5 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION

Many people want to improve their English pronunciation but they don’t know where to start or what they’re doing isn’t working. Do you skip words while speaking just because you don’t know how to pronounce those words but are well aware of their meaning? Have you felt embarrassed when you are corrected for incorrect pronunciation? Are you good at writing but hesitate while talking to people? If yes, these ways given below will help you improve your pronunciation.

There’s no doubt that pronunciation is a challenging task because English spellings are crazy. They aren’t pronounced how they are spelled. When someone is learning English , there are many sounds that are completely new for them. Hence, it is all the more challenging for them as they haven’t heard those words when they were learning the basics .

LISTEN AND OBSERVE

One needs to be a good listener when it comes to learning. There’s no doubt that you’ll learn those words when you listen to them carefully. Because there are many words which have similar sounds but different spellings or different meanings. Don’t focus more on the meaning, but on how people are pronouncing it. Once you are able to master it, you are good to go.

FOCUS ON SOUNDS AND WORDS

When it comes to speaking, English is tricky. Focus on intonation where you need to emphasize a sound. If you pay attention to the wrong sound the meaning of the word may change. Hence, intonation is very important.

USE SHADOWING TECHNIQUE

In this technique, you need to choose an audio/video with subtitles in which the speaker is speaking at a normal speed. Then repeat each phrase with the speaker’s rhythm and flow. This will help you improve your pronunciation as well as accent.

RECORD YOUR VOICE

No one likes to listen to their own recorded content, hence, this is the hardest part. But in reality, this step is the most effective one. Because after listening to your own voice you will get to know what all are you speaking wrong and where is the scope of improvement. You can also take the help of any friend or senior or coach who can help you become better.

SPEAK MORE

After trying all of this, you should start speaking to yourself and to others more and more – one to avoid hesitation and second to master pronunciation. If you don’t have anyone to speak to, don’t make it an excuse and stop. Start speaking out loud. It is a proven fact that speaking loudly strengthens your pronunciation and speaking skills.

One last tip – BEWARE OF SPELLING TRAPS. Many people are visual learners so they want to know the rules. A wise man once said
“The only consistent rule you need to remember for English pronunciation is that that there are no rules.” Hence, never rely on the spelling for pronouncing it correctly. English is a phonetic language and many words are spoken differently than they are written. Just learn how to differentiate and you’ll go a long way.

  Written by: Kashf Khan

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