Reading Aloud and Recording Alone

Do you want to work on your pronunciation?

Have you read something recently?

Have you ever recorded and listened to yourself speaking English?! (Not an easy thing to do, I know, but definitely worth it!)

 Try this activity to work on aspects of your pronunciation.

1.     Take a paragraph of a text you have read and understand fully. Read it aloud and record  yourself on your phone/computer.

2.     Listen to yourself and think how to improve it.

a)     Any sounds you could improve?

– consonants like ‘th’ / θ  /, / ð / final consonants in a word,

– vowels long or short, dipthongs (the double sounds), the schwa / ə /

b)  Any stress you could improve?

– in individual words

– in sentences

c)  Are you pausing and breathing in the right place?

– notice punctuation  , . () ; ….

d)  Are you changing the speed and volume?

– quicker and slower

– louder and quieter

e) Are you linking the sounds?

– consonants to vowels

– vowels to vowels with / r / , / w  / , / j /

f) Is your voice going up and down in the right places?

– e.g. up mid sentence, down at the end of a sentence.

3.  Make notes on things to improve and record and listen to yourself again and (again?) until you are happy with the improvement.

Find out more about learning English in the UK by studying at St Giles Brighton.