ESL Pronunciation

For the ESL student it is vitally important to minimize your native accent and improve your pronunciation skills so that your spoken English is clearly understood. As a rule, pronunciation and accent reduction should be learned as you pursue your English studies so that it becomes a part of your study program. Often times a person learns English with an excellent theoretical understanding but through one reason or another has not had enough opportunities to actively engage in the spoken aspect of ESL.

As time goes on the student becomes very despondent with the quality of their spoken English skills, because this is not reflecting the true level of their ability. It is easy to lose confidence when others cannot understand your accent easily. At the end of the day it doesn't really matter how great your grammar is if you have a hard time communicating clearly with others.

In an earlier post I explained some of the rules of English pronunciation. Please click here to read that article.

English is a very musical sounding language with a range of intonation and distinct rhythm which gives meaning to the words we say. Not all languages are like this, and therefore it is important for the ESL student to become familiar with the distinct sound of English.

Another difficulty for ESL learners is the fact that English is not a phonetic language. Some of the spellings are very odd and can be pronounced in many different ways. For example, the spelling of ough has a variety of ways in which it can be pronounced. No wonder ESL students encounter some frustrations when figuring out the correct way to say something! Looking at the example of ough here are some examples of the different ways to pronounce it.

• Cough   -   ough pronounced as off
• Thought  -  ough pronounced as or
• Though  -  ough pronounced as oh (as in so)
  
• Enough  - ough pronounced as uff
• Bough -   ough pronounced as ow ( as in cow)
• Fought - ough pronounced as ort 

For many people a viable solution to this dilemma is the learning of the phonetic alphabet. The symbols can help a student identify the correct way in which to pronounce words. I think that this approach works better the younger a person is. That is not to say that mature students cannot learn the phonetic alphabet, but in my experience younger people seem to pick it up more easily. However, if you do not have a pronunciation teacher to help you with saying the words correctly, then it is possible that through understanding the phonetic alphabet, you can learn to correctly pronounce words.

As an accent reduction and pronunciation tutor, I have can offer you the following tips to help you improve your spoken English.

• Speak as much English as possible and give people permission to correct you.   
• Watch English speaking movies and TV shows in order to hear the sounds of English. Over time this will increase your ability to copy the rythm and intonation patterns. 
•  Use an online dictionary with audio to help you with pronouncing words that you are not sure about. 
• If possible work with an ESL Tutor or native speaker. 
• Enjoy the challenges of perfecting your English skills. Try and remain confident and know that practice does pay off in the end.

With regular commitment and effort you will improve. I am a qualified ESL Tutor and specialize in pronunciation and accent reduction. Click here to send me email to arrange an initial free consultation.

Lesson Ideas for ESL Tutors.

I like to give ESL lessons that are topical, about things that students may have come across on TV or read about in the news. As we are now in "award season" and there have been many award shows on TV giving out statues to actors and the like, I decided to do a lesson with the students that dealt with this topic. This also gave us an opportunity to revise some vocabulary we had learned earlier in the year regarding movies, TV shows and actors. Some of the vocabulary we went over included,

• Blockbuster
• Comedy
• Thriller
• Romantic comedy
• Horror 
• Genre
• Independent
• Special effects
• Leading man
• Leading lady
• Ensemble cast
• The Oscars
  

Some of the new vocabulary that I introduced included,

• Nominations
• Nominee
• Award
• Golden Globe Award
• SAG Award
• Best Performance
• Motion picture
• Drama
• Musical
• Animated Feature Film
• Acceptance speech
  

We then brainstormed movies and TV shows that the students had seen during the previous year and I wrote them on the board. We decided to do our own awards show with the list that the students had created. I asked each of them to choose one movie and one TV show that they had most enjoyed and gave them time in the class to come up with some compelling reasons for their nominations as they were going to be giving a short speech on the reasons for their choices.

The students really enjoyed this exercise and we were able to practice the past tenses, adjectives, as well as honing their presentation skills. The lesson also offered the students some insight into what is a culturally popular past time here - award shows. Many students use TV and movies to develop their English skills as well as gaining understandings about the culture they are temporarily living in so this lesson fitted in well. The students learned some new vocabulary and relished the chance to vote for their favorites. As a follow up assignment we discussed the movies and TV shows in their own countries and how they differ from typical Hollywood offerings. This proved to be very educational for me and I appreciate learning from my students, about their homelands.

I am a qualified ESL tutor who specializes in online ESL tutoring .

Click here to send me email.

Accent Reduction Tips for Japanese speakers

In my accent reduction classes, we look at the various pronunciation problems that the ESL student might be experiencing. Over time and with plenty of practice, it is possible to vastly improve the sound and quality of your spoken English.

A native speaker of Japanese will generally need to focus upon intonation so that the voice has the rise and fall of standard English. It is sometimes difficult for learners of English to speak words with the correct intonation and the voice at times can sound a little quiet. It is worth spending time on practicing pitch, stress and intonation in order to overcome this. Please click here for an article I previously wrote on accent reduction.

The sounds of ee and i are difficult to distinguish between for many nationalities and the same holds true for Japanese learners of English. In an earlier post I wrote about this. Please click here for practice with the sounds of ee and i ( as in heat and hit).


