Effortless English: Learn To Speak English Like a native

 
IMPROVING YOUR PRONUNCIATION
Pronunciation is a big worry for many English learners. Learning phrases will help, but there is another
exercise you can do to improve even more. One of the greatest challenges with pronunciation is the problem of
feeling strange when trying to use a native accent.
For example, many learners feel unnatural when trying to use an American accent. They feel they are not
being normal, or not being themselves. Their voice sounds strange to them. This is normal because speaking a
different language naturally forces you to create different sounds.
So how can you develop more natural English pronunciation? One strategy I suggest is to play a little game
with movies. In this game you try to become your favorite English speaking actor or actress. This is a variation of
the movie technique, which I will describe in more detail in a later chapter. When you speak, pretend you are that
actor. Instead of worrying about your English, concentrate on speaking exactly the way the actor would.
In fact, it’s important to think of this as a game and to even exaggerate the actor’s pronunciation, movements
and facial expressions.
Sometimes in my own classes I imitate the famous actor John Wayne, who played the hero in many old
Westerns and was seen as the typical American. I’ll walk around my classes like I’m wearing cowboy boots and

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ready to go after some bad guys. Maybe you’ll feel more comfortable playing Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts or
another movie star . . . the idea is to exaggerate their pronunciation and push yourself to speak just like them. Have
fun, and you’ll be surprised how much this will help your pronunciation.
The first rule of the Effortless English™ method is very simple. Yet this very
small change to the way you learn vocabulary affects your grammar, your
pronunciation and your memory of new words. Rule one is a piece of profound
knowledge that works synergistically with the other rules.
In the next chapter you’ll learn, perhaps, the most surprising rule of the Effortless
English™ system. Rule Two frees you from the grammar translation method used
in school and removes much of the boredom and pain of English learning.

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CHAPTER 10