How can I improve my English pronunciation?

With strange sounds that may not exist in other languages, unreliable spelling rules, and crazysilent syllables and letters, it's understandable why many learners struggle to pronounce many English words. Improving your pronunciation is possible; however, it just takes a lot of patience, practice and perseverance.

The best way to start is by listening. This can be done by speaking with native speakers, watching programmes, or listening to podcasts. By hearing words repeatedly, you’ll soon come to recognise the way they should sound. It can also help to write down a few lines of a programme or audio clip, then record yourself repeating them. Afterwards, play it back and compare yourself to the original. Remember, it’s not just about sounds, though; intonation is equally important, so pay attention to which syllables of words are pronounced with the greatest stress too.

The next step is to familiarise yourself with the phonemic alphabet, whose symbols represent the sounds of human speech in English. This can help you recognise how to pronounce the syllables of English words and can serve as a reference when learning new ones. While doing this, familiarise yourself with English spelling and get to know the general pronunciation rules too, taking into account the fact that there can be many, many exceptions to these.

After that, make use of pronunciation books and apps. Not only will these provide you with sentences and tongue twisters to help you pronounce particular sounds, but many of them also have diagrams that show you exactly how to position your tongue and mouth. These can really help with sounds that don't exist in your own mother tongue.

Finally, practise! Like any skill, improving your pronunciation takes time, so don't expect instant results and don't overwhelm yourself by trying to master too many sounds at once. With regular practice, lots of listening, and a great deal of patience, you'll slowly see your hard work pay off.