Do you want to know how to improve English pronunciation? We have developed the most complete and effective guide for those who decide to get rid of their accent and bring their pronunciation to perfection. We'll tell you where to start, what parts of pronunciation to pay attention to, and also present 12 useful tips that will help you improve your pronunciation in English.

Where to start working on English pronunciation

1. Decide on a variant of English

There are many variants of English pronunciation: Canadian, Australian, Mid-Atlantic, etc. However, the most popular are British and American English. The pronunciation in these two varieties of the same language is quite different. It is difficult to sit on two chairs at the same time, so it makes sense to stick to one type. How to make a choice? Listen to how the pronunciation of native speakers differs: American and British. Our teachers Scott and Dave prepared an excerpt from the poem “The Chaos”. Listen to the recordings and decide what sounds better to you.

To make sure that you have made the right choice, we recommend reading the arguments in favor of each of the English options in the article “”.

2. Analyze your speech

Select some audio or video with the text of the recording. Listen to how a native speaker pronounces it. After that, read the text yourself and record it on a voice recorder (available on any mobile device). Listen to your voice and compare it with the speech of a native speaker, determine which sounds you are pronouncing incorrectly. It is these same sounds that we suggest you work on.

There is another interesting and reliable way to check your pronunciation - the speechpad.pw resource. It allows you to evaluate how well and accurately your speech sounds. The site works correctly through the Google Chrome browser. Just turn on the headset, press the “Start recording” button and say any word or sentence. In the lower window, the program will show you how accurately you pronounced the sounds as a percentage. If you pronounce a sound poorly, you will see that the program has recognized a completely different word. It will immediately become clear to you which sounds you can make and which ones you need to work on. And if you check the box next to the word Recording, the program will record your speech, you can listen to how you sound from the outside.

The main components of English pronunciation, or what you need to work on

Correct English pronunciation is a puzzle picture consisting of 4 important elements: correct articulation, stress, intonation and coherence of speech. In order for the picture to come together and look beautiful, you need to work on all its components, because each of them has its own important place. So, to improve your English pronunciation, you will need to:

1. Develop correct articulation

Articulation is the position and movement of all speech organs. The clarity of pronunciation directly depends on correct articulation. Position of the speech organs when speaking different languages is different, therefore, in order for English not to sound Russian, you need to accustom yourself to correctly position your tongue and lips when pronouncing certain sounds.

2. Follow the stress

Incorrectly placed stress on a word can confuse native speakers and cause misunderstanding. An American or British person may forgive you for not quite correct pronunciation of the combination /th/ or Russian /r/, but incorrect stress can cause misunderstanding. Hence the conclusion: watch your speech. If you are not sure about a certain word, consult an online dictionary and listen to which syllable should be emphasized in a particular word.

3. Work on intonation

4. Work on speech coherence

In a normal conversation, we do not speak according to the “word-pause-word-pause” pattern. We speak coherently, words merge into a single sentence. In a conversation, the end of the previous word merges with the beginning of the next one, this allows speech to sound natural and smooth. So we know that the letter, or more precisely the sound /r/ at the end of a word in British English is usually not pronounced. For example, in the word car (car). However, if after a word ending with this letter there is a word beginning with a vowel, then /r/ is pronounced. For example, in the sentence The car is here (the car is here). This is done just to make speech sound smoother.

How to improve your English pronunciation

1. Use good pronunciation books

Good results will come from working with specialized teaching aids, which explain how to improve your English pronunciation. They contain detailed explanations and illustrations of the position of the speech organs during the pronunciation of a particular sound, and also include CDs with exercises. Best textbooks that we can recommend to students:

• “Tree or Three? An Elementary Pronunciation Course” by Ann Baker - a guide for students at the Elementary level and “Ship or Sheep? An Intermediate Pronunciation Course” by Ann Baker - a manual for students with an Intermediate level.
• “English Pronunciation in Use” - a series of 3 textbooks for Elementary levels, Intermediate, Advanced.
• “Elements of Pronunciation” is a textbook for levels from Intermediate to Advanced.
• “New Headway Pronunciation Course” - a series of textbooks for levels, .

