Improve your Pronunciation
By Rachel Rowland ( ABC School’s Academic Coordinator )
Listen and repeat
Before you can use a word correctly in speech, you will first have to hear the word being modelled correctly. This modelling could come in the form of someone saying the word directly to you or through hearing it indirectly, such as in a conversation or on a TV programme or film. You will only learn the correct pronunciation through imitating what you hear.
Record yourself
When speaking, most of your concentration is probably on saying the right words rather than focusing on your pronunciation. One way to check your pronunciation is through recording your own voice. Try recording yourself speaking because if you cannot hear your pronunciation problems, it is difficult to correct them. Try recording your speech with your smartphone or PC and making a note of specific areas you need to improve on.
Use a phonemic chart with your dictionary
Believe me when I say this, the phonemic chart, along with a good monolingual English dictionary, are your best buddies while you are studying English. A phonemic chart provides all of the individual sounds (phonemes) within English and one can be downloaded for free from any smartphone in Google Play. I favour the chart provided by Macmillan as there are also interactive exercises that you can do once you have become familiar with each of the sounds. When you come across a word you do not know, for example whilst reading a book, you should look this word up in your monolingual dictionary to find out the meaning. Along with the meaning, you will see the part of speech (noun, verb, adjective) along with the individual sounds which make up the word. For example, if we look up the word jam in a dictionary, we will find something like this:
Jam ( n ) /dʒæm/ - a sweet, soft food made by cooking fruit with sugar to preserve it.
If you click on the individual symbols in your phonemic chart, you will be able to spell out the word and hear the correct pronunciation of the word. The faster you are at clicking each sound, the clearer the pronunciation of the whole word will be. The different sounds are either vowels or consonants and there are 20 vowel sounds in English and 24 consonants. Most online dictionaries will have a speaker icon, which you can click on to hear the pronunciation of the word, but you may not always be in a place where you have internet access so learning the sounds is very important.
Audio books
Do you sometimes read and wish you could hear someone saying the sentences aloud while you read? Well, guess what? You can! Audiobooks are a great resource for improving your pronunciation. They are recorded readings of your favourite books and can be downloaded, sometimes for free! The benefits of using audiobooks include:
Many English language students find it very difficult to pronounce some words and phrases in English and quite often, teachers do not pay enough attention to this very important area of language learning. This lack of focus by teachers, along with a false belief by students that pronunciation is not as important as other aspects of the language, such as grammar, leads students to believe that pronunciation is not worth their time and effort. Pronunciation is actually vital to proper communication because the incorrect use of pronunciation inevitably leads to the message being misunderstood by the recipient. So, with this in mind, how can English language students really improve their pronunciation?
Listen and repeat
Before you can use a word correctly in speech, you will first have to hear the word being modelled correctly. This modelling could come in the form of someone saying the word directly to you or through hearing it indirectly, such as in a conversation or on a TV programme or film. You will only learn the correct pronunciation through imitating what you hear.
Record yourself
When speaking, most of your concentration is probably on saying the right words rather than focusing on your pronunciation. One way to check your pronunciation is through recording your own voice. Try recording yourself speaking because if you cannot hear your pronunciation problems, it is difficult to correct them. Try recording your speech with your smartphone or PC and making a note of specific areas you need to improve on.
Use a phonemic chart with your dictionary
Believe me when I say this, the phonemic chart, along with a good monolingual English dictionary, are your best buddies while you are studying English. A phonemic chart provides all of the individual sounds (phonemes) within English and one can be downloaded for free from any smartphone in Google Play. I favour the chart provided by Macmillan as there are also interactive exercises that you can do once you have become familiar with each of the sounds. When you come across a word you do not know, for example whilst reading a book, you should look this word up in your monolingual dictionary to find out the meaning. Along with the meaning, you will see the part of speech (noun, verb, adjective) along with the individual sounds which make up the word. For example, if we look up the word jam in a dictionary, we will find something like this:
Jam ( n ) /dʒæm/ - a sweet, soft food made by cooking fruit with sugar to preserve it.
If you click on the individual symbols in your phonemic chart, you will be able to spell out the word and hear the correct pronunciation of the word. The faster you are at clicking each sound, the clearer the pronunciation of the whole word will be. The different sounds are either vowels or consonants and there are 20 vowel sounds in English and 24 consonants. Most online dictionaries will have a speaker icon, which you can click on to hear the pronunciation of the word, but you may not always be in a place where you have internet access so learning the sounds is very important.
Audio books
Do you sometimes read and wish you could hear someone saying the sentences aloud while you read? Well, guess what? You can! Audiobooks are a great resource for improving your pronunciation. They are recorded readings of your favourite books and can be downloaded, sometimes for free! The benefits of using audiobooks include:
- You can repeat any part of the book as many times as you like.
- You can choose any accent, gender or speed that you want to listen to.
- You can listen to audiobooks any time! On your way to work or school, during breaks or even in bed!