Tips for English Pronunciation

For me, pronunciation is the 5th skill when learning a language. One of the problems learners have is that they don’t realise that you have to practise pronunciation with just as much importance as you practise grammar points. This means opening your mouth and speaking because pronunciation can’t be practised in your head.

Try these helpful tips and see if you notice a difference:

1. Do not pronounce everything you read. English pronunciation needs to be learned and remembered. This is the same for both native and non-native speakers.

2. Listen carefully to the way native speakers pronounce words and copy them!

3. Watch TV, listen to the radio, listen to other people’s conversation on the bus, train, luas etc and pay particular attention to the way they pronounce certain words. You’re not listening to them for their conversation and for their ‘expert’ pronunciation. Basically....keep your ears open :-)

4. A lot of people think that they can speak English with the same mouth they speak Spanish, Italian, Portuguese etc with and this is not true. You need to use your mouth, tongue and lips in a different way when you’re speaking a different language. Go into your bathroom, look in the mirror and practise the new pronunciation of words you have just learnt by opening your mouth and forming the different sounds. Your eyes will see your mouth forming this new shape, your ears will hear the new pronunciation and your brain will (hopefully :-( ) put all this new information together and remember the correct pronunciation for the next time.

Good luck with your ears :-)

Vivienne
Director of Studies