So many students spend so long trying to improve their pronunciation for IELTS speaking but never get any better.

Here’s a solution that I guarantee will work for everyone who tries it!

You can read here about some more activities to try.

Be sure to avoid the mistakes that most students make on writing by signing up for my exclusive IELTS Ebooks here on Patreon. (You can also sign up for private speaking lessons with me there!)

Dave

Voice Dictation

Do you know how telemarketers in India improve their pronunciation to be understood by native English speakers over the phone?

Many of them practice speaking into dictation software on a computer.

They say a sentence. The computer writes it. They say it again and again and again until it is 100% correct.

Talk to your phone. It is your annoying friend who corrects everything you say.

In the past, voice dictation software was poor. But now the quality is really good!

If there’s a mistake in what is written, it is because of your pronunciation. It is not the phone’s fault!

Check out the video below to see exactly what you should be doing:

This is such a valuable tool for you!

All you have to do is practice speaking into a computer or phone until your pronunciation is accurate.

This will guarantee you at least a 6 for pronunciation because the examiner will be able to understand you – just like the phone!

*A little warning – this won’t get you to a Band 9 for pronunciation because the phone will still understand some words mispronounced and because you might speak a little slowly and not link together sounds naturally, which is needed for the highest band scores.

5 Programs/Apps for Voice Dictation

Google voice search: If you use a phone that runs on Android (Samsung, Sony, LG, HTC, etc) click on the microphone image in the search bar (you can install this on your computer as well: http://bit.ly/2xYVbwA).

Google docs dictation: If you already use Google Drive (drive.google.com) just create a new doc and choose Tools>Voice Typing. Start talking nonsense!

Apple dictation: Here is the link for how to set it up on your computer: https://support.apple.com/en-ph/HT202584

Siri: If you have a mac or an iPhone then you have Siri already. Try doing an internet search or asking Siri to “make a note” or “set a reminder” for you (https://www.apple.com/ios/siri/).

Windows Speech Recognition: Just like Apple Dictation, you can set this up if your computer runs windows: http://bit.ly/2iuWkWc

10 Speech Dictation Practice Ideas

1. Start a speech dictation diary of your daily activities. This will work well because you will repeat a lot of the same words every day (brush my teeth, not bother to shower, etc) and get better at saying those. You will also work in new vocabulary each day (met my future wife today, had terrible diarrhoea, etc.)

2. Read one of our sample answers aloud. Read it until it is 100% accurate. This will help you improve for the speaking test format and your pronunciation.

3. Read aloud one of your favourite passages from a book (or a quote or something from the news).

4. Use this practice speaking test on YouTube. Pause before Nguyen answers the question. Say your own answer again and again until the computer gets it 100% correct.

5. Listen to a song and try to say (not sing, haha) the lyrics after pausing the song. This will improve your ability to hear song lyrics, which is a very valuable IELTS skill 😉

6. Write down a conversation that you had in your native language. Try to translate it into English and read it aloud. This will help you make comparisons between your native language and English.

7. Start by saying one word (monkey). Make sure it is recorded correctly. Add another (A monkey) and keep going adding 1 word to the sentence each time until the sentence is long (A monkey and a donkey walk into a bar and get into an argument with the bartender about a banana). You could also do this with phrases, not individual words.

8. Make 10 bold predictions about the future. Repeat them until they are written 100% correct. For example, Donald Trump will become king of the world.

9. Describe everything you can see in the room around you. Keep repeating it until it is correct. Once you finish with one room, try another room in your house/apartment/school.

10. Watch a movie or TV show and repeat your favourite lines into a google drive document. Keep different docs for different shows with collections of your favourite quotes.

Top 3 Notes

All those ideas are amazing but you should try to focus on using a few and making them daily habits.

Here are my top 3 to focus on every day:

Top 3 IELTS speaking activities to improve pronunciation

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1EeIWZzYtbsi4ieQvLbmgN2DW5CDD0wROL4MWkSC84CA/edit?usp=sharing

Now it’s Your Turn! 

Comment below an idea for a sentence that people can say into their phone:

I think I can! I think I can!

I’m going to get band 10 on IELTS!

Whatever you put your mind to, you can do it!

I feel weird talking to my phone…

Will you marry me, Siri?