【英语】改善英语的发音

1. Learn the phonetic alphabet

Getting familiar with the phonetic alphabet will help you identify new sounds and provide you with some markers to navigate the language you want to learn. Familiarity with a language’s phonemes helps you recognize sounds that your ear isn’t "tuned" to natively. Once you can recognize these sounds, you’ll start noticing them way more often when speaking and listening in your new language.

By becoming aware of the range of sounds that exist in the language you are learning, you’ll learn how to differentiate sounds that seem similar to the untrained ear, and it will make spelling easier. This can be especially helpful if you are learning mostly by reading.

2. Get familiar with the spoken language

Switch from theory to practice: try to expose yourself as much as possible to the language you are learning. Talk as much as possible with native speakers if you have the chance. When you have trouble pronouncing a particular word, ask people to repeat it and record it on your phone. You can then replay it and train your pronunciation as often as you wish. You can also listen to the correct pronunciation on some online dictionaries so that your ear gets familiar with all the sounds that initially strike you as unusual. Listen to podcasts or stream TV shows in the language. Even if you can’t understand everything, put it on in the background when you’re doing your chores so you get used to the particular melodies and unfamiliar sounds.

3.Identify what’s "weird" about the pronunciation

With this exposure, you’ll quickly notice that your new language has many sounds in common with your native tongue (even if those sounds are written differently). With the similarities identified, you can focus in earnest on the sounds that don’t exist in your native tongue. Resist the temptation to systematically compare these unfamiliar sounds with similar ones from your native language. This might seem like a useful shortcut, but it’s a bad habit that will make bad pronunciation even harder to correct in the long run.

Ignoring the peculiar sounds of your new language will, at best, make you sound silly and, at worst, result in you actually saying the wrong words! The difference between the Spanish pero and perro is a rolled r, but they don’t mean the same thing. And if you’re learning French, people will have trouble understanding you if you don’t learn to pronounce the subtle differences between cent, sang, sens and sans, or au, aux and eau.

If you really have trouble with one phoneme in particular, use cards. Write it down along with other similar-but-different phonemes. Repeat them aloud several times. This will help you to recognize nuances and master those small differences.

4.Listen, listen, listen!

As mentioned in point two, the internet gives you access to plenty of audio material that can help you improve your pronunciation. Listen as much and as regularly as possible, but instead of always focusing on grammar and vocabulary, dedicate some time to the phonetic aspects of the language. Listen to short audio tracks and focus on rhythm, breaks and intonation. Try to understand what gives the sentence its fluidity and try to imitate it. If you watch a movie in your learning language, avoid reading the subtitles and keep your eyes on the actors’ mouths.

If you find it too hard, slow down the speed of the video or audio that you are watching (most digital media players allow you to do this; you can even slow down YouTube videos). This can help you identify and separate each syllable.

If, on the other hand, your comprehension level is already quite good, you can challenge yourself by accelerating the speed.

5.Practice, practice, practice

Training your accent requires some skill and patience, so don’t get demotivated if it doesn’t come immediately. For maximum efficiency, your training sessions should be frequent — no longer than two days between sessions. Collect newspaper articles, movie scripts and lyrics, and record yourself while reading them aloud. Then listen and analyze: What are your strengths and weaknesses? Which of your native speaking habits are you carrying over to your new language? You can also ask native speakers for input. For example, you could upload your recordings to online communities like Judge my accent.

Accents can be tricky, but never lose hope! The more you speak and the more feedback you can get (either from yourself or native speakers), the better your accent will become.