Spoken English
10 Ways You Can Improve Your English Pronunciation
Mastering good English pronunciation is vital for better communication. It enables you to effectively convey your ideas and engage others better. Unfortunately, some underestimate the significance of pronunciation and believe it to be less important than other components of the English language. With better English pronunciation, one can gain confidence, enhance overall communication skills, and boost social abilities.
10 Tips for Improving Your English Pronunciation
To speak English fluently, developing a clear pronunciation is a must. However, pronunciation and accent are not the same. Pronunciation involves producing sounds, articulating words, and mastering intonation. Accent encompasses pronunciation, word usage, and grammar. Non-native speakers often have accents influenced by their native language's sounds. Pronunciation is a physical skill. Here are some tips to improve pronunciation.
Listen and Incorporate
To improve your English pronunciation, start listening to native English speakers in real life or virtually. Pay attention to how they pronounce words and sentences. Then, practise repeating what you hear to develop a better understanding of the language's natural rhythm and intonation.
Read more: Duolingo English Test: Everything You Need to Know
By imitating native speakers, you can train your mouth and ears to reproduce English sounds more accurately. This will help you communicate more effectively and with more confidence. Remember, practise makes perfect, so keep practising, and you will see improvements in your pronunciation.
Focus on Individual Sounds
Focus on specific sounds that you find difficult to enhance your English pronunciation. Identify the consonants, vowels, or combinations that challenge you. You can utilise online resources or language learning apps that offer exercises for each sound. Practise saying these sounds out loud, paying attention to how your mouth moves. Repeat them regularly to build muscle memory.
Also, concentrate on individual sounds and practise them consistently. Gradually, you will overcome pronunciation difficulties and speak English more clearly. Do not give up; keep practising, and surely you will see the results soon.
Read more: 10 Best Free Android Apps to Learn English Vocabulary
Slow Down
Take a moment to slow down and embrace the art of deliberate speech. Take a moment to slow down and give yourself the time to think through each word's pronunciation. By speaking at a more relaxed speed, you can ensure that you are articulating each sound correctly.
Deliberately pausing between words and phrases creates a space for conscious reflection. Take advantage of this time to mentally review the sounds and patterns, refining your pronunciation with each utterance. Enjoy the journey, savouring each step towards confident and accurate pronunciation.
Use Pronunciation Guides
Look for dictionaries, online tools, or resources that provide simple explanations and symbols to show how a specific word should be pronounced. You can learn from YouTube channels where tutors discuss pronunciation guides.
Read more: Everyday Habits to Learn English Successfully
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols can help you understand the correct way to say the word. By using these guides, you can learn the right pronunciation for each word’s sound and confidently apply it to your speech.
Record and Compare
Record yourself speaking using mobile apps or recorders. Then listen attentively, comparing it to recordings of fluent English speakers. Pay close attention to any discrepancies in pronunciation and identify areas for improvement. By pinpointing the gaps, you can work diligently to refine those specific areas of pronunciation.
Embrace this self-assessment process as a valuable tool for enhancing your pronunciation skills. With each comparison, you will gain a clearer understanding of the differences and take crucial steps towards bridging the gap between your current pronunciation and that of native speakers.
Read more: Best Free Websites to Improve English Writing Skill
1 year ago
How to improve your English speaking skills at home?
Over the years, English has emerged as a global language. The use of English is becoming prominent in every sphere of life, including education, business, communication, etc. In a country like Bangladesh where English isn’t the first language, many people face problems with the intricacies of speaking English fluently. However, there are some easy ways to improve the quality of spoken English within a short time. Let’s look at them.
Tips to improve your spoken English at home
Getting the basics right
Before diving into the speaking part, it is important to understand English as a language. Just like any native tongue, English also comes complete with its own words, grammar, and sentence structures. And all of these together complement the speaking process.
Learning vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structures are essential for speaking English. However, they must be given equal importance to ensure correct usage while speaking. Or else there might be fluency after a while, but it will neither be correct nor sound natural like the native speakers.
