I have learned English for a long time. However, i was focused almost about grammar and vocabulary, neither of listening nor speaking, was taught in a right method. All the English examinations, from High school to University entry tests, only consists of Grammar, Reading and Writing so I spend my main time to learn Grammar and leave speaking, listening behind.
Now i'm facing with a serious problem in pronunciation as i cannot speak in a correct way, although i can take the action quickly and understand almost the conversation. The problem is from my habit to speak in "Vietnamese way" and I've tried to improve but it seems not effective. I can learn and copy the tone from foreign speakers quickly but after few days, when i have to speak with Lao people in an "Asian way", i almost forget what i learnt. Sometime when i cannot pronounce in a right way, i feel ashamed with the partner and lose the confidence so much! It is not an easy feeling anymore!
Hey :) In my opinion, the best way to develop clearer pronunciation is to listen to as much audio in your target language as possible. For example, download songs and podcasts in English, and ONLY listen to them for a month (without listening to anything in Vietnamese), and see how much your pronunciation has improved. I really really recommend this :) Good luck!
Hi, Honu Cao, maybe im not good at english as you but this is my opinions. About pronunciation, my teacher once said it's not necessary to speak fast, just make it slow and clear. I think if you could do this, the first problem can be sloved.
Nice post, Honu Cao.
I'm not a master in English now, but I'll say what I've done. At the beginning when I took some classes in a private school I learned how to use some verbs, nouns, adjectives, prepositions, but I wasn't taught how to speak with a minimum fluency.
After sometime I decide get out the school and trying to learn by my self and the internet and it was the best thing I did.
Now my focus is to speak and listen, because that I'm always looking for good partners to have conversations through Skype. For me, it helps a lot even if you always ask for the same questions all the times. I believe you need some time to "persist" some sentences/words in your brain. Sometimes you feel a little stupid because you can't speak too much neither talk about other subjects, but you musn't care about it, just talk whatever it is. After some time you can notice you ideas flowing naturally. Good partners help to make the difference as well.
Don't give up, persist, belive.
Thank you so much Moacir! Could we add Skype and practice together? I'm seriously want to improve English and make friend. I'm not looking for dating anymore and if you have the same thought we can help each other.
Thanks so much for your comment Tiến! sometime i feel that my toungue is so short and that's the reason why i cannot pronounce in a right away :((