The good thing about these manuals is that you can choose them according to your level of English proficiency. In addition, they are divided into convenient lessons, like all modern English textbooks, so working with them is convenient and effective.

2. Work on your listening skills

The better you understand English language by ear, the better your pronunciation will be. Many people have difficulties with pronunciation precisely because of insufficient work with listening. What is the connection between listening comprehension and improving English pronunciation? The more often you listen to foreign speech, the more clearly you distinguish sounds. Quite often, errors in pronunciation are due to the fact that we have an incorrect idea of ​​​​how a word or sound sounds. To substantiate this point of view, let's give a simple example: listen to the speech of deaf people. They pronounce words the way they imagine it, because they do not have the physical ability to hear how the word should sound. This is why their speech can be quite difficult to understand. By listening to the speech of native speakers, you get an idea of ​​how a particular word or sound SHOULD sound when performed correctly. Be sure to devote at least 10-15 minutes a day to listening, then you won’t have any questions about how to develop English pronunciation. We also recommend reading our article “”, in which you will find practical advice about how to correctly pronounce the most difficult sounds of the English language.

3. Learn English transcription

Learning English transcription is useful, but not necessary: ​​you can do without it. Today, there are different approaches: some teachers believe that there is no need to study transcription, others advocate its study. We recommend that you read the article “” and draw your own conclusions regarding the need to become familiar with transcription. Let us just note that this is very useful, because you are learning the rules of reading English.

4. Learn words correctly

Have you come across a new word and want to learn it? Do it right: turn on an online dictionary and listen to how a native speaker pronounces it several times, or open a regular dictionary and read the phonetic transcription. This way, you will immediately learn the correct pronunciation of a word - it is much easier than learning the wrong version and then relearning it.

5. Read aloud

Reading is an activity that will help you combine business with pleasure. Enjoy your favorite book and lose your English accent. While reading aloud, you do the most important thing - use your theoretical knowledge about pronunciation in practice. Take your time, try to pronounce each word clearly and correctly, and if the sound is difficult for you, repeat it several times until you achieve a more or less decent sound. And if you come across a new word, see the previous paragraph. You will find even more useful recommendations in the article “”.

5. Use tongue twisters

Remember how, as children, we were forced to quickly pronounce all sorts of “the Greek was riding across the river” and further in the text? And they broke their tongue, and they learned to pronounce this difficult letter /r/ (at least most of the people). The same rules apply in English. Try to choose several tongue twisters that practice sounds that are difficult for you and read them daily - it will only take 5-7 minutes a day. Where can I get good tongue twisters? In the article by our teacher Svetlana “The 50 most difficult tongue twisters in English” you will find 50 useful phrases to practice correct pronunciation.

I thought, I thought of thinking of thanking you.

There are many videos on the Internet in which a native speaker explains in detail how to correctly pronounce certain sounds. Moreover, some speakers even include diagrams in their videos depicting the correct position of the speech organs. Using such videos, you can figure out exactly how a particular sound should sound. British pronunciation can be learned, and American pronunciation can be learned.

7. Imitate the speech of native speakers

Choose an interesting video or audio and try to sound like an announcer. Imitate every little thing: manner of speaking, intonation, accent, make logical pauses and emphasis. Even though this may sound strange and unnatural to your ears at first, this is the easiest way to achieve correct English pronunciation. For learning, it is convenient to use the website englishcentral.com - there are hundreds of thousands of videos of various topics and lengths. They all contain subtitles and are divided into appropriate topics and difficulty levels. After watching, you will be offered several exercises, including work with pronunciation - you need to pronounce phrases from the video behind the announcer.

You can also learn from native speakers on engvid.com. Select the “Pronunciation” section and discover the secrets of correct English speech.

And don’t forget to read our article “”, in it you will find links to the best video channels where they will teach you how to develop English pronunciation.

8. Install special mobile applications

All kinds of applications for smartphones and tablets are a great help for those who want to improve their pronunciation in English. Try English Pronunciation or Sounds: The Pronunciation App FREE. With these applications you can listen to the sound English words take comprehension tests oral speech, as well as record your voice and listen to it.

Another interesting resource is Duolingo. You can install it as an application or study online on your computer. Among the various tasks for learning English, you will be asked to check your pronunciation: until the pronounced sounds sound correctly, the stubborn program will not give you the next exercise.

