Decide what kind of accent you would like to speak withThere are many different kinds of English accents. The two most common are British and American. There are many different accents even within British or American pronunciation, but most learning materials will help you learn either a standard British accent or a standard American accent.American pronunciation and British pronunciation are completely different. The consonant sounds are the same (except for the letter t and an r after a vowel), but the vowel sounds are very different. The British accent has more vowel sounds, and some vowel letters are pronounced differently.3) Learn the IPA and the individual sounds of EnglishThe International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a collection of symbols that represent the different sounds of a language. When you know the all the sounds of English and the symbols that represent those sounds, you will be able to pronounce any word in English.American Pronunciation:The Merriam-Websters Learners Dictionary Pronunciation GuideAntimoon IPA chartRachels EnglishBritish Pronunciation:BBC Learning EnglishInteractive IPA Chart4) When you learn a new word, learn how to pronounce it correctlyThe longer you say a word incorrectly, the harder it becomes to learn to say it correctly. Youve developed a bad habit, and it takes a long time to break a bad habit! This is why it is so important to learn the IPA and use dictionaries specifically for English learners.For example, lets say you see a new word when youre reading a book: permeate. How do you pronounce this word? Lets check two of the online dictionaries specifically for English learners:MW Learners DictionaryCambridgeBoth of these dictionaries show you the IPA/phonetic transcription of the word (including which syllable you must stress): /pmiet/You can also click on the red or blue speaker icon to hear someone say the word.5) Watch YouTube pronunciation videosAmerican accent:Teacher MelanieJenniferESLLisa Mojsin @ Accurage EnglishRachels EnglishPronuncian/Seattle Learning AcademyEva EastonBritish accent:The Phone VoiceVirtuAule6) Try to imitate spoken EnglishTo imitate means to copy someone/something, to do something the same way, or to do the same things as someone else. Do you really like the way someone speaks English? Try to copy the way they speak.This is a great activity to try: Close your eyes while youre listening to something in English (podcasts, songs, TV shows, movies, etc.). Listen carefully to what the speaker is saying and try to make the same sounds. Choose a word or sentence, and listen to it many times.Here are some resources that are useful for this:English Teacher Melanie podcast ESLPod podcastCoach Shanes Daily DictationTry to imitate the sounds that native speakers make.7) Practice HEARING the sounds of EnglishBefore you listen to an English podcast, song, etc. read the words first. Highlight, circle, or underline the sound you want to work on. For example, if you have trouble with the /I/ sound, highlight all the words that you think have the /I/ sound. Read the passage out loud to yourself, focusing on the words with /I/. Listen to the podcast (or song, etc.). Can you hear the /I/ sound? Practice the sound by trying to imitate what the speaker is