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  • In this video, we're going to talk about how you can improve your pronunciation quickly

  • and permanently. And at the end of this video, I'll give you a link to a webpage that links

  • to a lot of free pronunciation exercises.

  • Let's start by talking about a very frustrating problem.

  • Suppose I currently mispronounce this word. Suppose I say pogam instead of program. I

  • want to fix this mistake. So I learn the right pronunciation and I repeat it over and over.

  • program program program.

  • Now here's the problem. Because I have mispronounced this word for so long, the incorrect pronunciation

  • has become a habit. And because of that, I can only say the word correctly if I pay attention

  • to my pronunciation. If I don't pay attention, I will revert back to the old habit.

  • So how can I solve this problem?

  • Well, the answer is...I have to increase the number of repetitions.

  • Imagine that right now inside my brain there are two memories associated with the word

  • program. One of them is old. The other is new. The old memory represents the wrong pronunciation

  • - the bad habit. The new one represents the right pronunciation that I've just learned.

  • So these are memories of how to coordinate the muscles in my tongue, lips, and other

  • parts to say the word "program".

  • The reason that I mispronounce this word if I don't pay attention is that the old memory

  • is much stronger.

  • If I want to break this old habit, I have to repeat the right pronunciation many, many

  • times. Every time I do that, the new memory gets stronger, and the old memory gets weaker.

  • I repeat - the old memory doesn't stay the same. It actually gets weaker.

  • This phenomenon is called Retrieval-Induced Forgetting. It happens when there are two

  • or more memories competing with each others. It's a phenomenon where retrieving one memory

  • makes us forget other memories.

  • This is why you have to be careful when fixing a mistake. If you accidentally repeat the

  • mistake, it'll strengthen the old habit and weaken the correction that you're trying to

  • make, making the problem worse.

  • So that's the first thing to keep in mind. You have to repeat, repeat, and repeat.

  • This sounds good in theory. But in practice, there's huge problem with repetition.

  • So what's the problem with repetition?

  • Well, it takes a tremendous amount of time. Fixing just one mistake requires a lot of

  • repetition. Who has time for that? After all, you probably have lot of mistakes to eliminate.

  • So what can you do?

  • Fortunately, there's a technique that you can use to speed up the process. And that

  • is exaggeration.

  • Going back to our previous example, suppose I pronounce this word as pogam. That's incorrect

  • because the R sound is missing. If I want to fix this mistake quickly, I will exaggerate

  • the R sound. pRogRam pRogRam pRogRam.

  • Here's another example: Let's say I pronounce this word as "banana". This is incorrect because

  • I don't stress the second syllable. So to fix this, I will stress the second syllable

  • real hard. baNAna baNAna.

  • This sounds silly but you will not believe how much faster your pronunciation will improve

  • when you exaggerate.

  • But how does this technique help you improve your pronunciation faster?

  • Well, one of the reasons that we mispronounce words is that we replace certain sounds with

  • other sounds that are easier to say. So a non-native speaker might pronounce this word

  • as "taught" instead of "thought". We also tend ignore certain sounds. So we might pronounce

  • this word as hoss instead of horse.

  • This is because the brain is lazy. It has the tendency to pronounce words in the easiest

  • way possible.

  • But when you exaggerate, you're telling your lazy brain that the sounds being exaggerating

  • are important. You're basically telling your brain, "Hey, these sounds are important. Do

  • not ignore them." So you when speak normally, you will sound much clearer.

  • But that's not all. When you exaggerate, you're strengthening the muscles involved in speaking,

  • especially your tongue muscles. This is a huge benefit because if those muscles are

  • strong, you will speak much clearer.

  • So to summarize: There are two things that you can do to quickly and permanently improve

  • your pronunciation. Number one: You can use repetition to break bad speaking habits and

  • replace them with good ones. Number two: You can speed up the process by exaggerating everything

  • that should be exaggerated.

