Learn Fast English Pronunciation ALONE

28,749 views ・ 2022-02-07

RealLife English


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:40
As language learners, we often strive for perfect pronunciation
0
40273
3771
00:44
because how we sound is the first thing that people hear when we speak.
1
44377
3170
00:47
Now we're afraid that if we make a mistake,
2
47881
2102
00:50
especially when it comes to pronunciation, our value will diminish
3
50250
3570
00:53
and others will realize that maybe we're not as good as we say we are.
4
53820
3237
00:57
But let's be honest.
5
57357
1268
00:58
In many cases, English pronunciation makes no sense.
6
58625
3303
01:02
Now, unlike some other phonetic languages that I've learned, like Spanish,
7
62328
3437
01:05
for example, where words that are spelled in a particular way
8
65765
3037
01:08
usually have a predictable sound, in English words that are spelt
9
68968
3671
01:12
the same way might sound different like read and read, and words
10
72639
4070
01:16
that are spelt different might sound the same, like vain and vain.
11
76709
3237
01:20
Now if this drives you crazy. You are not alone.
12
80180
2302
01:22
Many English learners feel frustrated, wondering how they should
13
82782
3103
01:25
learn pronunciation and what they can do to effectively improve.
14
85885
4004
01:30
Well, in today's lesson our Beyond Borders
15
90190
2602
01:32
Guests will share some of the best method that you can use
16
92826
3570
01:36
to improve your pronunciation, so get ready to be inspired.
17
96596
4738
01:41
And hey, if you are new here, then be sure to hit that subscribe button
18
101601
3704
01:45
and the bell down below,
19
105305
1368
01:46
because we want to join you on your English learning journey
20
106673
2869
01:49
every week and help you to go from being a bored and ineffective
21
109542
4705
01:54
English learner to being a confident and natural English speaker.
22
114247
4838
01:59
So join our community of over 300,000 so that you don't miss new
23
119552
4505
02:04
lessons every single week.
24
124057
1334
02:12
So Idahosa, in your opinion,
25
132499
2202
02:14
where is the best place to start when it comes to practicing pronunciation?
26
134701
3437
02:19
Yeah, well I start with listening.
27
139405
935
02:20
So the highest, most effective
28
140340
3270
02:23
technique in that, in our set, in our universe
29
143610
3136
02:27
is something called syllable, syllable shadowing.
30
147180
4805
02:32
There's a way you can train your listening.
31
152385
2169
02:35
I'll take that last sentence. There's a way you can train your listening,
32
155221
2803
02:38
there's a way you can train your listening, there's a way you can train your listening.
33
158057
3237
02:41
You might be trained to listen for the words I'm saying.
34
161661
2169
02:43
There is a way. Right?
35
163930
2669
02:46
But that's how I'm saying,
36
166599
1001
02:47
there's a way you can train your listening
37
167600
1702
02:49
there's a way you can train your listening.
38
169302
2035
02:51
You can hear it as syllables.
39
171337
1502
02:52
So what you would do is you'd practice may be clapping along with it.
40
172839
2502
02:56
There's a way you can train your listening. There's a way you can train your listening.
41
176042
3504
02:59
I'm getting people to sync with the rhythm of the speech
42
179546
4104
03:03
with their bodies. So you can do it with your hands.
43
183950
2936
03:07
There's a way you can train your listening. You can move your lips with it.
44
187187
4537
03:17
Alright, so it sounds weird, weird stuff. But man, does it work!
45
197096
2536
03:19
What you do is you just get English phrases, you get whatever you're watching
46
199933
4504
03:24
and then you practice being in sync with it, with your own body.
47
204737
4672
03:30
And paying attention and making the adjustments.
48
210243
2536
03:32
You do that very specific, deliberate training for like 30 minutes a day,
49
212779
5405
03:39
it has massive effects on listening comprehension.
50
219352
2703
03:42
And here's why it works. Because
51
222455
2536
03:46
you understand me for this reason,
52
226659
1702
03:48
this is what babies are doing when we were, when we were kids.
53
228361
2369
03:51
The most fundamental layer of speech is the rhythm duh, duh-duh-duh, duh, duh-duh-duh.
54
231197
5272
03:56
So that's, that's a technique for listening comprehension.
55
236502
3137
04:00
And I'll leave it at that. Because all the pronunciation things come out of that.
56
240006
3237
04:03
I totally agree.
57
243576
1201
04:04
Practicing listening is fundamental to good pronunciation,
58
244777
3370
04:08
just as we memorize and understand
59
248381
1635
04:10
songs and music by listening closely to the lyrics and other features.
60
250016
3670
04:13
We can also master difficult words by listening carefully to the rhythm
61
253920
4237
04:18
and the way that certain syllables sound.
62
258358
2435
04:21
The key here is to listen carefully to how words are used.