9. Take your time

The desire to speak English fluently is understandable and justified. And yet speaking competently and clearly is much more important. Don’t be afraid to pronounce every word carefully; even if you speak more slowly or with pauses, you will definitely be understood.

The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.

Trees that grow slowly bear the best fruit.

10. Practice daily

The more you speak English, the more likely you are to speak competently. And don't let your accent bother you. Don't know how to develop correct English pronunciation? Don’t worry, every person has their own accent and way of speaking. So don't be afraid to speak English just because you don't pronounce the words clearly. Speak more often, try to pronounce words correctly, then the Russian accent will gradually disappear from your speech.

11. Find yourself a mentor

It is not always that an inexperienced person can immediately discern errors in pronunciation after listening to a recording of his voice. That is why it is important to have a mentor-interlocutor who will notice your mistakes in time and point them out to you. This could be an English teacher, an English-speaking friend, or a fellow English learner. Take into account all the comments of your interlocutor and try to correct mistakes immediately.

12. Follow a special training program

If you do not have time to complete the exercises described above, but need to improve your English pronunciation, we recommend that you seek help from professionals. Sign up for . Experienced teachers, native speakers or Russian speakers, will help you overcome difficulties in pronunciation and teach you to speak competently and quickly.

We hope you found this article on how to improve your English pronunciation helpful and that you not only read, but also put into practice at least a few of the suggested tips. Now we want to increase your motivation. Watch the video from American actress and singer Amy Walker, in which she skillfully imitates a Russian accent in English. Sounds impressive, doesn't it?

Learn to correctly pronounce and write words in the Russian language.

Believe me: in any society, no matter who you communicate with, it is very important to pronounce words correctly.

Your speech is your face.

Don't know how to pronounce or write words correctly? Check out our article.

The most common mistakes we make in words

1. Do you doubt how to say: “at D ty" or "at Y you"?

Only "at Y"Tee"!

1. Waiting at the cafe "eh" TO spresso? Well, it’s logical: a quickly prepared drink is “express coffee.” No! It's called "espresso". And the point is not that it’s quick to do. Translated from Italian, it means “pressed” - the way it is prepared.

By the way, “coffee” is a masculine word. And you won’t drink “hot” HER", and "hot II espresso".

1. You don’t know how to: “be DU", "pobe ZHU", "pobe I AM WAITING»?

Don't rack your brains: all three options are wrong.

The verb “to win” does not have the first person singular form of the future tense. Just replace it with a synonym - the Russian language is rich in them - “I can, I will be able to win”, “I will win”, “I will win”, “I will become a winner”, “I will be the best, the first”.

1. The same applies to the toast “For making dreams come true!”

The word "sale" means "sale", "getting rid of something." And “dream” does not have a singular genitive form.

1. Remember: in the Russian language there are no words “in general”, “in general” - there are only “in general” or “in general”. There is no need to combine them.
2. You often wonder what is right: to put your “ UNDER letter" or " ROS pee"?

Remember: when you sign, put “ UNDER writing."

A " ROS writing" can be admired on the walls of temples and architectural objects.

1. Lexically, the phrase “the best” cannot exist. This is a logical tautology, “butter”: both words are in superlatives. How can one say, for example, “the most enormous”, “the purest”? Sounds good? Of course not!

It turns out that the directors who made “The Best Film” overdid it with the title.

1. Do you urgently need money, but you don’t have enough? You “occupy” them, right? And ask your friend: “Lend me some money.”

They don’t say that: “borrow” means “borrow.” That is, only you can “borrow”, and a friend will “lend” you.

Therefore, if you ask, say: “Can I “borrow” money from you?” or “Lend it to me.”

1. Write correctly: “during E"means" in continuation E a certain period of time." And "during AND"It talks about the movement of a river, a liquid.

And remember: both words are written separately.

1. The popular, little-understood expression “a D crown crown LL aider."

There is no "a" ND crown crown L aidera" is not the name of a person; "hadron collider" - technical equipment. "hadrons" (Greek word meaning "heavy") - class elementary particles; A “collider” is a ring-shaped tunnel; it accelerates charged particles and accelerates protons.

