what it is doing.
When you speak, you move your mouth. How you move your mouth affects how you pronounce a word. The first step to correcting your mouth shape is to notice it and to pay attention. One useful suggestion is to stand in front of a mirror and to pronounce a selection of words. Watch yourself in the mirror, see how you move your mouth, and then with a series of words with corresponding sounds, practice.
The main difference between the words ice, spice and mice is in the positioning of your tongue. When you speak, you move your tongue to make sounds. This is something that is automatic when we speak our own language, we don’t even notice that we do it. An excellent way to improve your pronunciation is to constantly check the position of your tongue and what it is doing.
3. Break all words down into individual sounds.
Words are made up of syllables, or parts. The word “forgetful,” for example, has three syllables: for-get-ful. Breaking words down into parts can make them easier to pronounce. To check how many syllables a word has, place your hand flat just under your chin. Say the word slowly. Each time your chin touches your hand, that’s a syllable. To help you to understand the principle, write words down on paper in the individual parts leaving a line (-) between each syllable.
Words are made up of syllables, or parts. The word “forgetful,” for example, has three syllables: for-get-ful. Breaking words down into parts can make them easier to pronounce. To check how many syllables a word has, place your hand flat just under your chin. Say the word slowly. Each time your chin touches your hand, that’s a syllable. To help you to understand the principle, write words down on paper in the individual parts leaving a line (-) between each syllable.
Once you have done that, say the words
slowly pausing after each syllable. This undoubtedly makes pronunciation
clearer, and much easier.
4. Stressing sounds and words.
Like most languages, English is a stressed language. That means some words and sounds are more important than others. By studying the stress rules outlined earlier in this article, you will be able to differentiate the differences, and in time, with practice, learn to master how, and when to stress words.
Like most languages, English is a stressed language. That means some words and sounds are more important than others. By studying the stress rules outlined earlier in this article, you will be able to differentiate the differences, and in time, with practice, learn to master how, and when to stress words.
5. Use your cell phone to record yourself.
One way to tell if all your practice is working is to record yourself with your cell phone camera. This not only lets you listen to your pronunciation, but it also lets you see, and evaluate the movement of your mouth and tongue.
One way to tell if all your practice is working is to record yourself with your cell phone camera. This not only lets you listen to your pronunciation, but it also lets you see, and evaluate the movement of your mouth and tongue.
6.
Utilizing
audio supported dictionary apps and programs.
Today, most dictionary apps and
programs have features where you are able to simply push a button and listen
to the specific words that you want to clarify the pronunciation of. If you are
unsure of any particular words, using these programs/apps will allow you to
hear the words with either a British or an American accent.
Whilst there are literally dozens of
dictionaries with audio features available to choose from, the one’s which I
like in particular are:
7.
Speak slowly and clearly.
Many students of English think that improving your
pronunciation only comes from learning how to speak quickly.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The ability to speak quickly is something that only comes naturally after firstly mastering the art of correct pronunciation.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The ability to speak quickly is something that only comes naturally after firstly mastering the art of correct pronunciation.
Speaking clearly is, and always will be, more
important than speaking quickly. It’s always essential to remember that if
someone can’t understand what you’re saying, it doesn’t matter how fast you
speak!
8. Utilizing Youtube.
There are a lot of excellent youtube channels that have videos that focus specifically on pronunciation. Combined, these channels offer a large selection of videos specifically designed to break pronunciation down into it’s bare elements allowing you to learn in an easy to remember manner.
8. Utilizing Youtube.
There are a lot of excellent youtube channels that have videos that focus specifically on pronunciation. Combined, these channels offer a large selection of videos specifically designed to break pronunciation down into it’s bare elements allowing you to learn in an easy to remember manner.
Some of the Youtube Channels That Teach Pronunciation
English with Jennifer
Shaw English online
Rachel’s English
English Meeting Dave Sconda
Amy Walker
9. Create
your own podcasts
Atube
Catcher is an
excellent, free program that enables you to download and convert youtube
videos into MP3 format so you are able to listen to them at anytime, anywhere.
By
downloading videos as mp3 audios, you are able to save them to your phone and
listen to them whenever an opportunity presents itself.
Atube
cátcher can also download videos in their original video format if you prefer.
10.
Listen to Podcasts every day.
There are some excellent podcasts
dealing with pronunciation. Podcasts are free, downloadable audio programs that
you can put on your cell phone, tablet or computer. They are excellent because
you can listen to them at any time, or anywhere that it is convenient.
By being completely downloadable,
podcasts offer a myriad of opportunities for English language learners to
practice their pronunciation. Students can listen to podcasts on the bus, in a café,
between classes, whilst traveling or at any other moment that they have free
time.
Here are few
recommended podcasts that deal with pronunciation:
11. Readout aloud every day
Reading out loud is an excellent
way in which to practice and improve your pronunciation and general fluency.
This being said, in my opinión, I believe that it is an activity that is best practiced
by those language learners who have already achieved a certain level of correct
pronunciation.
This is because reading out aloud
without correct pronunciation, or having a suitably qualified person helping
you could ultimately result in students reinforcing their existing poor
pronunciation.
If your skills of pronunciation have
not achieved a suitable level, then I don’t recommend reading for more than 5
or 10 minutes at a time. Remember, pronunciation can be improved quite quickly
with small, practice sessions just a few times per week.
For those students who have
mastered their English pronunciation, then the sky is the limit when it comes
to the amount of time that they can practice reading out aloud.
12. Listening to audiobooks
If you are able to get your hands on audiobooks, these offer an opportunity to read and listen to stories simultaneously. The beauty of audiobooks is that they present students with the opportunity to listen to English that is spoken at a controlled pace and pronounced correctly by a native speaker all the time whilst reading an interesting story. To actually see, and hear the words at the same time enhances the benefits of this activity.
Audiobooks can generally be bought through book shops as most publishers of English books have their own collections available. Alternatively, there are websites that make audiobooks available free of charge. For example, Loyal books have a huge selection of audiobooks available online free of charge with each having a link to the actual pdf versión of the book.
http://www.loyalbooks.com/
Other website providing free access to audiobooks (Without pdf) include:
https://librivox.org/search?
https://audiobooks.cloud/
12. Listening to audiobooks
If you are able to get your hands on audiobooks, these offer an opportunity to read and listen to stories simultaneously. The beauty of audiobooks is that they present students with the opportunity to listen to English that is spoken at a controlled pace and pronounced correctly by a native speaker all the time whilst reading an interesting story. To actually see, and hear the words at the same time enhances the benefits of this activity.
Audiobooks can generally be bought through book shops as most publishers of English books have their own collections available. Alternatively, there are websites that make audiobooks available free of charge. For example, Loyal books have a huge selection of audiobooks available online free of charge with each having a link to the actual pdf versión of the book.
http://www.loyalbooks.com/
Other website providing free access to audiobooks (Without pdf) include:
https://librivox.org/search?
https://audiobooks.cloud/
So, I hope that these suggestions are helpful, and offer you some direction when it comes to mastering English pronunciation. Remember, no matter how good your mechanical knowledge of English is, if the people you speak to have problems understanding what you are saying, then all of the grammar and vocabulary floating freely around in your head will be poorly utilized, and misunderstood.
Good studying, good pronunciation.
2019
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