How Can I Improve My English Pronunciation? (Part 1)

Many people want to sound more like native English speakers. So they send questions about pronunciation to us here at VOA Learning¹ English. We often get asked:

Question:

How

Answer:

Today we will look at two simple things you can do to improve your pronunciation.

Speak loudly enough

The first is to speak loudly enough.

Many people learning a foreign language worry about having an accent or saying words differently because of their mother tongue.

Yet there are plenty of people who have learned² English as a second or even third language. Take, for example, Hollywood³ actors Antonio Banderas and Jackie Chan. The two are non-native English speakers. Banderas has a Spanish accent, while Chan has a Chinese accent. But both men are easy to understand, partly because they speak loudly and clearly.

When speaking, the goal should be communicating to be easily understood, not removing your accent, which is often hard to do.

To read more on this subject, see our story called Keep Your Identity⁴ While Changing Your Accent.

Listen for patterns

The second thing you can do to improve pronunciation is to listen for patterns.

English sentences have a rhythm⁵. In other words, you will find a kind of systematic⁶ arrangement, or order, to the words and expressions. When you listen to someone speaking English, try humming along with the rhythm of their sentences. Think of yourself making sounds like that of an insect.

Here is an example: What are you doing in there?

The line shows how the voice changes:

Here's what it sounds like to hum this sentence.

It is easy to make sounds while keeping your mouth closed.

Some English learners like to listen to music and sing songs. These exercises will help you to learn the rhythms⁷ of the language.

For more exercises, see our story Improve Your Pronunciation by Training Your Ears.

Next time, we will talk about some more things you can do to improve your pronunciation.

And that's Ask a Teacher!

Words in This Story

accent – n. a way of pronouncing words that occurs⁸ among the people in a particular region⁹ or country

mother tongue – n. native language

pattern – n. a repeated design; a kind of system or order

rhythm – n. a regular, repeated pattern of sounds or movements

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

3 Hollywood   

n.好莱坞；美国电影业

参考例句：

• She dreamed of becoming a Hollywood screen goddess.她梦想成为好莱坞的银幕女神。
• The film has a Hollywood happy ending.那部电影有一个好莱坞式的美满结局。

4 identity   

n.身份，本体，特征；同一(性)，一致

参考例句：

• He never revealed his identity.他从未暴露过自己的身份。
• He showed his identity card and went in.他把工作证亮了一下就进去了。

5 rhythm   

n.韵律；节奏

参考例句：

• He has an ear for the rhythm of Irish speech.他对爱尔兰语的节奏很敏感。
• His poem has a pleasing rhythm.他的诗有和谐的韵律。

6 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

7 rhythms   

节奏( rhythm的名词复数 )； 规则变化； 规律； 节律

参考例句：

• Double rhythms, resounding through the lyric depiction and connecting with each other, indicate the thespian place of mankind and the cognition of the writer to this thespian place. 这双重旋律互为表里，表明了人类的某种悲剧性处境以及作家对这种悲剧性处境的感受和认识。
• Stylistically, the term implies loose, rapid painthandling, large rhythms and broken colour. 从风格上来说，这个名称意味着松散而迅速的绘画笔触，奔放的格调，使用强烈配色。

8 occurs   

v.发生( occur的第三人称单数 )；被想起；被发现；（尤指基督教节日与别的节日）适逢同日

参考例句：

• It occurs to me that example is always more efficacious than precept. 我想到身教重于言教。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• When trouble occurs at one spot, help comes from all quarters. 一方有难，八方支援。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 region   

n.地区，地带，区域；范围，幅度

参考例句：

• The students went to study the geology of that region.学生们去研究那个地区的地质情况。
• It is unusual to see snow in this region.这个地区难得见到雪。