TIPS FOR IMPROVING PRONUNCIATIOn

  • Be patient. You won't improve your pronunciation overnight, but you can improve with repeated practice.
  • Focus on sounds that are difficult for you. You can get feedback from a teacher or use a diagnostic tool like posetest.com/ to learn which sounds you need to practice. 
  • Focus on one sound at a time. Don't try to correct all sounds at once.
  • Practice repeating the examples several times over several days, and pay attention to exactly what the muscles of your mouth are doing. (You can use a model such as the ones on https://soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu/ to see what your mouth should do)
  • If you have trouble pronouncing a word or sentence, break it into parts. Start with the sound you're practicing, then add a sound before it, then a sound after it. Continue adding parts until you can say the whole word or sentence.
  • For each sound, think of other words you've heard with that sound. Listen for that sound as you talk to other English speakers.
  • Try recording yourself and listening to your pronunciation. You can also share the recording with a teacher or friend.
  • Remember: Progress is gradual. For example, you may improve pronouncing a sound at the end of words before you improve pronouncing it at the beginning of a word. Be patient and continue practicing!


​USEFUL RESOURCES

These websites may be useful for English teachers and learners who are interested in pronunciation and word structure. Several of these resources aided the development of this website.