How to Improve English Pronunciation – Some Tips

Having good Pronunciation in English has become a big challenge for the Indian Youth these days. India is multilingual country. Besides there are  no. of Dialects spoken every where.

So it is but natural that these local languages and dialects inevitably affect the content and tone of English Language. All these Indian Languages are highly accented and that tendency shifts to English language as well.

We feel the touch of Haryanvi, Punjabi, Telugu, Kannada on English Pronunciation. Besides, the poor teaching and learning also aggrieve this situation. As a result the youngsters of these regions have to cut sorry figure in the Interviews and other similar situations.

Here in this article we are providing  some tips using which you can improve your Pronunciation for sure.

Some tips for Improving English Pronunciation ( Received Pronunciation or RP )-

Learn some Phonetics –

You must have some knowledge of Phones i.e. sounds. In English there are 44 sounds – 20 Vowel Sounds and 24 Consonants sounds. This system of phones can be learnt from the books of various classes where the topic of Phonetics is given. Learn them and improve your pronunciation.

Watch English Programmes –

In order to improve your English Pronunciation, you shall have to listen to English Speaking People. If you wish to learn standard Pronunciation, you must listen to English News Channels and English Movies. This is a long or you can say life long process. Listen to them and emulate them. This way you shall not only be able to improve your Pronunciation but English Speaking as well.

Use only Correct Pronunciation and correct yourself every time –

Make it a habit of using correct pronunciation with your friends and colleagues. Where ever you find yourself wrong don’t hesitate to correct yourself with the help of those whom you find better than you.

Listen to Radio –

Gone are the days when radios were used. But now the time has come back for the use of Radio. Listen to English News on Radio. If you are interested in music, listen to it on the Radio. I myself used this technique for many years and felt benefited. Language Lab is very useful in improving listening.

Take the help of Dictionary –

There are many dictionaries in the market in which the Pronunciation of the words is given in many vernaculars of India. You can choose your own and can improve your pronunciation.

Some Rules Regarding the Improvement of English Word Pronunciation ( RP ) –

1. The sound / s/ must be spoken as “s” after the voiceless sounds like p, th, f, s, h, ch,k, t, sh is in cats and the same sound is spoken as “z” after the voiced sounds ( except the nine voiceless sounds all other sounds are voiced sounds ) like g, m, n, z etc as in bags.
2. In the same way, / d/ is pronounced as ” t “ after the voiceless sounds as in the following word barked and ” d” or “id” after voiced sounds as in gunned or sounded.
3. The syllabic consonants / l /, / m / and / n / when comes at the final positions of the word don’t take the syllables before them. Words like bottle, button, mutton etc must be spoken without vowel like tl, tn, tm.
4. In RP / r / is pronounced only before vowels as in arrange. It is always silent at the final position as in car and before consonants as in bark.