One of the most important aspects of learning English is pronunciation. Without clear pronunciation, it is difficult to make yourself understood. First start by learning individual sounds. After that, focus on the music of the language. You might be surprised by the following statement: Pronouncing every word correctly leads to poor pronunciation! Good pronunciation comes from stressing the right words — this is because English is a time-stressed language.

学习发音是学习英语最重要的功课之一。如果发音不清晰，别人就很难理解你的想法。学习发音首先要从学习单个声音的发音开始。在这之后就可以专心学习语言的曲调了。你看到下面这个论调可能会很惊讶：如果每个音都发得对，整体发音就不对！因为英语是讲究重音的语言，所以要达到良好的发音需要重读正确的词汇。

In other words, some words — the content words — receive more focus, whereas other words — function words — are less important. Learn more below.

换句话说，我们应该多关注表达内容的词，而其他功能词则不那么重要。我们接下来具体分析。

HERE'S HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR PRONUNCIATION:

以下是如何提高发音的建议:

1. Start with learning individual sounds. These are called phonemes.

从学习单个声音的发音开始。这些单个声音就是音素。

2. Use minimal pairs to practice individual vowel sounds. Minimal pairs are words in which only one sound changes. For example, pop - pep - pip - pap changes the vowel sound. Using minimal pairs helps you isolate a sound to really focus on the small changes in sounds between vowels.

用“最小对”来练习单个元音的发音。“最小对”是指只有一个声音变化的单词。例如，pop-pep-pip-pap这组只更改了元音的声音。用“最小对”可以帮助你分离出声音，这样就能真正专注于元音之间的细微变化。

3. Learn pairs of consonants that are voiced and voiceless and practice through minimal pairs. For example, f / v the 'f' sound is voiceless and the 'v' voiced. You can recognize the difference between voiced and voiceless by placing a finger on your throat. Voiced sounds vibrate, whereas voiceless sounds do not vibrate. These pairs include: b / p - z / s - d / t - v / f - zh / sh - dj / ch.

学习成对的发声或不发声的辅音，然后通过“最小对”来练习。例如，f/v的“f”音是不发声的，而“v”则是发声的。把手指放在喉咙上，你就能分辨出发生和不发生辅音的区别。发声的辅音会让喉咙震动，而不发声的辅音不振动。这些组合包括:b/p-z/s-d/t-v-zh/sh-dj/ch。

4. Learn the difference between pure vowels and diphthongs such as the 'oi' sound in 'boy' or ' aee ' sound in 'tray'.

了解纯元音和双元音之间的区别，例如“boy”或“ aee ” 音中的“oi ”音。

5. Learn the following rules concerning pronunciation.

学习下列有关发音的规则。

6. English is considered a stressed language while many other languages are considered syllabic.

英语是一门由重音构成的语言，而其他许多语言都是用音节构建的语言。

7. In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable has its own length).

在其他语言中，如法语或意大利语，每个音节都有同等的重要性(有重音，但每个音节都有自己的长度)。

8. English pronunciation focuses on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, non-stressed, words.

英语发音侧重于特定的重读词，同时快速地滑过其他非重读单词。

9. Stressed words are considered content words: Nouns e.g. kitchen, Peter — (most) principal verbs e.g. visit, construct — Adjectives e.g. beautiful, interesting — Adverbs e.g. often, carefully

重读词通常是表达内容的词:名词，如.kitchen, Pete；（大多数)主要动词，例如，visit, construct；形容词，如beautiful, interesting；副词，如often, carefully

10. Non-stressed words are considered function words: Determiners e.g. the, a — Auxiliary verbs e.g. am, were — Prepositions e.g. before, of — Conjunction s e .g. but, and — Pronouns e.g. they, she

非重读词通常是功能词:限定词，例如the, a; 辅助动词，如am，were；介词，如before，of; 连接词，如but, and;代词，如they, she

11. Read the following sentence aloud: The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.

大声朗读下面的句子: The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.

12. Read the following sentence aloud: He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening.

大声朗读下面的句子: He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening.

13. Notice that the first sentence actually takes about the same time to speak well!

你会注意到，要把第一句话说好其实和说第二句话要花一样长的时间！

14. Even though the second sentence is approximately 30% longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to speak. This is because there are 5 stressed words in each sentence.

即使第二个句子比第一个句子长了大约30%，两句话说出来却是要花一样的时间。这是因为每句话都有5个重读词。

15. Write down a few sentences, or take a few example sentences from a book or exercise.

写几句话，或者从一本书或练习中找几个例句。

16. First underline the stressed words, then read aloud focusing on stressing the underlined words and gliding over the non-stressed words.

首先用下划线划出重读词，然后大声朗读时重点突出划下划线的词，其他非重读词滑过即可。

17. Be surprised at how quickly your pronunciation improves! By focusing on stressed words, non-stressed words and syllables take on their more muted nature.

发音提高的速度，连自己都会觉得惊讶！专注于重读单词之后，非重读单词还有音节就会自然而然得不发声了。

18. When listening to native speakers, focus on how those speakers stress certain words and begin to copy this.

在听母语人士说话时，要注意他们重读哪些词，并且开始模仿。

MORE TIPS ON IMPROVING PRONUNCIATION

提高发音水平的其他建议：

1. Remember that non-stressed words and syllables are often 'swallowed' in English.

要记住，不重读的单词和音节在英语中通常会被“吞掉”。

2. Always focus on pronouncing stressed words well, non-stressed words can be glided over.

永远把注意力放在发好重读单词上，非重读单词可以滑过。

3. Don't focus on pronouncing each word. Focus on the stressed words in each sentence.

不用每个单词都发音，要把注意力放在每句话的重读单词上。

 （翻译：Andrea安宁）