Hello Guys.
I know that I have been away from my posting blogs quite a lot. The reason why is that I have been studying, teaching Spanish and running a English conversation club at my work place.
Today, I just want drop down some lines and reflect on how to improve our pronunciation.
First of all, we have to be aware that this will take time and practice. At the beginning, many people are afraid to speak and make errors. At this stage my suggestion is that you have to speak, it doesn't matter if you make mistake, the idea is start being conscious about how we move our mouth, how we deliver our speaking, and how our speech is understood. I also recommend to watch the following videos https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDmYmMIR1b7G4ezf2JzLgRA They are a collections of videos that explain how we have to breath, move our mouth and link our speech.
While you are learning, you will find that the are some sounds and words that you find difficult to produce or that requires and extra practice from you. In my case I have identify th voiced and voiceless sound, st and xt combinations, and some plurals that takes /z/ pronunciation. When you have identify those sounds that you need to make a bit more practice you have to look in the dictionary for the right pronunciation. It will be good check a phonetic chart and learn the symbols and also listen to the pronunciation in a dictionary. Here you can start studying this http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/
Finally, the most important thing is to get the more practice you can have. Listen to music, watch videos on youtube, sign up in a group where you can speak and practice English. Besides you can watch some videos that will help you with your speaking and pronunciation. https://www.youtube.com/user/rachelsenglish
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEKXieT70wByfvZwP1CxdPQ
My final comment will be. Practice. I have experienced this by my self and I have realized that the only way your are going to improve your pronunciation is by practicing. Of course you have to work on you accent but as soon as you improve your pronunciation the accent becomes something that is not going to affect getting across the message. Remember that in communication the most important issue is to be understood.
Hope you like it.
Comments
Thank you for all your kind comments. Well, that'´s my profession to be a teacher. Besides, I have a long way to go in order to learn. Yes, the key is to practice. Go to see the videos, listen to music, talk, chat, videochat, etc. The more you practice the better you become.
Thanks a lot Carlos Mora for your precious suggestions. You have probably heard the old joke about the tourist who asks a cab driver how to get to Carnegie Hall, only to be told: "Practice, practice, practice!" I'll try to keep practice for learning.
Practice, practice, practice and more practice. Got it! :)
Thanks for the great post! It's great that you have identified some of your personal pronunciation weaknesses. It seems you also know that the best way to learn is to teach!