Any advice to improve my English pronunciation?

Question

which mistakes do you usually find when an Italian mother tongue speaks in English?

Answer 1

Italians have a strong Italian accent when they speak in English. They usually put emphasis on final consonants rather to pronounce them more smoothly, they pronounce initial "s" as "z", when followed by an other consonant (for example switch, slang, swiffer, smooth- they pronounce it zwitch, zlang, zwiffer, zmooth).
There are some other things too, but right now I remember only these ones...It would be of great help for you to watch English/American TV channels, where you can hear the correct pronunciation.
Unfortunately in Italy the movies are not in the original language, so people are not used to hear English. In other countries where movies are subtitled, people usually have a better English accent.

Answer 2

Hi

There's a few things that will affect your accent and proficiency.

How old were you when you started learning English?
Did you learn it abroad?
Do you live in Italy?
Have you ever lived in an English speaking country? For how long?
How proficient are you?
Do you just want to sound more native? Or do people have difficulty understanding you?

English is my second language and I came to England 10 years ago. I'm also a nearly qualified speech and language therapist, and doing my thesis on bilingualism.

Obviously the younger you learn it, the more native you would sound as you brain would be more susceptible to learning new phonology. I came to England as a 14 year old and my mum came as a 39 year old. We sound completely different when we speak English. We're both proficient and both interact mainly with monolingual English speakers as there's not many bilinguals who speak our language in our area, so the main difference is at what age we came to England. I'm not sure for Italian, but we speak Spanish and my mum does the 'hard' r, whereas I use the softer English version.

As part of my degree I got to find out a lot of phonology (the way we pronounce different letters and vowels). There's an IPA chart that has all sounds that are used in the world, you know when in dictionaries when they tell you how to pronounce words? well they use the IPA (have a look in http://hctv.humnet.ucla.edu/departments/linguistics/VowelsandConsonants/course/chapter1/chapter1.html for the chart, it also makes the sounds when you click on them). I don't know if it will make much sense but in Spanish we make our vocal folds vibrate more when we speak. Spanish vowels are more 'extreme' - either at the very front or the very back of your mouth, whereas in English most vowels are pronounced more in the middle of the mouth. I guess a lot of it applies for Italian as well.

I wouldn't call the accent 'mistakes', if you have an Italian accent then you have an Italian accent and there's nothing wrong with that. On the other hand if you mean about general English, like grammar, etc, then you just need to improve your proficiency by reading lots, watching TV, trying to interact with people who speak English as much as possible and maybe English classes. I have heard there are also elocution classes to actually change your accent, but you might find that the more proficient you become, the 'softer' your accent gets. Also, having an accent may not bother you as much in the future.

I have been living in England for 10 years now and I still I have an accent, some people can tell, some people can't, or some people just think I'm from a different part of the UK. When I first came to England all I wanted was to sound native, I wanted to blend in and be able to speak English straight away. It's not easy learning a language. Now, it would just be weird if I sounded 100% native. I'm foreign and it's part of who I am so I want people to know that I have a different heritage cos I guess a lot of people couldn't tell by just looking at me.

Don't forget that in the UK itself there's so many different dialects of English that don't even sound like each other! When I first started my degree, our lecturers told us, that as long as you can be understood, accent doesn't really matter.

Answer 3

Let me tell you a bit about myself and then I'll give you some advice.

I don't speak Italian, but I've learned Romanian, German and French and Spanish through different methods. I was born in Mexico but arrived in California when I was six so my Spanish was good but basic. I learned French in high school with a native French teacher who depended a lot on the textbook for showing us the grammar and vocabulary. We memorized the vocabulary, did the grammar paradigms and spent very little time speaking. German came to me through my ears while I was stationed in Germany. I studied German at university afterwards but really learned more and more when I went back as a student. Romanian came to me in the Foreign Service, where we had an abbreviated and accelerated course but my pronunciation and comprehension really improved 18 years later when I lived for three months working in Romania.

The citation below discusses a technique that I favor- a contrastive analysis. If you can find a textbook with this topic for Italian-English, I think it will do you a lot of good.

And now for my personal advice. Different languages use different phonemes, have different suprasegmentals (those things that add emphasis but are not grammatical) and different "normal" intonation and cadence.

Have you heard an American speaking Italian with a heavy American accent? Sure you have. The American knows the words, grammar and context, but still sounds strange to your native Italian ear. Why is that? Because he's using his American phonemes, suprasegmentals, intonation and cadence. For example, a flapped or "rolling" /R/ doesn't exist in the same linguistic environment in English as in Italian, so the American speaker has trouble with pronouncing "Roma" as an Italian might, with a kind of rolling and stronger /R/ at the begining- kind of like "rrrrrO-ma." (And there might be a teeny pause between "ro" and "ma.") So the American pronounces it like "Row, Ma," as if he were encouraging his mother to paddle a boat.

The important thing here is embarrassment. The native American doesn't want to speak sounds that are "funny" in his ears, so he is only emotionally able to use the "correct" (in his mind) sounds of English.

Similarily, you may have a set of phonemes/sounds that are perfect for Italian, but could be "wrong" in English.

You need to let yourself go- make those "funny" English sounds. That's part of it.

The other part is knowing which "funny" sound to make in which linguistic environment. For this, you'll need both a text to describe for you the event - perhaps a rising inflection for a question - and a native speaker to provide the sample.

When I was in Rotterdam, I found a university student who understood linguistics and he became my "informed native speaker" who tutored me. Perhaps you can find a native speaker of your own (it's a small world) who can help you with giving you vocalizations appropriate to your needs. If you mimic your tutor, you'll be on your way to improving your English.

FWIW, your English seems very good from a written, grammatical perspective. This will be helpful because you will have little need of basic skills, merely a phonetic polishing. Good luck.

Answer 4

Hi
Pronunciation is always difficult, no matter what language you are trying to learn - the English generally speak very flatly with little pitch and modulation. This is usually the biggest problem for people trying to learn English whose mother tongue is one of the romantic languages.
The usual advice is just practice and converse with as many English speakers as possible but this can prove difficult if you are in an area with a strong dialect. Talking with children is very often a quick and easy way to assimilate and I made my teenage students learn and sing rock/pop/ etc tunes - it's surprising how singing makes one mimic the singer and it's an enjoyable way of learning.
I would advise though, not to lose your accent , as it lends charm to your conversation !

Answer 5

The classic Italian thing is to say things like "awhere do you a worka John? (Old music hall song).
The sing-song accent usually gives them away, not the Italianate constructions. They sound Italian.

The only way to -a- lose-a the accent is to copy someone with a good English accent.
Get hold of that old recording of 'The War of the Worlds' and copy Richard Burton. Immitate him as closely as you can.
Burton's English may sound rather dated but I know of a Spanish guy who got through his final university oral thanks to Burton.

Answer 6

Learn to sing some English songs.

Answer 7

Carlita's answer is absolutely correct - I endorse the advice she was given. Listen to as much English as you can; spoken by a native speaker. Listen to the BBC (radio or on-line). Take every opportunity you can to converse with native speakers.

Answer 8

Try and watch UK sourced TV such as the BBC or listen to UK radio which is streamed on the web.
BBC Radio 4 is generally regarded as the best talk radio station in the UK.
I hope this helps

Answer 9

Watch the news on television. Practice speaking the way newscasters speak.

Answer 10

Try listening to as much English as possible.