Huh? What did you say? Can you repeat that? I just don’t understand you.
Has anyone ever said those words to you? They can be hurtful and confusing. You think you’re saying something correctly, but the listener just can’t understand what you’re saying. It leaves you and the listener both feeling a little reluctant to keep communicating.
This is the hard truth:
When people find it difficult to understand what you’re saying, they may stop communicating with you all together. It’s not because they’re trying to be rude to you. It’s just because they don’t want to feel awkward. It can feel like a social risk for native English speakers to talk to people whose English is not understandable. No one enjoys awkward social situations, and so when someone can’t understand you, they will likely avoid conversations, just so they can avoid that awkwardness.
Again, I’m not saying this is a correct reaction. Native English speakers should work hard at reaching out to those who are working hard to communicate. As the “in-group” of fluent English speakers, we should include others and make others feel welcome to our language and culture. It’s one of the only ways people can learn. However, even though it’s not a great reaction to have, it is a normal human reaction to stop communicating when it gets tough.
I bring this up to make you aware of what it’s like for most people to be on the receiving end of poor pronunciation. It’s not comfortable, and sadly, it can create social distance. One of the best ways you can improve your social situation in an English-speaking environment is to speak clearer English. The clearer you speak, the more comfortable people will be talking to you. When people can understand you, they are going to want to talk with you more and get to know you more.
So you might be sitting there thinking, “I’m doing the best I can! Why can’t people understand me still?”
There are many reasons why that might be true.
Let’s look at the top 4 reasons people can’t understand you:
#1 – You Don’t Pronounce Vowels Correctly
Vowels are the heart and soul of pronunciation. If you don’t pronounce vowels correctly, no one will be able to understand you. I want you to imagine this. You are walking in a large park, and across the green space, you see a good friend of yours. You want to get their attention, so you yell in a loud voice over to them. When you yell across a far distance, are the sounds clear? Can that person easily hear sounds like /t/, /p/, and /s/? No, they can’t.
However, can they hear sounds like /o/ and /u/? Yes, they can! Let’s think about what you would yell. What about, “Hey Victoria! I’m over here!” If you were yelling that over a long distance, what would the other person hear? They would hear something like, “A, i-or-ia! I o-er ear!” You friend would hear the vowel sounds, and they would probably understand what you said. That’s because vowels are the heart and soul of pronunciation. We primarily understand other people based on the vowel sounds they make.
This concept is true even in 1-on-1 conversation when you’re not yelling across a park. If you are not pronouncing vowel sounds correctly, people have a very difficult time understanding you. Vowel sounds are tricky because they are dynamic, meaning ever-changing. They can vary by region, and they certainly vary by language. This is why you need to spend a considerable amount of time practicing vowel sounds.
#2 – You Are Stressing the Wrong Syllables
Are you ready for some brutal honesty? Your syllable stress is stressing people out. What do I mean by syllable stress? Syllable stress is the emphasis or power that you put on one part of a word. Let’s look at the word “education”. Education has four syllables: e-du-ca-tion. When we say “education”, which syllable is said louder, longer, and higher than the rest? It’s the 3rd syllable: e-du-CA-tion. Syllable stress is very important in pronunciation.
First, you need to make sure you are stressing the correct syllable. Think about the word “education” again. What if I pronounced it e-du-ca-TION, where only the final syllable is loud and clear? Would people be able to understand me as well? The answer is no. Knowing which syllable needs to be stressed is a science and an art. There are detailed rules when it comes to syllable stress.
For example, did you know that the majority of two-syllable nouns put the syllable stress on the first syllable? Some examples include DANC-er, FOLD-er, and RE-cord. Most two-syllable verbs put the syllable stress on the second syllable. Some examples include re-TIRE, per-FORM, and re-CORD. There is a lot more to discuss about this topic, but I’ll save it for another day and another course.
#3 – You Are Speaking Too Quickly
Every language has a different speed at which it is spoken. There was a study done by Université de Lyon to measure the relative speed of 8 different languages: English, German, Japanese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, and French. The study looked at how many syllables per second were spoken for each language. The idea was that the faster-sounding languages have more syllables per second, and slower-sounding languages had fewer syllables per second.
Do you have any guesses at the results? If you speak one of those languages, do you think your language was faster or slower than the rest?
Here were the results of the study, with the languages listed from slowest to fastest:
Mandarin 5.18 syllables per second
Vietnamese 5.22 syllables per second
German 5.97 syllables per second
English 6.19 syllables per second
Italian 6.99 syllables per second
French 7.18 syllables per second
Spanish 7.82 syllables per second
Japanese 7.84 syllables per second
When you look at the difference between Mandarin and Japanese, we can easily see that languages are spoken at very different rates. This is something to think about when speaking English. You may come from a language that speaks more syllables per second, and it would do you well to slow down.
