If you're looking for tips
on how to speak like
a native speaker of any language,
then you're in the right place.
In this video, I'm going to talk about
what exactly it means to speak
like a native speaker,
how exactly to do it,
as well as a couple
of resource recommendations.
If you're new here, Hi,
my name is Jamie, I am a language coach
and my job is to help language
learners achieve their language goals
no matter what they are.
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all about helping language
learners achieve their language goals.
So what exactly does it mean
to speak like a native speaker
and to be mistaken as a native speaker
when you're speaking a foreign language?
If you're really serious
about being mistaken as a native speaker,
then what you really need to be focusing
on is your pronunciation.
And in order to improve
your pronunciation,
you'll want to be focused
on the IPA
or international phonetic alphabet.
The idea of the IPA
is that all humans have the same mouth.
We all have the same teeth,
the same muscles, the same body
parts, the same everything.
The difference between how different
languages sound is really just how
different languages
use the same mouth differently.
It's not just about
using different words,
it's also about creating different
sounds in your mouth
that you may have
not ever created before,
at least if you want to sound
like a native speaker.
The biggest sign
that somebody is not a native
speaker is when they say the words,
but they don't use
the sounds of a native speaker.
They're using the sounds of their own
native language.
So using IPA,
we can understand
how exactly we are using our mouths
to create our native language
and then slightly shift
that to reflect the language
that we're trying to speak.
While the IPA can be
a pretty boring concept for some,
there is a great resource
out there called the Mimic
Method for language learners.
The Mimic Method was a paid program,
but it's now free to everybody,
which is really awesome.
It's available in a ton
of really commonly learned
foreign languages.
The Mimic method is based
entirely on IPA and helps native
English speakers
to understand where our mouths
are naturally going.
Plotting it on a graph
and then showing us
where our mouths and tongue and muscles
should be in order to produce the words.
As a native speaker,
you can go through all the videos
where all the differences in
sound are explained.
There are interesting drills
that you can use to practice.
Getting used to creating
that specific sound in
your mouth is really, really
simple words like
one to two syllable words.
You just say them over and over
and over and over again.
You can learn to almost naturally
create the foreign language words
in the foreign accent,
the way that native
speakers of that language
create it naturally
so that you sound like a native speaker.
Honestly, if you want
tips to speak like a native speaker,
this is an absolute goldmine
and you should not be ignoring it,
especially because now
it's completely free to the public,
which is amazing.
While the mimic method is the best, most
comprehensive, honestly,
the only way that I know of
to understand pronunciation
at a scientific level,
specifically for language
learners, it's not the only way
to practice pronunciation
or necessarily the best.
So as promised, let's talk
about a few different resources
that you can use to benefit
your pronunciation.
With or without the mimic method,
but absolutely 100% better with it.
If you're enjoying this approach so far,
make sure to hit the like button.
I already mentioned the drills
available in the Mimic method,
and I still highly recommend
that it's a really good jumping off point
after you've gone through the videos
and gone through all the tutorials.
But there are a couple other options.
The first one I can recommend
is a website called Pink Trombone.
It's a really interesting website
where you can basically play around
with different muscles in your mouth,
where the tongue is located,
what you're doing with your throat,
the roof of your mouth,
all sorts of things.
And basically take the concept of IPA
and how our mouths are moving
in order to create different sounds
and practice it on this digital mouth.
Basically, if you want
like an outside view
of what our mouths do
and how our mouths create
different sounds,
this is a really great way
to put some practice in
and really nail down
what exactly it is that you're doing
with your mouth to create the words
that you want to create
in your foreign language.
It can take a little bit getting used to,
but if that's the kind of thing
that will really help
you understand
how you want to be moving your mouth,
this is a really great resource
that is totally free
now, backing off of the nitty
gritty of the IPA
and switching more
to a more language
centric, experience centric view
of practicing your pronunciation
and practicing understanding
how you should be authentically
creating the language.
My next resource
recommendation is YouGlish.
Again, it's another free website.
YouGlish is essentially
a giant search engine
that searches YouTube videos
for specific words and phrases.
It's available in several
different languages
and basically what you do
is you type a word into the search bar
and automatically comes up
with different videos available
already on YouTube
of people saying
those words in the target language.
This is really awesome
because it can help you train your brain
and your ear to understand
the different sounds
that people use to convey these words.
one of the issues
that language learners can run into
when they're using language
apps is while there are audios available,
they're robotic for one,
but also nobody says words the same way.
So using YouGlish
you can look up buenas días, for example,
and you can have
all these different examples
of different people saying these words.
So you don't get used to listening
for and learning
to pronounce buenas días in one way
or like how I say it
or like how a friend says it.
You can get used to
the sounds of different people
and how those sounds
interact with each other
with native speakers.
It's going to be a really great
training tool for
not only your listening comprehension,
but also to understand the various ways
the people use their mouths
to create the same sound.
And speaking of apps, there are two apps
I would highly recommend in order
to learn to speak like a native speaker.
I mentioned them
both quite a few times on this channel,
so you know that I love them.
The first one is Speechling.
Speechling is an app and website
where you can go online
and get prompts to speak, respond
to certain prompts,
or just repeat phrases and words,
and have them compared
to not only the native audio
that's already supplied,
but it'll be sent to a tutor
that will help you
with your pronunciation .
It's like a combination of shadowing
and also having a private tutor
to correct your pronunciation
and to help you understand
how exactly you need to shift
the sounds you're making
in order to sound correct.
And like I said,
you can either just repeat
a phrase that they give you
or you can do free speak
so you can really hone in
to the sounds that you're making.
And finally, another great option
for this is Yask.
Yask has a feature
where you can say a sentence
and then it sends it off to the community
of native speakers
where they can correct what you're saying
and help you correct your pronunciation.
There is a caveat, though,
that in order to use Yask to do this,
you have to be a reasonably active member
because pronunciation help
is one of the features
that isn't available to new members.
You have to gain some XP
before you get there.
If you click the link
below in the description
of my review of Yask, you'll understand
exactly what I mean by that
and how to achieve that.
Nonetheless, no matter
how your brain works,
and no matter how you want to approach
learning how to speak like a native,
there are quite a few options for you
to practice your pronunciation
to find one that works
really well for you.
Most of the resources
mentioned in this video are totally free.
The only options
I mentioned in this video
that aren't totally free
are Speechling and Yask,
but both Speechling
and Yask
do you offer some free stuff
for completely free users,
so if you can't pay,
then you're not completely out of luck.
And if you enjoy this approach
to quickly and easily understanding
exactly how it is
that you want to accomplish
a specific goal in language learning.
Click the link below in the description
for my free training,
where you can see
exactly how I teach my coaching clients
exactly how I do this very thing.
I help my clients understand
exactly how to look for language
learning resources
to accomplish their specific goals,
and I would love to share that with you
if you want to learn more
about pronunciation specifically.
Watch this video
where I talk about the benefits
of improving your pronunciation skills
on a foreign language,
and it's more than just about being able
to sound like you're a native speaker.
There's a lot more benefits
that you might not even realize
other than that have a wonderful day,
and I will see you next time.