CONCLUSION: HOW TO IMPROVE ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION

Knowing grammar and vocabulary are important but useless if you are unable to pronounce those structures or words correctly. Achieving good pronunciation should be a main goal. 

1. Read aloud in english for 15-20 minutes every day.

2. Watch English movies with English subtitles on. This has many advantages. You will be able to compare the written words to the correct pronunciation. You will get a feel of how real English sentences are formed when speaking.

3. Listen to English music/songs. This will help you a lot. 

4. Pronounce the ending of each word. pau special attention to "S" and "Ed" endings.  

5. Record your own voice and listen for pronunciation mistakes.

Many people hate to hear the sound of their voice and avoid listening to themselves speak. However, this is a very important exercise because doing it will help you become conscious of the mistakes you are making.

6.  Develop your vocabulary so you are able to talk about different topics. Try and learn new words that are useful in different contexts.  Using a thesaurus is a good way to develop your vocabulary.

7. Practice grammar skills. Record yourself speaking and try to identify your grammar errors. Study up on your mistakes and try again. 

SONG TRANSCRIPTION

English is one of the most difficult languages to learn, especially the written version, owing to the different sounds made by words which look similar, such as "wanted" and "walked." Although both these words end in "ed" one has a "d" sound and one has a "t" sound. As a result in phonology class we had to transcribe a song in order to recognize and improve the transcription of each consonant.

Now I share you a song with the lyric and  transcription:

SOMEONE LIKE YOU /səmwən/ /laɪk/ /juː/

I heard that you\'re settled down,

/aɪ/ /hərd/ /ðæt/ /jər/ /setəld/ /dæʊn/,

That you found a girl and you\'re married now,

/ðæt/ /juː/ /fæʊnd/ /ə/ /gərl/ /ənd/ /jər/ /meriːd/ /næʊ/

I heard that your dreams came true,

/aɪ/ /hərd/ /ðæt/ /jər/ /driːmz/ /keɪm/ /truː/,

Guess she gave you things I didn\'t give to you,

/ges/ /ʃiː/ /geɪv/ /juː/ /θɪŋz/ /aɪ/ /dɪdənt/ /gɪv/ /tə/ /juː/,

Old friend, why are you so shy?

/oʊld/ /frend/, /waɪ/ /ɑr/ /juː/ /soʊ/ /ʃaɪ/?

Ain\'t like you to hold back or hide from the light,

/eɪnt/ /laɪk/ /juː/ /tə/ /hoʊld/ /bæk/ /ɔr/ /haɪd/ /frəm/ /ðə/ /laɪt/,

VOWEL SOUNDS

A vowel is determined by the position of the tongue, lips, and lower jaw, and the resulting size and shape of the mouth and pharynx. Vowels are classed as close or open and high and low according to whether the tongue is held close to the roof of the mouth or low in the mouth. They are classed as front or back. They are classed as rounded or spread according to the shape of the lips: for example, the /iː/ in sheep is a close front spread vowel, the /ɪ/ in ship a semihigh front unrounded vowel.

 

There are many different vowel sounds, so we have to practice a lot in order to recognize each vowel and improve the pronunciation of each them. Here are some links that  help us to practice vowel sounds.

http://www.esltower.com/PRONUNCIATION/interactive/Vowel%20sounds%20phonetic%20exercise%20-%20output/quizmaker.html
http://www.fonetiks.org/engsou2am.html

SONG PRONUNCIATION

In phonology class we  had to sing a song just with consonant sounds, we pronounced every word just with consonant sounds using a video with consonant trancriptions. it was an enterteiment way to improve our pronunciation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ3vDoPLHAA

TONGUE TWISTER

Every day on phonology classes we had to learn a new tongue twister because those are one of the means of learning a language without getting bored. Tongue twisters help us  improve fluency in the language. Many tongue twisters contain similar sounding words/phrases with different meanings. This leads to another benefit of improving our vocabulary.

For example, “Sally sang songs on Sundays.” repeats the “s” sound many times.

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF TONGUE TWISTERS

 

• “How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?”
• “She sells sea shells down by the sea shore.”
• “A big black bug bit a big black bear, made the big black bear bleed blood. “
• If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch?”

http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/en.htm
http://www.indianchild.com/tongue_twisters.htm

CONSONANT SOUNDS

TABLE OF ENGLISH CONSONANT PHONEMES

 

Terms for the Manner in which the Sound is Made

Voiced	The vocal cords in the voice box or larynx are tensed.
Voiceless	The vocal cords are not tensed and there is an open passage of air as when whispering.
Glottalized	The voice box or larynx is momentarily closed creating a slight "popping" sound as when saying uh uh or oh oh.
Stop	The air passage is momentarily stopped and then released.
Fricative	The tongue, or back of the throat is placed in such a position that the air passes by continuously.
Nasal	The air is stopped and forced out the nasal cavity.
Glide	The sound is shaped by a slight movement of the lips or tongue.

Terms for the Place the Sound is Made

Bilabial	The sound is made with both lips.
Labio-Dental	The sound is made with the bottom lip against the top teeth.
Alveolar	The sound is made with the flat front of the tongue against the alveolar ridge, the bony ridge just behind the teeth.
Lateral	The sound is made with the tip of the tongue against the alveolar ridge in such a way that the sound can pass by on either side of the tongue.
Alveo-Palatal	The sound is made with the middle of the tongue against the area behind the alveolar ridge as it rises to the roof of the mouth or palate.
Palatal	The sound is made with the middle of the tongue against the roof of the mouth or palate.
Velar	The sound is made with the back of the tongue against the back of the roof of the mouth behind the palate, the velum.
Glottal	The sound is made in the area of the voicebox or larynx.

A speech sound that's not a vowel; a letter of the alphabet that represents a speech sound produced by a partial or complete obstruction of the air stream by a constriction of the speech organs.

The purpose of the chart is to show where in the mouth different consonant sounds derive and how much air is needed to create the sounds. For this reason, the chart often has the location of the sound (place) across the top and the way the sound is produced (manner) down the side Place of Articulation

Here are some videos that help us to pronounce consonants.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ergntBoeAHM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyhk6g4T-2M&feature=relmfu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0sdVIb5fpE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUFHwmKfDTc&feature=related