Okay, so today was one of those days where I decided to really focus on the nuts and bolts of speaking, specifically pronunciation. It’s something I know I need to work on, comes up now and then when I listen back to myself or just get that feeling, you know? So I set aside some dedicated time for it.
Getting Started
First thing I did was just pull up some resources I keep handy. Nothing fancy, mostly just some online tools and a couple of specific sounds I know I stumble over. Didn’t really have a grand plan, just wanted to tackle what felt most awkward today.
I decided to start with vowel sounds. Especially the short ones versus the long ones. Think ‘sit’ versus ‘seat’, or ‘ship’ versus ‘sheep’. Seems simple, but getting that crisp distinction consistently? Takes work.
The Actual Practice Bit
So, I spent a good while just repeating minimal pairs. Found a list online and just went through them:
- ship / sheep
- bit / beat
- live / leave
- pull / pool
Just saying them out loud, trying to really exaggerate the difference at first. Felt a bit silly, talking to myself in the room, but hey, gotta do what you gotta do. Then I moved onto the ‘th’ sounds – the voiced and unvoiced ones. Always a classic struggle, right? Trying to get that tongue position just right for ‘think’ versus ‘this’. Repeated phrases like “thirty-three thirsty thieves” until my mouth felt tired. It’s more physically demanding than you’d think!
After drilling sounds for a bit, I decided to try reading a short news article aloud. The idea was to see if I could apply the practice in a more natural flow. Recorded myself doing this using my phone. That’s always the moment of truth, isn’t it?
Listening Back and What I Found
Listening back is… humbling. You definitely hear things differently than when you’re speaking. I noticed I still rush some words, and yeah, those tricky vowels sometimes slide back into a muddy middle ground, especially when I’m reading faster.
The good news? Some of the pairs I drilled, like ‘live’ and ‘leave’, did sound clearer on the recording than they usually do in my head. So, that felt like a small win. It proved the focused drilling actually does something, even if it feels slow.
Also noticed my intonation could use some work. Sometimes I sound a bit flat. So, pronunciation is one thing, but the musicality of the language, the rhythm and stress, that’s probably the next layer I need to start peeling back.
Wrapping Up
So, that was the session. Mostly focused work on specific sounds, then trying to integrate it into reading. It wasn’t glamorous, mostly just repetition and careful listening. But it feels like necessary groundwork. You don’t build a house without a solid foundation, right? Same idea here, I guess. Just gotta keep at it, bit by bit.