63
261261
3603
04:25
Break them down when practicing them
64
265098
1968
04:27
until you're comfortable enough to start using them in conversation.
65
267066
3871
04:31
And do you find experts’, like Idahosa’s, advice valuable
66
271337
2803
04:34
for improving your English?
67
274140
1902
04:36
Well, if you want to learn more with some of the best teachers in the world,
68
276042
3770
04:40
then download the free RealLife App.
69
280046
2369
04:42
Now there you can listen to the full interviews with each of them
70
282849
3770
04:46
with an interactive transcript and vocabulary definitions.
71
286719
3871
04:51
And so many of you have told me that you are frustrated
72
291090
2803
04:54
because you have no way to practice speaking English.
73
294060
3036
04:57
Well, we decided to go ahead and solve that. On the RealLife App.
74
297630
4505
05:02
Just press a button
75
302335
1134
05:03
and you can speak English instantly with someone in another part of the world.
76
303469
4438
05:08
Again, it's all free and you really have nothing to lose.
77
308308
3303
05:11
So just search for RealLife English in the Apple app or Google Play Store,
78
311978
3970
05:16
or you can click up here or in the description down below.
79
316182
2803
05:26
So Mark Hancock has written 26 books on the subject
80
326159
3870
05:30
of English pronunciation, so you could say that he's a bit of an expert.
81
330029
3570
05:34
Mark, what can learners do to help them to remember the sound patterns
82
334000
3937
05:38
of the words that they're learning? - (Mark) The rhymes and raps are great for,
83
338104
4538
05:43
like drilling type work, you know, practicing getting your mouth around it.
84
343910
4337
05:48
And they also stick in the memory
85
348815
2602
05:51
like an earworm, something which sticks in your memory.
86
351651
3103
05:56
I mentioned before the shits and sheet different straight in the eye.
87
356022
5038
06:01
So I'm just going to
88
361060
2303
06:03
do a rap for you, which I often do to focus on
89
363363
3436
06:07
this difference in words like fit and feet,
90
367467
3103
06:11
bit/beat and so on.
91
371204
2369
06:14
He's got plenty of examples of these minimal pairs.
92
374040
2269
06:16
So it goes like this.
93
376809
1669
06:29
So you do things like that, you do it.
94
389155
2269
06:31
And then you get students to repeat line after line with you, and then you get
95
391424
4271
06:35
students started doing it where one half of the class say one line
96
395695
3470
06:39
and the next day the next line, different kinds of formats like that.
97
399165
4571
06:43
But by the end, when they're walking home,
98
403736
2636
06:46
hopefully this will be going round and round in their heads. Like a earworm.
99
406839
4338
06:51
And so it's the pronunciation points
100
411177
3604
06:55
that helps the student to fix them in their memory.
101
415248
3503
06:59
So raps are really good for that. Raps,
102
419085
2536
07:01
songs, poems, wordplay generally, those kind of things.
103
421821
3942
07:05
That’s super interesting!
104
425763
1764
07:07
So practicing with minimal pairs can help you to isolate
105
427527
3737
07:11
and focus on those sounds that might be most difficult for you.
106
431264
3603
07:15
So figure out what sounds
107
435101
801
07:15
are most difficult for you to pronounce and then make a list of minimal pairs.
108
435902
3537
07:19
And you can even find many of these lists online with a simple search.
109
439705
3003
07:22
Print it out and put it somewhere that you'll see it all the time and commit
110
442975
3604
07:26
to practicing with minimal pairs for at least a few minutes every day.
111
446579
3537
07:30
Now, as Mark said, songs, poetry and wraps are also great for this.
112
450383
4337
07:35
Now, when I was in High School, I was lucky to have the opportunity
113
455188
2602
07:37
to study abroad in a small village in Germany for six months.
114
457790
3337
07:41
I had taken German classes at my school for three years,
115
461527
2536
07:44
so I was feeling pretty confident that I would have a good base
116
464464
3269
07:47
and would pick it up naturally as soon I was in the country
117
467967
2936
07:51
surrounded by the language.
118
471070
1869
07:52
But to my surprise, when I arrived, no one could understand me.
119
472939
3870
07:57
Despite studying vocabulary and grammar for three years,
120
477243
3136
08:00
my teacher never thought to focus on correct pronunciation,
121
480379
2670
08:03
so I filtered my pronunciation naturally through English.
122
483483
2902
08:06
And as an English teacher, I've seen that many learners make the same mistake.
123
486986
5272
08:12
Why is it that this happens?
124
492792
1234
08:21
Sometimes the listener hears what they expect to hear.
125
501300
3704
08:25
So your teacher is saying "ir" but you you think that the teachers sad "ihc",
126
505271
5539
08:31
you somehow filter the message
127
511010
2703
08:34
that was coming in your ears, you filter it through your own language.
128
514013
3337
08:37
What fixes in your memory is actually
129
517717
2435
08:40
a side version in this case of the other language.
