Help with pronunciation

[Silvz]

Hi, I guess it's the best area to make my topic. If don't, mods, please help D=

 

I'm not a native english speaker, so I almost don't have opportunities to practice my english, mostly spoken [since written I practice at places like here, and reading a lot].

 

So, since I don't have much beside american series/music to listen, and don't have any way of practice 'speaking', I'd like to know if you guys know a good site, or material, that works with pronunciation of english words. I'm thinking about using Google Translate, or similars, where you type the word there and can hear it, and then repeat like the machine does. But doesn't seem like the best option.

 

So, can you guys help me? What can I do, in or out internet, to practice my pronunciation? Remembering that I have almost none opportunities to do that with other persons.

[Mephisto]

Listen to subbed dubbed anime.

 

In all seriousness, watching english T.V would work a little bit, but you really have to talk with other people to actually gain any proficiency in actually speaking. 

[Mr. Meogii]

Your desire to learn is admirable Silvz chan

We could all learn a lesson a lesson or two from you.

I think this site would help you learn the language from your level. As someone who does not speak english primarily, I think that your English is quite decent.

 

http://www.englishpractice.com/topics/ielts/

 

I think once you've got your theory handled you can move on to series that are in english

[Silvz]

Hi guys, since Im going bad now, I can't make a good post.

 

So ill answer you all tomorrow <3

[Yeah Way]

You need to find someone to talk to in English. This shouldn't be hard at all. If you really can't find someone in your real life, I suggest finding a friend online with whom to practise. (A native speaker, of course.) Check out a penpal social network website if you need to find someone.

[Fiddle]

Immersion is the best way to fix the nooks and crannies of language learning. Therefore, watching TV shows or movies in English may very well be your best option -- they're also enjoyable, of course! Considering that you're on this forum, dubbed anime might also be a favorable alternative, especially considering that the actors in some TV shows and such don't speak very clearly, whereas characters in dubs tend to speak relatively slowly and clearly. I recommend FUNimation dubs to be safe, because some other companies aren't so great.

 

Of course, this would only put you on the listening side of things. I'm sure it would be even better if you were to find a native speaker with whom to converse, but I imagine that would be more complicated.

[Zalor]

Pretty much what Fiddle and YeahWay said. Listen to as much English as possible, (try to mimic the tones if you feel your pronunciation is poor) and find somebody who knows English to practice with. Also, coming from a native speaker and writer of English I have to say your writing is pretty good. Believe me, I know native speakers who are far more sloppy in their writing. You're doing well.  

[Bolverk]

Considering your writing English is no problem. When you want to be able to speak better English, I'd recommend speaking more in English. Find people you can talk to. There are loads of them on the internet. Best if you find some native speakers. But people with English as their 2nd language works as well.

Personally I improved the most while joining a gaming clan and talking to them. A clan on the small side is best imo. That way you can easily talk more. It becomes more of a hassle if 20 people are in the same channel lol.

 

TL:DR Get better at speaking by speaking.

[Mr Poltroon]

I can guarantee that listening to people talk in English is a fantastic way to get a decent grasp of the language. After all, that's how I learnt it.

 

Currently, anybody that hears me speak in English thinks I'm from England. It just so happened that I developed a great accent just by listening to people talk. Another trait of mine, is that I talk to myself alot. Reading Visual Novels out loud is a good way to practice speaking, since there's a good variety of words, most of the time.

 

As mentioned before, joining a gaming group and talking with them (especially if they're natives) is a sure fire way to improve your pronounciation.

[Silvz]

Thanks all. I'll try the site Meogii suggested, and keep reading out loud.

 

I don't play a lot of online games [the last I did was Toontown], so gamers are a little far way.

 

And how do I find a native speaker? .-. Like, it's not like I'll go into a random chat and invite people to talk to me. Pedobears are everywhere [i'm 19, but still...]

[arakura]

Aha, pedobears are everywhere. That has to be the second best line I've read today xD

 

Anyway, I think that disjointed techniques for learning pronunciation are probably somewhat doomed to fail. What I mean is that if you use a robot to translate single words, it's still gong to be hard to incorporate them into speech. I would guess, at least. If I were you, I would either find some TV to watch in english or find a friend on skype and talk with them (it could be over an internet game or just about whatever... heck, if you wanted to talk to me I would do it).

[Cyrillej1]

It may be a bit strange, but I always watch English videos with English subtitles... it even helped me learn new vocabulary/how to spell certain words I wasn't familiar with and such.. I think it may have even improved my own English just a little.

 

Perhaps you could watch English movies with subtitles, and just read out loud after hearing them speak.. or even read out loud along with them. You could always rewind and practice if you don't understand something.

 

It might be a bit similar, but currently I'm trying to learn Japanese.. and my speaking is probably not very good since I don't have much opportunity to speak as well. I try to practice by speaking out loudly to myself as I read anything, along with visual novel game voices, or just repeating phrases to myself I've heard in anime/movies.

 

I wonder if there are any English video games that have the function of 'repeating voices' like how most Japanese visual novels do... I'll try looking through some of my video games, and see if they have anything like that and then I'll edit this post if I find anything

 

Hope you find something that works!

[Cyrillej1]

So.. I wasn't able to find any video games I currently have that have -repeat- option for reading.

 

I remember when I was young, I used to play read-along storybooks which I really enjoyed. Here are some sites I found that have read-alongs where you can pause/repeat. (And Free!)

 

http://www.rif.org/kids/readingplanet/bookzone/read_aloud_stories.htm: Easy children stories.

http://www.storylineonline.net/: Video stories that have subtitles, you can read along.

http://www.manythings.org/listen/horseman/: There's a lot on that website if you look around for different stories. More difficult stories.

Tell-Tale Heart: You can click sentences to repeat them or just read along. This is an interesting one ^^ and more stories on the site.

 

 

I'm sure there are many other sites like them  Good luck!

[zoom909]

you could try getting on the fuwa Teamspeak server and talk to people on there

(there is a voice channel as well as text)

[Snowtsuku]

It's all practice and listening.

 

That being said, there are accents that are easier to understand so you might want to start from there when it comes to listening.