How to improve English pronunciation: Tips for Ukrainians

Subject: Courses  |   Date: 27.01.2025

Pronunciation is something that many people who want to learn a foreign language unfortunately cannot cope with. Despite their excellent knowledge of grammar, understanding and use of vocabulary, many Ukrainians speak with an accent and do not even think about the importance of correct pronunciation. 

In fact, you can improve your speaking skills very quickly if you regularly practice speaking. A teacher can also help with this. For example, you can follow the link to BUKI and choose an English tutor who will meet your requirements. 

And in this article we will share recommendations on how to improve your pronunciation and start speaking naturally in just a few months.

Where to start working on your pronunciation?

The first thing you need to do is familiarize yourself with phonetic transcription. It includes the features of the pronunciation of letters and letter combinations, which are transmitted using special symbols. You can download the phonetic alphabet from the website teachingenglish.org.uk. 

It is worth noting that in English you should be able to distinguish between long and short vowels, recognize diphthongs and triphthongs. 

Phonetic exercises will help you practice pronunciation and memorize sounds. Here are a few options.

• Pronunciation of minimal pairs - words that are very similar in sound. A short list of such words can be found on the resource shiporsheep.com. 
• Repeat the pronunciation after a native speaker. This is one of the effective ways at the initial stage of learning the language after you have learned the transcription symbols. On the bbc.co.uk website you will find a set of exercises for pronouncing each sound and you can listen to key rules of phonetics. 

Please note that the given source concerns the British version of the language. And if you need to master American English, use other resources, for example, Nativox. 

• Record your speech or reading of the text on a dictaphone and check it with the correct pronunciation. It is important that you can analyze your mistakes with a professional who will immediately indicate how to correct them. A tutor is best suited for this. 
• Do listening exercises, that is, listen to audio with native speakers, trying not only to catch the pronunciation, but also the meaning of what you hear. The British Council website has sample notes for levels A1-C1 with further tasks for each text. 

In addition, when familiarizing yourself with any text, we recommend writing out unknown words and checking their pronunciation with a dictionary. 

How can a tutor help improve pronunciation?

A lesson with a tutor is a comfortable and cozy atmosphere where you are not distracted by the needs of other students. After all, the tutor adjusts the curriculum to the level and request of each student individually. In addition, you can always discuss the schedule and program with a private teacher if you are not satisfied with something in this. 

Individual lessons are lessons during which the student’s personality is fully taken into account. So mastering pronunciation, like other language skills, will be easy. The tutor selects special exercises and educational materials that will help develop the necessary knowledge and competencies. You can simply communicate with the teacher on various topics in English, while practicing pronunciation and vocabulary. 

What services can you use to improve English pronunciation?

In addition to a tutor and independent work with audio, it is also worth using one of the applications for productive daily work. 

Now you can work on your pronunciation using services based on artificial intelligence. Most of these applications have speech analysis and error correction functions. And some even give recommendations for improving pronunciation based on the student’s performance. For example, this is how English Pronunciation, Elsa, Utter and other similar applications work.

Some services, such as Speak English Pronunciation, allow you to record your speech, and then evaluate it and give instructions for correction. To increase your motivation, some resources offer points for successfully completing exercises, so that they can then be used to access the next higher-level lessons.

Yes, TalkEnglish has a number of interesting and diverse practical tasks for practicing communication, listening and understanding what you have heard, and testing your knowledge of phonetic features.

But services for direct communication with native speakers will be no less effective. For example, Speaky, HelloTalk. You can communicate both in correspondence and via video call. During registration, the student indicates his level of language proficiency and wishes for future results. The program selects a speaker with similar interests who will focus on the language level specified by the student.