How to Improve Your English Pronunciation

One of the most common questions I am asked is, “How can I improve my pronunciation?” I wrote this post to answer that question, and hopefully help you improve your English pronunciation! I believe that good pronunciation is essential for speaking AND understanding spoken English well. Below is a list of my best tips for improving your English pronunciation: 

1) Practice for at least 30 minutes every day

There is no way around it: the only way your pronunciation will improve is if you practice, practice, practice! Your pronunciation will not magically improve just because you’re speaking English. The sounds of English may be very different from the sounds in your language. It may be difficult and even uncomfortable for your mouth to make some of the sounds in English.

You need to practice with a purpose. Practice the sounds of English until they feel as natural and comfortable as the sounds of your language. It won’t happen overnight, but gradually your pronunciation will improve.

2) Decide what kind of accent you would like to speak with

There are many different kinds of English accents. The two most common are British and American. There are many different accents even within British or American pronunciation, but most learning materials will help you learn either a standard British accent or a standard American accent.

American pronunciation and British pronunciation are completely different. The consonant sounds are the same (except for the letter ‘t’ and an ‘r’ after a vowel), but the vowel sounds are very different. The British accent has more vowel sounds, and some vowel letters are pronounced differently.

3) Learn the IPA and the individual sounds of English

The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a collection of symbols that represent the different sounds of a language. When you know the all the sounds of English and the symbols that represent those sounds, you will be able to pronounce any word in English.

American Pronunciation:
The Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary Pronunciation Guide
Antimoon IPA chart
Rachel’s English

British Pronunciation:
BBC Learning English
Interactive IPA Chart 

4) When you learn a new word, learn how to pronounce it correctly

The longer you say a word incorrectly, the harder it becomes to learn to say it correctly. You’ve developed a bad habit, and it takes a long time to break a bad habit! This is why it is so important to learn the IPA and use dictionaries specifically for English learners.

For example, let’s say you see a new word when you’re reading a book: permeate. How do you pronounce this word? Let’s check two of the online dictionaries specifically for English learners:
MW Learner’s Dictionary
Cambridge
Both of these dictionaries show you the IPA/phonetic transcription of the word (including which syllable you must stress): /ˈpɚmiˌeɪt/
You can also click on the red or blue speaker icon to hear someone say the word.

5) Watch YouTube pronunciation videos

American accent:
JenniferESL
Lisa Mojsin @ Accurage English
Rachel’s English
Pronuncian/Seattle Learning Academy
Eva Easton

British accent:
The Phone Voice
VirtuAule 

6) Try to imitate spoken English

To ‘imitate’ means to copy someone/something, to do something the same way, or to do the same things as someone else. Do you really like the way someone speaks English? Try to copy the way they speak.

This is a great activity to try: Close your eyes while you’re listening to something in English (podcasts, songs, TV shows, movies, etc.). Listen carefully to what the speaker is saying and try to make the same sounds. Choose a word or sentence, and listen to it many times.

Here are some resources that are useful for this:
ESLPod podcast
Coach Shane’s Daily Dictation

Try to imitate the sounds that native speakers make.

7) Practice HEARING the sounds of English

Before you listen to an English podcast, song, etc. read the words first. Highlight, circle, or underline the sound you want to work on. For example, if you have trouble with the /I/ sound, highlight all the words that you think have the /I/ sound. Read the passage out loud to yourself, focusing on the words with /I/. Listen to the podcast (or song, etc.). Can you hear the /I/ sound? Practice the sound by trying to imitate what the speaker is saying.

8) Record yourself

It’s important to hear what you sound like speaking English so you know what you need to improve! You can compare what you sound like to what you want to sound like. For example, you record yourself reading a sentence from one of my podcasts. Then, listen to me say the same sentence and compare your pronunciation.

If you don’t have any recording software on your computer (like Windows Sound Recorder or GarageBand on Macs), you can use a web-based audio recorder:
audioboo
Vocaroo
SoundCloud

You may also be able to find a cheap digital voice recorder at your local electronics store.

