Pronunciation diary

Grammar and vocabulary make up a huge part of the studies of a language learner. However, the correct pronunciation is the crucial part of mastering a language. When you are talking with a native speaker, they might not notice the grammar mistakes you make or your limited vocabulary, but they will definitely take notice if your pronunciation is bad. Moreover, if you speak English with a strong foreign accent, native speakers might even have problems understanding you. Before you start improving your pronunciation, though, you should decide which accent you would like to adopt. For learing the British accent, I recommend this site http://www.wikihow.com/Speak-in-a-British-Accent for a detailed step by step explanation and this site https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtXcrElq5jM to gain a quick insight into the most essential aspects of British English. I personally like watching interviews of my favourite British actors like Emma Watson. This is like mixing work and pleasure!

In terms of my pronunciation in general, one of the fields I really need to improve is the intonation. When I listened to our record of the Pecha Kucha transcript, it was actually the first time I have ever heard myself speaking a foreign language. I have to admit, that I wasn’t very satisfied with my tone of voice. It sounded like I was reading a awfully boring legislative text and was falling asleep any moment! Except my monotonous pronunciation, I also realised that I tend to end high at the end of a sentence which makes it sound more like a question than a statement. For this reason, I was searching the Internet for useful websites. The two best tips I found are: Firstly, to correct improper intonation, you need to remember to start high and end low. Secondly, listen to natural English conversation through T.V., radio, podcasts, the news, movies, etc. and afterwards recording yourself how you are speaking some of the sentences. This will give you the opportunity to directly compare your pronunciation with the original speech.

In terms of English oral communication, speaking fluently therefore is a formidable challenge for me. However, I think there is one vital characteristic you need to acquire this ability – a characteristic that I’m without doubt lacking: confidence. Emotion is critically important for fluent speech and if you are confident you are able to use your knowledge without hesitation. I don’t think that any of my class mates face the same problem, but whenever I have to talk in English, I’m nervous, worried, and afraid of appearing foolish. Fear of mistakes, fear of other people’s opinions– these destroy English fluency. I know that my difficulty has nothing to do with studying English vocabulary, listening and speaking, but with missing inner strength.

Now that I found out what my main pronunciation weaknesses are, I was able to strategize. Pronunciation is something totally individual and each student has to find their own ways to improve it. However, I think that it would take me a looong time to acquire a credible British accent.