How To Improve Your Pronunciation

Pronouncing every word correctly leads to poor pronunciation!

Good pronunciation comes from stressing the right words - this
is because English is a time-stressed language. More info on
stress here…

Here's How:

Learn the following rules concerning pronunciation.

1. English is considered a stressed language while many other
languages are considered syllabic.
2. In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable
receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable
has its own length). Korean?
3. English pronunciation focuses on specific stressed words
while quickly gliding over the other, non-stressed, words.
4. Stressed words are considered content words: Nouns e.g.
kitchen, Peter - (most) principle verbs e.g. visit, construct -
Adjectives e.g. beautiful, interesting - Adverbs e.g. often,
carefully
5. Non-stressed words are considered function words:
Determiners e.g. the, a - Auxiliary verbs e.g. am, were -
Prepositions e.g. before, of - Conjunctions e.g. but, and -
Pronouns e.g. they, she
6. Read the following sentence aloud: The beautiful Mountain
appeared transfixed in the distance.
7. Read the following sentence aloud: He can come on
Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in
the evening.
8. Notice that the first sentence actually takes about the same
time to speak well!
9. Even though the second sentence is approximately 30%
longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to
speak. This is because there are 5 stressed words in each
sentence.
10 minute Activity
10.Write down a few sentences, or take a few example
sentences from a book or exercise.
11.First underline the stressed words, then read aloud focusing
on stressing the underlined words and gliding over the non-
stressed words.
12. You might be surprised at how quickly your pronunciation
improves! By focusing on stressed words, non-stressed
words and syllables take on their more muted nature.
13.When listening to native speakers, focus on how those
speakers stress certain words and begin to copy this
English Pronunciation Practice Exercises 2
Content or Function?

First, you need to be able to immediately distinguish between

content and function words. Write down 'C' for content and 'F'
for function. When you have finished click on the arrow to see if
you have answered correctly.

Example: magazine (C) as (F) many (F)

--
1. for
--
2. information
--
3. in order to
--
4. difficult
--
5. much
--
6. exacting
--
7. in front of
--
8. Jack
--
9. he
--
10. however
Which Words?
Next, take a look at the sentences and mark the words that
should be stressed. Once you have decided, click on the arrow
to see if you have chosen the correct words.

Example: Jack (yes) went (yes) to the shop (yes) to grab (yes)
some coke (yes).

1. Unfortunately, Jack wasn't able to finish on time.

--

2. As soon as he has collected the results he will post them to

--
his website.
--
3. Peter bought shoes today.
4. There should have been some replies by now.
--

5. Knowledge creates opportunities where none have existed

before.
--

Notice how some of the shorter sentences actually have more

stressed words than the longer ones (2 compared to 3). These
shorter sentences can often take longer to speak than longer
sentences with many function words!!!

The Music of English

English is a very rhythmic language because of this tendency to

accent only certain words. For this reason, you should practice
using your ear as much as possible. Often repeating spoken
English without looking at the written sentence can also help
you learn this 'music' of the language. Click on the audio
symbol below to listen to five sentences. Each sentence will be
repeated three times with gaps in-between so that you can try
repeating the sentences yourself. If you need some help, here
are the sentences which you can listen to and read while
working on this exercise.

Helping Yourself
Finally, practice speaking through the sentences below. First
speak the sentence trying to carefully pronounce EVERY word.
Notice how unnatural this sounds (as in the listening exercise
above showing the contrast between this unnatural
pronunciation and the natural way of speaking). Next, focus on
speaking the sentences only working on stressing the content
words. Tape yourself doing this and you will be surprised at how
quickly your pronunciation improves!

By the time he receives this letter, I will have caught the train
to Paris.
Following closely behind the herd was a group of filthy,
disgusting vultures.
I'll make sure to give him a ring the next time I'm in town.
Variety is the spice of life.
I'll have bought a new house by the time Jack finishes school!
PETA has been well known for its support by famous Hollywood
actors and actresses.
Why don't we catch a film tonight?
You'd be surprised at how many people find English almost
impossible to understand when spoken quickly.
A great way to improve listening skills is to listen to songs that
you are very familiar with and learn the words by heart.
My favorite magazine is called Wired. It focuses on cultural,
business and philosophical issues surrounding the information
age and its instruments.
So, as I was telling John, we had been waiting for about an hour
when Frank finally showed up.
Sentences that use a number of words to express simple ideas
are about as boring as overcooked cabbage.
Janet silently turned the page.
Ask students to pair up and practice the previous
exercise with each other. One student reads and repeats
his/her sentences while the other student repeats what
he/she hears.