13th March 2014

Think of languages as flats in a building: they all have the same function: languages are self-contained communication ecosystems. This is one flat, this is another. The owners of the flats can modify and adapt the internal distribution in the way they think is best. That is why languages are sometimes similar and sometimes they are different.

To follow the same metaphor, imagine your flat, the layout, the rooms, the furniture… and now think that as you visit your neighbour’s flat, you find out that he’s got a different number of rooms, or he built an extra bathroom, has a shower instead of a bathtub. Still, it is a flat and the family live there.

Languages are diverse and their pronunciation too. Therefore, it is very important to learn to manage that difference.

Rule #1 Different is good. It is refreshing, it can be funny. All right, it can also be frustrating and confusing. Be a good tourist, enjoy the view.

Rule #2 Awareness of its importance. Pronunciation is not only needed for speaking better but it will improve your listening skills. The bigger the difference between what you expect to hear and what you actually hear, the worse your listening skills will be. If you know what you can expect to hear, then you will recognize the word.

Rule #3 Make an investment. Investing your time and effort (and perhaps some of your money) in learning pronunciation for a language (English here) will get you good returns. All languages have things in common and you can recycle what you learn. Once you learn to go from your native system to a new one, you can reproduce that movement to other languages. Once you learnt to adjust the movements in your mouth for new sounds, you are not just learning those sounds, but how to try new experiences, like an exotic ice-cream flavour.

Rule #4 Know your strengths and weaknesses. Identify your challenges. With the help of a good teacher, a good book and/or good online resources you can find out what your standing point is by learning the basics about pronouncing your native tongue.

You will be very surprised to realize the complex adjustments you make constantly in your mouth. The bonus of learning to pronounce new sounds is that they are very likely to appear in other languages that you may want to learn. The more vowels you can pronounce, your ability to assimilate new ones will improve. It’s cumulative learning.

OK, you feel you are past the motivational speech stage and you want to get down to work. You should start by gathering your tools. My recommendation is to start here:

But there is more. If you click your mouse on the little blue tabs on the top right corner of each symbol, you will find examples of each sound in context.

This is a good tool to get you started. My advice here: build on those examples and make your own list of words that include each of the sounds that you find problematic.

This is very similar to what Macmillan, the book publishers, have on their website:

http://www.macmillaneducationapps.com/

However the Macmillan app is more complete, as you will be able to see. First of all, there are two version: a limited version for free (the one I am using for this demonstration) and the full version.

 

 

Once you start the app you will find a menu with several options. We wil go through the first three of them. The “more option” is only interesting because it includes the instructions!

 

 

The chart os the part which reminds us of the British council app. You have the buttons, you can hear the sounds if you tap on the symbols. If you tap and hold you can hear one example.

 

 

Let’s go now to the practice section. This section is limited in the free version of the app. You can judge for yourself once you download it. The full version is worth the money though. Here you have three options: read, write and listen. In the read section you will be given a phonetic transcription (oh those funny symbols!) and you have to figure out which word it is. In the write section, you are given a word and you have to write it with phonetic symbols. Finally in the listen section, you will hear a word and you will have to write it! Here you have some screenshots for you to get an idea.

 

 

Good I did it!

 

 

Will I get this one right? Let’s check!

 

 

Oh this one was pretty easy!

 

 

The listening part is probably the most difficult… and sometimes you get surprised. Listen well! There is actually no “b” in “lamb”!

 

 

Well, I hope you can all benefit from these tools. I believe they will empower you, whatever your level, to improve your listening and speaking skills. And provided you have a tablet or smartphone, you can use in anywhere (yes, even there). Enjoy!