Better pronunciation with a metronome
Gerhard Ohrband
Consultancy on Communication Psychology ‖ International business communication ‖ Overcoming shyness and blocks in English / German / foreign languages
Reading out loud to a metronome
Today we are going to learn about a technique for better pronunciation
Objectice: clearer pronunciation, avoid swallowing syllables
Recommended frequency: periodically
Difficulty: medium-high
A metronome is something familiar to most musicians. Some of you may have even a physical one at home. However, using one of the sites below works just as well.
Set the metronome at moderate speed and read a text in rhythm with the clicks; one syllable per click. Then, repeat the reading, increasing the tempo each time.
This forces us to pronounce each syllable more clearly. Especially since many of us have the habit of clipping syllables.
This is quite a mechanical exercise. Of course, there is nothing aesthetic in speaking to a monotonous beat. You should not aspire to always speak in exactly the same tempo. This is just for clarity and for building up speed.
Advice
- Learn the rules in your target language as to how you can identify where a syllable starts and where it ends.
- Start very slowly; increase gradually to the maximum.
- Work with a short passage and improve your performance.
- Play with the rhythm. For example, vary the number of syllables per click (between 1 and 3).
- Try to maintain the original stress in every word. You need not put equal stress on each syllable. This, in combination with the equally loud clicks, creates an interesting rhythmic experience. My intuition is that it would be a useful tool for aspiring hip hoppers, too, although I have never had anyone among my students test it out.
- Practice with excerpts from books on selling, or with your own sales scripts.
Online metronomes
领英推è
(This is an excerpt of my upcoming book: “B2B selling in foreign languagesâ€)
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Gerhard Ohrband is an international trade facilitator, business psychologist and author of 9 books from Hamburg/Germany. He speaks 21 languages and assists B2B sales executives in selling successfully in foreign languages.