Part 1
This is my secret and this is effective in improving English pronunciation. Many students who learned this strategy from me were also very interested in this method. They were amazed and excited to know more or discover more. You just have to read and understand everything here, follow the steps and you will be amazed that this strategy to improve your pronunciation can easily help you sound better.
Let's Test Your Pronunciation. How many of the words that I listed below have you been pronouncing correctly in your life?
Here is the video of this topic on YouTube.
Steps to Follow:
Strategy Number 1. Be familiar with the symbols of sounds that represent each of the sounds we have in our speech or language such as the long a: in car /ka:r/, soft /e/ in carrot /ˈker.ət/ and the schwa sound in but /bət/. These sound symbols, which you can find in every dictionary, are called the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet).
I made it a point to be familiar with the pronunciation of each word in the language. Learning the IPA is highly recommended. IPA stands for International Phonetic Alphabet. You usually see the IPA in the dictionary. For example, if you are using Merriam- Webster and look for the word "option," it will give you these symbols: /ˈɑːp.ʃən/. The said symbols are what you call the IPA. I used the Cambridge dictionary as my reference here for the IPA of words. It looks hard and a little bit technical for some learners but if you take it one step at a time, you will be not be overwhelmed.
How can you start with your practice?
1. It's very simple.
Just type the word that you want to practice on Google. For example, you are looking for "option." Just type "option meaning" and on the search result, click whatever dictionary you want to use. Different dictionaries sometimes use different symbols for some sounds. I use Cambridge Dictionary as I can easily understand the symbols that they use.
2. Let's Practice Some Words
Let's start with my most favorite sound, the schwa /ə/ sound. The symbol of the schwa sound is like the letter e but is upside down. It's my favorite sound because many English words have the schwa sound. I feel like this is one of the reasons why if you listen to native speakers, they sound really different from non-native. This is pronounced fast because it's a short sound. My technique to produce this sound is to make the /a/ sound faster and shorter as if you just produced a sigh like /uh/. This is a middle vowel sound so it is not tensed. It is just relaxed. Your head is just in the middle and it does not go down or go up.
/ə/
1. option - /ˈɑːp.ʃən/
2. communication - /kəˌmjuː.nəˈkeɪ.ʃən/
3. common - /ˈkɑː.mən/
4. mother - /ˈmʌð.ɚ/
5. people- /ˈpiː.pəl/
6. second - /ˈsek.ənd/
7. seven - /ˈsevən/
8. computer - /kəmˈpjuː.t̬ɚ/
9. concern - /kənˈsɝːn/
10. automobile - /ˈɑː.t̬ə.moʊ.biːl/
Let's now move on to some words in English with the "o" spelling but "a" pronunciation. That's the tricky part in English. Sometimes, you think the words are pronounced the way they are spelled but they actually sound different. For the long /a:/ sound, just drop your jaw and say /aaa/.
1. concept - /ˈkɑːn.sept/
2. doctor - /ˈdɑːk.tɚ/
3. model - /ˈmɑː.dəl/
4. dolphin - /ˈdɑːl.fɪn/
5. solve - /sɑːlv/
6. common - /ˈkɑː.mən/
7. project - /ˈprɑː.dʒekt/
8. novel - /ˈnɑː.vəl/
9. holiday - /ˈhɑː.lə.deɪ/
10. colleagues- /ˈkɑː.liːɡz/
1. award - /əˈwɔːrd/
2. wardrobe - /ˈwɔːr.droʊb/
3. war - /wɔːr/
1. marathon - /ˈmer.ə.θɑːn/
2. carrot - /ˈker.ət/
3. parasol - /ˈper.ə.sɑːl/
4. comparatively - /kəmˈper.ə.t̬ɪv.li/
5. character - /ˈker.ək.tɚ/
6. apparently - /əˈper.ənt.li/
7. scarcely - ˈskers.li/
8. various - /ˈver.i.əs/
9. stationary - /'steɪ .ʃə.n.er.i/
1. retailer - /ˈriː.teɪ.lɚ/
2. wholesaler - /ˈhoʊlˌseɪ.lɚ/
3. contribute - /kənˈtrɪb.juːt/
4. television - /ˈtel.ə.vɪʒ.ən/
5. heritable - /ˈher.ɪ.t̬ə.bəl/
6. necessary - /ˈnes.ə.ser.i/
7. helicopter - /ˈhel.əˌkɑːp.tɚ/
8. accurate - /ˈæk.jɚ.ət/
9. decor - /deɪˈkɔːr/
10. backyard - /ˌbækˈjɑːrd/
11. sunglasses - /ˈsʌnˌɡlæs.ɪz/
12. someday - /ˈsʌm.deɪ/
13. everybody - /ˈev.riˌbɑː.di/
14. outside - /ˌaʊtˈsaɪd/
2. communication - /kəˌmjuː.nəˈkeɪ.ʃən/
3. common - /ˈkɑː.mən/
4. mother - /ˈmʌð.ɚ/
5. people- /ˈpiː.pəl/
6. second - /ˈsek.ənd/
7. seven - /ˈsevən/
8. computer - /kəmˈpjuː.t̬ɚ/
9. concern - /kənˈsɝːn/
10. automobile - /ˈɑː.t̬ə.moʊ.biːl/
Let's now move on to some words in English with the "o" spelling but "a" pronunciation. That's the tricky part in English. Sometimes, you think the words are pronounced the way they are spelled but they actually sound different. For the long /a:/ sound, just drop your jaw and say /aaa/.