1. You should write "you" AND play" and not "you Y play." The word is formed from the noun “ AND gra." A " Y gra" - what is this?
2. As long as the word “go” is not distorted.

Don’t know what is more correct: “go”, “drive”? Both options are incorrect. The imperative form of the verbs “to go”, “to go” is “ BEHIND go", " BY go", " AT go”, etc.

In some cases, the form of the word “go” is allowed - in special literary devices, however not in colloquial speech.

1. There is no word "them" Research Institute"! This sounds as bad as "from here" OVA, from there OVA».

Union "if" F"does not exist in nature, only "if".

The word "to" R idor" is written and pronounced with " R" What is "ko" L Idor"?

Such "words" TO HER"There is no such thing in Russian.

1. To everyone who writes “from E neither”, we advise you to take the elementary school course again. The verb "izv" AND neither" is checked by the word "pov AND ny".
2. Your boyfriend wrote in a message that you are “simp” ABOUT"Teachable girl"? think carefully about whether it is worth continuing to communicate with him if he is not able to pick up test word to the adjective "simp" A tic"?

Do you know him? This is "Simp" A tiya." In some variants, the slang word "simp" is allowed ABOUT tnaya,” but not everyone will appreciate such slang.

With the noun "girl" ABOUT nka" everything is more difficult - spelling " O-Y» after the hissing ones pass into primary school. Interesting? Open the textbook and read it.

1. Do you think that you " ABOUT"to go" on a date? Nothing! " ABOUT"You can only deceive someone, but you yourself should" ON put on clothes.
2. The words “sorry” and “I apologize” have slightly different meanings.

“Sorry” - you ask for an apology from the person, you want him to forgive you.

“I apologize” means that you have begun to say words of forgiveness. “I apologize to you! What else do you want? - this is exactly the meaning.

1. Writing " b” in verbs will not confuse a literate person, but how annoying when you read: “He doesn’t want to “share” T"with me" and "He said that" share TH stay with me!

Remember:

(what are they doing b? what will they do b?) – “delhi” TH xia", "share TH Xia."

(what's up ET? what did you do ET?) – “delhi” T xia", "share T Xia."

Difficult? No!

1. "Where are you from?" " WITH Moscow!

Don't believe it! Those living in Moscow arrived " FROM Moscow."

Speak correct, literary Russian:

I FROM Tashkent, you FROM Tula, he FROM Russia.

1. "According to you E mu", "po-mo E mu", "what do you think E mu" always write with a hyphen and with " E" in the middle.

Well, what kind of slop is this - “pomo Y mu"?

1. Know: you need to congratulate on (what?) “happy day” (what?) “birth AND I"; go (where?) “for the day” (of what?) “born AND I"; was (where?) “at the bottom” (of what?) “born AND I"; came (from where?) “from the day” (what?) “was born AND I».

Neither "to be on", nor "to congratulate on", nor "to go to" the day of "birth" IE" it is forbidden!

And one more thing: all words in the phrase “birthday” must be written with a small letter.

1. There is a delicacy "Moro" WIFE", "pyro ZhN oh" and not "Moro ZhN oh, ice cream ENN oh", "pyro WOMAN oh."

By the way, these are vocabulary words that are taught in third grade.

1. Just learn how to spell it correctly:

All - after all; lying D whether; P FROM little by little; VC ratz E; And ZR edk A; really THAT; as if ABOUT; VP consequences AND.

1. Are you thinking about writing: “how - then CT about", "who - or – ct OL for", "something - what - to EC then", "than - something - what MN and be"?

It's very simple: particles -something, -something, -something are written with a hyphen.

1. Do you like sausages? Pronounce correctly: "suck" SK and”, not “sausage” b ki." They are made from animal meat, and not from a prominent part of the human female body, right?
2. Many people are also not friendly with accents.

How to say: “l ABOUT live" or "lie AND t"? It will be true: “ BY lodge AND"t" - this word is not pronounced without a prefix. It can be replaced with the synonym “put” (there is no need for a prefix for it).