130
520386
3470
08:44
This happens a lot.
131
524023
1235
08:45
And part of what pronunciation teaching is about
132
525258
3570
08:48
is about helping students to hear objectively.
133
528961
3070
08:52
You know, that makes sense.
134
532932
1768
08:54
So when learning a new language,
135
534700
1602
08:56
especially when it comes to pronunciation, it's important that you set aside
136
536302
3670
08:59
the rules and structures of your native language,
137
539972
2870
09:03
as this can not only confuse you, but also delay your progress.
138
543142
4671
09:08
Of course, as adults,
139
548247
1201
09:09
it's not as easy to learn a new language without the interference
140
549448
3070
09:12
of our native tongue, but it is important to be aware of this
141
552518
3670
09:16
and consistently try to avoid the first language interference.
142
556355
3904
09:27
So once you are familiar with the sounds, you need to work on a great way
143
567133
4037
09:31
for you to train your mouth to pronounce the correct sounds is with tongue
144
571170
3504
09:34
twisters. Hadar, are you ready to practice?
145
574674
3738
10:16
Very good!
146
616462
2180
10:20
I love this one.
147
620274
1609
10:33
And I love this one.
148
633527
1006
10:34
This is. This is, this one is really good for practicing theaspirated P. Peter in the high E sound too.
149
634567
8049
10:42
That was really fun.
150
642616
1360
10:43
Tongue twisters help the brain to control the tongue better, improving
151
643976
3404
10:47
pronunciation and clarity.
152
647380
2519
10:55
Anna, do you find it is effective for learners to be super strict on themselves when it comes to pronunciation?
153
655554
5806
11:01
You know, I'm not very eloquent in my native language
154
661360
3604
11:05
and I make mistakes and I stumble over my words
155
665431
2836
11:08
and I mispronounce words even in my native Ukrainian language.
156
668267
3670
11:11
So it's not something supernatural for me, and I do this in English,
157
671937
4238
11:16
and I have come to terms with this because I was really like,
158
676175
5339
11:22
I was beating myself up over this like you.
159
682481
2303
11:24
You need to speak perfectly in English.
160
684784
3703
11:28
You need to master the skill.
161
688487
2336
11:30
But that was my mistake, I was too
162
690823
4104
11:35
too strict and too harsh on myself and I wa yous know too hard, too hard on myself.
163
695728
7541
11:43
And because of that, I had moments of disappointment and burning out.
164
703269
4571
11:48
So I remember that
165
708174
3703
11:52
I literally was so afraid to skip even a day of my learning routine
166
712478
5572
11:58
because I was so afraid that I was going to lose
167
718050
5239
12:03
any progress that I gained, or I was going to lose my skills.
168
723289
4104
12:07
And that was so ridiculous.
169
727393
1568
12:08
I didn't give myself time to even rest.
170
728961
2736
12:12
Yeah, it's so important to keep the balance between working hard
171
732298
3036
12:15
and being kind to yourself, because when you experience
172
735501
3003
12:18
that much pressure, learning a language stops being enjoyable and you run the risk
173
738504
4638
12:23
of losing your motivation to keep learning.
174
743142
2769
12:26
And finally, when it comes
175
746212
1268
12:27
to pronunciation, is it important which accent learners choose to adopt?
176
747480
3770
12:38
If you enjoy learning English and if you enjoy working on your pronunciation
177
758190
3837
12:42
and speaking with an American or British or whatever accent, just go for it.
178
762027
5005
12:47
Just do it! You do you!
179
767032
2369
12:49
There you have it.
180
769401
768
12:50
Expert tips from our exceptional guests
181
770169
2135
12:52
for improving your pronunciation fast on your own. Just a recap.
182
772471
4638
12:57
They are:
183
777143
3203
13:16
Remember that if any of their tips really stuck out to you,
184
796381
2817
13:19
then you can check out the full interview with them on the RealLife
185
799365
3336
13:22
app linked down in the description below.
186
802701
2670
13:25
Next, you might want to check out our lesson about imposter syndrome,
187
805704
3304
13:29
which will help you to identify ways to overcome the fears and pressures
188
809241
3704
13:32
of perfectionism. Let's watch a clip from that.
189
812945
2436
13:36
OK, so according to a study published by the Journal of Behavioral Sciences,
190
816348
3904
13:40
approximately 70% of people suffer from imposter syndrome.
191
820419
3637
13:44
People of all ages from a variety of careers and jobs
192
824523
3170
13:47
struggle with it every single day of their lives.
193
827893
3237
13:51
You've probably experienced it on some level yourself,
194
831897
2536
13:54
like not believing in your ability to do something and fearing that people
195
834967
3537
13:58
will find out judging your capability to the point of calling yourself a fraud
196
838504
4338
14:03
and believing that everyone else is better than you are.
197
843209
2802
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7