What is Pronunciation?

Pronunciation is the way a particular word of a language is pronounced. It is not about speaking with a perfect British or American accent but it is about speaking in a manner where people understand you and your English is pleasant to listen to. Pronunciation is not about being understood at word level only.  To have good pronunciation, you need to develop clear speech and fluency in the language. This can be done through:

• having some knowledge about the meaning of phonetic symbols used in pronunciation
• understanding how syllables and stress work in a language
• having some knowledge on how sounds are linked-up in connected speech
• having some knowledge on how elision of  sounds work in a language
• understanding how and when words can be contracted in a language

Why English pronunciation can be difficult

Learners of English sometimes find English pronunciation such a big challenge. Some of the reasons for this include:

• English sounds are different from the spelling of the words. For example, the letter ‘u’ in English can have several sounds:
  • busy = / 'bIzI /; butter = / 'bt /; bury = / 'berI/;
  • burst = / bз:st /; bush =  / b /; abuse =  / 'bju:z /
    
    
• The same sound in the English language can have different letters representing it.   For example, the sound / i: / is represented by different letters as in: pea, bee, scenic, believe, perceive, subpoena.
  
  
• The same letter in the English spelling system can have different sounds. For example, the letter ‘s’ is pronounced as / / as in measure; / z / as in resume; / s / as in  social.