Correctly Pronouncing English

Correct English pronunciation is perhaps one of the hardest things for many English language learners to master. English pronunciation involves many factors besides just sounds. Intonation and stresses are just two of many nuances that make spoken English what it is today. Learners should be encouraged not to completely eliminate their accents, but to improve their understanding of English sounds in order to pronounce words with as much accuracy as they can. Complete mastery of native English pronunciation is not realistic, and hence should not be pursued.

When learning English pronunciation, there are many things learners can pay attention to that will help them create the sounds correctly. Some of these things are mouth position, voicing, aspiration, intonation, and vowel length.

In order to learn correct English pronunciation, learners should first have a basic understanding of how a sound is physically created by the articulators, or the parts of the mouth that help to create the sound. The lips, tongue, teeth, nose, and roof of the mouth all play a part in creating the right sound. Sounds of English (http://www.soundsofenglish.org/pronunciation/sounds.htm) is a website that contains many diagrams and audio resources to help you understand what your mouth should look like when attempting to create certain sounds. Among the many sounds the website focuses on are the subtle differences in mouth position when pronouncing words like “ought/hot”, “bit/pit/, “thy/thigh” and many more. Learning to pronounce these words in context of each other will help learners identify the differences between the sounds.

Voiced sounds are sounds that make the vocal chords vibrate when they are pronounced. If you touch your throat while you make the hard “g” sound, as in “goat” for example, the throat vibrates. Many voiced sounds have counterpart unvoiced sounds. For example, the hard “d” sound is the voiced counterpart of “t”. This page created by the eLearn English Language community (http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/esl/pronunciation/consonantsvoiced-unvoiced.html) contains more information on voiced/unvoiced pairs.

Aspirated sounds are those accompanied by the release of a strong puff of air when they are produced. Aspirated sounds are usually consonants that occur at the beginning of many words. The English consonants “k”, “p”, and “t” are some commonly aspirated sounds. Learners should pay attention to whether an English word contains aspirated sounds or not, because if the aspiration does not occur when it needs to, chances are that the word is being pronounced incorrectly.

Word and sentence intonation is another important factor in mastering pronunciation and spoken English. It is the final touch that makes or breaks an accent. Good intonation can take the attention off bad pronunciation. One of my favorite examples is “WHITE house” versus “white HOUSE”. In the first phrase, “WHITE house”, the emphasis and intonation is on the adjective which means that it’s not any house, but it’s the “WHITE house” that is found in Washington, D.C. The second phrase, “white HOUSE”, emphasizes the noun house, and refers to a house that is painted white. This website (http://www.learnenglish.de/pronunciation/intonationexpression.htm) has other expressions that can help you practice correct emphasis and intonation.

Last but not least, vowel length plays an important role in correct pronunciation. Vowel length is the perceived duration of a sound. English is one of the few languages that distinguishes between vowel lengths. Long vowel lengths can sometimes be thought of as two identical short vowels. When listening to and practicing saying English words, pay specific attention to how long the vowels are pronounced for. Super Teacher Worksheets (http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/phonics.html) contains some free phonics worksheets to help you master long and short vowels.

Hopefully, the resources introduced above will help you gain a better understanding of correct English pronunciation. For more information on free resources for English language learners, please visit the other articles related to English as a Second Language.