Pronunciation: Improving In Another Language

Pronunciation can affect how we communicate. Many people, who have had a go at learning a foreign language, have experienced that sinking feeling when they try a well-constructed sentence in another language only to be met with a blank face.

Why is this?

Languages are built on sounds. If I speak English and live in an English-speaking country I expect a speaker to say sounds in a particular way. In French or Spanish I would expect to hear different sounds. When we can't recognise the sound we try and adjust how we are listening, a bit like tuning a radio, but if we can't guess the sound, the chances are we won't understand what is being said.

The Blocks of Pronunciation

Pronunciation has two main aspects to it, physically producing it and the sound that is produced from it, the hearing of the sound. As we get older the ability to do both of these, i.e. physically work out how to make the sound and recognise it, can diminish. This doesn't mean we can't continue to learn new languages but we need some extra tricks to help us.

Let's look at some ideas on what we can do when we learn a new language.

How am I saying it?

Try saying the letters. Notice how your mouth is working. If you don't know how a sound is physically made you may find it harder to say it.

What sounds are the same?

English has many more sounds than other languages but it also has a lot of sounds in common with other languages. Good dictionaries in a new language will usually offer an English sound or word to compare with. Use it to check what sounds are similar.

Which sounds are hard to say?

Go through the alphabet of the new language and mark out the ones you find hard to say. Give them some attention. Try and physically make the sound and see how your mouth works. Say the alphabet. Look at how children use the alphabet song in English to help them remember the alphabet, doing the same in a new language will also help memorise the letters and sounds.

Read out loud.

Find some reading form your course book or any other book. There are two advantages here. One you get to say the letters and words. Secondly you get to practise sounds that you expect to hear and you become accustomed to the sounds of the language.

How good do I need to be?

There is much discussion on this. For many of us the ability to get by in other languages is good enough. If we can say what we want, simply, slowly and the person we are speaking to, can understand us, then our pronunciation is probably good enough. After that it is a matter of choice. Some people become very good at other languages and get to very good levels of pronunciation. Not many of us are such gifted linguists but there's no reason why we can't make the words so that people can understand us.

Improving Productivity

We improve productivity through improving methods and procedures. No amount of "increased supervision" will have any effect on improving productivity. Productivity improvements come as a result of finding a better way of doing things and implementing that better way.

s of tasks. A procedure is the way we go about implementing the method. As an example, we can choose to sort a list manually or on a computer. Either method will accomplish the objective, but sorting the list on a computer is likely to be faster.

The use of an RFQ (Request for Quotation) is an example of a change in both methods and procedures. Because the RFQ is a formal process, it can have precise procedures to implement this process which leads to a more cost effective purchasing program for the enterprise. As is usually the case the better method produces a high likely hood of improving results.

Most productivity improvements are a combination of methods and procedures improvements. As such the procedures write up needs to reflect the new approaches.

Most enterprises that have how to manuals only deal with the procedures and are silent on the methods subject. For this reason and others, it is quite important to carefully explain every procedure.

Written methods and procedures are an integral part of a well organized enterprise. They specify how to do things and as such are useful in training a newcomer in a job position. The written procedure clarifies what is to be done and how to do it. As better ways to accomplish required tasks and functions are developed, the methods and procedures can be changed to reflect the improvements.

Many computer systems and forms are not particularly user friendly. In those instances where this situation occurs, it is often very helpful to provide detailed instructions.

When procedures include filling out forms or specify the use of web pages, explicit "how to" instructions are often quite helpful. An illustrated example or series of examples is often well worth the effort to produce it. The examples should indicate where the information is to be entered and what information is required.