1. The situation with the word “call” is also bad.

It would be correct to say "ringing" AND t", not "sv" ABOUT nit" - a verb formed from the noun "ringing" ABOUT k", not "zv" ABOUT nok"; "call AND sew", but not "call ABOUT nish" - from the word "ringing AND t", not "sound" ABOUT a thread".

1. It says "beautiful" AND veee" and not "beautiful E e" because there is a word "kras AND vy" and not "beautiful Y y".
2. An incorrectly placed accent or an incorrect ending “cuts” the ear of a literate person like a knife.

Just learn:

Always say it right! No one has ever been hindered by competent speech.

The words spoken by a person reflect him inner world. And our literacy can best tell about his wealth.

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guardian of belles lettres

pamper, pamper, pampered

bartender

Barrel

water pipeline, gas pipeline, garbage pipeline, oil pipeline, But: electrical wire

agreement (and agreements)

blinds

envious

catalog

quarter

more beautiful

cooking and cooking ( both options are equal)

marketing

masterfully

extended

newborn

security

facilitate

open

loop (loop - appropriate in everyday speech)

You call, they call, they call

pullover

beet

dancer, dancer

cottage cheese and cottage cheese ( both options are equal)

tiramisu

Cakes

Immediately

shoe

phenomenon

scoop

What is written with a pen...

The tricky thing about all the rules and lists is that they don’t stay in your head: read it and forget it. There are several ways to retain useful information in memory, in our case, words with the correct accents.

#singing now. A word that is difficult for you needs to be said out loud, clearly, several times (you can also sing it) and... in front of witnesses. Let your friends or colleagues support you and join your impact flash mob with their problematic words (“Venice is more beautiful than Paris, more beautiful, more beautiful, more beautiful than Paris”, “They call me, they call me”, “my boyfriend is a barman, barman, barman”). This is our psychology: what we do not do alone is better remembered.

#wonderfulmoment. For those who have a developed imagination, it is easiest to involve associations and images associated with it in the task of memorizing any information. For example, beets are a healthy vegetable, and the rosy-cheeked grandmother Fyokla sells them. And an excellent marketing specialist knows everything about how to maintain a brand!

#graphomania. Remember how in school, studying foreign language, we composed dialogues and stories with new words, selected rhymes for them, or came up with funny poems? The principle also works for the great and mighty, you just need to give free rein to your imagination! There are a lot of ready-made cheat sheets floating around the Internet, take note: “We ate cakes for a long time - the shorts didn’t fit”, “Don’t bring us curtains, we will hang blinds”, “Phenomenon rings on Wednesdays, having accepted a contract for years”, “The bell ringer rings, they ring ring the bell so that you can remember correctly!”

And, of course, dictionaries and reference books will always help out: a spelling dictionary, an orthoepic dictionary (translated from ancient Greek “orthoepia” means correct pronunciation), a dictionary of accents. Online resources will not let you down either: the portals Gramota.ru (be sure to look at the “Memos” section) and gramma.ru, Yandex.Dictionaries, the site orfogrammka.ru - which, unlike printed publications, are always at hand thanks to the ubiquitous Internet. Let's speak beautifully!

We live in strange times. On the one hand, we are told that in various fields What is valued above all is professionalism, and not how you dress, how you speak, or how you present yourself. On the other hand, everywhere we have to deal with the opposite: a person is judged not by what he is, but by what he appears to be. Therefore, when hiring, a well-spoken candidate with dubious professional credentials has a better chance than a true master of his craft who cannot speak. So it is very useful for any person, regardless of his type of activity. Even if his profession is not related to public speaking.

Ability to persuade

As for public activities, correct and beautiful speech is a guarantee of an effective performance. Speech errors they give out either a not very educated and incompetent person, or a speaker who is unsure of himself; You hardly want to trust such a would-be speaker. It turns out that knowledge of spelling is not just an indicator of “general literacy”, but also a beneficial thing - with its help you can convince the public of anything.

Political strategists who prepare politicians for speeches and candidates for election campaigns pay a lot of attention to the speech of their “protégés.” Largely thanks to good speech, our current “political elite” came to power and reliably retains it, despite dubious professional and moral qualities and education.

