What Is Pronunciation Training And Who Is It For?

Pronunciation Training: the key facts

Pronunciation Training: Who needs it and how does it help?

Assessments: How do you assess `Pronunciation`?

Training: How do you improve your Pronunciation?

FAQs

1. Pronunciation Training: who needs it and how does it help people?

Do you suspect that your English pronunciation needs some work? The good news is that it`s never too late to improve your pronunciation and you don`t need a `perfect ear for accents` or to be a natural linguist. Perhaps you want to communicate more clearly and are tired of having to repeat yourself. Or maybe you want to feel more confident or professional when speaking English? Some students have very specific goals (e.g. rehearsing film scri pts, pronunciation for Sales and Negotiation). These are all good reasons to start pronunciation training and previous students have also mentioned additional improvements in other areas of their life, including:

o being taken more seriously in professional environments

o being told they sound more fluent in English overall

o integrating better with English-speaking colleagues/friends/communities

o understanding native speakers much better

2. Assessments: how do you assess Pronunciation?

Any good pronunciation assessment should consider how you speak in a range of situations, from reading aloud to talking naturally. Furthermore, speech should be analysed for both individual sounds and connected speech features (linking, stress and intonation). Students should receive an overall summary of strengths and needs, as well as recommendations for future training.

3. Training: how do you improve your Pronunciation?

Good pronunciation programs should include regular sessions with a trainer - ideally weekly or fortnightly if possible. Reputable programs will normally contain these 3 key elements:

o Ear training (to improve your ability to hear /differentiate between sounds and raise your awareness of typical English speech patterns)

o Practical articulation speech production work (to support you to produce sounds and natural speech more accurately)

o Generalisation strategies (to help you use new sounds and speech patterns effortlessly in everyday speech)

That said, program content should be tailored to students specific profile, current priorities and preferred learning style.

4. FAQs

What aspects of pronunciation would I work on?

This depends very much on a student`s specific profile. That includes your pronunciation strengths and needs, as well as your goals and your own personal priorities. Typically, students work on a range of speech features, including:

o Improving their ability to make individual sounds (e.g. /r/)

o Using word stress more accurately (e.g. MANagement)

o Linking words together more smoothly in sentences

o Stressing key words clearly in sentences and mimicking English rhythm

o Adopting more native-sounding intonation (pitch movement)

How native would I sound after pronunciation training?

Again, this varies with each student. Their natural ability to hear and mimic sounds plays a part, as does the amount of homework carried out in conjunction with the training program. It also depends on the student s personal goals. Some simply wish to speak more clearly to avoid misunderstandings and to improve basic communication. Others aim to sound more credible or professional in an English-speaking context (often work). A small number (including many actors, who are often talented mimics) strive to achieve a near-native accent. Regardless of their goals, most of our students report significant improvements in clarity and a notable reduction in their mother tongue accent after our pronunciation training. This typically leads to increased confidence, better communication skills and a more enjoyable experience when speaking English.

What if I just can t learn the new sounds?

Some people find it naturally easier to hear and reproduce sounds than others. But many people who consider themselves bad at languages or tone deaf have made excellent progress with our programs. As a child you proved that you were able to learn and copy new sounds - this is how you learned to talk after all! As adults, many of us have forgotten how to use these childhood listening and mimicking skills but with the right help and guidance, you can re-learn some of these abilities.

How much work would I need to do outside of sessions?

All programs include weekly homework tasks that focus on the skills you have been developing during the sessions. The vast majority of tasks are practical in nature: listening to sounds/speech or producing new sounds and speech features. Most tasks will ideally require around 10-15 minutes practise around 5 times a week. Sometimes you will be able to practise your speech whilst doing other activities (e.g. showering or walking!). As a general rule, the more practice you do, the faster your progress will be.