HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION IN 5 EASY STEPS

If you’ve spent more time learning English by reading or listening to audiobooks and videos than speaking, you may have a basic grasp of the words. But when it’s time to say them out loud, you struggle with the pronunciation. Today, we’re going to look at five steps to help you improve your English pronunciation. If you incorporate these steps into your daily routine, your pronunciation will improve quickly, and you’ll speak English with more ease and clarity.

5 STEPS TO BETTER ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION

1. Break down big words into syllables

Most English words are about two syllables, maybe three. These are everyday words that are easy to read and speak. When you encounter bigger words you’re struggling with, remember that you can always simplify them by breaking them down into syllables.

2. Learn when to stress words and sounds

Besides how you pronounce words, the way you stress or emphasize them matters when speaking natural English. 

Intonation is the rise and fall of your tone of voice when speaking. For example, when you ask a “yes” or “no” question, you should raise your tone somewhat at the end of your question.

When it comes to pronouncing words, sometimes it makes a difference if you put the emphasis on a certain syllable within that word. I’ll use the word “present” to show you how stressing words works.

If you stress the first syllable in present – “PRE sent” – you’re referring to a gift you bought for someone. When you stress the second syllable “pre SENT”, you mean you’re giving or making something known, such as presenting a report to your colleagues.

Stress isn’t only important with syllables, but also with whole words. Within a sentence, some words are stressed and some are unstressed in English.

So, how can you be sure which words to stress? You need to know the difference between function and content words.

Function words are those you use for everyday grammar. They include pronouns, conjunctions, articles, prepositions, and auxiliary verbs like have, be, and do. 

Content words are adverbs, adjectives, verbs, and nouns. Adverbs are for describing the when, where, and how of something and adjectives for the thing, place, person, or object. A verb is a state or action and a noun is a thing, place, or person.

When determining whether to stress function or content words, it’s usually content words. 

3. Choose one accent and stick with it

Another part of improving your English pronunciation is selecting one accent and using it going forward. There are different accents around the world. You likely have an accent from your home country, but now you’re trying to switch to an English accent when you speak.

Whichever accent and dialect you decide suits you best, make sure that you’re ready to stick with it for the long haul. Suddenly switching accents after years of speaking one can be like learning English all over again in some regards. 

4. Listen to English audiobooks

When a word comes up in which the pronunciation eludes you, write it down. You can look up the word in a dictionary such as WordReference.com to find out how it’s pronounced.

You can watch educational videos or TED talks on YouTube and turn the captions on. You could also listen to a podcast, and I especially recommend NPR’s podcasts because these have transcripts you can read along as you listen.

5. Record yourself speaking to find pronunciation weaknesses

Recording yourself speaking is an invaluable tool in bettering your English pronunciation, so it’s something you want to make into a regular habit. Whatever errors you made, write them down ;)