Pronunciation is one of the most significant facets of learning English. If you don’t speak clearly, it is hard for people to understand you. Start by learning each sound on its own. After that, pay attention to how the language sounds.
You might not believe this, but how pronouncing good on every word properly makes your pronunciation clear and prominent. Because English is a time-stressed language, you must stress the right words to speak it well.
Here are some of the steps to improve your English significantly
Learn how to listen
It would help if you learned how to listen before talking. When you hear, it can be hard to tell some sounds apart. Did the speaker sleep or slip? Was it his chin or his shin that he hurt? If you can hear the difference, you will find it easier to say it. Many guides can help you get started with listening.
Minimal pairs are groups of words that only differ by one sound, like sleep and slip. You can stress every word to hear for better pronunciation and how it fits into a complete sentence, and then you can test yourself by pronouncing it.
Use English Dictionaries for Pronunciation
You probably already use a dictionary to look up English words, but online or digital dictionaries have many other uses, such as guides on how to say words. One of the best ways to improve how to pronounce fluently your English pronunciation is to use these dictionaries. Even better, you can find them online for free.
Look at how your lips and mouth move
When you talk, your mouth moves. How a word is said depends on how you move your mouth. The first step to changing the shape of your mouth is to pay attention to it. You can ensure your mouth and lips are in suitable shapes in a few ways.
- Use a mirror. This is the easiest way to see what your mouth is doing when you talk.
- Put your finger in front of your lips, like you’re saying, “shh.”
- Don’t move your finger while you talk. Your lips should move away from your finger or push against it.
Watch what you say with your tongue
The most significant difference between rice and lice is how you feel them on your tongue. To make sounds when you talk, you move your tongue. Since you do it without thinking, you probably dont even notice. Checking what your language is doing is an excellent way to how to pronounce effectively.
Separate words into their sounds
Words have parts called syllables. For example, the word “syllable” has three sounds. By breaking words up into their parts, they can be easier to say. Put your flat hand under your chin to see how many syllables a word has. Slowly say the word. There is one syllable for every time your chin touches your hand.
How to pronounce good English
You can even write down parts of the word. Leave a space between each syllable or draw a line (the syllable must have vowels a, e, i, o, u, y). Now say the word out loud. Slowly say it and pause between each word.
Give sounds and words more focus
The English language is a stressed one. That means that some words and sounds are more important than others. When you say a word loudly, you can hear this. For example, the term “introduce” is pronounced with the stress at the end, so it sounds like “in-tro-DUCE.”
When you stress a word in a certain way, it can change what it means. Say the word “present” out loud. If you said “PREsent,” you were using a noun that means “right now” or “a present.” If you said “preSENT,” you were using a verb that means “to give or show.”
If all of this sounds too hard to remember, don’t worry about it. The best way to learn is to listen and practise for better pronunciation.
Attempt to write them down
You can try to write the way it sounds (by their sounds instead of their spelling).
Say you are having trouble with the word pizza. Write it out the way it sounds like pitsa. You can look at the Phonics and see that the double-z sounds like a “ts.”
Make some flash cards. You can write a word on one side and the other and note how it sounds. If it helps, you can underline the letters on each side you want to practise. (This is especially helpful for people who learn best by seeing)
It can be hard to write things out phonetically, especially if you are writing in a language. You can type the word you need help with and the site that will give you a phonetic transcription.
Make a note of what you hear
Are you keen on learning how to pronounce it fluently? Do you want to learn how to speak English well? Get comfortable and listen. Write down what someone says as you listen to them. But listening is a great way to improve how you say English words.
Use tongue twisters to get better
Do you have trouble with similar sounds when you speak English? Like “sh” and “ch,” “t” and “th,” and the “e” sounds that are short and long?
Want to improve your English accent in a way that’s a little more fun? Tongue twisters are a fun (but challenging) way to practise telling the difference between two sounds.
Tongue twisters are poems with a lot of sounds that sound the same. This can make it hard to say them out loud and how to pronounce good? People in English-speaking countries say them because it’s funny to communicate stupid when you make a mistake. And it feels good when you finally understand it.
Use podcasts and videos to learn how to say words
You can also learn how to speak English better with the help of some great video and audio guides.
Keep track of yourself
Using a camera to record yourself is one way to see if all your practice is helping. Use a camera instead of a sound recorder because it’s essential to know how you talk and hear it.
There is not much required for any software way to record yourself. Most computers and mobile devices already have video recorders built in. Still, as long as a computer has a camera, you should be able to record videos. The camera app on your phone or another mobile device also has a feature that lets you record videos.
Compare what you recorded to what someone else said or how they made the same sounds. Find a video like this one from “Earth to Echo” that shows your favourite part of a movie. Choose one or two sentences and record yourself saying them to match the video’s stress, tone, and pronunciation. Then you can look at the differences between the two and try again.
Check by asking a friend or watching a video. If you can’t say it the same way, ask yourself these questions: Do you move your mouth correctly? Is your tongue right where it should be? Are you emphasising the right parts? Use everything you’ve learned so far from this article.
Work on it with a friend
How to pronounce fluently
“Practice makes perfect,” as they always say. And it’s easier to learn with someone else. Find someone to practise your pronunciation with in person or through online communication.
When you practise with a friend, you can try out everything you’ve learned and learn from each other. Plus, it’s fun!
Talk as much as possible
If you don’t talk much, you might feel nervous when you finally have to say something in English. Try making a rule for yourself. When you’re at home, you must talk to yourself in English. Start by telling a story about what you do when making dinner or getting ready for bed.
Conclusion
Make a promise to speak out loud for at least a few minutes daily. Don’t forget that practice makes perfect. Vocabulary and grammar are just as essential to learning English as how to say words.
This Blog was supposed to be a useful one for people who are very keen on improving their English language and pronunciation. We have discussed how to pronounce good English that you benefit from while looking for freshers jobs and speaking out well at your workplace. As English is a universal language and people all over the world depict in using it wherever they go. Henceforth the English language and the pronunciation are essential for all to communicate correctly and with the proper accent.
