Are you making these common English pronunciation mistakes?
We’re all lazy listeners.
So when what we hear matches what we expect to hear, understanding works well.
But when we hear something unexpected, we’re surprised.
And as we probably haven’t been listening “carefully”, we’ve missed some or all of the speaker’s message.
That something unexpected for the listener is often one of these common pronunciation issues:
The speaker’s given a word too many parts — such as comfortable pronounced with 4 instead of the expected 3 syllables.
The speaker’s stressed the wrong part of a word — like the 2nd instead of the 1st syllable in industry.
The speaker hasn’t stressed the part of the sentence that highlights their meaning — in I don’t think she should get that job has the speaker stressed Ibecause it’s their opinion, she because it’s the wrong person or that because it’s the wrong role?
The speaker’s intonation pattern doesn’t show if they’ve stated a fact, asked a question, were certain or uncertain of what they said, were coming to the end of their speech …
Clearing up these issues makes it much easier for listeners to get the message.
In a pronunciation check-up we can pinpoint the problems and practise how to overcome them.
Want to make it easier for your listeners to understand you the first time?
Email me to arrange an English pronunciation check-up.
© Christina Wielgolawski