Anyone who is a part of the call center industry is familiar with the term MTI .
MTI stands for “Mother tongue influence” or “Regional Influence”. Candidates with
a strong or even mild MTI need to work on one’s pronunciation??
Here are a few simple tips that will help you speak English more like a native speaker:
- Speak slowly! This itself
will eliminate many miscommunications. Slow down when you speak - you might think
that you sound too slow and stupid, but you don't. You will only notice a difference
in speed, but the listeners will notice that they understand you better.
- Enunciate:
Take enough time to speak ALL the letters of the word. Don't speak through your
teeth, open your mouth so the sounds can come out clearly. Remember to speak your
consonants and word endings carefully.
- Pronunciation
of words can often be different from the way the words are spelt! For example, "threw"
and "through", although spelled differently, are pronounced the same. Also, identical
letters or letter clusters in words do not always produce the same sound. For example,
the "ough" in "though" and "through" represents a different sound in each word.
Learn to practice what you hear, not what you see.
- Long vowels in English take longer to say than the short
ones - i.e. the difference between 'bet' and 'beat'; so if you hold that word with
the long vowel for just another moment when you say it- 'take' not 'tek '- people
can figure out to which word you are referring. Take care with the short "a" sound,
so it is a 'caller' not a 'color’.
- Listen to the "music" of English.
Don't use the music of your native language when you are speaking
in English. Each language has its own way of "singing. Be careful with the syllable
stress. Don’t make your “apology” sound like” aap-o-lo gy”
- Don't use Slang Slang tends to be slurred and spoken fast, you want to avoid that.
- Observe
and Imitate mouth movements of Native Speakers. When
you are watching, T.V. look at the mouth movements of the speakers. Repeat what
they are saying, imitating the intonation and rhythm of their speech. In addition
to listening for specific sounds, pay attention to pauses and patterns of emphasis.
This can be just as important as the pronunciation of sounds.
-
Be patient. You cant change the way you speak overnight. People
often expect instant results and give up too soon. Make a conscious effort every
day to concentrate on speaking with care when you talk on the phone. This is a great
place to practice speaking because no one can watch you and you don’t need to get
conscious.
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