How to improve your pronunciation in English

"Can you do this again?"- how many times do you hear this when you speak?Even if the vocabulary and grammar of the English language is impeccable, it can be difficult for people to understand you because of your pronunciation.

Learning correct pronunciation can be one of the most difficult parts of learning English.It has sounds that are not in your native language, so you will have to learn how to use completely new sounds in speech.

In addition, English vowels can complicate matters a lot.For example, “way”, “weigh” and “whey” are pronounced the same, while “comb,” “bomb” and “tomb” are pronounced differently.

Below are 5 tips to help you avoid confusion and improve your pronunciation.

Notice how your mouth and lips move

When you speak, you move your mouth.This affects how you pronounce the word.There are several ways to check for correct movement of the mouth and lips:

- Use a mirror.This is by far the easiest way to see how your lips move when you speak.

- Place your finger on your lips (as if you were saying "shhh").Do not move your finger while you speak.You should feel your lips pulling back or pressing against your finger.

Observe other people and notice how their lips take shape when they speak.Try to follow characters from your favorite TV shows or movies.Can you copy the facial expressions of the actors?

Note the language

The main difference between "rice" and "lice" is the position of the tongue...When you speak, you move your tongue to make sounds, probably without even noticing it.To improve your English pronunciation, it's best to check what your language is doing.

Some difficult sounds for non-native speakerslanguage, are the letters "L" and "R", as well as the sound "TH".Their correct pronunciation directly depends on the correct position of the language.

Break words into sounds

Words are made up of syllables or parts.The word "syllable", for example, has three syllables: syl-la-ble.Breaking words apart can make them easier to pronounce.To check how many syllables there are in a word, place your hand directly under your chin.Say the word slowly.Count as one syllable each time your chin touches your hand.

There is also a resource called How Many Syllables.This site shows you the number of syllables in any word you are looking for and even shows you how to pronounce it.

Record your speech on the camera or recorder

Record your speech on the camera or recorder.Compare your pronunciation to someone else who is pronouncing the same words or sounds.Find a video that interests you and try to repeat after the character, trying to match the tone and pronunciation.Then compare notes and see what you did differently.

Practice

Find a native speaker with whom you can practice pronunciation, in person or via online communitiessuch as, for example, "Language Exchange" or "InterPals".Chatting with a friend will give you the opportunity to apply all the tips in this article, as well as learn something new.Plus it's fun!