How to sound more ‘English’ in a hurry: 3 Pronunciation hacks all non-native speakers should know!

You’ve got an important meeting / Ted talk / job interview coming up and you are suddenly feeling very self-conscious about your English accent. Will people understand me? Will they be distracted by my accent? Will I seem professional or hesitant and unconfident? On these occasions, you want your speech to be the vehicle through which you communicate your brilliant ideas and skills. Unfortunately, it often becomes a distraction or, at worst, a barrier, leaving many professionals feeling like they haven’t showcased what they know and 'who they really are'. It’s frustrating. You can have the best ideas, language skills and PowerPoint presentation but these are wasted if your audience is having trouble understanding you or ‘tuning in’ to your accent. Pronunciation really does matter.

Working on your English pronunciation in a structured, consistent way (ideally with the help of a professional pronunciation trainer/accent coach) will deliver you the best results in the long term, but there isn’t always time for that. Sometimes you need some quick fixes that will help you sound more clear and confident right now! With that in mind, the tips below are designed to help you make some instant, quick improvements to your English accent. Ideally, you’ll still need some time to implement them (in reality, the sooner you start the better!) but it is still worth trying some of these even if your meeting is tomorrow. These small changes may just save the day!

Tip 1: Fix your ‘core vocabulary’

When I was an NHS speech therapist working with kids with speech disorders, we often used a ‘core vocabulary’ approach to improve their clarity. This involves identifying a key set of frequently used words and then perfecting them. Essentially, you’re focusing your energy on those words you need and use the most. Makes sense, right? It’s an incredibly effective tactic for non-native English speakers too. I first started using it in my pronunciation training work when I met a physiotherapist who was mispronouncing many of the key words from his industry. Not only did it make him difficult to understand, it also undermined him as a professional. Making mistakes on basic words like ‘muscle’ made him appear less competent overall. To avoid this, make sure you are correctly pronouncing the words YOU use daily.

How to do it:

1. Identify the key words: Start by making a list of key words relevant to your work, role and industry. Focus on the key ones, rather than including every obscure word you can think of! Think ‘core’. Then you can start including other, more general words that you use frequently. Are there any that you struggle with or wonder if you are pronouncing correctly? Write them down!
2. Check your pronunciation: Now it’s time to check if you are pronouncing these words correctly. Ideally, you’ll want to get feedback from a human (i.e. a pronunciation trainer / accent coach) or a trusted colleague /friend – just make sure their own English pronunciation is reliable first though! If that’s not an option, you can look up the words yourself in an online tool and compare your version with that.?
3. Re-write the words: When you know which words you need to relearn, write down the correct version in a way that makes sense to you. Write it how YOU hear it. For example, ‘management’ sounds more like ‘MA.nij.mnt’ to me. My clients are often really surprised how helpful it is to simply rewrite a word to better reflect the pronunciation. Try it!
4. Drill the new pronunciation. Armed with your new, more logical spellings, say the words repeatedly until they sound good. Practice makes perfect! If you’re struggling to make the sounds required or want reassurance that you are, in fact, saying the words correctly, investing in a few sessions with a specialist ( pronunciation trainer/accent coach) could save you time and effort in the long run.

Tip 2: Fix commonly mispronounced words

The English language is well known for its inconsistent (and inconsiderate!) spelling: we definitely don’t ‘say what we see’ a lot of the time. As a result, some common English words are mispronounced by a large number of non-native speakers, regardless of their first language. We’re not talking about subtle errors here, but great big distortions that make the words difficult to understand. This might be an issue with individual sounds or the stress pattern (the part of the word we emphasise most); either way, the end result is a communication breakdown and/or some mild/major embarrassment. Much like when my Italian friend fell on the floor laughing after hearing me pronounce ‘focaccia’ as ‘foc.a.CHEE.a’. Oh, the shame! It is, therefore, worth familiarising yourself with these well-known ‘tricky words’ to avoid falling into such traps.

How to do it:

1. Gather a list of these ‘tricky’ words: The internet is full of such lists. Browse a few and compile your own, discarding words that are not useful to you. You might be surprised how many of them are ones you use frequently!
2. Check your pronunciation: As before, check your own pronunciation of these words by getting feedback from an expert/ a friend or by cross-checking with an online tool .
3. Re-write the words and drill the new pronunciation. You know what comes next now... it’s time to re-write those tricky little fellas so that they no longer confuse you. When you’re happy with how they sound, drill, drill, and then drill some more. The more times you repeat the ‘new’ version, the weaker the memory will be of the old, incorrect version. As before, if you are still not sure whether you are saying the words correctly, reach out to a professional: an hour going through these words could make all the difference.

Tip 3: Practise sounds that are typically difficult for those who speak your first language

In an ideal world, you’d get a full speech assessment from a professional (pronunciation trainer / accent coach) so that you can see which sounds and speech elements you need to work on and in which order. But, if that isn’t an option, you can try a more generic approach which can still deliver results. Now, no two people are the same, but it is fairly likely that you will be making similar pronunciation mistakes to others who share your mother tongue. For example, many native French speakers struggle with the English /r/ sound whilst Arabic speakers have a hard time differentiating between /p/ and /b/. By addressing one or two key sounds that you are likely mispronouncing, you can make noticeable improvements to your clarity.

How to do it:

1. Identify your language’s ‘problem’ sounds: A quick browse of the internet will give you a good idea of these. Many websites /YouTube sites also offer free ‘lessons’ to teach you these sounds. Try searching for something like “English sounds that *insert language* speakers find difficult’. Now pick one or two (maximum) to focus on – trying to target them all in a short amount of time is not likely to work and will potentially undermine your confidence as well.
2. Master the sound on its own: The first step is learning how to make the sound correctly on its own. As mentioned above, there are many YouTube tutorials on English speech sounds and the better ones will guide you in terms of where you should put your articulators (lips, tongue, etc.) and how the sound should feel (abrupt, slow friction release, etc.). If you still aren’t getting the sound, it’s probably wise to invest in some 1:1 time with an expert – getting direct feedback is a powerful tool and can save a lot of time.
3. Build up, step by step. The motto here is ‘don’t run before you can walk’. Once you are confident making the sound, you can try saying it in ‘made-up’ (not real) words. For example, if you are working on the ‘th’ sound, you could make sounds like this: thuu, ther, eeth, ooth. Next stop: real words. You can cast aside this strange, baby-like babbling and start making real words, such as think, both, bother. Next step, short phrases. Nothing crazy here, just simple combinations of words, such as I think so, Both of you, I’m not bothered. As you become more confident, you can start attempting longer sentences: I don’t think either of them are bothered.

You need to be aiming for around 90% accuracy at each stage before you move to the next one, so don’t rush these early stages. You also want to be sounding increasingly fluent and comfortable with the sound: if you find yourself crossing your fingers and praying that it comes out right, go back to the previous stage and build up more slowly.

Every little helps

In summary, these hacks above are not going to replace professional help or a more long-term, sustained effort to improve your pronunciation, but they can still make an impact in the short term. Learning how to pronounce words you use regularly as part of your job could save you a lot of embarrassment. Similarly, being mindful of common traps that confuse most non-native speakers could make a huge difference to your clarity. Finally, eradicating some of the most common sound errors made by speakers of your first language could help to reduce your accent further – every little helps. Happy practicing and good luck!