9) Pronunciation Books

Here are the two books that I use to understand and teach American pronunciation. Check your local library for these books. If you attend a private language school, ask if it has these books. If you live in a large city, look for these books at an English bookstore.

10) Have your pronunciation professionally evaluated

When your pronunciation is evaluated by a teacher, he/she can tell you exactly what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong. He/She can tell you exactly what sounds you need to work on to sound more like a native speaker.

Use the search terms “English pronunciation assessment” or “English pronunciation evaluation” to find teachers online.

Conditional Sentences

·           Conditional sentence terdiri dari anak kalimat (sub clause) dan induk kalimat (main clause) dimana bentuk tenses yang di pakai pada keduanya berbada.

·           Induk kalimat biasanya diawali dengan kata “if”. Jika anak kalimat mendahului induk kalimat maka setelah anak kalimat ada koma (,).

·           Ada 3 tipe conditional sentence   :

1.      Future Conditional (type 1)

Kalimat yang diucapkan dan kenyataan yang sebenarnya tidak bertolak belakang. Apa yang diucapkan, itulah yang diharapkan. Kemungkinan harapan terpenuhi di tipe ini adalah ada (bukan imajinasi) tapi kalau syarat terpenuhi.

Contoh      : If I have much money, I will buy a new car.

                    (Jika saya punya uang, saya akan membeli mobil baru)

Pola           : If + simple present      +    simple future/modal

                    S + V1                            S + will/shall/can/must/may + V1

                    S + am/is/are                  S + will shall/can/must/may + be

2.      Present Conditional (type 2)

Kalimat yang diucapkan bertolak belakang dengan kenyataan yang sebenarnya di masa sekarang. Kalau kalimatnya (+), maka makna/meaning-nya (-) dan sebaliknya. Kemungkinan harapan terpenuhi di tipe ini adalah tidak ada (hanya imajinasi saja).

 Contoh     :  (+) If I had time, I would go to the beach with you.

                     (Saya sebenarnya tidak punya waktu sekarang ini sehingga tidak bisa pergi)

 Pola          :  If + simple past      +      past future/modal

                     V2                            would/should/could/had to/might + V1

                     Was/were                would/should/could/had to/might + be

 Di tipe ini hanya were saja yang dipakai.

3.      Past Conditional (type 3)

Kalimat yang digunakan untuk menyatakan kewajiban/kegiatan yang dilakukan dimasa lampau, tetapi tidak dilakukan/ tidak terpenuhi. Kalimat ini diucapkan bertolak belakang dengan kenyataan yang sebenarnya di masa lalu. Kalau kalimatnya (+), maka makna/meaning yang disampaikan (-) dan sebaliknya.

Kemungkinan harapan terpenuhi di tipe ini adalah tidak ada (hanya imajinasi saja)

Contoh             : (+) If I had known you were there, I would have written you a letter.

                         (Jika saya tahu waktu dulu kamu berada di sana, saya sudah mengirim

         surat padamu- ini bermakna saya tidak mengirim surat karena saya tidak

         tahu kamu  berada di sana)

      Pola                  :  If  +  past perfect  +      past future perfect/modal perfect

                                  Had + V3       would/should/could/had to/might + have + V3

                                  Had been        would/should/could/had to/might + have been 

Relative Pronoun (Adjective Clause)

Adjective Clause dinamakan juga RELATIVE CLAUSE yaitu Clause (anak kalimat) yang digunakan/ berfungsi sebagai adjective yang menerangkan keadaan noun atau pronoun yang berfungsi sebagai kata penghubung dalam kalimat. Untuk lebih jelasnya penjelasan mengenai Adjective Clause, perhatikan penjelasan di bawah ini.

Semua relative pronoun dalam adjective clause umumnya diterjemahkan menjadi: yang.

Contoh:

• I have read the book (that) you just mentioned.
  Main Clause: I have read the book.
  Subordinate Clause: (that) you just mentioned.

Anak kalimat menerangkan kata benda the book, disebut dengan Adjective Clause

• The lesson (that) she is learning is very difficult.
  Main Clause: The lesson is very difficult.
  Subordinate Clause: (that) she is learning.