Read Studying Abroad in Canada: Prospects and Challenges
Keep speaking
Figuring out the grammatical and colloquial aspects is half of it when it comes to improving spoken English. So, what’s the next step? It's the speaking part. The same principle of “Practice makes a man perfect” applies here. Speaking regularly will help to remove the initial hesitancy that comes with speaking English.
To improve spoken English, an individual should try and practice English in every sphere of socialization. In addition to self-improvement, it can also influence and encourage others to practice English speaking skills. Finding a partner in this regard can be helpful. Just like any other learning, there should be a targeted approach to better English-speaking skills. And the targeted learning starts with speaking, irrespective of the current level of proficiency.
Read Making a Perfect Video Resume: Tips and Tricks
Reflect on a conversation
Speaking English is one of the sure-fire ways of getting better at English. But it is not about speaking alone. The outtakes from a conversation session should be reflected upon? How was the overall interaction? Was there any communication gap? What were the new words and innuendos? All of these are important aspects that will work as a stepping stone to getting better at speaking.
It is important to remember that in addition to speaking, there is also the need to speak correctly. The outtakes from a conversation will not only help to improve your lacking; but also increase the confidence of speaking in its wake.
Read Top 10 Best Affordable Universities in Canada for International Students in 2021
Listening and Reading
Improving spoken English is not a one-way thing. There is not just one thing that can be done over and over again to get better at fluency. Rather every aspect should be given equal importance for holistic development. Listening and reading are an intricate part of that development process. Speaking only gets better if it is complemented with listening and reading.
From the context of Bangladesh, getting the colloquialism is hard as the people are not native speakers. A good solution can be watching English movies, TV series or documentaries. This will help to better grasp how the native people speak. Try and imitate their ways as it will help to considerably improve the figure of speech.
Reading should also be given equal importance. There are countless books and novels to choose from. However, reading books is not everyone’s cup of tea. Reading English dailies and news scrolls can be a good option for the professionals out there who want to stay productive in every way.
Read Writing a Perfect Cover Letter: Important Factors to Consider
Prepare pop up cards
The most common issue associated with speaking English is how to start a conversation. Most people do not know how to start a conversation or keep it going. This is due to nervousness and lack of practice.
The conversation strategy for a 9 to 5 professional compared to a journalist will not be the same. As a result, pop-up cards can be a great way to practice mock scenarios. This will help to mitigate nervousness as well as help to boost confidence while speaking.
Self-recording
Many people do not like hearing their recorded voice. However, listening to self-records of speaking can help to pinpoint the speaking errors better. While speaking, it is difficult to understand whether the natural flow is maintained. Sometimes people get nervous and mumble. These are the things that should be taken note of and the best way to go about it is through repeatedly assessing the practice progress.
Read How to find your passion for a more fulfilling career?
Pronunciation
While it is impossible to gain or let go of an accent overnight, it is certainly an important aspect when it comes to speaking English. What matters more than the accent itself is the pronunciation. The English language is so intricate that a mispronunciation will change the meaning of words. As such, it is important to learn the correct pronunciation of every word. Google can be an amazing source in this regard. It is possible to get the correct pronunciation of a word within a few clicks. Using correct pronunciation will automatically make the accent better, regardless of ethnicity.
Expanding the vocabulary
The unit of English is its words. So, the depth of vocabulary will determine competency when it comes to speaking English. It is not very hard to develop vocabulary competency. In addition to resources on the internet, there are countless books and thesauruses which can be a great source of learning new words. Besides these, YouTube has a rich collection of vocabulary lessons, classes, and audiobooks. People who do not like reading books can listen/watch those audios/videos to learn vocabulary.
Read Social Media Addiction: How to detach yourself from the cycle
Learning phrases
While learning new words will enrich the vocabulary, it does not necessarily imply a better command over speaking capability. What is the point of learning new words if they are not used in the correct sequence or context? This is where the need to learn phrases comes. Learning phrases will help to better articulate a conversation. In addition to that, phrases will help you to speak elaborately and colloquially rather than simply using a few words.
