To steadily get in the habit of adjusting your English pronunciation, regular focused practice is key. By regular, I mean daily-or near daily. When I say focused, pay attention to something very specific in your speech. For example, final consonant articulation or syllable stress alternation.
I recommend either recording your voice (30 seconds to two minutes) OR recording a conversation with another person. Listen to your recording and focus on a specific feature of your spoken English. Need to improve your lengthening of the stressed syllable sounds? Then re-record on the same topic and pay careful attention to how you are lengthening the stressed syllable sounds of the key words as you are talking. Once again, listen to your recording and pay attention to this specific feature.
30 Practice Prompts For You
Below are 30 topics to help you jumpstart your spoken-English practice routine:
- Describe what’s out the window or in your room.
- What are you having for dinner this evening?
- What is your favorite type of food?
- Do you prefer to eat at home or in restaurants? Explain.
- What are your current professional goals?
- Talk about your past work experience.
- Describe a challenging work situation and explain how you dealt with it.
- What are your pet peeves?
- Describe a situation when miscommunication created a problem on the job.
- What important trends do you see occurring in your industry?
- How do you establish rapport with clients or coworkers?
- What are the most important qualities of a good leader?
- Would you say you are are direct or indirect communicator?
- Do you have any current obstacles in your professional life at the moment?
- What is the most productive time of day for you?
- Have you every experienced culture shock?
- Do you like to speak on the telephone in English? Why or why not?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of working on remote teams?
- What was the last book that you read? Did you like it?
- Do you prefer to read books, magazines, recipes, or cereal labels? Explain.
- Do you prefer reading a book in paper or electronic form?
- What is one of your favorite technological gadgets?
- What is your favorite app?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a pet.
- Do you live in a big city, medium-sized city, small town, the country, or on a farm? What do you like and dislike about it.
- Do you prefer going to the theatre or a sporting event?
- Is there a historical figure that you admire?
- Explain the last professional presentation that you delivered. Was it a positive, jarring, or negative experience?
- Explain a concept or term frequently used in your industry.
- Talk about your future plans.
Want to share how it’s going?
Feel free to email me, Sarah, at sgallant@ccg-training.com.