How to Form Relative Clauses

Imagine, a girl is talking to Tom. You want to know who she is and ask a friend whether he knows her. You could say:

A girl is talking to Tom. Do you know the girl?

That sounds rather complicated, doesn't it? It would be easier with a relative clause: you put both pieces of information into one sentence. Start with the most important thing  – you want to know who the girl is.

Do you know the girl …

As your friend cannot know which girl you are talking about, you need to put in the additional information – the girl is talking to Tom. Use „the girl“ only in the first part of the sentence, in the second part replace it with the relative pronoun (for people, use the relative pronoun „who“). So the final sentence is:

Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?

Berdasarkan pada the Antecedent yang ditunjuk oleh introductory words (kata-kata pendahulunya), Adjective Clause dapat diklasifikasikan menjadi 2 macam, yaitu:

Relative Pronouns

Relative Pronoun	Use	Example
who	Kata penghubung subject for people	I told you about the woman who lives next door. He paid the money to the man who had done the work. A seaman is someone who works on a ship. A clown is someone who makes you laugh. The man who is sitting in the corner is my friend.
which	Kata penghubung for animals and things	Here is a book which describes animals. Do you see the cat which is lying on the roof? The chair which he broke is being repaired.
which	Referring to a whole sentence	He couldn’t read which surprised me.
whose	Kata penghubung possession for people, animals and things	This is the girl whose picture you saw. The girl whose car was sold will go to study abroad. Do you know the boy whose mother is a nurse?
whom	Kata penghubung object for people	I was invited by the professor whom I met at the conference. He paid the man whom he had hired. She doesn’t know the one whom she loves more The boy whom we visited is her boyfriend.
that	Kata penghubung for people, animals and things in defining relative clauses (who or which are also possible)	I don’t like the table that stands in the kitchen. I like the book that she is reading. An elephant is an animal that lives in hot countries.

Relative Adverbs

A relative adverb can be used instead of a relative pronoun plus preposition. This often makes the sentence easier to understand.

This is the shop in which I bought my bike.
→ This is the shop where I bought my bike.

Relative Adverb	Meaning	Use	Example
when	in/on which	refers to a time expression	This is the year when the Olympic Games are held. The day when they were to leave finally arrived.
where	in/at which	refers to a place	Here is the house where I live. The small town where I was born has grown to a large metropolis.
why	for which	refers to a reason	Give me one good reason why you did that. The reason why I came should be obvious to you.

Causative Have/ Get

   Causative have dan get digunakan untuk menyatakan suatu pekerjaan yang dilakukan orang lain untuk si Subjek. Causative have berarti menyuruh/ memerintahkan seseorang melakukan sesuatu, sedangkan causative get berarti meminta (dengan persuasif) seseorang melakukan sesuatu.

      Rumus Active

S + have/has/had + Object¹ + V1 + Object² S + get/gets/got + Object¹ + to V1 + Object

Example for causative have:

(1)   She   has   the shoemaker   mend   her shoes

                              S               Someone/O¹         V1    something/O²

                              (Dia menyuruh Pembuat sepatu  memperbaiki sepatunya)

                                                             O¹                      V1                  O²

(2)   I had mechanic repair my car.

                  (saya menyuruh mekanis memperbaiki mobil saya 

(3)   My parents always have me get up early in the morning

Example for causative get:

(1)   She gets the shoemaker to mend her shoes.

      (Dia meminta Pembuat sepatu memperbaiki sepatunya)

(2)   I got the mechanic to repair my car.

                              (saya meminta mekanis memperbaiki mobil saya)

(3) Rosalia usually gets her mother to fry some eggs

      Rumus Passive

S + have/has/had + O + V3 S + get/gets/got + O + V3

Example for causative have:

(1)   The manager has the letter  typed.

                                                     O          V3

                    (Menejer menyuruh surat itu diketik)

(2)   I want to have my parents always got me up in the morning

Example for causative get:

(1)   The manager gets the letter typed.

                    (Menejer meminta surat itu diketik)

(2)   Rosalia got the eggs fried by her mother