Practice Your Pronunciation

Try Shadow Reading for Fresh Foundations Day 11

In January, I’m sharing quick posts to help you build a sustainable and effective language learning practice. This series, Fresh Foundations, is all about actionable steps you can take to create a routine that works for you.

Today’s post is about improving your pronunciation.

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Pronunciation is often forgotten in language learning. While grammar and vocabulary seem more important, pronunciation plays a big role. Why? Because even the most advanced grammar and vocabulary are useless if people can’t understand what you’re saying.

Having clear pronunciation not only helps you communicate more easily but also improves your listening comprehension and builds your confidence to participate in conversations.

The Building Blocks of Pronunciation

To improve pronunciation, you need to work on three main skills:

1. Learning New Sounds (Phonemes): Every language has its own sounds, and they may be different from the sounds you use in other languages. For example, Spanish speakers often struggle with the vowel sound /ɪ/ in words like “six” or “myth” because that sound doesn’t exist in Spanish. Similarly, I find it difficult to distinguish between the vowel sounds in “tu” vs “tout” in French because the /y/ sound doesn’t exist in English, making it harder for me to hear.

2. Understanding Rhythm and Stress: Languages use rhythm and stress differently. For example, Spanish gives equal time to each syllable (syllable-timed), but English focuses on stressed syllables (stress-timed). This difference often makes English harder for Spanish speakers to follow and vice versa.

   Words can also sound different in connected speech, making it difficult to recognize them. For example, in English, the word “to” might sound like “two” in isolation but become “ta” or even part of “wanna” in a sentence like “I want to eat ice cream.” This feature can make even familiar words seem unrecognizable, so we need to hear and practice words in context.

3. Training Your Mouth Muscles: Pronunciation is physical. Your mouth, tongue, and lips need to learn new movements. For instance, when I speak French, my mouth feels tired. That’s a good sign because it means I’m using the right muscles trying to pronounce all those /y/ sounds.

Shadow Reading

One of the best ways to practice pronunciation is shadow reading. This means copying another speaker’s voice as closely as possible. It helps you notice how they pronounce words and use rhythm and intonation.

Here’s how you can try shadow reading:

1. Choose Audio or Video: Pick a short clip, about 30-60 seconds, with clear pronunciation. Make sure it has subtitles or a transcript.

2. Understand the Meaning: Before you start, read the transcript and listen to the audio. Make sure you understand what it means.

3. Shadow the Speaker: Play the audio and try to speak at the same time as the speaker. Copy their sounds, rhythm, and intonation. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect—this is about practice.

That’s it! If it feels too fast, try slowing down the audio. Many video platforms let you change the speed, so take your time.

Here’s an example video I share with my English learners of me shadow reading along with a TED talk. You’ll see that it’s even difficult for me to keep up, and English is my first language.

Why Shadowing Helps

Shadow reading connects listening and speaking. It trains your ears to notice pronunciation details and teaches your mouth to copy them. This makes your speaking clearer and improves your listening skills.

Of course, there are apps, websites, and courses that can help you improve your pronunciation, but if you haven’t tried shadow reading yet, give it a try. It’s a great place to start because you’re modeling language in context.

Your Task

Today, you’re going to try shadow reading. Follow the instructions above. After practicing, think about these questions:

• Were there any particular sounds you found difficult to reproduce? If so, how could you improve them?

• Did you notice any instances where the speaker pronounced a word or combination of words very differently to how you expected?

• What differences did you notice between your pronunciation and the speaker’s?

• What are you proud of?

Tomorrow, we’re going to continue our look at productive skills and focus on the the most important one-speaking! See you then.