The sounds of l and r are especially difficult and the correct position of the tongue will ensure that you produce the sounds correctly. The tongue needs to hit the top of the mouth behind the teeth to correctly sound l. For sounding r the tongue is toward the back of the mouth but should not touch the roof of the mouth. Please click here for tips on how to pronounce l and r correctly.


Extra practice with the sounds of th will also help improve the quality of your pronunciation as this sound can be either unvoiced or voiced. Compare the following words,

• think   -  those
• teeth  -  that
• health  - breathe      

The first word in each line is said with an unvoiced th, whereas the second word is said with a voiced th. Notice the difference in sound and the vibration that is felt in the lips with the voiced th. In an earlier post I wrote about the different th sounds. Please click here for further practice.

It is often helpful when working on individual sounds, to have a hand mirror to make sure that your tongue is in the correct position and that your mouth is in the correct shape. It is also worth recording yourself so that you can evaluate the sounds and keep track of your progress.

I am a qualified Accent Reduction Tutor and have helped many Russian speakers with the challenges of the English language. You are welcome to contact me for a free evaluation.

 Click here to send me email.

 

Accent Reduction Tips for Russian speakers

In my accent reduction tutoring lessons, I aim to cover the main areas of difficulty that the person may have.

A native speaker of Russian will generally need to focus upon intonation so that the voice has the rise and fall of standard English. Often referred to as the music of English, Russian speakers benefit from adding more rising sounds to the voice. Russian speakers already have plenty of falling intonation sounds so pay more attention to the peaks in your voice. In an earlier blog I wrote about some of the things you can to improve the overall sound and clarity of your voice. Please click here for further details.

There are certain sounds that are difficult for Russian speakers to produce. You might have problems with v. Make sure that your top teeth touch the inside of  your bottom lip and this will allow the v sound to vibrate. Try saying aloud the following words,

• vine
• vote
• valley
• van
• vinegar
  

You might also encounter the same difficulties with w. Perhaps you mix them up so that vest becomes west and vine becomes wine. For pronouncing w make sure the lips start in a tight round shape and your top teeth are not touching the bottom lip. Try saying aloud the following words,

• west
• wine
• wind
• win
• wheel
  

Distinguishing between the sounds of ee and i can also be difficult and in an earlier post I wrote about this. Please click here for practice with the sounds of ee and i ( as in heat and hit).

Sometimes the English sound of t is difficult and is mistakenly sounded as a d. For example the word tip is pronounced as dip instead. For the t sound make sure the tip of the tongue remains behind the top teeth. 

The sound of ing can also be challenging. Sometimes instead of the ing being pronounced as one sound, it can come out as just n. Remember that ing is a soft nasal sound and this helps it not sound too hard. 

It is often helpful when working on individual sounds, to have a hand mirror to make sure that your tongue is in the correct position and that your mouth is in the correct shape. It is also worth recording yourself so that you can evaluate the sounds and keep track of your progress.

I am a qualified Accent Reduction Tutor and have helped many Russian speakers with the challenges of the English language. You are welcome to contact me for a free evaluation.

Click here to send me email.

Accent Reduction - pronouncing /i/ and /iy/

/i/ and /iy/ Pronunciation Guide


The pronunciation of /iy/, such as in the word “read”, is easily confused with the pronunciation of /i/, such as in the word "rid". It is particularly difficult for Spanish speakers to get this correct. However, the difference in pronunciation can be easy to learn and can make a large improvement on your accent reduction.


The sound of /iy/ is that of a long “E” sound. Frequently the ESL student will pronounce it as a short sound, making a word such as “keep” sound like “kip”.


The differences in pronunciation of the /iy/ and /i/ sounds have to do with how the tongue is placed in the mouth. For both sounds the tongue is placed toward the front of the mouth and the lips are relaxed. The difference is that with the /iy/ sound, the center of the tongue is pressed upward toward the roof of the month. For the /i/ sound, the center of the tongue is allowed to relax downward. In addition, the vowel sound of /iy/ has a slightly longer duration than that of /i/.


Words with the /iy/ sound

The /iy/ sound is a long E sound. Words that have this sound will have the vowel combinations below:

ea
ee
e
ie
ei
ete
e’s


Practice speaking these examples of words with the /iy/ sound: tea, feed, me, believe, receive, concrete, she’s.


Words with the /i/ sound

The /i/ sound is a short I sound. These words will have an “i” in them without a silent “e” at the end.

Practice speaking these examples of words with the /i/ sound: flip, sit, chin, winter.


Minimal Pairs for /iy/ and /i/

Learning the difference between these two sounds can be aided by studying minimal pairs. Minimal pairs are pairs of words that are the same except for the vowel sound. The English language has a large number of minimal pairs for these two vowel sounds. So, mastering the difference between these two sounds can go a long way toward reducing your accent. Alternatively, not understanding the difference may lead to many misunderstandings.


Click here for examples of minimal pairs for the /iy/ and /i/ sounds and to hear how they are pronounced.

Now that you understand the difference in these two sounds, practice speaking the following words and listen to how they sound different. Can you identify which sound (/iy/ or /i/) is used for each of the words?

• His, he’s
• This, these
• Live, leave
• Rid, reed
• Rich, reach

As with all other areas of your ESL studies, practice is essential. After you have reviewed these rules and practiced them, try taking this quiz.

If you are looking for more help with pronunciation and accent reduction, I do offer private tutoring. I am a qualified Accent Reduction Tutor and have successfully coached many English learners.

Click here to send me email.