1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:07,679 As an adult English learner, How can I improve my pronunciation? This is 2 00:00:07,719 --> 00:00:12,919 a question that someone asked me on Instagram, and it's a really good question. 3 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:21,800 Let's discuss. Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from 4 00:00:21,839 --> 00:00:27,320 New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael. All right, 5 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:32,960 thank you, Jann, and thanks everyone. It's Michael here from Happy English 6 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:39,439 and I help people speak English better. And this is Happy English Podcast, 7 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:48,920 Episode six seventy one, Improving Pronunciation as an adult learner. I recently asked 8 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:55,560 my followers on social media what questions they had about learning English. I got 9 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,799 a lot of good responses, and I thought it would be a great opportunity 10 00:00:59,840 --> 00:01:04,920 for me to share some advice here on the podcast. Today, we're going 11 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:12,359 to talk about improving pronunciation as an adult English learner. Improving your pronunciation is 12 00:01:12,359 --> 00:01:21,359 a worthwhile goal and something that's going to definitely enhance your overall communications skills and 13 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:26,840 especially your confidence using English. Here are a few things that you can do 14 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:34,400 to improve your English pronunciation. The first one is listen. Listen, listen. 15 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:40,560 There are a lot of places to find English speakers, and you should 16 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:48,079 try to engage with the variety of English audio materials like podcasts, audiobooks, 17 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:57,400 or ted talks. And by engage, I mean listen attentively, pay close 18 00:01:57,439 --> 00:02:02,200 attention to the pronunciation of the speaker, and when you find a speaker that 19 00:02:02,239 --> 00:02:08,439 has a speaking style that you like, use that audio for shadowing practice. 20 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:16,639 Shadowing means repeating what you hear right after you hear it. Here's an example, 21 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:23,080 using a clip from a Steve Jobs speech. As Apple grew, we 22 00:02:23,199 --> 00:02:27,680 hired someone who I thought was very talented. As Apple grew, we hired 23 00:02:27,719 --> 00:02:34,400 someone who I thought was very talented. As Apple grew, we hired someone 24 00:02:34,599 --> 00:02:39,159 who I thought was very talented. So you can see here I'm repeating what 25 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:46,680 he says and I'm trying to use the same intonation. As Apple grew. 26 00:02:46,159 --> 00:02:53,800 Pause, we hired someone who I thought was very talented. So he stresses 27 00:02:53,039 --> 00:02:58,879 I thought and very talented. Take a listen. As Apple grew, we 28 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:02,120 hired someone who I thought was very talented. As Apple grew, we hired 29 00:03:02,159 --> 00:03:07,960 someone who I thought was very talented. Now that might not be exactly the 30 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:14,919 same pace and intonation as him, but it's pretty close. And that is 31 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:20,680 what I mean by shadowing. Next, as you listen to people speak, 32 00:03:21,199 --> 00:03:25,759 focus on their style of speaking. If I were in a diner and the 33 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:31,159 server asked me what I want to drink, I would probably say, let 34 00:03:31,199 --> 00:03:37,520 me get a cup of coffee. Let me get a cup of coffee. 35 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:42,879 Let me get a cup of coffee. There's a lot of linking and liaison 36 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:53,560 going on in that sentence. Let me comes out like lemmy, lemmy get 37 00:03:54,319 --> 00:04:03,759 comes out like gheta, gheta, let me get a becomes let me get 38 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:12,639 a. Let me get a cup of coffee comes out like cup of coffee, 39 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:16,839 cup of coffee. Let me get a cup of coffee. Let me 40 00:04:16,959 --> 00:04:21,279 get a cup of coffee. Now, I have to tell you that not 41 00:04:21,480 --> 00:04:28,680 everyone would pronounce let me get a cup of coffee as let me get a 42 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:33,040 cup of coffee. That's my accent. I'm an American from New York, 43 00:04:33,439 --> 00:04:41,279 and that's how New Yorkers speak. That's just one American English dialect, and 44 00:04:41,319 --> 00:04:46,759 there is something like thirty different accents in American English. And I'm not asking 45 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:53,639 you to choose one over the other. I'm just suggesting that if you want 46 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:59,120 to sound more native, pay attention to the speaking style of the person you 47 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:04,480 are listening to and then imitate them. You may even want to pick some 48 00:05:04,639 --> 00:05:12,439 famous characters from movies or TV programs and use them as a model for shadowing. 49 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:17,160 Tom Hanks, as Forrest Gump, has a Southern accent. It's the 50 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:23,040 same as Zoe Perry, who plays Mary Cooper, the mom in the TV 51 00:05:23,199 --> 00:05:30,480 show Young Sheldon. You can hear a good Boston accent by Christian Bale in 52 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:35,839 the twenty ten movie The Fighter, and anytime you listen to the comedian and 53 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:46,199 actor Sebastian Maniscalco, you'll find an authentic Chicago accent. In short, for 54 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:53,639 my money, listening attentively to native speakers and using shadowing are the best things 55 00:05:53,680 --> 00:06:00,079 that you can do to improve your pronunciation as an adult learner of English, 56 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:06,240 and like everything else in life, practice makes progress. You'll get the best 57 00:06:06,319 --> 00:06:14,199 results from consistently practicing on a daily basis. Send me a message and let 58 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:18,920 me know what you are struggling with, and who knows your question could become 59 00:06:18,959 --> 00:06:26,120 a podcast like this one. If you'd like to get more practice speaking English, 60 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:31,600 why don't you join my podcast Learners study group. There you can make 61 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:39,319 new friends, join me for live group coaching every week. Plus get the 62 00:06:39,399 --> 00:06:46,480 pdf transcript and audio download for every Happy English podcast in the past and in 63 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:54,240 the future, and each episode has exercises where you can practice this English point 64 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:59,879 with speaking and writing checked by me. To learn more, just visit my 65 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:06,439 Happy English dot com and choose podcast lesson six seventy one. Remember, learning 66 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:12,000 another language is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm here to 67 00:07:12,079 --> 00:07:16,759 help you on your journey. This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. 68 00:07:16,959 --> 00:07:23,480 Please visit my Happy English dot com show your support for Happy English by 69 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:40,759 leaving us a review. Get English, Get Happy, Happy English.