These days I'm struggling with pronunciation. There are some words that I can't confidently use in conversation. The reasons are because not only I'm not sure of the pronunciation, but also I can't perfectly pronunce the specific consonants or vowels which Koreans usually have problems with such as "l". "r". So I just want to know how you guys handle this problem. Let's share and compare !!
Well, there was a time that I thought I had a good pronunciation(when I was young), but these days I think it's getting harder. For me, 'abroad,' 'broad,' and 'road' are hard to pronounce. It's really confusing. The vowel of the first two and the last one have different pronunciation. When I say "lawyer", it's okay. But abroad, I sometimes say like "어브로우드," like in road(로우드) You know what I'm sayin??
ReplyDeleteAnyway, no one can be perfect unless they are native English speakers. "Accentless" is not possible and I don't even know it's a good thing. So, Cordelia, let's be more confident!
I believe that intelligibility should be the main key factor when it comes to pronunciation. But I find that Korean society prefers more like accent-free(Native Like) English. But I don't find any advantages of that except impressing people for a short time with a native like pronunciation. but it doesn't last that long.
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe intonation is more important and will make our English more natural.
"lyrics" and "eggs" are really killing me. :(
As Lynn said, I don't think a good pronuciation is not that important. But if you really want to change your pronunciation, how about speaking little bit slowly when you speak? I feel that my pronunciation is more terrible when I try to speak fast.
ReplyDelete"Native-like pronunciation is not important, comprehensible pronunciation is enough"...peole say..but, I know still Native-like pronunciation is soooooooooo important to be shown as a fluent English speaker..
ReplyDeletePractice makes Perfect??well..
...I've been felt that innate voice is one of the important factors.when someone who has really clear ringing and round voice speaks a foreign language, it's really good to listen.. of course, he or she needs to pratice,too, but the person can start to learn English with the advantage, "good voice and tone"....I think you have really clear voice..so you have an advantage to learn pronunciation, already,don't you?
I wonder I have qualification to answer for your question. My pronunciation is more terrible. But anyway, dictation and repetition after native one sentence by one sentence is best, I think. But Cordelia your English is excellent. I envy you. As you know, I start English when I was 39 again. During the first several months I tried my best for better pronunciation. And it was effective, I think. but soon quitted ...If I had continued to, I could have better pronunciation now. But your question encourages me to make efforts again, thanks, Cordelia!
ReplyDeleteHi Cordelia,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great way to get advice about common problems. I think that some pronunciation problesm aren't really problems at all. As long as others can understand you, you don't have to worry.