How Can I Improve My English Pronunciation? (Part 1)
2020-02-08
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1Many people want to sound more like native English speakers.
2So they send questions about pronunciation to us here at VOA Learning English. We often get asked:
3"How can I improve my English pronunciation?"
4Today we will look at two simple things you can do to improve your pronunciation.
5The first is to speak loudly enough.
6Many people learning a foreign language worry about having an accent or saying words differently because of their mother tongue.
7Yet there are plenty of people who have learned English as a second or even third language.
8Take, for example, Hollywood actors Antonio Banderas and Jackie Chan.
9The two are non-native English speakers.
10Banderas has a Spanish accent, while Chan has a Chinese accent.
11But both men are easy to understand, partly because they speak loudly and clearly.
12When speaking, the goal should be communicating to be easily understood, not removing your accent, which is often hard to do.
13To read more on this subject, see our story called Keep Your Identity While Changing Your Accent.
14The second thing you can do to improve pronunciation is to listen for patterns.
15English sentences have a rhythm. In other words, you will find a kind of systematic arrangement, or order, to the words and expressions.
16When you listen to someone speaking English, try humming along with the rhythm of their sentences.
17Think of yourself making sounds like that of an insect.
18Here is an example: What are you doing in there?
19The line shows how the voice changes:
20Here's what it sounds like to hum this sentence.
21It is easy to make sounds while keeping your mouth closed.
22Some English learners like to listen to music and sing songs.
23These exercises will help you to learn the rhythms of the language.
24For more exercises, see our story Improve Your Pronunciation by Training Your Ears.
25Next time, we will talk about some more things you can do to improve your pronunciation.
26And that's Ask a Teacher!
27I'm Jill Robbins.
1Many people want to sound more like native English speakers. So they send questions about pronunciation to us here at VOA Learning English. We often get asked: 2Question: 3"How can I improve my English pronunciation?" 4Answer: 5Today we will look at two simple things you can do to improve your pronunciation. 6Speak loudly enough 7The first is to speak loudly enough. 8Many people learning a foreign language worry about having an accent or saying words differently because of their mother tongue. 9Yet there are plenty of people who have learned English as a second or even third language. Take, for example, Hollywood actors Antonio Banderas and Jackie Chan. The two are non-native English speakers. Banderas has a Spanish accent, while Chan has a Chinese accent. But both men are easy to understand, partly because they speak loudly and clearly. 10When speaking, the goal should be communicating to be easily understood, not removing your accent, which is often hard to do. 11To read more on this subject, see our story called Keep Your Identity While Changing Your Accent. 12Listen for patterns 13The second thing you can do to improve pronunciation is to listen for patterns. 14English sentences have a rhythm. In other words, you will find a kind of systematic arrangement, or order, to the words and expressions. When you listen to someone speaking English, try humming along with the rhythm of their sentences. Think of yourself making sounds like that of an insect. 15Here is an example: What are you doing in there? 16The line shows how the voice changes: 17Here's what it sounds like to hum this sentence. 18It is easy to make sounds while keeping your mouth closed. 19Some English learners like to listen to music and sing songs. These exercises will help you to learn the rhythms of the language. 20For more exercises, see our story Improve Your Pronunciation by Training Your Ears. 21Next time, we will talk about some more things you can do to improve your pronunciation. 22And that's Ask a Teacher! 23I'm Jill Robbins. 24Dr. Jill Robbins wrote this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 25Do you have a question for the teacher? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or email us at learningenglish@voanews.com. 26____________________________________________________________ 27Words in This Story 28accent - n. a way of pronouncing words that occurs among the people in a particular region or country 29mother tongue - n. native language 30pattern - n. a repeated design; a kind of system or order 31rhythm - n. a regular, repeated pattern of sounds or movements