It is possible that the overthrow of Yanukovych took place thanks to his illiterate speech. In fact, the total illiteracy of the Ukrainian “president in law” in both Russian and Ukrainian was known throughout the country and beyond. Jokes were written about her; and it seemed like a glaring misunderstanding that Yanukovych was officially recognized as the most prolific and highly paid Ukrainian writer, his “works” were published in large editions. Yanukovych’s ability to speak is not high, because from childhood his school and university were the famous organized crime group “Pivnovka”, in which he “improved as a person.” If he had mastered (at worst, worked on spelling and spelling), he would certainly have had a better chance of remaining in power. The illiterate leader of the country did not suit even those who were loyal to the regime and benefited from it: Yanukovych spoiled the image of his country and party, with his speech he exposed the entire essence of the Ukrainian (as, in general, the Russian) political system, therefore, in his own way the post looked unconvincing.

We see the consequences of illiterate speech. All the more important is skill in areas far from “state affairs.”

Correct speech and unity of the people

Language is part of the mentality of a particular people; it stores thoughts and images with which the people have lived for centuries. Demonstrating the ability to speak his own language ensures that he does not distance himself from his listeners and from his fellow citizens in general. Correct speech eliminates social, professional and other barriers that divide society. In fact, the general public will not understand a specialist speaking in professional jargon, and may even be confused - after all, the interlocutor made the listeners look like idiots, unable to understand “simple things.”

Thus, literary language is the universal language of the country, which is used (at least, should be used) by citizens of all ages, professions, social groups and other categories for mutual understanding.

Does jargon spoil speech?

Conservative researchers disapprove of slang words, believing that they only spoil the speaker’s speech. However, the concept of “beauty” in this case is purely subjective; Moreover, the “literary” language can often be insufficiently expressive, have outdated or irrelevant units and constructions for a given situation. So such formally correct speech will in fact turn out to be ugly, inept and ugly. Such pedantry in speech is typical for people who are hypocritical or have inflated self-esteem.

Some types of jargon in our time are fully or partially understandable to the bulk of Russian citizens. This is youth slang, criminal “Fenya”, a number of professional words from the speech of programmers, etc. This became possible thanks to modern culture, which is characterized by the availability of high technologies, which developed back in Soviet time“camp” mentality and the rapid development of pop culture. Of course, you should not oversaturate your speech with elements of these jargons, but you won’t be able to completely abandon them - without them it is impossible to clearly and intelligibly express a thought, in addition, they allow you to make your speech more vivid.

Who makes the rules?

Not so long ago, society was vigorously discussing the resolution of our politicians - to legalize neuter gender the words “coffee” are parallel to the masculine one. Some took this government decree with hostility, others approved it - they say, it’s high time; There are those who would approve of the decree if it came from venerable Russian scholars, and not from cynical and illiterate politicians.

And here a reasonable question arises: who actually makes up all these rules? Why is it correct to say “a kilogram of tomatoes”, but “a kilogram of tomatoes” is incorrect? The answer: “Because that’s what they teach in school” is incorrect: standards and spellings change over time, which is easy to observe by opening a book from, say, the 50s. In the famous “Book of Tasty and Healthy Food” from 1953, the refrigerator says that it is a household appliance that “works with electricity”; in our time, such a turn of phrase is considered a gross mistake, and is perceived by native speakers as wild ignorance. Modern reader winces at the words “diet”, “dietary products”. If you dig around, you can find many more outdated spellings and speech patterns in this book.

Of course, scientists do not invent any rules. Science, as always, acts only as an outside observer of the processes occurring in society. Language changes constantly and endlessly, and the “author” of new rules is the people themselves. To be more precise, the speech of the “model” part of the population is taken as the basis for correct pronunciation; new rules are enshrined in the works of “great” literature and journalism, the authors of which serve this part of the population. The rest of the population adapts to this group in order to gain a profession, income, join in scientific and cultural achievements, etc. Before the revolution, the “model” social group was the nobility, and it was they who established linguistic norms. In Soviet times, this position was supposed to be occupied by skilled workers, peasants and free intelligentsia, but the de facto shaper of the language code was the party nomenklatura. The post-Soviet years are a very difficult period for the Russian language, since the social structure society, and the language itself receives another wave of foreign and internal (from jargons, vernacular, etc.) borrowings. The attention of society, including the new criminal and political “elite,” to own language very low; but on the other hand, the need for mutual understanding and developed language remains, as a result of which changes occur in vocabulary, pronunciation, and sometimes in the most stable layers of the language. Society creates new, more convenient forms of oral communication, and science can only record them. Of course, constant revision of the rules would not make sense; in this case, the language as a system would cease to exist.

