Is Pronounciation important..??

We have touched on this topic before, but I believe pronunciation is a cornerstone ability to be able to communicate in English, so...

PRONUNCIATION

If you are a beginner and you have a small vocabulary, but good pronunciation, then you can communicate simply but successfully. However, if you have great grammar skills and vocabulary, but your pronunciation is BAD… your listener may not understand what you say! This could impact your confidence. If you have good pronunciation in English, you most likely will be understood.

DON’T BE EMBARRASSED BY PRONUNCIATION MISTAKES. UNDERSTAND THIS IS A LEARNING PROCESS.

IT TAKES TIME AND PRACTICE AND…

REMEMBER THIS IMPORTANT ITEM:

YOUR “ACCENT” IS NOT THE ISSUE HERE.

#1: PRACTICE SIMILAR PAIRS

• “Similar pairs” are two words that are different by only one sound. Some of these sounds may not exist in your native language, so it may be difficult to make the difference. Lots of practice is needed! For example:

• it / eat

• share / chair

• wait / wet

• ice / eyes

• free / three

• three/tree

#2:

PAY ATTENTION to word and sentence stress. English words -like in other languages- have a “strong” syllable. Unfortunately, there are no written accents in English, so you must learn these by listening and practicing. For example:

• ENG-lish – stress on the first syllable

• Im-PROVE – stress on the second syllable

IF YOU GET THE WORD STRESS WRONG, the word can sound completely different and makes it extremely difficult to understand! For some English words, their meaning changes when the stress is different:

• Ob-JECT (verb) = to disagree, to speak up against an idea

• OB-ject (noun) = an "object" that you can see.

In spoken English, complete sentences also have stressed words.

Example:

• “Last SATURDAY, I WENT to a MOVIE with my FRIENDS.“

When spoken naturally, the stress is on the words Saturday, went, movie, and friends. ALSO NOTE that the stressed words are usually forming a rhythmic pattern.

#3:

Practice “Linking” Your Words Together.

Many English students pronounce each word clearly and distinctly, trying get the pronunciation perfect – but native English speakers don’t do this.

• Normally spoken English contains links and reductions.

The words get “linked” together, and some sounds change and disappear when spoken at normal speed.

We don’t pronounce every individual word clearly. Here are some examples:

• “How are you doing today?”

Sounds like: “Howrya doin’ today?”

• “I’m going to go there tomorrow.”

Sounds like: “I’m gonnago there tomorrow.”

Learning and understanding how to use these “links” (these usually happen when a word ends with a consonant and the following word starts with a vowel sound) and “reductions” will help your English sound more continuous and natural. And this, will also help you understand better when a native speaker is talking with you.

#4: USE THE “SHADOWING” TECHNIQUE

• The “shadowing” (mirroring or imitation) technique helps you speak more like a native.

Do this:

1. Get an audio recording + transcript of a native speaker talking at normal speed.

2. Listen to the first sentence (or phrase) of the audio, then pause it and repeat it exactly, imitating the native speaker’s rhythm and the “flow” of the words

3. Continue – listen, pause, repeat after each phrase

If you can also try to do this without looking at a related text, it will be even more effective. You will be practicing the “rhythm” of English without having to look at the written form of the word – remember: many English words are written very differently from the way they are pronounced. This is the manner in which children learn to speak English. It works!!

#5: (YOU KNEW THIS ONE WAS COMING, RIGHT?)

LOTS OF PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!

• Improve your English pronunciation with LOTS of practice!

The key to improving your pronunciation in English is practice – just like exercise makes your body muscles stronger, pronunciation practice trains your mouth to speak English correctly.

REMEMBER:

you are “re-training” the muscles of your lips, mouth, and tongue to make different sounds, after many years of speaking your native language.

This takes time and practice!

REMEMBER:

If you truly want to accomplish something, you will find a way to overcome the "problems" and do what you wish to do. Yes, it takes work and dedication. I would even say a dose of perseverance and a bit of "stubbornness".

But hey... this is for your own benefit, right?

Aren't you worth all that?!!! DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

The word 'demonstrate' means to show. Demonstrative pronouns therefore are used to show or point at things or people. In English language, the following words are used to point at things or people:

this(singular, for near object or person),

that (singular, for faraway object or person),

these (plural, for near objects or people)

those (plural, for faraway objects or people). Examples:

1. This is a tree.

2. That is a tree. 🌲

3. These are trees.🌲🌲🌲

4. Those are trees. 🌲 🌲 🌲

NOTE: The above pronouns are also used as adjectives when they qualify a noun...A new pronoun - they / them

* This pronoun is used for a person with non-binary gender identity.

* "Non-binary" means "not male or female" (outside of male-female classification)

* A non-binary person may request you to use "they/them" as a pronoun to describe them.

* It is NOT for many people in this case.

E.g. "I worked with Alex in accounting. They was very pleasant to work with."

E.g. "Shiela can do that themself."

Bad vs. Badly

“Bad” is an adjective in most cases, which means it should be used only to modify nouns & pronouns.

“Badly ” is an adverb , which means it’s used to modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs— not nouns or pronouns.