Pronunciation diary - the first

Well, today I’d like to talk about something that is essential when learning a language. No, I’m not going to write another post about vocabulary (I think I have tackled that topic sufficiently) neither am I talking about grammar although both of them are essential in order to master a language. The aspect I am talking about is pronunciation.

What good is it to know a wide range of vocabulary and different grammar structures if you cannot communicate what you want to say in a comprehensible way?

I recently got feedback on my pronunciation from my English teacher. Overall my pronunciation is okay. There are just a few little mistakes that I make and that I still need to improve. For example, I was not able to say the price $27.69 correctly. By now I know that the correct ways to say it are twenty-seven dollars and sixty-nine cents and twenty-seven sixty-nine if it is clear what currency you are talking about.

Another problem that I have is to pronounce the v-sound (like many other German native speakers have as well). Somehow I just never manage to pronounce it voiced when it is supposed to. So currently that’s what I’m working on in order to improve my pronunciation. One way to do so is with the help of the following video.

It is made by a Canadian teacher who is explaining the correct pronunciation with good examples in a humorous way. So if you have the same problem give this video a try.