19.12.201827.05.2017

How to improve your English pronunciation?

If you are learning English not only for writing essays or watching your favorite films in the original, you will most likely be interested in the question: how improve your English pronunciation? And really, how can you make your speech clear and competent? It’s so unpleasant when your interlocutors ask again or even cannot understand what language you speak.

If your pronunciation level is not stable, we do not suggest you read for more than 10 or 15 minutes because it is difficult to concentrate and you may repeat the same mistakes. Remember that pronunciation can be improved quickly by working in low doses several times a week. You can also listen to audio books while reading the text and modeling the narrator. For greater effectiveness, capture yourself as you speak and compare to audiobooks. Come within yourself to speak. Record yourself on a tape recorder or computer.

It will be difficult to hear your voice at first. Listening to your voice and listening to yourself to speak another language will be awkward at first. However, you need to move forward and know your correct pronunciation. You can save your question by reading the same question every day or every week. Write an English native to read the same passage will help. Artificial: Finding Patterns You can follow people who speak correctly and have worked hard to get there.

Let's agree that in this article we will not talk about how to pass yourself off as a resident of the USA or rainy London (after all, speaking like a native is aerobatics, which is facilitated by long-term living abroad or for many years hard training).

We offer you some practical tips and recommendations that will improve your pronunciation and allow your foreign interlocutors to understand exactly what you are saying.

It could be a teacher or a friend, but someone who has done the work and can tell you how to do it. Even if they don't have great pronunciation, they can help you find ways and explain how they were able to improve their pronunciation. Imitate people with accents you like. English is native, or the talented do not necessarily know how to learn pronunciation, but they are good for sects. If you don't know, ask your friends for advice. You can even find clips from movies you like and imitate the actors.

Experiment Humans have an innate ability to listen, discriminate, and match phonetic features in any language. An original way to imitate a person whose native language is the one you are studying and which speaks the language. Imitate this person to speak the language you are teaching. Here's an example to help you understand this concept: If you're French and learning English, you imitate an English speaker French and use sounds and intonations when speaking English.

How to recognize your mistakes in pronunciation?

Listen to yourself: record your speech on a voice recorder or online recorder. It is necessary to select a piece of text for recording from material that you can find in audio format, voiced by a native speaker. This will help you note the main mistakes and begin to eliminate them.

On these sites you can hear the pronunciation of words in English in the two most popular varieties of English - American and British.

We do not recommend trying to independently comprehend the basics and nuances of pronunciation of English sounds using textbooks. It is recommended to use such manuals only when studying with a tutor (or if your pronunciation is quite good), since there is a high probability that you will incorrectly learn the location of the tongue in your mouth when pronouncing the same sound “l” or will not understand what the difference is between the positions lips when pronouncing the English “w” and “r”.

Practice makes perfect

Most important point To improve pronunciation - regular practice. Many people advise working on tongue twisters or reading some abstract texts out loud. We believe that working to improve the language should be fun. Therefore, we advise you to repeat phrases after the characters of any series. We believe that this way you can better practice the pronunciation of sounds. Take 5 minutes of the series and work through each phrase 2-3 times.

The main trick is to take a really interesting series with useful phrases and words that will be useful to you in everyday communication. This way, there is a chance that you won’t get bored with repeating the same material as quickly as pronouncing tongue twisters. By the way, the latter are categorically not recommended for beginners! Because your brain is constantly trying to concentrate on the speed, and not on the correctness of the sounds that “fly out” of your mouth.

If you don’t like TV series and films, you can watch the video on the website - https://www.ted.com/. For convenience, you can connect subtitles in English.

Sing a song

Choose your favorite artists and sing their songs performed in a calm rhythm. Chanting words helps to relax the speech apparatus. When singing, pay special attention to tempo and logical stress. Don't forget that English pronunciation based not only on the correctness of sounds.

In addition, it is recommended to begin to consolidate theory in practice with songs. And this is not at all surprising, since among both beginners in English and people who have been learning it for 5-10 years, there is a widespread opinion that you need to speak quickly. As a result, they begin to work on increasing the rate of speech, completely forgetting about correct pronunciation.

Video courses to help beginners and intermediate learners of English

Since the articulation of a native English speaker is more complex and varied than, for example, a native speaker of the great and mighty, we advise you to seriously study the video lessons the best specialists by pronunciation. Thanks to their programs, you will learn what this tricky American “schwa” sound is, which tries to creep into every word, and how the English sounds “n” and “l” are pronounced correctly. And most importantly, get rid of the booming growl when pronouncing English sound"r".

all programs by Lisa Mojsin;
Rachel's English;
Master Spoken English.

