CHAPTER 17
How Can I Improve My Own
Pronunciation?
Why?
If English is not your native language, you know that your
pronunciation may never be mistaken for that of a native
speaker. That’s normal, and that’s all right. On the other
hand, as a teacher of English, you want to have the best
pronunciation possible, both to serve as a reliable model for
your students and to be understood easily when you speak to
others. So what can you do?
How?
First, realize that this is going to be a long process.
You’ve been studying and speaking English for a long time—
maybe for decades—and your pronunciation habits are well
established. Changing habits isn’t easy or quick, and it can be
frustrating. In fact, in some ways, it’s like going on a diet.
You start out with good intentions to eat only healthy, low-
calorie foods, and you look forward to the wonderful results
of your diet. At !rst you stick to your plan, but as the days go
by, it’s easy to fall back into old eating habits. After a while
you’re eating hot fudge sundaes and potato chips again. It’s
hard to change established habits.It’s hard to change pronunciation habits, too. But don’t be
discouraged. If you approach pronunciation improvement
seriously, recognizing that it’s a long-term project that will
require daily attention and practice, you can make good
progress. Here are some suggestions:Make a plan and practice often. Practicing for a few
minutes every day will give you better results than practicing
for hours every couple of weeks.Choose a specific model to imitate. Think of someone
whose voice you really like—an actor, singer, news
announcer, or someone you know. It can be more e"ective to
choose a speci!c target instead of a general one—“I want to
sound like Denzel Washington” or “I want to sound like Julia
Roberts” instead of “I want to sound like an American native
speaker.”202