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chenlan
Joined: 11 May 2006
Posts: 11
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 Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 2:51 am Post subject: I am still puzzled |
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| As a student of english major, i feel shameful to say that i lack the ability to speak the fluent and nativelike english. But i really have made effort to improve and i have began to get practice. Unfortunately, i found that i have been trapped in a very difficult situation. I want to speak British English, but i fail to pronounce some words nicely; if to speak American English, i lack the feeling to it and cannot master the tone or intonation very correctly. In a word, i still talk the mixed and awkward Englishand,and i feel very depressed. |
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eleruen
Joined: 17 May 2006
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 4:45 am Post subject: it's ok! |
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Hi there,
Your English writing skill is almost perfect, there are very few mistakes in your post...and I am sure your speaking skill matches your writing skill. 
I think the best way to improve pronunciation, and speaking skills in general is to spend a lot of time with foreign friends, and ask them for help if you don't understand something, or want them to pronounce something for you. Even better, you could spend at least one year in eg England to improve your English pronunciation. Korean and English are from two seperate language groups; this means that some people can take up to 10 years to speak English absolutely perfectly, even when living in an English-speaking country.
In my (humble) opinion, pronunciation is not hugely important. The most important thing is that your pronunciation is good enough for a native speaker to understand you. It does not have to be perfect. Vocabulary and grammar are most important, and if you are out socialising, slang and casual expressions can make you sound more fluent.
You know, accent is a funny thing. I am from England, but these days I sound Korean-American! My parents hate it, but at least the Koreans understand me!
Good luck, Louise |
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pinenut
Joined: 16 Feb 2006
Posts: 165
Location: Illinois, U.S.A.
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| Posted: Wed May 17, 2006 7:36 am Post subject: Re: I am still puzzled |
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| chenlan wrote: |
| As a student of english major, i feel shameful to say that i lack the ability to speak the fluent and nativelike english. But i really have made effort to improve and i have began to get practice. Unfortunately, i found that i have been trapped in a very difficult situation. I want to speak British English, but i fail to pronounce some words nicely; if to speak American English, i lack the feeling to it and cannot master the tone or intonation very correctly. In a word, i still talk the mixed and awkward Englishand,and i feel very depressed. |
The first thing you should do is to learn the basic rules of grammar and observe them all the time. Although using capital letters may seem unimportant to you, it is. If you start cutting corners, you will end up with bad grammar really soon. |
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chenlan
Joined: 11 May 2006
Posts: 11
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| Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 1:34 am Post subject: Thank you for replaying |
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Louise,
Hello!Thank you very much for replaying and i am very glad to come across you here. And your advise sounds very nicely, and i am sure which will help me a lot, really. In fact, i am a very shy person and i seldom talk with foreigners when there is indeed the chance, because i am afraid you will laugh at me. But from you, i know you are all very kind people and i will step forward, follow your advise to improve myself. Best wishes to you! |
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chenlan
Joined: 11 May 2006
Posts: 11
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| Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 1:38 am Post subject: Thank you for replying |
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Pinenut,
I feel very grateful that you can give me a replay, but i really don't understand what do you mean. Can you clarify it ? Thanks a lot. |
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Lorikeet
Joined: 08 Oct 2005
Posts: 1877
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 7:58 am Post subject: |
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| Perhaps Pinenut was thinking of your use of "i" instead of "I". In English, the word "I" is always capital. |
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pinenut
Joined: 16 Feb 2006
Posts: 165
Location: Illinois, U.S.A.
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| Posted: Thu May 18, 2006 4:29 pm Post subject: Re: I am still puzzled |
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| chenlan wrote: |
| As a student of english major, i feel shameful to say that i lack the ability to speak the fluent and nativelike english. But i really have made effort to improve and i have began to get practice. Unfortunately, i found that i have been trapped in a very difficult situation. I want to speak British English, but i fail to pronounce some words nicely; if to speak American English, i lack the feeling to it and cannot master the tone or intonation very correctly. In a word, i still talk the mixed and awkward Englishand,and i feel very depressed. |
The first thing for you to do is to learn the very basic rules of grammar and observe them all the time. I am sure you have heard about a rule requiring you to use "I" instead of "i" to refer to yourself. Try not to cut corners. That is the first thing you have to learn. If you really want to be good at English, you will have to start using trivial things like a comma (?) veru carefully. |
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chenlan
Joined: 11 May 2006
Posts: 11
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| Posted: Thu May 25, 2006 1:04 am Post subject: Thank you |
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| Thank you for your explanation! I will chrish your idear and do with the basic thing. Thank you! |
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