And in conclusion, we will share with you the main mistakes in the pronunciation of English sounds:

1. The combination “th” is not read/pronounced as –з- or –с-. In order for the sound from your mouth to sound correctly, you need to stick your tongue out slightly and bite it lightly. The tongue should be between the teeth (that’s why the sound is called “dental”).

2. Pronunciation of the combination “ing” with the sounds “g” at the end is considered a serious mistake. This is unacceptable! There is no “g” sound in the words “doing” and “speaking”!

3. There is no such sound as “r” in English. To correctly pronounce the sound “r” in the middle of a word, you need to pronounce the Russian sound “r”, and then tuck the tip of your tongue, pointing it towards the middle of the upper palate.

4. In fact, the sound “v” is not pronounced the same way as the Russian “v”. Bite lightly to make sound. lower lip upper teeth. The same applies to the English sound “f”, but unlike “v” it is pronounced without vibration of the vocal cords.

Of course, improve your English pronunciation It's best to have a mentor who can point out your main mistakes. But even in the absence of one, you can learn to speak English correctly and clearly. The main thing is to remember to constantly practice. And with due effort, all the words and grammatical structures with phrases you have memorized will really sound correctly – “in English.”

Video lessons on English pronunciation. Issue No. 1 (puzzle-english).

Video lessons on English pronunciation. Issue No. 2 (puzzle-english).

Video lessons on English pronunciation. Issue No. 3 (puzzle-english).

Video lessons on English pronunciation. Issue No. 4 (puzzle-english).

Video lessons on English pronunciation. Issue No. 5 (puzzle-english).

Video lessons on English pronunciation. Issue No. 6 (puzzle-english).

Video lessons on English pronunciation. Issue No. 7 (puzzle-english).

Video lessons on English pronunciation. Issue No. 8 (puzzle-english).

Video lessons on English pronunciation. Issue No. 9 (puzzle-english).

Video lessons on English pronunciation. Issue No. 10 (puzzle-english).

Video lessons on English pronunciation. Issue No. 11 (puzzle-english).

Unfortunately, correct English pronunciation is rare, even among foreign language teachers. This is due to the initially irrational choice of teaching methods. Many people still prefer the grammar-translation system, which consists of rote learning of words and learning the rules. In fact, it is necessary to practice English pronunciation from the very beginning of your acquaintance with foreign language. Otherwise, it will be quite difficult to correct fixed errors.

1. The main thing is regularity of classes. You don't have to spend hours every day learning phonics and practicing. By devoting at least half an hour a day to lessons, you will soon notice positive results.

2. Look beyond textbooks and computer resources. Try to approach the task at hand creatively. Many experts claim that even singing in a foreign language helps improve English pronunciation.

3. Use a voice recorder. When listening to short texts recorded by native speakers, try to repeat the speech as accurately as possible. This is necessary to improve intonation, which is significantly different from Russian. Do this simple exercise at least a couple of times a week.

4. Watch movies and TV shows. Listen to how the person on the screen pronounces consonants and vowels, what syllables stand out in his speech. It is also worth paying attention to what shape the presenter or actor’s mouth takes during a conversation or monologue.

5. Listen to the radio. The benchmark for quality English pronunciation is undoubtedly the BBC.

6. If possible, be sure to involve a family member or friend in the activities. This will allow you not only to practice your speaking skills, but also to notice errors in pronunciation.

7. Practice in front of a mirror. While studying phonetics, you will understand that the pronunciation of seemingly identical sounds in Russian and English is radically different. You will have to constantly monitor the position of your lips and tongue.

8. Use multiple trusted sources of information. Be sure to combine textbooks and Internet resources, communication with real people and video lessons. You may also be interested in tongue twisters, which will help you develop the necessary speed of pronunciation without loss of quality.

9. Choose only one pronunciation option. There are many varieties of English: American, English, Australian and so on. From the point of view of “correctness”, the optimal solution can be considered the English of Oxford and Cambridge. Having studied one accent in detail, move on to the next. It is not worth exploring several options at the same time.

10. Read out loud. Various dialogues are especially useful in this regard (they allow you to train intonation).

11. Pay attention to the emphasis. Please note that English pronunciation may imply the presence of 2 stresses in the same word.

12. When learning new words, memorize them immediately with correct pronunciation and stress. Do not under any circumstances try to write down the pronunciation in Russian letters: this step will make all your efforts fruitless.

