Bad pronunciation is a bad habit just like any other. Some of us bite our nails.
Others smoke cigarettes. You probably don't even remember the
first time you did it, but now stopping seems impossible. Today we're talking
about how to break those bad pronunciation habits and save your speaking skills.
Why don't you start working on forming a good habit right now
and subscribe to our channel? We publish new videos every week. So if you
subscribe and hit that little bell to turn on your notifications, you'll be
reminded to work on your listening skills on a regular basis. I talked about
why having good pronunciation is such an asset for language learners in another
video on our channel. Scroll down for the link if you haven't already seen it, or
if you aren't convinced that you need to improve your accent. Forming bad habits
is easy, but breaking them is hard. If you're an athlete, you'll understand!
It takes weeks of hard work to get into good shape, but if you slack off for just
a few days, you'll end up nearly back to where you started. And replacing a bad
habit with a good one is challenging, but not impossible.
We often don't realize that we're forming bad pronunciation habits. Obviously, if we
did, we wouldn't do it in the first place! To make language learning as painless as
possible, you should really try to learn correct pronunciation right from the beginning.
I'll explain how to do that in a minute, but first there are two main
reasons why people develop bad pronunciation habits. First, if you stick
to reading and writing practice and avoid speaking and listening, you're
never exposed to pronunciation. Your memorization is influenced by how the
language looks on paper, which for some languages is worlds away from how it's spoken.
Think about the English word "through." If you only ever saw it written
down and never heard it pronounced correctly, there's a very slim chance
that the first time you pronounced it you wouldn't get it right, because of those
three pesky silent letters. And the second reason why many people develop
bad pronunciation habits is that they never practice with native speakers.
Partnering up with a friend who's learning the same language as you is
good because you can motivate each other and hold each other accountable.
But when it comes to actual practice, they aren't the ideal conversation partner,
because they're likely to make some of the same mistakes you will. In order to avoid the
need to break bad habits, it's best to form good ones from the very beginning
of your language learning journey. To do so, make sure your practice is balanced.
Reading and writing are important skills to learn, but make sure you don't neglect
listening and speaking. For speaking practice, it's best to do it with a
native speaker. When you practice with an expert at the language you're learning,
they're able to point out your pronunciation mistakes right when they
happen, so that you can nip them in the bud before they become ingrained bad habits.
So, now you know why bad habits form and how to build good ones from the
get-go. But, if you've already developed a bad habit, there are ways to break it.
According to many studies, building or replacing a habit takes between 21 and
30 days. You should make the effort to deliberately change your pronunciation
habit for about a month. At the beginning, it will be a bit painful, because you'll
have to think a lot before you speak. "Okay... I'm about to pronounce a word with
the "th" sound... I need to make sure my tongue is in the right position..." But eventually,
you'll end up on accent autopilot. Here are some effective ways to correct your
pronunciation habits in any language: 1) Find a native-speaking conversation partner
This is my most important recommendation. I've already told you
why they're so helpful. So now go find one!
2) Don't shy away from tough sounds
Once you have your conversation exchange set up, and you know where your
weaknesses lie, try to work those tricky sounds into conversation as often as
possible. You'll have a tendency to shy away from them, because they're hard for you.
But if you want to break your bad pronunciation habits, you need to face
your fears! The more you practice and get corrected, the faster you'll replace
those bad pronunciation habits with good ones.
3) Focus on one or two sounds at a time
Bad habits are already hard enough to break on their own, and when you try to
break a ton at once, it's even harder. Focus on one or two of your worst
mistakes and really give it your all. Once you've corrected those, which is
already a major improvement, focus on your more subtle errors. I made it a
priority to work on the "u" and "ou" sounds when I was learning French, because it meant the
difference between "beaucoup" and "beau cul"!
4) Practice with exercises to train both your ear and your mouth
You might not even realize that you've formed a bad pronunciation habit.
Sometimes, you'll have to train your ear to recognize the difference
between the sound you're saying and the correct sound.
The International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA, can be a helpful tool for this.
I've included a link to an explanation of the IPA, in case you're not familiar with it.
The MosaLingua Speak English with Confidence MasterClass
is also a great resource for English learners. Because it has special
lessons for all of the trickiest sounds.
5) You may need to exaggerate a little bit
as you work on replacing the bad habits you've formed. When I was working
on my rolled R in Spanish, I sounded like a motorcycle engine. As silly as it
sometimes felt, it really helped get my mouth used to making that sound.
And now I've toned it down a lot, and almost sound like a normal person when
I pronounce it... And finally, record yourself saying words with your target sounds
periodically, so that you can measure your progress. It's encouraging to see – or
hear – how far you've come. So, now it's up to you to identify your own bad
pronunciation habits and get to work breaking them. Luckily, now you have all
the tools you need to do so! Good luck and see you next time!
If you learned something new from this video, give it a thumbs up. Then, hit
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