When you become confident with a new sound, you’ll want to put into your everyday speech. Bear in mind that it may take a while to successfully incorporate new sounds.
Don’t think about the new sound all the time when speaking - otherwise you will go insane! Follow the instructions below:
1. Find a few common words containing the new sound. Don’t try every word with this sound to start with.
2. Allocate a particular time each day when you can practise these words in conversation. For example, during: a relaxed meeting from 10am-11am. your lunch-break while talking to colleagues. coffee/dinner with friends/family/partner.
o It may help to set a vibrating alarm on your phone to go off in your pocket/bag every 10 minutes. This will remind you to focus on the sound without disturbing the conversation.
3. If you find it uncomfortable speaking to people you know, then practise the sound when:
o reading adverts that you see around you o narrating what you are doing (Now I’m making dinner. I’m going to chop the onions first…) o asking someone for directions o asking for something in a shop/café/bar/tourist information office.
o Or practise using the Hot Seating Video
4. If you find yourself pronouncing a word with the non-English sound, then simply repeat yourself: I was going to the shaps…. Yes, so I was going to the shops when…
5. When you feel more confident, start monitoring your speech during allocated times for all words containing the target sound.
6. When you have a number of sounds to concentrate on, then link the sounds to days of the week. For example:
Topic
Monday Tuesday
/r/ /l/
Word
right like
Wednesday Day Off Day Off - Eventually you will be able to produce the target sound without having to think about it.
