Is your English Pronunciation difficult to understand? 7 ways to Improve

There are so many words in English that learning all of them can seem difficult. To make things even more challenging, certain sounds are pronounced differently depending on the word. Thankfully, there are tips that can you learn to make things a little easier. Read below to find out 7 tips to improve your English pronunciation

Learn Your Vowel Sounds

Most languages are broken down into vowel sounds, which help make up syllables and different parts of words. In English, there are five main vowel sounds: a, e, i, o, u. Sometimes the letter y can make a vowel sound too. These sounds are literally the foundation of the English language and they play an important part in pronouncing words. The five main vowel sounds can be pronounced differently based on the word that is being said. Each vowel has both a short sound (such as the a in “bat”) or a long sound (such as the a in “play”). Learn and practice these different vowel sounds to help teach you how to pronounce certain words and to improve your English pronunciation overall.

Break Down Words

While vowel sounds are extremely important to learn, words are also made up of other sounds. Some words have multiple separate syllables, while other words blend their sounds together. Other than vowels, letter sounds can also be pronounced differently, such as how c has a different sound in “cereal” than it does in “cat.” To really understand how these words are supposed to sound, break down the words into syllables and different letter sounds. Practice saying the sounds separately and when you feel confident, put the sounds together to form the full word. This will definitely help to improve your English pronunciation.

Listen To An English Speaker

One of the most effective ways to learn a language is to listen to someone speaking it. This will teach you how sounds and words are supposed to sound. How are you going to know if you are saying something correctly if you do not have an example to compare it to? Once you are familiar with how a language sounds, you will be able to start picking up on more sounds, words, and phrases. This will improve your English pronunciation because you will be more capable of pronouncing those same things correctly.

Pay Attention To How Others Move Their Lips And Tongue

Different sounds in English require the speaker to move their lips, mouth, and tongue in certain ways. When someone is speaking English, whether it is in person or in a video, watch how they use their mouth when they are saying specific words and sounds. For example, words with the l sound (as in “love”) require the tongue to move.

Another example is how you need to press your lips together to produce the p sound (as in “pirate”). Knowing how to move your mouth and tongue to make certain sounds can help you pronounce words appropriately, and will improve your English pronunciation in general.

Practice Saying Tongue Twisters

The methods mentioned so far are very technical. If you want to improve your English pronunciation in a more creative or fun way, try saying tongue twisters. Tongue twisters are phrases that are difficult to say. They usually have sounds that are very similar and make you stutter when you say them together. However, saying tongue twisters will expose you to different sounds in English, which is beneficial. Practicing tongue twisters and saying them over and over again until you they are perfect will actually teach you how to pronounce different words and sounds. If you are not familiar with English tongue twisters, check out a list of them here.

Record Yourself

All of these methods are sure to help you improve your pronunciation, but how are you going to know if you are saying things correctly? To solve this problem and really see how you sound, try recording yourself. Use a smartphone or tape recorder to play back how you sound when you are speaking English.

You could also record a video of yourself, and take things a step further by watching how you move your own lips, mouth, and tongue when speaking. Compare your English pronunciation and mouth movement to someone else who speaking English to see if you are doing it correctly.

Get A Spoken English Tutor

To truly understand if you are saying and pronouncing things the right way, find some who can practice with you and act a spoken English tutor. A tutor will be able to correct you and teach you how to make certain sounds or how to pronounce words. If you do not have someone you can practice with that lives nearby, visit Spoken English Practice to find an online tutor who is a native English speaker. They will help to improve your English pronunciation and English speaking by simply having a casual conversation with you.