Bottom Line
The way to get good at speaking English is not a tough one. But, it is hardly possible to improve the skill of speaking English overnight. Rather it is a long and continuous process where focusing on the basic and key elements are necessary. With the right mindset and effort, it is possible to speak English fluently.
Read Remote Working: Pros and Cons
3 years ago
How to be a Confident English Speaker?
We need to learn English language to meet the demands of globalization. Confident English speaking is considered as one of the basic requirements whether you are looking for a job or pursuing higher studies in a prestigious educational institute abroad. With the help of internet technology, you can learn the skill of speaking fluent English and it’s really fun.
Some effecctive ways to be a confident English speaker
1. Start speaking & pronouncing correctly
Many English learners often stop just after learning the vocabulary. As a result, even after knowing hundreds of words, they can’t even pronounce the words correctly. How to overcome this challenge?
While you learn a new word, it is recommended to know the purpose of the word. Then relate it with your surroundings and keep uttering yourself. You can write it down on a paper or share it with your friends and family.
You can also take help from a mentor or expert to know whether the pronouncing is right or not. Thus, you can learn sentence formation with the word and its correct pronunciation.
Read:How to ace a Job Interview?
2. Speech shadowing
It means to speak in imitation of a certain native speaker. This process is naturally observed in the children’s behavior, as they often try to copy their parent’s gestures and postures.
Similarly, you can consider idealizing any English movie star or singer. First, try to lip-sync when watching the subtitles of the video. Next, pause the video, record your voice and then just listen. You will be surprised to hear your own words. Following this process repeatedly, you can speak English fluently almost like the native speakers.
Read Free Online Basic Programming Courses for Beginners
3. Thinking in English
Before speaking English, people tend to rearrange the words in their mind in the respective mother languages. Then, they try to translate those words into English.
This process will make you late to respond to your conversation. Even if your non-English accent is understood, communication will be uninterrupted. Therefore, you have to master the skill to think in English. The ability to think in English will enhance your spontaneity while speaking English.
Read Homeschooling Tricks for Parents during Coronavirus Pandemic
4. Read English Loudly
While reading any English book or magazine, try to read aloud. And, speak loudly to yourself in English. Reading aloud will allow many new words to enter your brain one by one. It will enrich your vocabulary and help you to be a confident English speaker.
5. Follow the natural flow of the English language
Imagine, instead of having a different accent, the regional people can sing the popular songs correctly. Everyone becomes accustomed to the rhythm, speed, and melody of the lyrics of the songs while listening to the songs all the time. And that's why it is recommended to watch English movies and listen to English songs for learning English. Understanding the natural style of English words, you will be able to speak English just like the native speakers.
Read Online Resources for Homeschooling Children during Quarantine
6. Use different 'English Learning' apps
Nowadays the most enjoyable way to learn English is to use different mobile applications that are designed for the English learners. Some of the popular apps are Speaking24, Speaky, and HelloTalk. Using such free apps, you can find a partner to practice your English. Practicing Spoken English with a partner will increase your confidence to speak the language fluently in real life.
What is more? You will be able to learn new English words and grammar through various quizzes and fun games.
Read Where to Find Online Courses during Coronavirus Home Quarantine
7. Follow English Learning Tutorials
You can find the endless collection of tutorials on YouTube and English teaching websites. For instance, you can learn the use of diverse practical words, like name of body organs, kitchen items, etc in English pronunciation through YouTube videos.
Different lessons will help you the learn speaking English step by step. You can also judge your skill by attaining different tests provided in the websites.
Read: Free Online Content Writing Courses in 2021
In a nutshell
Being a Confident English Speaker is a big deal when you are off to achieve acceptance in job, business, or higher studies. As a matter of fact, the solution to all of your problems depends on how well you make your listeners understood your message. In that case, this powerful skill can easily facilitate you in grabbing your dreams.
3 years ago