Pronunciation Tips

Part 9

In part 10 of this free online ESL course the student will learn two tips which will help him/her improve pronunciation. A good pronunciation is not difficult. It is not the result of hours of work. Good pronunciation is the result of good exercises. A little effort on the student’s part and good exercises will help him speak English like a native speaker in a record time.

Here are two pronunciation tips which:

Tip # 1 Stay with one accent

I learned Dutch with the Dutch, and French with the Belgians.

Both the Dutch and the Flemish say they are the ones who speak the best. The Dutch use the GH sound a lot, and on the whole the language is harder on the ears. The Flemish eliminate the GH sound, and it comes out softer.

The same thing goes for the French and the Belgians. They both claim their accent is the best.

As long as the student sticks with the standard form, it doesn’t matter which accent he/she uses.

The important thing to do is stay with one accent. Don't swing from one to the other.

In English there is the British accent and the American one. Both are good. Both are correct. If you are an ESL student living in the United Kingdom learn English with a British accent. If you are an ESL student in the United States learn English with the American accent

Tip # 2  Listen to the news on TV.

I agree it isn’t easy work. Words and sometimes whole sentences fly by. That’s ok. Learning is progressive.

When we watch the news on TV we are working on two things:

1. Pronunciation
2. Oral comprehension.

Pronunciation and oral comprehension work hand in hand. If we pronounce words and sentences we don’t understand , we’re not speaking. We are simply parrots.

This is the way I worked:

1.   I used to listen to CNN every day. I was lucky. I had CNN. Not all ESL students can get the news on TV in their native language. That’s not a problem. Most newspapers worldwide have a website. The reason I advise students to read/listen to the news in their native language first is to know the subject. By doing this he/she will know what is going on in the world before listening to the newscast in English.
2. The next step is to listen to the news on TV in English. Start with International news.
3. Listen and look at the pictures.
4. Try to understand without translating.
5. Record the part concerning international news.
6. The following day listen to the recorder.
7. Repeat words and sentences.
8.  Try to imitate the speaker’s accent.

Assignment:

Do this exercise once or twice a week. You might like to follow it up with a newspaper.

Again, don’t worry if you don’t understand everything. Start with the headlines. Move on to the couple of lines under pictures.