The best 5 websites to practice pronunciation

[joshdowning]

There is always someone around you trying to find a magical formula to improve their pronunciation. Some people have a pretty heavy accent, some others don’t sound so bad, and there’s always a group that sound like they are trying to destroy the language by mispronouncing every other word. We are all human, you know? Learning a new language is not always easy, and even though there are some people who have a special talent for learning new sounds, vocabulary, and structures, for most students, only the pronunciation area can make them feel like swimming up the river.

Unfortunately, there’s no magical potion to transform faulty pronunciation into a perfect one. The only solution here is hard work. “Be brave!”, is the motto here. Most people give you a special look in reply like saying “Yeah, yeah, bla,bla” with no words.
Whether you like it or not, it has to do with HARD WORK. Everything can be improved with a little practice. Even the worst ear can be trained, and with the correct instructions and practice, the most terrible pronunciation can sound at least “decent”. Your ESL teacher can give you some hints to practice at home, so as to solve whatever pronunciation problems you may have. If he doesn’t, or if you don’t have a teacher or you prefer to have some extra work on your own, there are lots of websites that can give you a hand with this…Here’s a list of the best 5 on the web:

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You can use the websites separately or have a mix of your own. They all provide you with good pronunciation models, and many tools to help you compare how well or badly you are producing each sound. Phonetic notation can be difficult at first, but it is a good way to deal with difficult sounds (especially the ones not present in your mother tongue) and understand (at last!) all those strange symbols in the dictionary after each definition.

And remember, no matter how bad you think your pronunciation is, there’s always the possibility to make dramatic improvements…the main ingredients here are: patience and hard work. The combination of both will lead you to success. So, what are you waiting for?

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Josh Downing

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