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I want to devote my essay to the topic of Phonetics and Pronunciation. Why is the correct pronunciation one of, and perhaps the most important section in the study of English? Why is it important to learn English pronunciation? Pronunciation is the first thing we notice in our English. But, what do we mean when we say good pronunciation? Of course, it will be very difficult even almost impossible to learn the same pronunciation like that of a native speaker. Around the world and in the UK itself there are quite a number of accents and variations of pronunciation. Some examples of different English accents would be the British, Scottish, American, and Australian English accents. But it is very important to to pronounce the words correct, without causing difficulties for your interlocutors to understand what you are trying to say. Incorrect pronunciation is one of the many reasons people do not feel confident to speak English in my home country. Therefore, I think that a very important aspect in the study of a language is pronunciation. Pronunciation plays a very important role in the English language but, unfortunately, it is very rare for a non-native English speaker to adopt a neutral accent and apply the correct pronunciation when speaking English. It is also not strange for foreign English teachers to speak with a heavy accent. In many schools in my country, they do not understand the importance of pronunciation. They prefer to focus on other aspects of the English language like semantic, syntactic, morphemic, and pragmatic knowledge rather than phonological knowledge. To practice, the knowledge of sound-symbol relations and sound patterns represented in the language is necessary from the very beginning of learning a foreign language. I know from my own experience that correcting and breaking habits related to pronunciation is very difficult. I think that everyone faces the problem of pronunciation at the initial stages of learning a language. It is important to learn the sounds of the letters and the sound-letter combinations from the very beginning of learning a new language. The peculiarity of the formulation and practice of pronunciation are very time-consuming. But, it is important to understand that without the correct pronunciation, it is impossible to completely master the language. I, like most English learners, believed that correct pronunciation was necessary only to improve our listening comprehension skill. This, of course, is true, but the correct pronunciation is first of all necessary in order for others to understand us and for us to understand others when actively using the language in a conversation. Now a very simple thing has become obvious to me: how do we pronounce the word, so we remember it. If we are accustomed to saying the word incorrectly, then, when we hear this word correctly pronounced, we can simply not recognize it. Thus, we can say that how we pronounce is what we will hear. He who speaks correctly will understand correctly. To improve pronunciation when working in the classroom, you can use exercises such as peer dictation and training on reading and pronunciation of tongue twisters. If you have difficulty pronouncing certain sounds or parts of words, a great way to understand how to pronounce the sounds correctly would be to look at pictures of the shape of the mouth when making a certain sound. It is also a good idea to draw various diagrams depicting the mouth and how the sound is produced. Very useful and always loved by the students will be watching movies and cartoons in English, listening and singing English songs. Sometimes we can devote a whole lesson to pronunciation, sometimes a small part of each lesson, the main thing is that it is not boring and predictable. As an English teacher, from the first lesson, I will strive to explain the importance of phonological knowledge and teach my students correct pronunciation using all the possible methods that the modern world gives us, including the valuable knowledge I have obtained on the ITTT training course. Thanks!
