A guide to English pronunciation

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Learners often neglect their pronunciation. They think that if they can communicate in English with other students in their class, they will be able to talk with native speakers too. They only realize they were wrong when they go to an English-speaking country and discover that people can't understand them!

In my opinion, pronunciation is one of the most important language skills. You may be proficient at grammar and have a huge vocabulary, but if you pronounce words wrongly, you just won't get understood. And even if you speak in an understandable way, you still have to work on your pronunciation. It's the first thing people notice about your English when you talk to them. They will judge you by the way you speak. If your accent is pleasant, they will enjoy talking to you.

Studying pronunciation will also help you understand English better. If you know how different words are pronounced, you will understand more.

Read Why you should learn English pronunciation on Antimoon.

How to study pronunciation?

English pronunciation can be tricky. For example, the pronunciation of the word put is /put/ (click on the transcription to listen to a recording of the word). But other words which contain these three letters can be pronounced differently! For example, putty (a soft whitish substance used to fix glass into window frames) is pronounced /'p^ti/. The spelling of a word doesn't tell you how to pronounce it. How to learn pronunciation then? Read my advice below.

Learn the phonetic alphabet

Most good dictionaries give you phonetic transcriptions of words. They tell you how the words are pronounced using symbols of International Phonetic Alphabet to represent sounds. Have a look at this entry from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English:

How to decipher the transcription of the word cargo in the picture above? The first thing to notice is that there are actually two transcriptions. The first one is the British pronunciation and the second one is the American pronunciation.

A lot of words are pronounced differently in British English and in American English. You have to choose the kind of pronunciation you like most and stick to it.

To understand the symbols used in the transcriptions, download and print this pronunciation table: Phonetic alphabets reference. If you are not sure about the pronunciation of the words in the chart, you can have a look at the version with audio recordings: The sounds of English and the International Phonetic Alphabet.

It's also a good idea to learn the ASCII phonetic alphabet. It helps you type the strange symbols from the IPA using the characters on your keyboard. The transcription of the word dictionary in IPA looks like this:

Using the ASCII phonetic alphabet you can easily key in the transcription:

/'dikS..n..ri/

To remember the correct pronunciation of words, you can use a computer program like SuperMemo.

Dictionaries with audio recordings

If you use a computer dictionary (and I highly recommend you do), choose one that gives you both phonetic transcriptions and audio recordings. Each time you look up a word, read its phonetic transcription. Then listen to the recording and try to imitate it.

BTW, some people argue that they don't need to learn the phonetic alphabet, since they use a computer dictionary with audio recordings. But the problem is that you can't always hear everything perfectly. Phonetic transcriptions show you clearly the sounds used in a particular word. Besides, you can always have a paper dictionary with phonetic transcriptions with you - and with a PC it might sometimes be difficult. :-)

Listen as much as you can

I can't recommend listening enough if you want to improve your pronunciation. Ideally, you should listen to audio recordings every day. Try to memorize parts of recordings, then say them from memory imitating the speakers voice. You may even record yourself and compare the recording of your voice to the original one.

Read more about listening: The importance of reading and listening.

Practise reading aloud

You won't achieve good pronunciation without practice. It's not enough to know the correct pronunciation of words - you need to be able say them quickly. You need to train your brain and your mouth to pronounce English words - it's just like physical training.

Reading aloud will help you achieve fluency in speaking. It will also help you identify the problematic areas - words about whose pronunciation you are unsure or things like the pronunciation of numbers. Whenever you say something incorrectly, check out what is the correct pronunciation.

It's a good idea to read out loud your corrected writing. This way you will practise your pronunciation and memorize the corrections from the text at the same time.

Learn the pronunciation of all the words you use

Whenever you learn a new word, learn its pronunciation, too. It's a terrible thing when you know the word you need, but can't say it because you don't know how to pronounce it.

Practise pronouncing phrases you use often. Learn how to spell your name and how to say your telephone number and e-mail address.

Change the habits that come from your native language

English has borrowed lots of words from other languages - from ancient Latin and Greek to Eskimo and Farsi. It's very likely that English has borrowed some words from your own language, too. And certainly there are plenty of similar words between English and your native language.

