Czy muszę brzmieć jak native speaker? Jak mogę poprawić swoją wymowę? Czy w ogóle muszę zwracać na to uwagę? Zapraszam na pierwszy odcinek podcastu “Umiem po angielsku”. Niżej znajdziesz transkrypcję. Have fun!
Today, we’re going to talk about the difference between accent and pronunciation. Whether it’s important to sound like a native speaker and how to enhance your pronunciation. My name is Ania, and you are listening to the first episode of Umiem po angielsku.
IS CORRECT PRONUNCIATION IMPORTANT?
Over the years of teaching the Polish and English languages, I’ve realised that some of my students couldn’t care less about acquiring the correct pronunciation. But is it really an issue here? Imagine this: there is a foreigner approaching you, and they are trying to communicate with you in your native language. Of course you know your native language very well. You know how to pronounce certain expressions, sentences, and words. So when the foreigner is trying to communicate with you, and they are not using the correct pronunciation, you might find it pretty difficult to understand what they are saying, although you’re trying really really hard. But does it mean that you or they are stupid? No, absolutelly not! It just means that learning the correct pronunciation is pretty important while learning languages. So pay attention to pronunciation.
IS THERE ANY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PRONUNCIATION AND ACCENT?
On the one hand, I have encountered many people who couldn’t care less about correct pronunciation. On the other hand, I have met those who were truly interested in acquiring the British or American accent. So, what is the difference between those two things? I mean pronunciation and accent.
According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, ‘pronunciation’ is the way in which a language or a particular word or sound is pronounced, whereas ‘accent’ is a way of pronouncing the words of a language that shows which country, area, or social class a person comes from. In other words, pronunciation is a correct way of saying words, which allows other people to understand you, whereas your accent gives you away. What I mean is, an accent tells everyone around you where you come from: whether you’re Polish, English, American, Spanish, or Italian.
IS IT IMPORTANT TO CHOOSE AND LEARN AN ACCENT?
It depends. It depends on your needs and desires solely. What I mean is that learning an accent may take more time and research than just learning pronunciation, and still, your effort may not make you sound purely like a native speaker. If you ask me, I love accents with all my heart, so it’s not a biggie for me to spend my time learning them. Of course, if you acquire an accent, it might help some native speakers understand you better. But be wise in choosing your accent because some native speakers don’t understand other native speakers of the same language. For instance, some Americans might find it difficult to understand people from Scotland, especially from Glasgow, because people living there have a really thick accent. So, as much as it pains me, I must admit that learning an accent is not a must. But I’m certain that learning correct pronunciation is.
HOW TO IMPROVE PRONUNCIATION?
For the love of Mike! What can one do to improve their pronunciation and not embarrass themselves? First of all, we are human beings, and we are allowed to make mistakes. We are not robots, and it’s inevitable. You’re welcome.
There are a few things you might do to improve your pronunciation though. And there are three things I want to talk about today.
The first thing is active listening. But how can listening be active, right? By listening, I mean listening to podcasts, audiobooks, interviews, and watching TV series or movies. However, I believe that series are better than the latter. By active, I mean concentrating on how certain sentences, words, and phrases are pronounced. It’s quite common among language learners that they know how to write certain words, but they have no idea how to pronounce them. For that reason, using transcriptions might come in handy here. They are quite often attached to podcasts created for language learners. There is also one attached to the episode you’re listening to right now. During your listening practice, follow the text, but remember that your main focus should be on listening. So, basically it’s like learning new melodies! First, you listen to a song on the radio multiple times. I bet you sometimes look at the lyrics, and after some time you start humming or singing along. So first comes listening, and then producing sounds.
Second thing is self-recording. Why? Because it’s usually easier to notice other people’s mistakes than our own. It’s exactly the same with pronunciation. After listening to podcasts, audiobooks, and blah, blah, blah, choose phrases or sentences and record yourself saying them. When it’s done, compare it with the original version. If everything is great, you can go on to record other phrases or do whatever your heart is telling you at the moment, and you can live your life peacefully. But if there are mistakes in your recording, you may want to improve it, practice it a little bit, record it over, and over, and over again until it’s good enough. Remember to keep comparing it with the original version.
The third thing is IPA. IPA stands for International Phonetic Alphabet. Each sign of this alphabet represents one sound in human languages. Keep in mind that each word, phrase, or sentence can be written phonetically. So learning how to read this alphabet will allow you to master the pronunciation of not only one but all spoken languages. Isn’t it amazing? OK. Is it time-consuming to become proficient in IPA? Yes, it is. Is it the only way to master correct pronunciation? No, it isn’t. Is it worth it? In my opinion, definitely yes.
ALL THINGS CONSIDERED
Accent and pronunciation are not the same. Pronunciation is how we say words. Accent tells others where you are from. Acquiring a native-like accent is not necessary to become proficient in a language of your desire. It’s okay to make mistakes. You may improve your pronunciation by: active listening, self-recording, and using the International Phonetic Alphabet.
And remember to set realistic goals because practice is more important than perfection. Thank you so much for listening, and take care. Cheers!
Umiem po angielsku 