Your grade is influenced by the level to which your pronunciation makes it difficult to understand what you are saying, and also the degree to which you use language features of a native speaker such as intonation, stress, and rhythm.
Minimal Pairs
minimal pairs are pairs of words that have very similar sounds. Practicing these can improve your pronunciation and listing skills.
easily confused sounds; minimal pairs
errors with specific sounds [th, w, v, r, l, long vowel sounds]
http://soundsofspeech.uiowa.edu
http://www.really-learn-english.com/word-pronunciation.html
Note that there are three ways to pronounce the ED endings of words: have a look here:
http://www.grammar.cl/english/pronunciation-ed.htm
to get pronunciation of words:
1 go here USA : http://www.dictionary.com/ here for UK: http://howjsay.com
- Enter the word
- Click on the speaker symbol by the word to hear pronounce
overall rhythm of speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtTLEAA0Sbc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XVeMLYiNM0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0G_yZfXJUQ
stress of syllables and words
http://www.really-learn-english.com/english-pronunciation-lesson-02-word-stress-and-syllables.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65AgbiwQ6ko
intonation
Intonation is about how we say things, and without intonation, it’s impossible to understand the real intended meanings that go with words.
Listen to somebody speaking without paying attention to the words the rise and fall of tones you hear is the intonation. It has the following features:
These patterns of pitch variation are essential to a phrase’s meaning. Changing the intonation can completely change the meaning.
Example:
Say: ‘It’s sunny’.
If you said this word with a rising tone you probably feel happy about this. A falling tone indicates a negative feeling, such as it is too hot. Watch youtube videos to understand this better:
