How to improve your English pronunciation

Which tool fits which need?

• Learn how one word is pronounced: a dictionary with reference audio, such as Cambridge’s pronunciation dictionary. To hear it in real sentences, YouGlish.
• Say whole sentences and compare them with the original: Sada’s pronunciation checker, free in the browser: record a line from a video and see which of its words were recognised and how your timing compares.
• Drill real sentences from short to long: listen-and-repeat practice.
• Judge one particular sound: Sada does not assess sounds one by one, so ask a teacher or use a tool that scores individual sounds.

Three things inside the word

1. Word stress

Every longer English word has one syllable that is said stronger and longer than the rest. Getting it wrong can make a word hard to recognise even when every sound is right. In “universities” the stress is on VER; in “creativity”, on TIV. For the rules, stress-shifting pairs and more lines to practise, see the word stress guide. Listen:

“from one of the finest universities in the world.”

Steve Jobs · Practise this line →

“One is the extraordinary evidence of human creativity”

Sir Ken Robinson · Practise this line →

2. The three sounds of -ed

“-ed” is not always “id”. After voiceless sounds like s and k it is a t, as in “experienced”; after voiced sounds it is a d, as in “called”; and only after t or d is it “id”, as in “decided”. For the full rule and more lines to practise, see the guide to -ed endings.

“Who has experienced a lot of stress?”

Kelly McGonigal · Practise this line →

“So, I'll start with this: a couple years ago, an event planner called me because I was going to do a speaking event.”

Brené Brown · Practise this line →

“so I decided to follow in the footsteps of the Great American philosopher”

Matt Cutts · Practise this line →

3. The weak vowel

The most common sound in English is a short, relaxed “uh” (schwa) that replaces most vowels in unstressed syllables: the first sound of “about”, the end of “teacher”. Saying every vowel in full makes speech sound read aloud rather than spoken.

The plan

1. Collect your own words: twenty words you use often at work or in your studies. Hear each one from real speakers in sentences (YouGlish is great for this).
2. Practise the sentence, not the word: stress and the weak vowel only show up in a sentence. Pick a line from a video and say it with the speaker in Sada.
3. See which of your words didn’t come across: Sada shows the words that were heard in your take. If one is missing, go back and listen again, paying attention to its stress.
4. Work on the sounds your first language doesn’t have: hear them in a dictionary recording, then say them inside a sentence with the pronunciation checker. To hear and say them in pairs that change the word, such as live and leave, use minimal pairs practice. Three pages set them out for one group of learners each: English pronunciation for Indian speakers, English pronunciation for Spanish speakers and English pronunciation for Arabic speakers.
5. Then move on to rhythm: linking and weak forms, in how to sound like a native speaker and connected speech practice.

Practise one line, step by step

1. Open an exercise from this guide. Choose a captioned video for this guide’s topic and a line whose meaning you understand.
2. Listen and read the caption, then say the line after the speaker in Repeat mode.
3. Try saying the line with the speaker in Shadow mode, following the rhythm and pauses.
4. Record a take, then open Compare and play your recording and the original. Review words and timing; Sada does not grade individual sounds.
5. Repeat the line while focusing on one difference you heard, then move to another line.

More questions learners ask

• How can I speak English more clearly?
• How do I improve my English intonation?