Strategies to improve pronunciation

Strategies to improve pronunciation

I must admit that I didn’t think about my pronunciation that much before we started talking about this topic in Frank’s class. Therefore, I am really glad that I was made aware to work on this aspect of language learning. I was previously unaware of the many special sounds the English language actually has and that I really have to work on them in order to pronounce them perfectly.  

The most difficult part of pronunciation for German speakers is for sure to get rid of the German accent. In order to identify your own accent, it is unavoidable to record yourself when you are talking English and to listen to that recording afterwards. For most people it is terrible to listen to a recording of their own voice, but to do this and then compare your pronunciation to a native speaker is the best way to realize your own mistakes.

Self-analysis by recording my own voice was also the first step I did in order to improve my pronunciation.  I have recently started to make recordings at home while I am reading English texts. I will save these recordings somewhere to compare them to new ones next year. I am curious if there will be big differences.

So far, recording was the only thing I deliberately did to work on my pronunciation skills – except of watching TV in English and the exercises with Frank, of course. I have, however, already thought about how I'm going to consciously practice my pronunciation in the future. The plan looks like this:

Step 1: watch even more TV in English - but news and documentaries instead of series and movies in order not to hear only colloquial English

Step 2: get a tandem partner - to have someone with whom you can speak English in everyday situations is helpful and fun

Step 3: try to do an internship in an English-speaking country - to be in the country and to be constantly surrounded by the language you want to learn is simply still the best way

Step 4: practise difficult sounds I always get wrong like the difference between v and w

Step 5: do pronunciation exercises in books like “English Pronunciation in Use”

I am sure that if I really stick to my plan my pronunciation will improve incredibly.