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Hi Dreams,

hello wrote: there is another problem I face other than pronounciation and especially at the university...

I hasitate a lot before speaking in English.. I feel very shy and very low self esteem ... I feel that I might make mistakes whenever I speak in English .... When I speak, I speak very quickly and finish my sentence ... So, I don't take my time in speaking or explaining my point of view...

It seems you have two different problems, but in fact, they may be the same. The reason you hesitate may be because you know your pronunciation is not as good as your grammar, vocabulary or writing. Please follow the suggestions I made in my previous post and see if you don't speak more smoothly in the future. As you speak more smoothly with fewer problems, you will gain confidence little by little.

Of course, along the way, you will have to make some mistakes. Mistakes are not really a problem IF you learn from them. As Thomas Watson, the founder of IBM, said: "The key to success is to double your failure rate". Each time you make a mistake in speaking is an opportunity for you to improve. Good luck!

Teacher Joe

I just thought I would add and example that my young daughter is using through a tutor.

She comes from an English speaking family; but reading english is something you need to learn. Here is the example that was given to her, and I think you might find it really useful.

My daughter was given one page from a book with a graph. In this graph you are given (for example) 200 words that you have to read out loud to someone (or even yourself) but the trick is that you have to read it out loud. You have to time yourself (so you need to set a clock for 1 minute). At the end of the minute you add up the words that you have read and how many mistakes you have made. You work out how many words a minute you can read.

You really need to graph this because each day you will improve. You will find that after one week you may have gone from (80-120 words). It is all about increasing your confidence.

Please keep in mind that it has to be the same text. The same page of a book etc. Also you have to remember that you need to read this out loud. Preferrably to someone else.

Just try this exercise for two or three weeks and see how much your confidence rises.

It works. Really! 8) 8) 8)

I think Pronunciation skill is necessary for speaking English

Listening and repeating CD's after class is excellent for pronounciation. That way time in class can be spent on other things.

Hi all,

I want to thank you deeply from my heart.

Hopefully soon , I'll post a message telling you about my improvement in pronounciation...


I am going to try all your ways and follow your tips...

God bless you all, and wishing for you all the best,,,

Thanks again ..

Dreams

I think study speaking is enough

Anonymous wrote:pronunciation is very important . if you don't pronunce the word correctly be sure the receiver will missunderstand you .

I agree with you

First of all, i want to thank teacher Joe for the tips and advice taht he gave to hello and i want to thank hello for posting her problem, which is the same problem that i suffer from. so i am really thankful for both of you.

regarding to the topic, i belive that studying pronunciation is important and not wasting time at all, because it help us to understand english speakers verywell and communicate with them in a good way and help us to be undrestood from the english speakers side as well.

Thanks

Pearla

Pronunciation is one of the important thing in learning
language. When i studied at school, my non-native teacher used to teach us with bizarre accent, therefore
i didn't respect his subject.
I always wanted to say her : " If you going to teach us
english, then, go and learn good pronunciation first! "

I think that pronunciation is important but, if the people understand you , you dont need pronunciation , however , if you r going to speak about one toinc in front of people , you need good pronunciation

Firstly, we should regconize the difference beetween "accent" and "pronunciation".
One word can be read with many accents but only one way to pronunciate.It's like Vietnamese such as "nấu cơm" and "lấu cơm". Obviously, we can understand "lấu cơm" but it's the wrong pronunciation.
Thus, pronunciation is very important and we should spend your time in improving our pronuncistion. :D

Your grammar can be good as well as your vocabulary but if you don´t have good pronunciation, you won´t be understood by native speakers. Native speakers learn English in this order.....1) 1st by hearing, 2) then speaking, 3)then grammar and writing

I think studying pronunciation is very important. With ones who dont speak English as mother tongue,it is difficult to understand if words are mispronounced
It is really important and necessary

haha,I have read that "studying grammar is waste of time" from a some forum, and now I know pronunciation is bullshit. So what is important if I want to learn English?

This essay will discuss if studying pronunciation is a waste of time problem .I do agree. However, we have to study pronunciation is good. Pronunciation can be learner different things. Sometimes, we can learn pronunciation in the free time. And we have to trying making someone understand you. And approve is your accent. Some people don’t learn pronunciation well because of is very difficult how learn pronunciation. Studying pronunciation after, you can learn is well. In a word, I hope everyone cans enough to learn. Therefore, studying pronunciation is very important in the world.

