Finding ways of practicing pronunciation can be difficult. Simply speaking and listening again and again, while effective, is sometimes boring; also, it is hard to do while traveling or on the go.
A good way of practicing pronunciation is to do something you are probably doing already: listen to music. Find some music (in English) that you like listening to, and listen to it. That simple.
Well, not quite that simple. Here are a few rules to help your music listening be much more helpful.
1. Listen to music that is slower than faster. Very fast hip-hop, rap, or rock will not help you as much as slower music. Some rap or hip-hop is nice and slow, and the words are easy to follow. The same goes for rock. Pick music that is easy to listen to, and easy to follow.
2. Download and print off the lyrics. Keep them with you, and use them to help you sing along. Memorize the lyrics, so that when each song starts you can sing along using the correct words.
3. Sing along, all the time. Try to match the tone, rhythm, and prosody of the singer. Record yourself singing, and listen to yourself to see how well you got it.
4. Sing lots of different songs, and different genres of music. Sing soft songs, hard songs, fast songs, and slow songs. Sing happy songs, and sad songs. Every song you memorize and can sing well will help your pronunciation.
If you make a regular practice of this, you will notice that your listening ability and pronunciation will become much better, as well as your prosody. You will begin to feel more confident, and seem much more fluent, to the people around you. Here is a list of song that might be good ones to start with:
Folk Songs
1. Blowin’ in the Wind - Bob Dylan
2. Sounds of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
3. The Water is Wide - Traditional
Rock Songs
1. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
2. Walk This Way - Run-D.M.C.
3. American Pie - Don McLean
Modern Rock Songs
1. With Arms Wide Open - Creed
2. Radioactive - Imagine Dragons
3. Handlebars - Flobots
Cheers!
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