Pronunciation First

Susan and everyone: Learning the basics of English pronunciation helps students learn not only how to speak better but also how to read, write and listen better. Unfortunately in many classes pronunciation is not included in classroom instruction, apparently due to the fact that English pronunciation is difficult.  But - all the more reason to include it at the beginning of the first year of English.

The best way to teach pronunciation is to focus on phonetics, and it should be done in stages working on the most important sounds at first, such as the G/J, the short i, the short u, V, Th...etc.  Once a foundation is established, learning the other sounds becomes easier. 

A sense of humor helps a lot, and repetition daily is needed, with perioidic reviews for about 2 months.

Remember - learning to pronounce a foreign language is muscular - just like learning how to dance, drive a car, etc. and it is necessary to train the muscles of the jaw, tongue, throat along with learning how to use air!!

Reading out loud helps not only with pronunciation but with memory. Students should pronounce each word slowly, in syllables and repeat ten times..faster and faster.

Once these basic sounds are learned so that the students can reproduce them well, then it is easier for them to learn more English.

It is not necessary to teach the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) because it takes too long and is boring. Just try to write the words two ways, as it is spelled and as it is pronounced: table - teibahl - mesa

I have been teaching people how to pronounce and speak English for many years  - so now I am an “expert”. To see more about my pronunciation lessons, go to my free websites- 

pumarosa.com and inglesconprofepablo.com 

Here is an article I send to my students in Spanish:

To my students: THE VERGUENZA FACTOR

Many people cannot pronounce English very well and feel timid or even afraid to speak it because they know that they sound “bad” or “stupid” – or in Spanish, “Verguenza”. Everybody has the same problems but they feel that they are the only person with the problem.

But the problem is not with you - it is with English.

Let me tell my own story about learning Spanish. I lived in Tijuana many years ago and learned a lot of vocabulary and verb tenses first, but every time I spoke I felt hesitant or “verguenza” because I was afraid people would laugh. I practiced rolling my RRs for two or three weeks, every day for 10 minutes because I sounded so bad.

One day, after about 8 months or so, I woke up early at around 4 O’clock, and felt absolutely determined to speak Spanish with confidence …beginning that very day!

Well I went out into the world and started speaking Spanish to anyone who would listen, hoping that people would understand.

A few times, someone would say: “Que idioma habla Pablo - Aleman, ingles, frances?” But you know what? I did not have any more verguenza! So I just kept trying to speak and then speaking ….and sooner or later, slowly, I began to speak better ….and you know what…? I am still practicing!!!

So - if you would like to learn more English and improve your pronunciation, please take a minute to go to my two free websites: pumarosa.com and inglesconprofepablo.com.

 

Comments

Thanks for bringing up the importance of teaching pronunciation, Paul. Thankfully, most teachers do understand how critical pronciation instruction is, and they teach it regularly. There are also some teachers and volunteers who have never been trained in how to teach pronunciation effectively, so they may be hesitant to teach pronunciation.

I can share that we will be offering a study circle on teaching pronunciation to the members of this community in the new year. Please stay tuned for the details!

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, English Language Acquisition CoP

 

Susan, I am glad to hear about the study circles next year, but I thought that these discussion groups served the purpose of study circles, at least partially.  In my opinion practicing pronunciation in class on an ongoing daily basis should be an integral part of every class. When students improve their pronunciation of English they automatically improve their "fluency", etc.

I think that English may be one of the most difficult languages to pronounce. And adults have a lot of difficulty with it so that it can actually become a  "psychological block",  preventing them from learning English well and at a good pace. My only rule in class is that no-one is allowed to make fun of anyone else when they speak English. People feel timid or ashamed or embarrassed when they speak English, in Spanish "verguenza".  This occurs because they have been made fun of in other classes. So the psychological factor is at times more important than the mechanical technique.

I have found that when students are encouraged to ask me questions, the most "popular" question is on pronunciation.  So instead of focusing on one word, I usually "teach" groups of words. 

In any case, I  hope that a lot of people participate in your study circle, and I look forward to it.

Hi Pau, I agree that our community addresses issues that we all care about as teachers. We learn a lot here! I would say this online community is different from a study circle since a study circle gives participants a chance to dig into a topic in great depth together. We all agree to read and discuss a topic and even try out some teaching techniques and come back to report what happened.

The pronunciation study circle will engage participants in reading, discussing, and trying out pronunciation techniques and then reporting back to one another on what happened. The study circle will give participants a chance to learn about recommended practices for teaching pronunciation. I'm sure it will be a rich time of learning for all those who choose to participate. 

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, English Language Acquisition

Thank you, Paul, for reminding us of the importance of proper pronunciation - whether one is an ELL or a native English speaker!  When I was teaching ELLs I emphasized correct pronunciation, with the explanation, "No matter how well you  know a language, when you speak and others can not understand what you are saying, you may as well be speaking in your native language!"  Then I would "speak" Spanish to my students, giving my best effort, and they would understand how important pronunciation is!

Susan, I look forward to your study circle and will definitely extend the invitation to Delaware ESL teachers!

 

Jeri

I agree with the subject of this thread!
I'd like to comment beyond the discrete sounds of English as I have found that clearly pronounced consonants are "more important" than vowels, but that mispronounced individual words can be understood if the "music" of English is present.
In  the past seven days, I attended a community meeting (on the subject of affordable housing and the 2040 plans for our city) and the fall conference of my TESOL affiliate. Most of the speakers at both events were native speakers of American English. At the community meeting, the entire meeting included access to microphones for all participants - the speakers, the organizers, and the attendees. THAT was very important and made up for some "issues." Even so, one of the principals spoke very quickly, with very few pauses, and it was difficult to follow. Another, however, probably a native speaker of English in his country in Africa, spoke with all the sentence pauses that helped the listeners follow the thought and meaning of what was being said.
At the affiliate meeting, most of the presenters were also native speakers of American English, and some represented various regions of the United States. No microphones were available except at the plenaries. To my surprise because all were teachers and some teacher educators, a few of the presenters spoke very rapidly, without pauses, and/or didn't manage well all the other aspects of pronunciation beyond discrete sounds. In other words, all aspects of pronunciation are not equal - particularly for adult learners, and native speakers of English teachers must be models.
I look forward to the study circle.

There are two ways to write a language, traditionally and phonetically to show pronunciation.  For English the IPA is not practical to do this because it is not English friendly or computer friendly.  Instead truespel phonetics is tailor made for US English to show pronunciation using only typical English spellings as much as possible. It was designed for US children learning to read and also for ESL pronunciation.  Truespel is free with a converter and tutorials at http://truespel.com  It can be learned in an hour.  Once you can say each of the 40 sounds of US English as written in truespel you can say any word correctly reading truespel.  Next link that pronunciation to the traditionally spelled word and remember it.