Tips to pronounce well in English

Listen a lot

Before you learn to speak, you have to learn to listen. The key listening is to improve pronunciation, since at the end of the day what we want is to imitate a way of speaking.

Language is acquired through exposure to sounds. Children learn words that they "hear" in their environment and that their brain processes and learns to interpret. Later language development is not the only thing that depends on the child's ability to hear. Listening skills also influence the ability to read and write and the development of our social skills. Language is a skill and is trained by hearing.


At first, it may be difficult to distinguish some sounds). Can you tell the difference between sleep ( sleep ) or slip ( slip )? If you can tell the difference by listening, you can show it by speaking. You will do it with practice.

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Watch movies or series in English

Desk, chalk, and blackboard? Nothing of that! We recommend a sofa, a bowl of popcorn and remote control. You are worth both the big screen and the small one. A plurality of accents, vocabulary, and everyday expressions ... Did you know that the voice of an actor determines more than 70% of the credibility of a scene? When listening to its English in its original version, you will appreciate nuances of an unsuspected quality that you have never appreciated.

The habit of watching series or movies in English, thus listening to a lot of English, will improve your pronunciation, as it gets you used to the speed and intonation of English-speaking speech. One of the tricks to improve your pronunciation in English is to imitate the diction of your favorite actors; their gestures and sounds.

Like many things in life, learning English through movies or series can be a good idea if you do it well and a disaster if you do it poorly. Here you have a complete guide with 10 points to keep in mind if you want to learn English with movies or series.

Concept of series for learning English

As at first, we do not understand the natives well, we have the feeling that they speak very fast and that is why when we try to speak like them we do it faster than normal. When we speak faster than we should, we have less time to think about what we are going to say or how we are going to say it, the pronunciation. And the face they put on us doesn't help at all. This vicious cycle must be stopped.

As Spanish is spoken very fast if we chat with someone who speaks slowly we think that it is difficult for them to speak or something. But in English it is the opposite, think of Downton Abbey, educated, cultured and upper-class people speak slowly. Without pause but without haste.


Therefore, a valuable reminder for you, being fluent in a language is not having the ability to speak it quickly, but to be able to articulate words and phrases correctly and naturally.

The Accent Reduction method

Accent Reduction is a method that seeks to help us neutralize our accent "natural" to approach closer to that of native English pronunciation.

Specifically, this technique is based on modifying 2 fundamental aspects:

The way we use our facial muscles and the position of the tongue (especially when pronouncing certain phonemes that do not exist in Spanish or are pronounced in a different way).

The intonation (the British or Americans have a totally different intonation than ours and differences between them too).

Among the most frequent difficulties when it comes to pronunciation in English for a Spanish speaker, is the difference in the sound of the vowels.


Specifically, in Spanish, there are 5 vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u) that each correspond to a grapheme and are always the same. In English, on the other hand, there are more than 20 in standard pronunciation and it varies depending on the region.

Glutinous Rice with Mango

This is our version of Thai Mango Glutinous Rice. The combination of rice, mango, and coconut is spectacular, resulting in a dessert full of flavor.


This recipe caught my attention when I arrived in Thailand because it combines 3 ingredients that I love: rice, coconut, and mango. It's like a kind of rice pudding in a Thai version, plus it can be made with easy-to-find ingredients if we make a couple of simple substitutions.

The original recipe is prepared with glutinous rice and mung seeds, but if you can't find them, you can use any type of rice, preferably with high starch content. On the other hand, mung seeds can be eliminated or substituted with any other type of seeds (sesame seeds work very well).

The combination of rice, coconut sauce, and mango is incredible, it is the star dessert in Thailand and is sold everywhere, in restaurants, on-street stalls and I have seen versions even with black rice.

In the photo below you can see how the rice was once cooked and before adding the sauce. This type of rice has a lot of starch, which is why the grains are so close together, although you can use any type of rice if you do not mind that the recipe is slightly different.

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Ingredients

1 cup of glutinous rice or any type of rice, uncooked ( 185 g )

1 cup of coconut milk ( 250 ml)

1/4 cup cane, coconut, or brown sugar ( 4 tablespoons)

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1 - 2 teaspoons cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water

Mung seeds for garnish (optional)

4 - 8 mangoes

Instructions

The traditional recipe uses glutinous rice, but you can use whatever you have on hand. Let it soak in twice as much water (2 cups or 500 ml) for 30 minutes.

In Thailand, they steam it, but since we didn't have a steamer at hand, we poured the rice and water into a saucepan and when it started to boil, we covered it partially and left it to cook over low heat until the water was consumed and the rice was cooked. ready (about 10-15 minutes, but the time may vary depending on the rice you use). Add more water if necessary.


While the rice is cooking, you can make the sauce. Add the coconut milk, sugar, and salt to a saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until hot and the sugar has completely melted. Then, add the cornstarch dissolved in water, stir and cook until it thickens. Add more or less cornstarch depending on how thick you want the sauce, we usually add 1 and 1/2 or 2 teaspoons.


When the rice is ready, put it in a bowl, add half of the sauce and stir until it is perfectly integrated. The other half is thrown on top when serving.

The classic recipe uses roasted mung seeds, so we buy them raw and toast them in a skillet until golden brown, but they can be omitted or substituted with sesame seeds or whatever other seeds you have on hand.

To serve the dish, add the rice, next to the peeled and chopped mango (1/2 or 1 mango per serving), a little sauce on top, and finally the mung seeds.

It's best fresh, but you can store the rice and sauce in airtight containers in the fridge for 3-4 days. If the sauce is too thick, you can add more milk or water. The mango is best opened just before serving.

Notes

Ideally, use glutinous, but any rice will do. Although glutinous rice is long grain, it is sticky rice and when cooked the grains stick to each other, so I think that if I did not find it, I would opt for short-grain rice because it tends to have a higher starch content .

We use coconut milk, not coconut drink. Coconut milk usually comes in a can, although there are also in tetra brick, it is much thicker than coconut drink and also does not usually contain sweeteners or as many additives.

Use the sweetener you want.

Instead of cornstarch, you can use other thickeners or starches.

Mung seeds can be substituted for sesame or other seeds.

If you like your rice with more sauce, you can make a little more in a moment and add it on top.