Teach English in XinbaolAge Zhen - Xilinguole Meng — Xilin Gol

Is pronunciation important when learning a second language? Definitely. However, if some people, usually adults, begin to learn a second language for a specific purpose, then the question is very individual. In any case, based on their goals and practical preferences for using a new language, students and their teachers should keep in mind that the learner's strong accent makes it difficult for the listener (not necessarily a native speaker) to understand, which also affects the development of the learner's listening skills. The proper English pronunciation both in studying and teaching English is often given little attention and sometimes the phonetic component of the English language is completely ignored in an attempt to make it easier for learners, but it is known that hard training - easy combat; and easy training - hard combat. Therefore, such a simplification of language learning greatly complicates its subsequent use in life. Learning a foreign language is not easy, mainly because the brain is always looking for analogies in its first language, which quite often can be wrong with the "crutch" of the native language risks turning into "the spoke in the wheel" of learning a new language. Teachers should pay attention to such potential issues and correct them in a timely fashion; teachers need to be aware of common problems for English learners who speak a particular language. In the Russian language, the way the word is written almost always the way it is pronounced. Unfortunately, this is not the case in English. The way an English word is spelt does not necessarily indicate how it should be pronounced. This makes it hard for Russian learners to know when to make a particular sound and can cause serious difficulties and frustration; moreover, Russian has six vowel sounds, whereas English has twenty; for this reason, Russian speakers may replace two or three English vowel sounds with one Russian vowel. It must be noted that the vowel system in English is much more complicated than in Russian since it has double vowels, while there is no such a typology in Russian phonetics, leading to the fact that learners may incorrectly pronounce double vowels as a single vowel. It may seem that things are much simpler with consonants. Still, there are lots of pitfalls: consonants that look familiar at first glance to Russian learners, in fact, require a completely different articulation. Russian students can replace English consonants with some Russian sounds again as there are no such sounds in their language. The teacher's goal is to timely draw students' attention to these points, as well as to prevent their reflex application of the Russian phonetic norms in English. For example, Russian consonants at the end of a syllable become hard as a rule, but it does not exist in English. However, Russian learners tend to replace consonants according to this rule when speaking English. Other pronunciation problems for Russian English learners are related to stress and intonation. Russian speakers sometimes put stress on the wrong syllable in an English word or stress words in a sentence that should not be stressed. Also, their English may sound flat, and monotone as the Russian language has a very different 'rhythm' to English. All of these mean that such speech might be very unclear for the interlocutor. So, teachers should consider these significant issues while working on students' pronunciation. Work on pronunciation for Russian speakers can be very challenging and frustrating, so the effectiveness of teachers' work depends on the quality of their feedback. The teachers and students should remember it takes time and effort to learn new sounds. Minimal pairs with difficult sounds for Russian speakers should be practiced frequently to improve their ability to pronounce and recognize English sounds. Emphasis should be put on the study of spelling patterns for sounds and word stress, linking and reductions in English; in addition, to improve learners should listen as much as they can in English and imitate. Learning English pronunciation is all about practice and repetition. In reality, the influence of all the above problems on communication varies significantly. Some native English speakers admit that they find something charming in Russian speakers' mistakes, while others can be easily annoyed by them; for some listeners, the wrong pronunciation can lead to a false impression about the interlocutor and his/her education level, and the wrong intonation can be interpreted as impoliteness. Besides, Russians speakers often experience a lack of confidence due to their pronunciation, and they can find it frustrating that they are not readily understood. Whether the learner considers the correct pronunciation is a "bonus" or an essential part of language proficiency, it is an intensely personal decision. However, the main role of the teacher is to give knowledge to the student and then to motivate and support the student in mastering this knowledge.