13. Learn to write transcription. Many textbooks are equipped with an audio course with phonetic dictations. Don’t neglect this monotonous but incredibly useful exercise: working on your mistakes will definitely help you learn not only to speak beautifully, but also to better understand your interlocutor. You will no longer confuse words that are pronounced almost the same.

Useful Resources

Is it possible to improve English pronunciation without any cost at all? Yes. For this purpose, there are useful sites on the Internet that help solve the problem completely free of charge and no less effectively. We have selected the most effective and modern resources:

http://www.englishcentral.com is a wonderful site with hundreds of useful videos with native speakers. Some of them are dedicated to explaining certain aspects of pronunciation, others are designed for you to repeat them after the announcer. Educational, colorful and not at all boring.
http://www.learnenglish.de/pronunciationpage.html - basic information about the pronunciation of words in English is collected here. Attention is also paid to particularly complex sounds. Visitors can write a dictation, listen and repeat a tongue twister or poem.
http://sozoexchange.com - with the help of this resource you will not only improve your English pronunciation, but also expand vocabulary. Native speakers explain the meaning of words and talk in detail about how to pronounce them correctly. A fairly large database of information will be useful even to advanced people.
http://www.englishclub.com/pronunciation is a useful foreign resource that will be of interest to those who want to improve their English pronunciation in a short time. The information on the site is aimed more at beginners. The presence of tables and accompanying images can greatly facilitate the learning process.
http://www.soundsofenglish.org/pronunciation - an interesting site for students and teachers. Here you can find detailed information about the correct pronunciation of sounds, sentence intonation, and stress. You can also find in a separate section interesting games and exercises to practice the acquired knowledge.
http://esl.about.com/od/speakingenglish - there are a variety of speaking exercises designed for all levels of language proficiency.

Textbooks

Improve your English pronunciation only with the help of various sites, interesting videos and communication with other people will not work: you need a system, a basis for studying the subject. Textbooks are required. Most of the books on the proposed list are available on the Internet:

English Pronunciation in Use (Sylvie Donna, Jonathan Marks)- a fairly popular course for improving pronunciation. The collection of textbooks is designed for people with different levels of foreign language proficiency. The authors introduce the reader to the basics of phonetics, gradually leading him to the intricacies of this issue. All books are supplemented with audio materials.
Ship or Sheep, Tree or Three (Ann Barker). These two books have the same structure, only Ship or Sheep is considered a textbook for more advanced students (starting with Intermediate). Working with the textbook is accompanied by constant listening to audio recordings. With the help of these books, you can not only get the correct pronunciation, but also write phonetic dictations, pronounce dialogues, and improve pronunciation. The manual is divided into many subtopics. Experience shows that diligent implementation of the exercises in this course helps to overcome even serious errors in pronunciation.
Timesaver Pronunciation Activities (Bill Bowler). A good book for those who want to make learning phonetics a fun process. The author's non-standard approach allows you to transform boring rules into exciting quizzes, crosswords, games, and all kinds of exercises. This manual will certainly be of interest to beginners and those who speak English at an intermediate level.
Elements of Pronunciation (Colin Mortimer). This textbook is intended for more advanced students. With the help of the manual, you can analyze the most difficult aspects of pronunciation and eradicate existing errors. The book is accompanied by many literate dialogues for a comprehensive study of the subject. Much attention is paid to stress and intonation.
Test Your Pronunciation- a collection of various tests compiled by Peter Wacyn-Jones. This book is definitely recommended for use in breaks between studying difficult rules and dry theory. Depending on your level of knowledge, you can choose a suitable manual. You should not pick up the book only if you have only recently started learning the language. Each of them contains about 60 tests, many of which are recorded on disk. Each text is designed in such a way that the student can not only test knowledge, but also systematize diverse information. This book performs an extremely important task: it helps to establish a strong connection between the spelling of words and the pronunciation of various sounds. Another plus is the most creative approach.

Practice is the key to good results

Naturally, just studying and doing exercises will not give the desired result: you must practice regularly. For this we recommend:

Find a community of people who want to improve their English pronunciation online. Such groups are regularly organized on foreign websites.
Go to totalingua.com. This is a social network for finding a conversation partner to improve your pronunciation skills. The free system allows you not only to practice your knowledge, but also to have fun. Similar opportunities are offered on lingcom.ru.
www.interpals.net - people interested in language exchange communicate on this social network. The resource has a good reputation. Conversing with a native speaker is an opportunity that should never be missed.

Thus, you can improve your own pronunciation in just a couple of months of regular practice. Try not to rush too much, because small amounts of information are much easier and better remembered. And remember: the final result largely depends on the organization of educational activities.