What are the best ways to improve English pronunciation?

Setting out to improve English pronunciation is an overwhelming task if you don’t know where to begin. There are abundant ways to sound like you’ve been speaking English for a long time. You can start fitting into conversations more easily and more regularly by following some simple, yet effective, techniques. Bear in mind that it will take roughly three to six months to notice a real change in your pronunciation.

Use media to improve English pronunciation

You have a number of options from which to choose. The most obvious way is to watch and pay close attention to English movies or TV shows. Listen to how vowels and consonants are pronounced. Which syllables are stressed? How does the actor’s mouth formation appear while speaking? Here’s an interesting short video that can serve as a starting point for your further research:

Children’s TV shows are slow and simple, and thus perfect for learning English phonemes and word blending. Another tip is to watch movies with the subtitles switched on to get an idea of which words don’t follow the rules of phonetics.

Movies, TV and news broadcasts will also introduce commonly used phrases and terms and usually a bit of slang. Don’t forget commercials, another great way to study and perfect English pronunciation. Remember to listen to the delivery of the message rather than the content. Clarity and speed are very important to recognize, so take note of them.

Reading English books, magazines and newspapers will also be of help. Again, children’s books, being simple and clear, will have easy vowel patterns that can be committed to memory. A smart idea is to read aloud every day from whichever source you choose. Even better is to record yourself speaking and pronouncing the written words. You can then go back and critique yourself. This will give you a good idea of where you need more practice to improve English pronunciation. Recording your voice is a good confidence booster and valuable tool for mistake recognition.

Don’t be ashamed to talk

Engaging in conversation with native English speakers is the best way to improve English pronunciation. At first you may be shy, but the more you practice, the sooner you will feel at ease, not to mention more like an English speaker. Encourage your English peers to correct your speech when necessary. Make sure to always speak at a comfortable pace so your pronunciation is clear.

Find someone else who is also practicing English and partner up. Read to each other. Make up fake scenarios and dialogues so the conversations stay fun. An on-line English course could be of great use as well. Many of these courses give you the opportunity to practice with other people from around the world, not just a native English teacher. On-line classes give you the comforts of your own surroundings and are not as invasive as face-to-face.

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More ideas

Use a dictionary and look up the phonetic spelling and pronunciation of words; create word lists for later use after you have looked them up; use a thesaurus to broaden your vocabulary and improve English pronunciation at the same time. Always think in English and do not translate back into another tongue. This serves to keep you in one frame of mind and not to jumble sentence structure.

As you can see, there are so many ways to learn correct English pronunciation. Try one or all of them. Find the one(s) that suit you best and stick with it (them). Don’t be afraid of sounding silly. Anyone that has ever tried to speak a foreign language knows that it takes a lot of work and dedication.

7 Responses to “What are the best ways to improve English pronunciation?”

Hanie said: 08/03/2013 20:59 - Reply
Useful blog and I think the most effective task to boost pronunciation you had mentioned ,is recording self reading ,I have benefited from this tip a lot so far as well as online English websites and forums .Hope to profit from your new term of technique in English pronunciation’s tool very soon.

Sincerely ,Hanie
- Saundz team said: 09/03/2013 18:53 - Reply
  Thanks, Hanie, for the good wishes. Stay tuned, because Saundz app is coming soon.

Changming said: 26/03/2013 18:15 - Reply
I think the media is stereotype. Course is better for pratice if it is cheap?
- Saundz Team said: 28/03/2013 9:04 - Reply
  We’d recommend combining all the resources available
  Media is needed for learners to be in touch with the real-life English, while the courses are usually designed for a learner’s specific needs. At least Saundz is. And yes, it’s affordable

Sonali said: 10/04/2013 18:26 - Reply
No, I don’t think it will be anyone from over here, unelss they are part-time Korean teachers who are really starving. Otherwise, I don’t think anyone would volunteer to take up the responsibility of teaching the last half of another teacher’s courses on top of what we’re already teaching. The teachers who are usually keen on taking extra classes already have a class or two in the TESOL dept.

Debra Lynn Hillman said: 26/08/2013 19:17 - Reply
The famous linguists Harold E. Palmer, A.S. Hornby and C.E. Eckersley considered IPA of fundamental importance to correct pronunciation in English. IPA is said to be able to “break up the old vicious habits and of inculcating the new ones by means of modern methods on a strictly phonetic basis”. (1914)
Is phonetics outdated?
- Saundz Team said: 02/09/2013 9:42 - Reply
  They were completely right if you ask us!
  Unfortunately, in current English-as-a-second language teaching curricula there’s usually not enough time to teach phonetics in detail. That’s why both students and teachers often have to find alternative ways to deal with it. This doesn’t mean that phonetics is outdated; it is just that some courses put other aspects of language learning in focus.

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Use media to improve English pronunciation

Don’t be ashamed to talk

More ideas

7 Responses to “What are the best ways to improve English pronunciation?”

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