However, while the spelling of words that English borrowed from your language can be similar, the pronunciation is almost certainly different. For example, take the German and English pronunciation of the word hamburger.

Straight to the point - try to become independent of your native language. The sooner you forget the habits that come from your mother tongue, the better.

English pronunciation pitfalls

Numbers

The proper pronunciation of numbers in English causes trouble to lots of people. Make sure you know how to pronounce the following properly:

• 12.4 (twelve point four)
• 2/3 (two thirds), 4/5 (four fifths), 7/12 (seven over twelve)
• 2² (two squared), 4³ (four cubed), 5⁹ (five to the power of nine)
• 67% (sixty-seven per cent)
• 6 m x 10 m (six metres by ten metres)

• My phone number is 70455. (seven o four double five)
• The city was founded in 1021. (ten twenty one)
  Shakespeare wrote Hamlet around 1600. (sixteen hundred)
  The company was established in 1901. (nineteen o one)
  Jack first visited Russia in 1993. (nineteen ninety-three)
  Poland joined the EU in 2004. (two thousand and four)
• My father was born during the World War II. (/we:ld wo: 'tu:/, not world war the second)

See also Wikipedia: How to name numbers in English.

Homographs

Homographs are words which are spelled the same but have different meanings and pronunciation.

• Would you set the VCR to record /ri'ko:d/ The Simpsons for me tonight?
  I spent a lot of time listening to records /'reko:ds/.

• I can't read /ri:d/ your writing.
  She picked up the letter and read /red/ it.
• I always use /ju:z/ the same shampoo.
  Try to make good use /ju:s/ of your time.

• Plants can't live /liv/ without water.
  U2 is singing live /laiv/ on TV tonight.

• A sudden gust of wind /wind/ blew the paper out of his hand.
  I hate watches that you have to wind /waind/.

• Can you see me in the photo? I'm in the back row /r..u/ on the left.
  He had just had a row /rau/ with his wife.

Homophones

Homophones are words that sound the same, but have different meanings and spellings. For example when you hear /pein/ you don't know if it's a flat piece of glass (a pane) or an unpleasant sensation (pain). You have to work it out from the context.

• aloud/allowed = /..'laud/
  You're not allowed to talk during the test.
  Read this passage aloud.
• faze/phase = /feiz/
  Mark was embarrassed, but it didn't faze Steve a bit.
  The project is only in the initial phase as yet, but it's looking quite promising.
• flu/flew = /flu:/
  She couldn't go because she had flu.
  The window suddenly flew open.
• knew/new = /nju:/
  No one knew where Jackie was.
  Have you seen their new baby?
• meat/meet = /mi:t/
  I don't eat meat.
  Let's meet for dinner.
• our/hour = /au../
  You can stay at our house.
  The exam lasted an hour and a half.
• pane/pain = /pein/
  I watched the rain as it pounded against the window pane.
  He felt a sharp pain in his stomach.
• sole/soul = /s..ul/
  There is a hole in the sole of my shoe.
  She knew in her soul that Jim was never going to change.
• some/sum = /s^m/
  I've got to do some more work before I can go out.
  My aunt left me a small sum of money when she died.
• weak/week = /wi:k/
  She felt weak with emotion at the sight of him.
  I go to the cinema about once a week.
• weather/whether = /'weTH../
  What will the weather be like tomorrow?
  She asked me whether I was interested in working for her.

Word commonly mispronounced

These words cause trouble to many learners. Make sure you know how to pronounce them properly!

• apostrophe = /..'postr..fi/
• comb = /k..um/
• comfortable = /'k^mft..b..l/
• hiccough = /'hik^p/
• knowledge = /'nolidZ/
• mountain = /'mauntIn/
• muscle = /'m^s..l/
• pseudonym = /'sju:d..nim/
• psychology = /sai'kol..dZi/, psychiatry = /sai'kai..tri/
• receipt = /ri'si:t/
• subtle = /'s^tl/
• whistle = /'wis..l/

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