It can be said that in last years The shapers of new rules and norms are the media. Literature, even modern and commercial literature, is still in limited demand, but television, newspapers and especially Internet sites are viewed by almost all citizens of the country.

Returning to the legalized neuter gender of the word “coffee,” it should be noted that this is probably not the only innovation in. By studying the RuNet space, we can guess what new regulations await us in the future. For example, the erroneous but incredibly popular phrase “kilogram of tomato” may be one of the first to be legalized, because a significant proportion of the population, including the economically active, does not know the correct variant – “tomatoes”.

RINGING or RINGING?

The examples below illustrate how the rules of the Russian language (in this case, the placement of stress in verbs) are unstable and flexible.

Nowadays, the most common option you hear is “ringing.” However, all dictionaries and textbooks insistently urge you to say “ringing.” Where did the erroneous form come from? The tradition of placing stress on the first syllable lives on in spoken language for about a hundred years; and according to the rules of the early twentieth century, the emphasis in this word was exactly that.

The situation is similar with the word “include/include.” The main dictionaries consider the second option to be normative, but about a year ago the Great Orthoepic Dictionary introduced the first option as acceptable, which caused a storm of disapproving emotions among the educated public. The compilers of the dictionary made excuses: “What to do? If people say that, then it needs to be recorded.” An absolutely correct point of view for scientists: not to establish rules based on some “tradition,” but to record the phenomenon of a living language.

In general, since the time of A.S. Pushkin, there has been a slow tendency to shift the emphasis in such verbs from the ending to the stem. Simply put, there was a time when they said “smoking”, “cooking”, “drinking”; many examples of this can be found in the works of Russian poets. The shift of emphasis occurred gradually, and dictionaries recorded and legitimized more and more new forms - first with the mark “colloquial”, and then without it.

A witness to the “transitional” stage is the cartoon “Plasticine Crow,” in which the characters could not understand whether “The gift will be immediately handed over” or “handed over.” There is still confusion about this word in our time, since different dictionaries consider either the first option or the second to be correct.

For the word “rust,” M. A. Studiner’s “Dictionary of Exemplary Russian Stress” considers only the stress on the second syllable to be correct, but the already mentioned Large Orthoepic Dictionary allows stress on both the first and second syllables.

Carlson in the Soviet cartoon makes a mistake when he says: “And here we are playing with buns.” However, the Great Orthoepic Dictionary in our time considers this option acceptable, but still declares “to dabble” as a priority.

“We waited”, “we gathered” and other similar options are considered by the main dictionaries to be a gross mistake: only “we waited”, etc. But quite recently, the Large Orthoepic Dictionary legalized this option as acceptable.

“Lighten”, “deepen”: the incorrect emphasis in these words became popular thanks to the speeches of Mikhail Gorbachev. Some even use them, but most often these options appear in an ironic context (for example, in jokes); dictionaries still do not want to record Gorbachev’s “innovation” as an allowed option.

“Dancer”, “dancer”: Ushakov’s dictionary considers such an emphasis acceptable in colloquial speech, but in literary speech the correct option is still on the second syllable. Other dictionaries consider only the second syllable correct. The "wrong" accent can be heard in Rosenbaum's song "Boston Waltz".

How to say it correctly?

However, many pronunciation rules are strict and unambiguous. “CAKES” - that’s it and that’s the only way. And when declined, this word also has stress on the first syllable. The same applies to the words “bow”, “port” and others. But “bridges”, “bridges” - here the rule is different. Perhaps the incorrect emphasis in the above words in colloquial speech appeared as a result of the analogy with “bridges”.

"More beautiful"- another word that cannot bear any other stress. However, many people are accustomed to saying “beautiful”.

"Beet"- stress on the first syllable. The colloquial version of “beetroot” may have come from the South Russian dialect.

