How can I improve my pronunciation and intonation in a foreign language ?

How can I improve my pronunciation and intonation in a foreign language ?

BULLE 1

There are several steps :
1. Assess your difficulties
2. Practise to alleviate them
3. Talk to practise

BULLE 2

Assess your difficulties
Register

BULLE 2a

Diagnosis

  • Listen to yourself again to pinpoint your problems
  • Ask someone else (a teacher, a native speaker, another learner, etc.) to listen and give you feedback.

BULLE 3

Practise

  • Isolated sounds
  • Pairs of words with only one sound difference (in French tout/tu, in Italian inferno/inverno, in German rand/land…)

BULLE 4

Work on the sounds in words and sentences

BULLE 4a

Choose a podcast (preferably with a transcript)

  • Listen to it
  • Read the script once
  • Then read it in short extracts and repeat, imitating the important elements (the way the words are grouped, the parts that are more accented, etc.).
    the way the words are grouped, the parts that are more accented, the places where the voice rises…)
  • Record yourself and compare with the original
  • Ask someone to comment on your recording

BULLE 4b

Read aloud
Practise with songs or poems, for example: this can help you to pay more attention to the rhythm and intonation of the language.

BULLE 5

Don’t forget…

  • Oral documents are not models to be imitated at all costs, but rather « good examples ».
    The more examples you listen to, the more you practise, the better your pronunciation will be.

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