Another factor in language speed is personal speech rate. Every person is different, and every person has their own way of speaking and rate of speech. You might be someone who naturally speaks quickly in your native language. When you speak English, though, you should actively slow down your speech.
Think about it this way. When you first learn how to drive a car, it would be a terrible idea to drive 70 mph or 110 kph on a freeway on your very first day of driving. You need to keep it slow while you practice that you don’t get into danger. The same is true with speaking English with native or fluent English speakers. If you are aware that your pronunciation is difficult to understand, just slow down! Don’t let the syllables fly out of your mouth.
We have a saying in English: “Before you fly, you need to learn how to walk.” It means that you need to be able to do basic skills before you can do those “master” skills. I think of this saying when I hear English learners trying to speak quickly. When you slow down your speech, you can clearly articulate (say) each sound so that it can be understood. When you speaker slower, you speak clearer.
#4 -You Aren’t Finishing Your Words
This is a common problem I’ve been hearing for years from my English students. Some people just don’t finish their words when they talk. One reason this is happening is that there are some languages where it’s common to not say the last sound in a word. Is your native language one of those languages that doesn’t pronounce the final sound in some words? If it is, you need to be aware that this is not as common in English. Native speakers are usually aware of what sounds to drop, but you probably are dropping the wrong one if you’re dropping the sound at the end of a word.
Finish your words. Say every sound until you’re good enough with your pronunciation to link and drop sounds.
Pronunciation Practice Activity
Are you ready for a challenge? Do you want to know how clear your English really is?
Just ask Siri. (Or Alexa. Or Google.)
This pronunciation activity is one of my favorites of all time! Here’s what you do.
1) Grab your phone
2) Make sure your language settings for voice commands work for English.
3) Speak English to it.
4) Read what Siri thinks you said.
5) Repeat the same phrase again until Siri understands what you say.
There is no clearer way to know if you speak clear English. While sometimes our phones don’t understand us, it’s usually because we’re not speaking clearly. If you speak clearly, Siri will understand you. This is a very simple way for you to test your pronunciation.
If you’re an English teacher, I love to make this into a competitive team game in speaking class. It’s such a fun time whenever we play this game, because it’s eye-opening self-reflection for the students, as well as instant feedback on what needs to change about their pronunciation.
HERE ARE THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE SIRI PRONUNCIATION GAME IN A CLASS SETTING:
Preparation
Step #1 – Print out questions that their phones can answer easily. You can test these questions on your phone to make sure there is a clear answer to each question. Some examples are as follows:
a. What is the temperature right now?
b. How many miles is it to New York City?
c. What is 80 x 455?
d. What is the capital of Brazil?
e. What is today’s date?
f. What movies are playing now?
Step #2 – Divide students into two or more teams.
Step #3 – Have one representative from each team go to the board with their phones.
Step #4 – Give the first question to the students at the board.
Step #5 – Students say the question into the phone until they get the correct answer. Then they write the correct answer on the board. The first student to write the correct answer wins a point for their team. You will also verify that the words they said are the ones that appear on the screen.
Step #6 – The students sit down and another representative from each team goes to the board.
Step #7 – The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Here’s what my advanced English students start to realize when they do this activity: They have to say every single sound clearly, or Siri won’t understand. They also learn that it is possible to speak English more clearly. They adapt quickly when they realize instantly that they aren’t being understood.
I love this activity, and I hope you do too!
Overall, being understood can be challenging and frustrating. But if you follow my advice of those 4 characteristics to avoid, you will find out that clear pronunciation is possible!
If you’re ready to get really serious about your pronunciation, it’s time to join my Clear English Pronunciation course. This in-depth pronunciation course will teach you exactly how to speak clearer English. If you have difficulty with English pronunciation, this is the class for you.
ESL and EFL Teachers, if you’re looking for some in-depth video resources to use in speaking class, my Clear English Pronunciation course would be a great fit for your school. There are 25 video lessons covering all of the sounds of English, along with clear instruction on place of articulation and manner of articulation.
I would recommend this course to any English teacher as a solid companion to your pronunciation instruction. I have been teaching pronunciation for 12 years and have used these battle-worn lessons in my own classroom. For school licensing, contact me at andrea@studywithandrea.com.
Happy learning!
P.S. If you want to dramatically improve your pronunciation skills, take my latest course Clear English Pronunciation. People are changing their lives by taking this course! The results have been dramatic. Simply visit StudyWithAndrea.com/speak to learn more.
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