Pronunciation matters - believe me!
Why?
- Rightly or wrongly, the way that you speak is one of the first things that people notice about you. People will judge your background, education and social standing just by the way you speak.
- Even if you can already communicate in English if you don't speak clearly, people won't understand you and they won't want to talk to you, because it's just too tiring.
- Listening and understanding are also important. If you don't know how different words are pronounced you will not improve your understanding.
Don't confuse pronunciation with accent. It doesn't mean that we all have to talk like the Queen of England. As long as your pronunciation is understandable and pleasant that's fine, if people struggle to understand you then you may need to try and reduce your accent, but unless you are an actor, and you need to play different roles, please don't try to get rid of your accent.
But successful speaking is more than just knowing how to pronounce words correctly.
Enunciation is is the act of speaking clearly and concisely, making each word sound as clear as possible.
Elocution is about putting the right emphasis and nuance into what you are saying.
Here you can:-
- Learn the English alphabet.
- How to pronounce "the".
- Learn to pronounce L
- Learn to pronounce R
- Learn to pronounce S
- Learn the phonetic alphabet.
- Learn what those funny little phonetic symbols mean.
- Have fun with the pronunciation poem.
- Have more fun with another pronunciation poem.
- Even more fun with another crazy pronunciation poem.
- Learn the pronunciation of some pesky little homophones.
- You can also improve your listening and understanding by carrying out dictation practice online.
The following articles contain tips and ideas that may help you with accent reduction or softening your accent:-
- Elocution, Accent Softening & Voice Coaching - Stage 1
- Elocution, Accent Softening & Voice Coaching - Stage 2
- Intonation In English: Expression Of Two Words
- Intonation In English: Nouns And Adjectives Are Stressed Differently Than Verbs
- Silent Letters
- Voice Improvement
- Words ending in "d"
For more help with English pronunciation check out my recommended pronunciation books