"Catalog", "obituary". The incorrect variant “catalogue” may have appeared under the influence of “analog”. And the “obituary” is the result of a rapprochement with the “biologist”.

"Agreement"- the only way. Employees of the “authorities” have long been accustomed to saying “agreement”, but all dictionaries consider this option to be incorrect. It’s the same with “means” - dictionaries insistently require only “means”.

"Blinds". The word is French in origin and inflexible, translated means “jealousy” (their inventor made them so that passing men could not admire the beauty of his wife while he was at work). It’s unclear where the clumsy version of “Jalousie” came from.

"StolYar". However, even in Soviet poetry, “joiner” was often encountered.

"Shoe". The famous line from the film: “Whose shoe? - My!" - ironically shows illiterate speech.

"Quarter". The popular “kvartal” is considered incorrect by dictionaries.

Option "marketing" today many consider it common practice. But most dictionaries only prescribe "marketing", as in the source language - English.

"College"- a word that comes from English, in which the first syllable is stressed in most words. Its French equivalent is “college”; in French the stress always falls on the last syllable, and not in words, but in phrases.

"SOUPS, SAUCE." Cooks and salespeople in grocery stores often say “soup”, “sauce”; some even justify themselves by calling it professional jargon (as well as the “agreement” of the police). However literary speech only the first option is required.

How to learn to speak correctly and beautifully?

Here are some tips for anyone who wants to improve their speech.

Transcription is a recording of the sound of a letter or word in the form of a sequence of special phonetic symbols.

Transcription may not be of interest to everyone, but it is, without a doubt, useful. Knowing the transcription, you will correctly read an unfamiliar word without outside help. During classes, you can read the transcription of a word yourself (for example, from the blackboard) without asking others, thereby making it easier for yourself to assimilate lexical material, etc.

At first there will be errors in correct reading, because... There are always some subtleties in pronunciation. But this is just a matter of practice. A little later, if necessary, you will be able to transcribe the words yourself.

Transcription is directly related to reading rules. In English, not everything that is seen (letter combinations) is read (as in Russian and Spanish, for example).

When textbooks (mostly domestic ones) talk about reading rules, much attention is paid to the type of syllable. About five such types are usually described. But such a detailed theoretical presentation of the rules of reading does not greatly ease the fate of a beginner, and can even mislead him. It must be remembered that a good knowledge of the rules of reading is a great merit of practice, not theory.

Your attention will be presented to the basic rules for reading individual letters and letter combinations. “Behind the scenes” there will be some phonetic aspects that are difficult to convey in writing.

A little patience! Both transcription and reading rules are easily learned in a short time. Then you will be surprised: “How easy it has become to read and write!”

However, do not forget that, despite its wide distribution, the English language does not cease to be a LANGUAGE, full of exceptions, stylistic and other delights. And at any stage of language learning, and especially at the beginning, look into the dictionary more often.

Transcription icons and their pronunciation

Notes:

In many school textbooks and in some domestic dictionaries this sound is designated as [o]. But, in modern English dictionaries This sound is usually designated as shown in the table.

Diphthong is a complex sound that consists of two sounds. In most cases, a diphthong can be "broken" into two sounds, but not in writing. Since in many cases one of the component sounds of a diphthong, if used separately, will have a different designation. For example, the diphthong [au]: a separate transcription icon like [a] does NOT exist. Therefore, most diphthongs are not indicated by a combination of different transcription symbols, but by their own sign.

In many school textbooks and in some domestic dictionaries, this sound is designated as [ou], which is more clear. But, in modern English dictionaries this sound is usually designated as shown in the table.

This sign often denotes unstressed vowel sounds in transcription, regardless of the letters (combinations) that produce this sound.

Reading rules

English words have several types of syllables. However, to understand the entire system, it is necessary to remember and distinguish between the following two types: open and closed.

Open syllable ends with a vowel: game, like,stone- a vowel letter in a word is read the same way as in the alphabet.

Closed syllable ends with a consonant: pen, cat, bus- a vowel in a syllable gives a different sound.

Stress in transcription and words is indicated by a vertical line before the stressed syllable.

Single vowel sounds

Vowel diphthongs

Consonants