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Many students worry about their pronunciation, which can significantly affect their overall confidence on the speaking section of the IELTS. The truth is the IELTS exam is not going to mark you down for having an accent. What IELTS wants to see is that you can communicate your points effectively to the interviewer. I’ve compiled a list of tips to help improve your English pronunciation.

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Split up the word - When tackling a difficult word, start by breaking the word into more manageable chunks, known as syllables. For example, take the word ‘demonstration’. You can simplify the pronunciation of the word by splitting it into four syllables, ‘dem, on, stra, tion’.

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Record yourself speaking - Sometimes it can be difficult to see where you are going wrong or what mistakes you are making. A simple trick to correct this is to record yourself reading a paragraph. Once you have finished, play the recording back whilst following the text and try to identify the incorrect sounds. At first, it will feel a bit awkward or embarrassing talking out loud to a recorder, but this technique is an effective way to recognize mistakes.

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Emphasize word endings when speaking - From time to time as speakers, we forget to fully articulate the ends of our words, most commonly plurals and verb endings. For example, ‘I visited the National Park’. The emphasis needs to be on the ‘ed’ in visited. In addition, ‘I like going to the park’, the emphasis should be on the ‘ing’ in going. . To make your communication stronger, really emphasize the plurals in your sentences as well. For instance, ‘I have two exams today and three papers to write. The stress in your voice should be on the s’s.

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Spell the word how you would say it - English can be a tricky language as many words are not read out loud in the way you would imagine. For example, take the word ‘rough’. When spoken, it sounds more like ‘ruff’. When you come across tricky words, get into the practice of writing your own spelling of how you would say it out loud! Just don’t get confused between your spelling and the proper spelling of the word!

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Listen – Use different resources such as the Internet, recordings, news clips, movies and television to improve your understanding of proper pronunciation. Listen closely to how certain words are spoken. Getting your ears in tune to beautifully spoken English will really help with your own English speaking practice.