1. concept - /ˈkɑːn.sept/
2. doctor - /ˈdɑːk.tɚ/
3. model - /ˈmɑː.dəl/
4. dolphin - /ˈdɑːl.fɪn/
5. solve - /sɑːlv/
6. common - /ˈkɑː.mən/
7. project - /ˈprɑː.dʒekt/
8. novel - /ˈnɑː.vəl/
9. holiday - /ˈhɑː.lə.deɪ/
10. colleagues- /ˈkɑː.liːɡz/
Let's then move on to the opposite of the case above, the words with /a/ spelling but /o/ pronunciation.
2. wardrobe - /ˈwɔːr.droʊb/
3. war - /wɔːr/
4. warning - /ˈwɔːr.nɪŋ/
How about the words with /a/ spelling but /e/ pronunciation?
1. marathon - /ˈmer.ə.θɑːn/
2. carrot - /ˈker.ət/
3. parasol - /ˈper.ə.sɑːl/
4. comparatively - /kəmˈper.ə.t̬ɪv.li/
5. character - /ˈker.ək.tɚ/
6. apparently - /əˈper.ənt.li/
7. scarcely - ˈskers.li/
8. various - /ˈver.i.əs/
9. stationary - /'steɪ .ʃə.n.er.i/
10. wary - /ˈwer.i/
11. extraordinary - /ɪkˈstrɔːr.dən.er.i/
12. marinade - ˌ/mer.ɪˈneɪd/
13. paragraph - /ˈper.ə.ɡræf/
14. scenario - /səˈner.i.oʊ/
15. paranoid - /ˈper.ə.nɔɪd/
16. paramount - /ˈper.ə.maʊnt/
17. necessary - /ˈnes.ə.ser.i/
18. comparatively - /kəmˈper.ə.t̬ɪv.li/
19. comparison- /kəmˈper.ɪ.sən/
20. clarity - /ˈkler.ə.t̬i/
21. egalitarian - /ɪˌɡæl.ɪˈter.i.ən/
22. secondary - /ˈsek.ən.der.i/
23. parallel - /ˈper.ə.lel/
24. barrier - /ber.i.ɚ/
25. accelerate - /ekˈsel.ɚ.eɪt/
26. aquarium - /əˈkwer.i.əm/
27. disparity - /dɪˈsper.ə.t̬i/
28. subsidiary - /səbˈsɪd.i.er.i/
This time, let's learn some words that are usually mispronounced because of stress.
2. wholesaler - /ˈhoʊlˌseɪ.lɚ/
3. contribute - /kənˈtrɪb.juːt/
4. television - /ˈtel.ə.vɪʒ.ən/
5. heritable - /ˈher.ɪ.t̬ə.bəl/
6. necessary - /ˈnes.ə.ser.i/
7. helicopter - /ˈhel.əˌkɑːp.tɚ/
8. accurate - /ˈæk.jɚ.ət/
9. decor - /deɪˈkɔːr/
10. backyard - /ˌbækˈjɑːrd/
11. sunglasses - /ˈsʌnˌɡlæs.ɪz/
12. someday - /ˈsʌm.deɪ/
13. everybody - /ˈev.riˌbɑː.di/
14. outside - /ˌaʊtˈsaɪd/
15. injured - /ˈɪn.dʒɚd/
16. overall - /ˌoʊ.vɚˈɑːl/
17. subsequently - /ˈsʌb.sɪ.kwənt.li/
18. comforting - /ˈkʌm.fɚ.t̬ɪŋ/
19. elevator - /ˈel.ə.veɪ.t̬ɚ/
20. pioneer - /ˌpaɪəˈnɪr/
21. influencer - /ˈɪn.flu.ən.sɚ/
22. obsolete - /ˌɑːb.səlˈiːt/
23. sarcasm - /ˈsɑːr.kæz.əm/
24. overcome - /ˌoʊ.vɚˈkʌm/
25. romance - /roʊˈmæns/
26. donate - /ˈdoʊ.neɪt/
27. increase (noun) - /ˈɪn.kriːs
28. nationwide - /ˌneɪ.ʃənˈwaɪd/
29. interference - /ˌɪn.t̬ɚˈfɪr.əns/
30. determine - /dɪˈtɝː.mɪn/
31. rehabilitate - /ˌriː.həˈbɪl.ə.teɪt/
32. triathlon - /traɪˈæθ.lɑːn/
33. refrigerator - //rɪˈfrɪdʒ.ə.reɪ.t̬ɚ/
34. architecture - /ˈɑːr.kə.tek.tʃɚ/
35. secretary - /ˈsek.rə.ter.i/
36. admirable - /ˈæd.mə.rə.bəl/
37. percentage - /pərˈsen·tɪdʒ/
/u/ ---soft /e/
1. bury - /beri/
/a/ ----> /I/
1. spinach - ˈ/spɪn.ɪtʃ/
I am going to make a video soon for better comprehension. The second part will be learning more about the different sound rules in blending/linking, liaisons, etc.
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