English uses different sounds than your native language. If you want to speak English well, you have to teach yourself to recognize them and pronounce them.

 

Study the sounds of English and their IPA symbols. Learn to recognize all the

sounds. Recognition is important because it lets you learn pronunciation from spoken English. In order to learn the correct pronunciation of a word, you need to know what sounds you hear — for example, whether you just heard /dɒk/ or /dʌk/. You have to be able to tell the difference.

 

Learn about phonetic transcription and word stress.

 

Choose your pronunciation model: American or British.

English pronunciation is unpredictable, so guessing the pronunciation of a word rarely works and can lead to bad habits.

That’s why you have to be a bit obsessive about checking the pronunciation of words, especially in the beginning. You should think of every word as a potential trap — not just the “difficult” words like determine or process. Basic English words like of, won’t, does or most can have very surprising pronunci­ation.

 

Get in the habit of checking the pronunciations of words in a dictionary.

When you’re speaking and you’re not 100% sure how to pronounce something, don’t guess — if possible, check the correct pronunciation before you say it. If not, then at least check it soon afterwards.

While you’re reading in English, keep asking yourself: “Do I know how this word is pronounced? Can I transcribe it with phonetic symbols?”. If you’re not sure, look it up in a dictionary. This should happen very frequently when you’re a pronunciation beginner.

 

Listen and notice. Get some spoken input: TV, podcasts, movies, audiobooks, recordings in dictionaries, etc. When listening, pay attention to how sounds and words are pronounced. Think about what sounds you hear. When you listen to non-native speakers, notice their mistakes.

 

Practice pronouncing English words and phrases from time to time. Practice can take many forms. You can practice in a systematic way (e.g. a 15-minute session with a dictionary or online pronunciation exercises), or you can just repeat a couple words while you’re doing something else (e.g. watching a movie or taking a shower). The important thing is to do it regularly — that way, you will make steady progress.

 

Consider learning the pronunciations of most common English words in a systematic way. You could get a list of most frequent words and look up their pronunciations. Or you could use our English pronunciation software that teaches you the pronunciations of the most frequently used English words and makes you remember them.