As we all know, English is a universal language commonly spoken in many parts of the world. It is a common communication medium spoken by people from different world nativity. But do we know whether we pronounce specific English words correctly as native speakers? Have you ever come across people who pronounce certain words in a different way than you had ever used to do, or people would have told you that your way of pronunciation is different from theirs? You might have wondered which one of the pronunciations is right. Yours? Or theirs? To solve this issue, FITA Academy offers excellent language training. Join Spoken English Classes in Pondicherry to improve your English.
Here are some tips given below for how to pronounce English words correctly. But before going to that, let’s talk about the reasons that are causing this issue. How to quickly improve your English pronunciation and sound like a native speaker?
Why is it so essential to pronounce English words in a certain way?
Pronunciation is nothing but a way in which someone sounds the word of a language while speaking. A lot of people have trouble pronouncing an English word properly. The effect of vocabulary is very important when it comes to communication. To master English, a person must know how to pronounce english words correctly. Pronunciation is the only way you can notice the intonation: the rising and falling of the voice. Some people don't know how to pronounce certain words. That can affect the emotion of that particular word. Sometimes people might not get the right meaning of that word when it’s not pronounced properly.
Proper pronunciation plays a vital role in listening. The person from the other side will intake the sounds from your pronunciation to reply appropriately. So it’s very important to follow a specific pattern to pronounce the words in the right way. Our Spoken English Classes in Trichy provide extensive knowledge of English. Our mentors make the session more interactive and engaging.
Pronunciation is the main feature of a language. Pronunciation includes vocabulary and grammar. When it comes to vocabulary and grammar, they are considered to be the main features of Pronunciation. When it comes to the skills of the language, it includes speaking and listening skills. So it is very important to focus on how you pronounce certain English words.
Why do certain people pronounce English words differently?
Different pronunciations in English mainly occur due to a strong influence of other languages. This issue might happen if that particular person belongs to a different nativity or if that person doesn’t have a strong base in English. Different pronunciations will also occur due to the constant changes occurring, like the language, or when people are unaware of how to pronounce english words properly.
We can give an enormous amount of reasons for this, but the common reason for this issue is “lack of vocabulary”. Some people will mispronounce words due to a lack of practice and lack of self-confidence too.
The reasons that cause pronunciation differences are age, nativity, surroundings, the influence of other languages, and many more. So now let’s come to the fact that how to pronounce English words correctly.
Steps that will help you to pronounce English words correctly
Let’s have a step-by-step solution for this issue.
- Listening skills - usually we use to hear our elders warn us to talk less and listen more. It’s a typical way for our parents and other older people to educate us about the importance of listening skills. Listen to many English speech videos, ted talks, and other English speech-related videos and audio. Keenly listen to the pronunciation of every single word. Listen to others' pronunciation and make sure that it is the proper way of pronouncing that particular word and compare it with your speech.
- Talk your heart out about something you will always feel confident about. Record your speech. Listen to your speech and compare it with the videos you saw and listened to previously. This will show you the place where you make mistakes.
- Use a dictionary. Using a dictionary will help you to cross-check your speech and to improve your English.
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There is no “correct manner” to pronounce a particular word, especially in English. This is because words are pronounced way differently in America than in British. A person can either use British English pronunciation or American English pronunciation. Both are correct.
But mispronunciation doesn’t lie on either side of these things. We all know that every language has its rules and pronunciation patterns. Likewise, English also has its pattern of pronunciation, but it relies on what kind of English you speak. Whether it's American or British English, so before getting into how to pronounce in english, let’s talk about what kind of English we speak.
Let’s talk about the types of English languages
The standard categories of the English language most people know about are American English and British English. But other than that, several other types of English languages spoken around the world, like Scottish English, Irish English, Australian English, New Zealand English, Singlish, etc. When you talk about American English, it has a lot of subcategories in it. Each part of America speaks a different kind of English.
There are different groups of Dialects in the US like
- Western American English.
- North Central American English.
- Northern American English.
- Midland American English.
- Southern American English.
- New York City American English.
- Northern New England American English.
What makes these categories of languages unique from each other?
The languages mentioned above differ from each other by the pronunciation, style of speaking, etc. Difference between American and British English includes pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, idioms, and formatting of dates and numbers. Even though it has a lot of aspects that differentiate between them, pronunciation and vocabulary, and spelling are considered to be the most significant difference in it. So once you know these differences, knowing how to pronounce English words correctly will be helpful. So each kind of English language has its own rules and patterns of pronunciation and style.
Is there any rule for pronunciation in english?
This means the way how a word is spoken. As mentioned above, every English language has its style.
E.g., Some people will pronounce the word horror as [HORR]+[UH] - they will exaggerate it by saying it out loud. Some people pronounce it as [HOAR]+[ER] - in a husky voice to create a goosebumps moment out of fear.
The above example helps give you an idea about how to pronounce a word in different kinds of English languages.
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How to sound like a native English speaker?
- As mentioned above, listening is an excellent way to know what native speakers sound like. Carefully listen to the pronunciation of a native speaker. Every single move of pronunciation is essential.
- If you want to sound like a native speaker, you should not only concentrate on pronunciation. You should also learn the melody and pitch of every single word. This aspect comes under the category of style.
- “Practice makes a man perfect”; a person should practice a lot to get adapted to the native style of the language.
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It’s the pronunciation that matters a lot. People pronunciation might sound similar at times. But if you listen carefully, you can spot the minute sound difference. Spend time with a native speaker so that it will be easy for you to practice the native pronunciation.
Focusing on minute differences while speaking in a flow might sound hard, but it will be easy once you adapt. As our elders said, “Use your ears more than your mouth”. Pay attention to your ears more than speaking.
Look at the movement of their mouth while talking. This helps you to get an idea about how that particular word is pronounced. Try to recognize the different styles and pronunciations of several accents. Pronunciation of vocabulary is the easiest way to recognize the difference between two different accents.
The lack of opportunity to practice English is the major reason for the pronunciation issues. The advantages of learning English will not be that high for learners who live in a non-English speaking country. The above-mentioned factors affect the pronunciation of the people.
Pronouncing a word from a foreign language correctly all of a sudden takes a lot of work. That needs practice, so that person should practice that language from childhood to adapt to it. When it comes to adults' English pronunciation, age is the main factor that affects it. It will be difficult for them to adapt to a different type of pronunciation all of a sudden. Sometimes, the stress of speaking a foreign language will also result in wrong pronunciation in english.
People mostly misunderstand you because of the confusing words we produce while speaking to them. Try to recognize the difference between the English letters. The letters ‘p’ and ‘b’ or ‘t’ and ‘d’ sound the same when your speech is continuously flowing. This might sound like a very small issue, but this can also ruin the whole conversation. So always pay attention to the pronunciation while speaking.