For many people who are learning to speak English, pronunciation is a problem.There may be sounds in English which you don’t have in your own language and which are difficult for you to recognise and to say.You may have had difficulty making yourself understood, even though your vocabulary and grammar are good. So how important is pronunciation – and what should you do about it? Here is Richard Hallows from Better Speaking with a suggestion.
There’s a very interesting theory that if you want to improve your pronunciation, you should choose one person you want to sound like, and you basically copy that person.You copy the way they speak, the rhythm of their language and your pronunciation will change to be more like that person.Try to choose one person you want to sound like – maybe from the radio – and focus on them.
Question a) Try to summarise Richard’s idea and tell a friend about it.
Question b) What do you think? Who would you like to sound like?
Answer: To improve your pronunciation, try to find one person whose way of speaking you like.Try to copy the way that person speaks.
Notice the stress When you learn a new word, always try to notice which syllable is stressed. For example, in the word ‘dictionary’, the syllable dic- is the one which carries most emphasis. Getting the stress right is very important. If you put the stress on the wrong syllable, listeners may not be able to understand you.
Getting the rhythm right Just as words have stressed syllables, so sentences have stressed words.When speaking in English, try to think which words are the most important in showing the meaning of what you want to say. These are the words which are likely to carry most emphasis.The result of this type of stress is that some of the other words in the sentence almost disappear.This means that, when you listen to English…
you can hear the speaker jump from one important word to the next.
To practise identifying stress in sentences, listen to a short extract spoken by your favourite BBC World Service presenter. Can you identify which words she or he stresses?
Speed and fluency aren’t the same Many students of English think that native speakers talk very quickly, and try to do the same. However, the ‘speed’ you hear is the effect of the type of stress we’ve spoken about above. If you find that your listeners are having some difficulty understanding you, it could be because you are speaking too quickly. Try to slow down a little and concentrate on stressing the meaning-carrying words in your sentence.
TASK Finding a speaking model
Who would you like to sound like? Try to find a ‘model’ of pronunciation which you like.This could be someone you know, or it could be someone you listen to on the radio.When you find your ‘model’, try to listen carefully to how he or she speaks. If you can record him or her, you can even talk along with the recording.What do you think – is this making a difference to your ronunciation?
There’s a very interesting theory that if you want to improve your pronunciation, you should choose one person you want to sound like, and you basically copy that person.You copy the way they speak, the rhythm of their language and your pronunciation will change to be more like that person.Try to choose one person you want to sound like – maybe from the radio – and focus on them.
Question a) Try to summarise Richard’s idea and tell a friend about it.
Question b) What do you think? Who would you like to sound like?
Answer: To improve your pronunciation, try to find one person whose way of speaking you like.Try to copy the way that person speaks.
Pronunciation is often a difficult area for students and teachers. Improving your pronunciation in English involves many things.You need to think about the stress in words and sentences.This means thinking which syllables you need to put emphasis on in order to make your meaning clear.You also need to think about intonation.The ‘music’ of British English, for example, may sound trange to you – and how does your intonation sound to speakers of other languages? We use intonation to show how we feel about the subject we’re talking about – but intonation differs across languages.There are also ‘problem’ sounds which you may recognise in English, but which are difficult for you to say.
One final, but very important, area to think about is how you feel about your pronunciation. If people understand you easily, you may feel satisfied that it is OK. However, you may want to sound different. Many people want to sound more like ‘native speakers’, and Richard’s tip above can help you if this is your ambition.The most important things to consider when thinking about pronunciation are:
So how can you work on your pronunciation and still feel confident?One final, but very important, area to think about is how you feel about your pronunciation. If people understand you easily, you may feel satisfied that it is OK. However, you may want to sound different. Many people want to sound more like ‘native speakers’, and Richard’s tip above can help you if this is your ambition.The most important things to consider when thinking about pronunciation are:
- Can people understand what I’m saying easily?
- I feel comfortable and confident when I speak?
Notice the stress When you learn a new word, always try to notice which syllable is stressed. For example, in the word ‘dictionary’, the syllable dic- is the one which carries most emphasis. Getting the stress right is very important. If you put the stress on the wrong syllable, listeners may not be able to understand you.
Getting the rhythm right Just as words have stressed syllables, so sentences have stressed words.When speaking in English, try to think which words are the most important in showing the meaning of what you want to say. These are the words which are likely to carry most emphasis.The result of this type of stress is that some of the other words in the sentence almost disappear.This means that, when you listen to English…
you can hear the speaker jump from one important word to the next.
To practise identifying stress in sentences, listen to a short extract spoken by your favourite BBC World Service presenter. Can you identify which words she or he stresses?
Speed and fluency aren’t the same Many students of English think that native speakers talk very quickly, and try to do the same. However, the ‘speed’ you hear is the effect of the type of stress we’ve spoken about above. If you find that your listeners are having some difficulty understanding you, it could be because you are speaking too quickly. Try to slow down a little and concentrate on stressing the meaning-carrying words in your sentence.
TASK Finding a speaking model
Who would you like to sound like? Try to find a ‘model’ of pronunciation which you like.This could be someone you know, or it could be someone you listen to on the radio.When you find your ‘model’, try to listen carefully to how he or she speaks. If you can record him or her, you can even talk along with the recording.What do you think – is this making a difference to your ronunciation?
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