1) Pronunciation IS important to spoken English.
Perfect pronunciation may not be completely achievable: ok, no need to be radical about that. Although, it should still be always the common goal for speakers, so that the particular (maybe natural) distortions of each person or culture stray (less and less) from a common point, minimizing the differences.
Not caring at all about pronunciation is unacceptable. Enforcing a standard way of producing sounds is, after all, essential for the spoken communication itself, in any language!

... we should recognize the difference between "accent" and "pronunciation".
One word can be read with many accents but only one way to pronounce.

Well, I would disagree on this. Core pronunciation is deeply affected by accent. Let's just think about the pronunciation of "T" (in "city") under the American (something close to "cidy"), British ("citttty") and "poverty English" (any better names please?) ( ci'ee ) accents.

2) Pronunciation is important for RESPECT
Let's not be naive. Let's be ready for JUDGMENTAL people - they exist.
They could be among clients, bosses or people you'd like to befriend or date.
They could be native speakers, non-native but excellent speakers, or poor speakers who simply like to "throw the first stone".
Poor pronunciation may make them respect you less, pity you, patronize you, mock you, ignore you, and so on - it will hardly ever be good for you or your self-esteem. It could be out of pure evil, could be a craving to feel their English knowledge contemplated, it could be laziness on making the effort (yes, there is effort) to decrypt your bad pronunciation; it doesn't matter.
"Shame on them!" Well, what to do? Sometimes ignoring/avoiding judgmental people is simply not optional.

3) Pronunciation in class is NOT a WASTE OF TIME
Let's be honest to our BOND TO COMFORT. It exists - sad as it sounds.
New or difficult pronunciation, besides "too strange", could sound "funny" or even "ridiculous". We may then be obstructingly shy to reproduce them, or too arrogant, or simply too lazy. (I don't believe in "too untalented" as this alone can be overcome by proportional perseverance).
I don't believe in "self-imposed homework" in the long run. (Bursts of pro-activity don't count.) Some exercises seem great and effective! But the less "natural" they sound, the less likely their execution (by us alone) becomes.
What I think is "natural", regarding practice of pronunciation :

1. Singing along with songs.
   Number one! Dang! People simply do that! It is human to enjoy music. Whenever there is enough privacy (home, shower) or enough anonymity (by whispering in a loud street), one can sing!
2. Having conversations with native (or good) English speakers, with an open / absorbing mind.
   Number two, as it may simply not be that trivial to make - and keep - such friendships. Still, it sounds natural enough.

Now, what I think are great ideas (from this thread), but pretty unlikely to be done by self-will:

• Repeat the good English you hear

• Pausing and/or rewinding that TV show episode, or movie, to repeat the lines? Repeating key phrases, heard from radio or TV, on-the-fly?
  People just don't do this. This is artificial, clearly an exercise.
  

  Record your own voice; compare with the "right" version

• Excellent (!), but still unnatural, and requiring multiple resources; the recorder with playback is even a bit exotic, speaking from the comfort zone (and comparing to a notebook+pencil, for example).
  

  Read out loud

• Simple - just a text / word list and a mouth. Possible - even though getting enough privacy may be tricky. Nearly natural. Awgh, shame on learners, but they just wouldn't do this exercise by themselves either. >=o/

So what, discard these excellent exercises, just because they're too far from human's lame comfort zone?? NOOO!
But how to ensure they are done, on a regular basis, or done at all?
I believe only the teacher (school) / student structure has the power to enforce so.
Only if class time is "wasted" and they are given as activity, or given as really official, demanded, checked and assessed homework, will the learner really do them for their great benefit.

Last but not least...
And that's my opinion, folks.
Of course I've just been pretty pessimistic and generic, but when replying please bear in mind that exceptions are as obvious as rare - I personally know them, and acknowledge them. I'm just trying to talk about tendencies and majorities.

Pardon my lengthy post, my faulty English and...
...Cheers!

I think pronunciation is very important for anyone who wants to be listened outside of his country. I am looking forward to improve my English pronunciation to the best I can reach.

Pronunciation can be a difficult topic for students because it seems like another whole new area they are forced to learn when learning English. If not introduced in the right way, spending time on pronunciation can seem pointless. However, if you are planning to live in an English speaking country, then improving your pronunciation is essential in order to be understood. Many students struggle in their lives because they have a strong accent which causes them to be misunderstood. It's a frustrating life for them. So please don't fall into this situation. Practise at least a little pronunciation by finding a teacher whose method you like.