how ı can learn perfect pronounce...and where ı can fınd for learnıng that pronounce.

[l-u-c-i-f-e-r]

heyy ı m alex and ı wanna learn about englısh pronounceıf u know where ı can study for learnıng englısh pronounce...and ıf help me ı wıll be happy thanks from now ...







thanks / alex

[Tdol]

http://www.usingenglish.com/links/Sp...ion/index.html

[Zonfeld]

Let me share my thoughts on the subject, being someone who is working on getting rid of a "cute" German accent. I'm at a point where native speakers will still realize that I'm a foreigner but aren't able to guess where I'm from originally. The most naive natives assume that I'm from another state; however, there's a certain probability that they're simply trying to be nice, as most Americans are. :)
This is my first post so I hope nobody will rip me to shreds if I unwittingly violate any forum rules or stray from the general consensus.

I found "American Accent Training" by Ann Cook very helpful. It's available for less than 30 dollars (on Amazon.com, for example). The thing that impressed me most about the book/CD bundle is that it will help you erase entire classes of pronunciation errors.
One example: I used to pronounce the words "not", "got", "lot" and so forth with the "o" that I saw written, forcing my German pronunciation on the English words. The simple fact that Ann Cook pointed out that in American English the "o" becomes "ou" or "ah", depending on the word, made me aware of my mistake and wiped out a multitude of potential errors.
She also analyzes the typical mistakes made based on the country of origin. For example, the French deviate from standard pronunciation in a different way than people from Arabic countries or Japan do.

Listening to my own recordings doesn't help me unless I know what I'm listening for. My pronunciation sounded just fine to me although it was way off, which I only realized after becoming aware of the finer points. "Listen to yourself" is good advice but you have to lay the groundwork first.

Whenever you see a new word, find out how to pronounce it, either by learning how to read the pronunciation key, or finding a dictionary software/website with audio output. You wouldn't believe (well, maybe you would) how often I've been totally off when I assumed a word should be pronounced a certain way. Be aware that British and American pronunciation differ.

Listen to podcasts of radio talk shows where people call in, watch English movies. In doing that, you will learn of the acceptable variations of intonation and pronunciation.

If you can afford it, find a vocal coach who is a native American (or Brit, depending on what accent you're aiming at). The coach will be able to fully analyze your unorthodox way of pronouncing certain words or entire sentences and show you ways to change that. I guess there are similarities between learning how to sing and learning proper pronunciation and intonation.

[mary joe]

What you said is true Zonfeld. You may listen to the native speakers if you want to learn how to pronounce certain words and learn how to make an effective conversation as well.

[sisierdd]

hi, Zonfeld,
i'm from China, most Chinese don't speak english very fluently, especially like a foreigner. i learned the pronunciation from a book writen by a chinese, who taught me how to pronounce like a foreigner. i feel i make a big progess about my pronunciation. in his book ,he said most western people speak with a lower throat or the back of the mouth, and chinese speak with the front of mouth. so many chinese always speak english like a chinese. i think his point is true. because accoring his methold, i improve my pronounciation much better. Now, i 'm also taking an american accent training. this book is a wonderful book ,because i just start studing it, so there still are a lot of time to practice. Can you tell me how long i study AAT? and i hope i can make friends with you. my email is EMAIL REMOVED - Send PM to This User Instead, look forward to hear from you.

[Zonfeld]

Hi sisierdd,
hard to tell for how long you have to keep with it; I'm not there yet. I assume weeks to months, depending on the intensity of your efforts. And then, of course, you have to make sure that you get the syntax right, as well.

I also assume that it's much harder to learn English pronunciation for someone who grew up in China. If you have as many problems with English pronunciation as I had with the language spoken in Beijing or Shenyang (don't know whether that's Mandarin or Cantonese or even something else), you're facing serious trouble. I couldn't even get the taxi drivers to understand the names of the hotels I stayed in. I always had to show them a card. Then they repeated exactly what I thought I had said. It was very frustrating.

On the other hand, I talked to a Chinese lady in Beijing while I was waiting for a connecting flight. She had majored in English and her English was flawless. So it must be possible, no matter what language you grew up with. Determination is the key, I guess.

Cheers,
Zonfeld

[Altar_II]

Originally Posted by sisierdd

hi, Zonfeld,
most western people speak with a lower throat or the back of the mouth, and chinese speak with the front of mouth.

i always hear about this saying. i guess in phonetic terminology, this actually indicates the quality of 'b' 'd' 'g' of being voiced.

Chinese and German have got problem in pronouncing voiced plosives. The so called 'b' 'd' 'g' in Hanyu Pinyn (for Mandarin) are actually unvoiced unasperated consonants. But most Chinese people use these to simulate the 'b''d'g' sound in IPA, as well as in English or many other languages. it is common that a Chinese English learner cannot distinguish between discussed and disgust.

While Chinese and German having this problem, Japanese, Russian and Spanish people are ok with this. Instead, they always feel difficult distinguishing the asperated and unasperated plosives in Chinese.