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"Can you learn English pronunciation by yourself and read sentences smoothly?"
I think many people are studying English pronunciation by themselves. But how far can you be self-taught?
So, in this article, I will introduce "Can you really master English pronunciation by yourself ?"
"How much can you pronounce English by yourself?"
However, there are individual differences, so it is hard to say how far in a word. Personally, I think that people who play music have good sound catching and reproducibility, and I think they improve quickly, but what about in general?
When studying pronunciation on your own, it seems that the first thing you will get is a phonics book. Phonics is the basis for learning pronunciation rules. All phonics-related books also come with an audio CD. You will be able to study the pronunciation of each vowel and consonant by listening to it.
The question here is, "Are you able to reproduce 100% of the vowels and consonants you are listening to? " It's a good idea to record your own pronunciation and listen to it. If you know the difference between your voice and your own sound, you can fix it.
If you can find the difference between your own pronunciation and the pronunciation of your voice, there is a high probability that you can fix it. This is quite difficult, isn't it? Even if you know the difference between your own sound and the sound of your voice, if you don't know how to fix it, you will hit the wall there.
"When it comes to words, there are consonants that are difficult to pronounce. Why?"
For example, some people say on an audio CD, "You can now pronounce vowels and consonants, but for some reason you can't make th voiced sounds when it comes to words." Why is this?
This means that the tongue and the muscles around the mouth, which are necessary for English pronunciation, are not trained, so the th voiced sound that is pronounced with the tongue out cannot be produced stably. Moreover, since the th voiced sound vibrates to make a sound, some people cannot make this vibration sound at first. Some people ask, "Will this be solved by getting used to it?", But it is not getting used to it, but it requires the ability to understand and reproduce how to make a vibrating sound. Moreover, it is necessary to have the strength to reproduce it.
"I can pronounce it at the word level, but I can't read the sentences smoothly. Why?"
Many people will have self-taught pronunciation at the word level. Now, I would like to answer the question, "Why can't I read the text smoothly?"
The answer I often hear is that it is important to know "phonetic symbols", "vowel and consonant sounds", "accents", "linking", "reduction", etc.
First of all, "phonetic symbols" are the contents that you should definitely remember when studying pronunciation, as I wrote in the previous article. Since "accent = stress" is written on the phonetic symbol, you can find out where the accent in the word comes by looking up the phonetic symbol when you look up the word. Now you can clear the "phonetic symbols" and "accents".
As for "linking", of course, you need to know the rules. Regarding this, various books are published along with "Linking" and "Reduction", so you can refer to them. You can understand "vowel and consonant sounds" by studying phonics.
Then, I think many people think, "Because I have studied all this, I think I will be able to read sentences smoothly ." But this is not enough yet.
Then, students are often asked, "What else should I do?"
Suppose you read a sentence in a book with audio. How many people can reproduce 100% exactly as it is? Many people may be worried that "something is different" or "it cannot be read in the same way". I was one of them. No matter how much I practiced, I couldn't read the text in the same way.
Reading a sentence is not just about knowing "linking" and "reduction". In addition to that, "various changes in sound" occur in sentences, so it is necessary to know that. However, by the time you reach that point, you must have the strength to read the text smoothly.
To pronounce like a native,
① "It is necessary to train muscles that are not used in Japanese. "
② Next, you need to know "how to use the throat to add intonation". This is not something that can be done in a day or two, but it is something that you can practice and wear all the time like a vocal pedagogy.
③ By knowing the "know the pronunciation rules" rule, you will be able to understand the changes in sound, especially the changes in sound in sentences, and you will be able to pronounce it yourself, and you will be able to see the ability to hear it.
The answer to "Can you read sentences smoothly by yourself?" Is "NO". This is also my real experience. Even if you can read it cleanly to some extent, it is quite difficult to feel natural like a native. You will definitely hit a wall that cannot be reproduced even if you try to reproduce it. Only at that stage will you start thinking about what to do next. From here, you will find the next step at your own discretion.
In this article, "In order to read sentences smoothly, it is not enough to know the basics of pronunciation rules and changes in sound."
I introduced that!
