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Wednesday, 08 May 2013 12:55

Tips for Improving Pronunciation II

When you are having a conversation with others in English, do you have to repeat your sentences over and over again? Maybe it is not because you speak too fast, rather it could be due to your pronunciation. Yes, pronunciation plays a big role in developing your communication skills.

How you pronounce a word depends on two things – your tone and accent. For you to become proficient with the English language, you need to work on and improve English pronunciation. We have already given you useful tips for improving and understanding the right pronunciation. Practicing and selecting an accent are just the primary stages. Apart from that, there are various other ways to help you improve English pronunciation.

Before we explore the ways to get this task accomplished, let us learn why is it so important to learn and understand the rules of pronunciation.

English language is used for communication. The definition of communication is, strictly speaking, to share the ideas and thoughts using a common medium. Now , if two people speak two different 'varieties' of English, it will completely defeat the purpose. So, yes, we need to pronounce words in a particular way to facilitate understanding and sharing.

Secondly, the way you pronounce a word and how well you use it speaks oodles about your fluency with the language.

Now that you understand just why you need to improve English pronunciation, let us learn how to go about it.

Break the words: This tip is especially handy when you encounter long words, and are left scratching your head, wondering what to do about it! In such cases, breath in, calm down and look at the word again. Let's us take one word for example, 'farther', now why not break this word in two and then try reading it again? 'Far'-'ther', now reading these 'two' words is easy, and once you have done that, join the two and read them together. You can apply this rule to most words: pro-nun-ciation, prag-matic, audio-visual!

Record yourself: Do you fear that you fumble, speak too slow or fast or that you take long pauses, to give yourself some thinking time? The best way of finding out your mistakes, and eventually improving on them, is to record yourself when you speak English. This way you can hear it repeatedly and know where you make mistakes.

Pay attention to the sounds: English is a confusing language, and we cannot stress enough about it. Many words are spelled differently from the way they are pronounced. Moreover, many words, when spoken together 'sound' a lot different. For example, if you are listening to English songs, you will realize that many times 'don't you' sounds like 'donchu'. To understand such words, you need to pay attention to the 'sounds' of words.

If you wish to improve English pronunciation, understand that it is not a one-time job. A good English language student is the one who keeps learning and improving. Getting a grip on the English language will help you excel in your career as well as boost your confidence. Get in touch with eAgeTutor and take your first step towards learning the English language.

Published in Spoken English
    

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