Pronunciation Diary (second post)

The feedback on my recording has helped me enormously to realise where my pronunciation problems lie. To be honest, I have never payed enough attention to it as I have always considered my pronunciation to be good. This, apparently, is not the case and there are a great deal of problems in my pronunciation I have to work on - and I am willing to do so!

1.) The first problem I have to tackle is the th sound. Up until now I have always pronounced the th in the article “the” and other words like “they” as a “d”.

Everyone was praising Rachel’s English channel on Youtube to be very helpful. I agree with that! However, when I was searching for other videos, I came across with Dave Sconda. In my opinion, he gives a much clearer explanation of the difference between the voiced and unvoiced th sounds. Maybe this sounds embarrassing to you but I have actually never been aware of the fact that there is a difference! What a shame!

Personally, I had difficulties to notice the difference between the th sounds in Rachel’s pronunciation. Dave, on the other hand, pronounces it clearly and also mentions the way English learners fail to pronounce them. Both of them read out sentences which contain these sounds. In order to practice them, I read them out aloud too. After some time (and it became very ridiculous ^^) I could actually discern the difference in my pronunciation! The only problem I am facing now is that I am too concentrated on pronouncing both th sounds correctly which is why sentences don’t really roll off my tongue - I guess I have to practice the natural flow now!

Here is the link to Dave Sconda (Does he remind you of Max Medina from the Gilmore Girls too?). He is quite popular on Youtube given the fact that he has over five Million viewers.

Dave - TH sounds

2.) Another problematic sound is the W and the V. Thanks to the help of a very amiable Canadian woman called Roonie, I will use a certain technique when I read out these letters. 

Roonie - V and W

If you want to pronounce the W correctly, just pretend to give somebody a kiss. Stick out your teeth like a Bieber and the correct pronunciation of the V will come out naturally. It is as simple as that. I have practiced this method on two words, veil and whale. In case I ever meet one of the greatest designer Vivienne Westwood, I can proudly shout out her name!

The feedback and all the useful links have helped me realise which sounds are problematic concerning my pronunciation. It is important to be more accurate and attentive when reading out a text. It is really not difficult at all!