HOW TO IMPROVE ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION

STEP 1: PRIORITIZE IT! SPEND 15 MINUTES A DAY IMPROVING ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION. Think about your daily schedule. Work out the best time for 15 minutes practice and MAKE IT HAPPEN Speak more English throughout your day. Think about times here and there throughout your daily routine when you could speak more English out loud – to yourself (find out why you need to do this below) and to other people. Let’s find some hidden opportunities for practice in your everyday routine. . Do you travel? Walking to the train station or sitting on a train or a bus is an excellent time to put in your headphones and improve your listening skills. .At the gym. While you are working out is an excellent time for popping in your headphones and doing listening practice. . During your lunch break. . Set your alarm for 15 minutes earlier than usual. . While you are cooking dinner. Yes, you can practice your English while chopping carrots. In fact, making dinner is a great opportunity to do the speaking practice. Dinner preparation usually takes at least 15 minutes, so while you are preparing your meal tonight, talk out loud to yourself while you do it.

STEP 2. LISTEN MORE – TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS! The first step to improve English pronunciation is to LISTEN more carefully. Over the next few days, listen more carefully to the sounds of English – when you are speaking and when other people speak. Usually our total focus is on the meaning. Instead of listening to ‘what’ people are saying, listen to ‘how’ they are saying it. Pay attention to the sounds and the pitch – the up and down – or ‘music’ of English.

STEP 3: SPEAK MORE – TO YOURSELF & OTHERS. NO EXCUSES. Speaking more English sounds like it’s TOO obvious but SO many non-native speakers just aren’t speaking enough English to improve their skills. We are talking here about fluency! Fluency is our ability to use vocabulary in a meaningful way while we are talking. To develop your brain’s ability to access different words and use them in sentences while talking you need lots of practice – out loud!

STEP 4: FOCUS ON YOUR MOUTH! It’s time to shift your focus to your mouth. After all, pronunciation is a physical skill. How good you are at making the sounds of English depends on how well you can control your mouth movements. When you’re learning new sounds, you’re teaching your mouth and brain new ways to move and this takes practice! The more you practise, the more control you will have.

STEP 5: TUNE INTO THE STRESS & RHYTHM – THE ‘MUSIC’ OF ENGLISH. Your Actions for Improving Your English Stress & Rhythm: Start to listen specifically for stress and emphasis in native speaker’s speech. Remember that for most non-native speakers, this is the area they need to improve the most for clearer, better English pronunciation and English accent. Pay attention to stress and emphasis in your own speech.

STEP 6: BEWARE OF SPELLING TRAPS! If you rely on the spelling of a word in English for pronunciation you will mispronounce MANY words. This is because English is not a phonetic language. Means that the way a word is written, does not tell us exactly how it is pronounced. Do not rely on spelling. You need to rely more on the way the words are pronounced by English native speakers. So – again this comes back to listening more carefully.

LESSON SUMMARY These 6 Essential Steps on How to Improve English pronunciation you have is a clear road map when you want to improve your English pronunciation and speak more like a native English speaker. Remember that improving English Pronunciation involves effort, patience, awareness, and physical skill. So. don’t be a perfectionist – be patient and focused and you’ll see your skills improve over time. Every minute you spend on this will contribute to improve English Pronunciation skills and help you sound more like a native English speaker. So actively speak, speak, speak, listen, listen, listen!