  • Alright, that's all for today. To help you get started, I've created a resource page

  • that links to a lot of free pronunciation exercises. So click here to go to that page.

In this video, we're going to talk about how you can improve your pronunciation quickly

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it

B1 US pronunciation program repeat pronounce repetition exaggerate

English Pronunciation Practice: "2 Things" You MUST Know

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    Adam Huang posted on 2014/11/02
Video vocabulary

Keywords

pronunciation

US /prəˌnʌnsiˈeʃən/

UK /prəˌnʌnsiˈeɪʃn/

  • noun
  • How a word is said; how a word sounds
  • A representation of how a word is spoken, often using phonetic symbols.
  • A particular way of pronouncing words, often associated with a region or social group.
  • other
  • The way in which a word or language is spoken.
  • The manner in which someone utters a word.
  • A particular way of pronouncing words, often associated with a region or group.
  • other
  • A representation of how a word is spoken, often using phonetic symbols.
  • A particular way of pronouncing words, especially one that is characteristic of a region or group.
brain

US /bren/

UK /breɪn/

  • noun
  • The central processing unit (CPU) of a computer.
  • A very intelligent person; a genius.
  • Intelligence; the ability to think and understand things quickly.
  • The part of the head that thinks
  • A smart person who often makes good decisions
  • verb
  • To strike someone forcefully on the head
  • other
  • To hit (someone) hard on the head.
  • other
  • Mental capacity; intellect.
improve

US /ɪmˈpruv/

UK /ɪm'pru:v/

  • verb
  • To make, or become, something better
  • other
  • To become better than before; to advance in excellence.
  • To become better
  • other
  • To make something better; to enhance in value or quality.
  • To make something better; to raise to a more desirable quality or condition.
exaggerate

US /ɪgˈzædʒəreɪt/

UK /ɪgˈzædʒəreɪt/

  • verb
  • To makes things seem more extreme than reality
  • To represent something as being larger, better, or worse than it really is.
  • other
  • To speak or write about something in a way that overemphasizes or magnifies its qualities.
  • other
  • To represent something as being larger, better, or worse than it really is.
suppose

US /səˈpoʊz/

UK /sə'pəʊz/

  • conjunction
  • What if
  • verb
  • To imagine or guess what might happen
repetition

US /ˌrɛpɪˈtɪʃən/

UK /ˌrepəˈtɪʃn/

  • noun
  • When something occurs again
  • Saying something again
  • A copy or reproduction of something.
  • The use of repeated actions or exercises to learn something.
  • A single instance of something being repeated.
  • other
  • The act of doing or saying something again.
  • The act of repeating something that has already been said or written.
  • The act of doing or saying something again; repeated action or performance.
  • The use of repeated exercises to improve a skill.
  • The use of repeated actions or exercises to learn something.
  • The use of the same word or phrase more than once, especially for emphasis.
  • The recurrence of a musical element.
  • A rhetorical device involving the repeating of a word or phrase.
  • other
  • A single instance of something being repeated.
attention

US /əˈtɛnʃən/

UK /əˈtenʃn/

  • noun
  • Taking notice of someone or something
  • (Soldiers) Standing with straight backs
word

US /wɚd/

UK /wɜ:d/

  • noun
  • Unit of language that has a meaning
  • Promise
  • Short remark or piece of information
  • verb
  • To express something by choosing particular words
pronounce

US /prəˈnaʊns/

UK /prə'naʊns/

  • other
  • To give or make a judgment or decision.
  • To make the sound of a word or letter in a particular way.
  • verb
  • To state something in a legal or official way
  • To give your opinion or decision about something
  • To say the sounds of words in a correct way
habit

US /ˈhæbɪt/

UK /'hæbɪt/

  • noun
  • A psychological or physiological dependence on a substance or activity.
  • Loose clothing like a cloak, worn by monks, nuns
  • A long, loose garment worn by monks or nuns.
  • Usual way of behaving; something often repeated
  • A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior acquired through frequent repetition.
  • A settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.