{"id":148012,"date":"2023-07-03T04:36:08","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T08:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/how-to-improve-english-pronunciation\/"},"modified":"2025-06-02T10:41:56","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T14:41:56","slug":"how-to-improve-english-pronunciation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/english\/how-to-improve-english-pronunciation\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Improve Your English Pronunciation in 15 Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Learning to pronounce English words<\/a> correctly can be one of the hardest parts of learning English, especially if there are sounds that your native language doesn\u2019t have or you tend to get tripped up by tricky vowel pronunciation.<\/p>\n

See how “way,” “weigh” and “whey”\u00a0<\/b>are all said the same, while “comb,” “bomb” and “tomb” are all pronounced differently?<\/p>\n

That’s why I have 15 tips for you, to help you pronounce even the trickiest English words correctly.<\/p>\n

You can also check out some tips from our YouTube channel<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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[fluentu-toc skip=3]<\/p>\n

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1. Learn to Listen<\/h2>\n

Before you learn how to speak, you\u2019ll need to learn how to listen. Some sounds can be hard to tell apart when you\u2019re listening. Did the speaker sleep<\/i> or slip<\/i>?<\/em> Did he hurt his chin<\/i> or his shin<\/i>?<\/em> If you can hear the difference, it will be easier to speak the difference.<\/p>\n

There are many guides to get you started in learning to listen. We have some great articles here about learning to listen from movies<\/a>, songs and music<\/a>\u00a0and podcasts<\/a>. You can also find listening exercises online, like this one from Rong-chang<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The pronunciation practice at Many Things<\/a>\u00a0is really slick, especially its huge selection of lessons on\u00a0minimal pairs<\/strong>. Minimal pairs<\/a> are pairs of words like sleep\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0slip, <\/em>that are only different by one sound. You can click on each word to hear a complete sentence with each, then quiz yourself in the second box and click the correct answer.<\/p>\n

2. Learn with the Best English Pronunciation Dictionaries Online<\/h2>\n

You probably already use a dictionary to translate English words, but online or digital dictionaries can offer many additional benefits, including pronunciation guides<\/a>. These kinds of dictionaries are some of the most useful tools you can have for practicing English pronunciation. Best of all, they’re available online for free!<\/p>\n

Here are some of the best pronunciation dictionaries you can find and use online.<\/p>\n

Google Translate<\/h3>\n

\"english<\/a><\/p>\n

Website<\/a> | iOS<\/a> | Android<\/a><\/p>\n

You may have already used Google Translate during your English studies. Google Translate is an easy-to-use translator that also provides pronunciation guides for single words and whole sentences. As soon as you get to Google Translate’s interface, you can look up any word and it will give you a number of definitions and an audio pronunciation.<\/p>\n

If you’re just looking for pronunciation help, type in Google search “how to say (insert word).” You will get both an audio pronunciation guide (which you can slow down) and a visual guide that shows how your mouth should move when saying the word.<\/p>\n

FluentU<\/h3>\n

Website<\/a> | iOS<\/a> | Android<\/a><\/p>\nFluentU<\/a><\/strong> takes real-world videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIt uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the English language and culture over time. You\u2019ll learn English as it\u2019s spoken in real life.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nFluentU has a variety of engaging content from popular talk shows, nature documentaries and funny commercials, as you can see here:\r\n<\/p>\r\n\"-learn-english-with-videos\"<\/a>\r\n

\r\nFluentU makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive.<\/strong> That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.\r\n<\/p>\r\n\"learn-english-with-captioned-television-show-clips\"<\/a>\r\n

\r\nFor example, when you tap on the word \"searching,\" you'll see this:\r\n<\/p>\r\n\"learn-english-with-interactive-subtitled-dialogue\"<\/a>\r\n

\r\nLearn all the vocabulary in any video with quizzes.<\/strong> Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you\u2019re learning.\r\n<\/p>\r\n\"practice-english-with-adaptive-quizzes\"<\/a>\r\n

\r\nThe best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you\u2019re learning and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It even reminds you when it\u2019s time to review! Every learner has a truly personalized experience,<\/strong> even if they\u2019re learning with the same video.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nStart using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a>\r\n<\/p> \r\n \r\n\r\n \"FluentU\r\n

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