语言学习者往往忽视培养好的发音，把注意力集中在语法和词汇上 — 但是练习你的口音也很重要。这里有一些实用的小妙招来帮助你摆脱你那“老一套的”口音。

　　1. Learn the phonetic alphabet

　　1.学习音标

　　Getting familiar with the phonetic alphabet will help you identify new sounds and provide you with some markers to navigate the language you want to learn. Familiarity with a language’s phonemes helps you recognize sounds that your ear isn’t "tuned" to natively. Once you can recognize these sounds, you’ll start noticing them way more often when speaking and listening in your new language.

　　熟悉音标将会帮你辨认一些新的发音并且给你提供一些标记来驾驭你所学的语言。 熟悉一门语言的音素能够帮助你辨认耳朵本身不能辨认的声音。一旦辩认出这些声音，当你听别人说新语言或者用一门新语言交谈的时候，你就会注意他们的发音方式。

　　By becoming aware of the range of sounds that exist in the language you are learning, you’ll learn how to differentiate sounds that seem similar to the untrained ear, and it will make spelling easier. This can be especially helpful if you are learning mostly by reading.

　　通过注意你所学语言的声音范围，你将学会怎样区分那些对于并未接受专业训练的耳朵来说很相似的声音，这样会使拼写更加容易。如果你大多数时间都通过阅读来学习，那么这种方法将会尤其有益。

　　2. Get familiar with the spoken language

　　2.熟悉口语

　　Switch from theory to practice: try to expose yourself as much as possible to the language you are learning. Talk as much as possible with native speakers if you have the chance. When you have trouble pronouncing a particular word, ask people to repeat it and record it on your phone. You can then replay it and train your pronunciation as often as you wish. You can also listen to the correct pronunciation on some online dictionaries so that your ear gets familiar with all the sounds that initially strike you as unusual. Listen to podcasts or stream TV shows in the language. Even if you can’t understand everything, put it on in the background when you’re doing your chores so you get used to the particular melodies and unfamiliar sounds.

　　从理论转换到实践：使你自己尽可能多地接触你所学的语言。如果你有机会，尽可能多和母语使用者交流。当你某一个发音有问题的时候，让别人重复它，并且用你的手机录制下来。你可以用手机重复播放，尽可能多地练习发音。你也可以用在线的网络词典听正确的发音，这样你的耳朵就会对那些一开始并不熟悉的发音熟悉起来。还可以听播客或者看电视节目来学习语言。即使你不能理解所有的东西，在你做家务的时候播放它作为背景乐会让你习惯这些特殊的音调和不熟悉的声音。

　　3.Identify what’s "weird" about the pronunciation

　　3.弄清楚“怪异”的发音

　　With this exposure, you’ll quickly notice that your new language has many sounds in common with your native tongue (even if those sounds are written differently). With the similarities identified, you can focus in earnest on the sounds that don’t exist in your native tongue. Resist the temptation to systematically compare these unfamiliar sounds with similar ones from your native language. This might seem like a useful shortcut, but it’s a bad habit that will make bad pronunciation even harder to correct in the long run.

　　使用这种方法，你很快就会发现你新学的语言和你的母语有很多共同的发音(即使这些音的写法不同)。 弄清楚发音的相似之处，你就可以把注意力集中在那些母语里没有的音上面。不要试图把这些不熟悉的音和你母语中熟悉的音进行系统的比较。这似乎是一个有效的捷径，但是这是一个坏习惯，它会使你的发音在长期内更难得到改正。

　　Ignoring the peculiar sounds of your new language will, at best, make you sound silly and, at worst, result in you actually saying the wrong words! The difference between the Spanish pero and perro is a rolled r, but they don’t mean the same thing. And if you’re learning French, people will have trouble understanding you if you don’t learn to pronounce the subtle differences between cent, sang, sens and sans, or au, aux and eau.

　　忽略一门新语言中特别的发音，最好的情况下会使你的声音听上去发傻不地道，最糟糕的是它会导致你直接说了错误的词语。在西班牙语中pero和perro的区别就是一个卷舌的r音，但是它们的意义却不同。如果你学法语时，学不会cent, sang, sens 或者sans, or au, aux 和eau的发音的细微差别，人们理解你说的话就会很困难。

　　If you really have trouble with one phoneme in particular, use cards. Write it down along with other similar-but-different phonemes. Repeat them aloud several times. This will help you to recognize nuances and master those small differences.

　　如果你对某一个特定的发音有问题，使用卡片。把它和其它相似但是却不同的音一起写下来。重复大声朗读几次。这会帮助你辨别它们之间细微的差别，掌握它们之间微小的不同之处。

　　4.Listen, listen, listen!

　　4.听，听，再听!

　　As mentioned in point two, the internet gives you access to plenty of audio material that can help you improve your pronunciation. Listen as much and as regularly as possible, but instead of always focusing on grammar and vocabulary, dedicate some time to the phonetic aspects of the language. Listen to short audio tracks and focus on rhythm, breaks and intonation. Try to understand what gives the sentence its fluidity and try to imitate it. If you watch a movie in your learning language, avoid reading the subtitles and keep your eyes on the actors’ mouths.

　　像在第二点中提到的一样，互联网能够让你接触到许多帮助你改善发音的音频资料，尽可能多和规律地去听，而不是一直把注意力集中在语法和词汇上。花一些时间去学习语言的发音知识，听一些短的音频，注意韵律、停顿和音调。努力去弄清楚是什么使句子变得流畅并且努力去模仿。如果你用看电影来学习一门新的语言，不要去看字幕，要看演员的口型。

　　If you find it too hard, slow down the speed of the video or audio that you are watching (most digital media players allow you to do this; you can even slow down YouTube videos). This can help you identify and separate each syllable.

　　如果你发现这样很难，放慢你正在看的视频或者音频的速度(大多数的数字媒体播放器都允许你这样做;你也可以放慢视频播放网站的录像)。这样会帮助你辨别并且区分每一个音节。

　　If, on the other hand, your comprehension level is already quite good, you can challenge yourself by accelerating the speed.

　　另一方面，如果你的理解能力很不错，你可以通过加快速度挑战你自己。

　　5.Practice, practice, practice

　　5.练习，练习，再练习

　　Training your accent requires some skill and patience, so don’t get demotivated if it doesn’t come immediately. For maximum efficiency, your training sessions should be frequent — no longer than two days between sessions. Collect newspaper articles, movie scripts and lyrics, and record yourself while reading them aloud. Then listen and analyze: What are your strengths and weaknesses? Which of your native speaking habits are you carrying over to your new language? You can also ask native speakers for input. For example, you could upload your recordings to online communities like Judge my accent.

　　训练发音需要一些技巧和耐心，因此，如果效果不是立竿见影，请不要失去动力。为了效率最大化，你的训练课程应该频繁一点 — 课程的间隔不超过两天。搜集报纸文章，电影剧本和歌词，在大声朗读它们的时候记录下来。然后回放并且分析：你的优缺点是什么?你把母语的哪些习惯带到新的语言中?你也可以向一些母语使用者寻求发音的帮助。例如，你可以把你的录音上传到网上社区，如Judge my accent评判我的口音。

　　Accents can be tricky, but never lose hope! The more you speak and the more feedback you can get (either from yourself or native speakers), the better your accent will become.

　　改善语音面貌可能是困难的，但是绝不要失去信心!你说的越多收到的反馈越多(从你自身或者说本族语的人那里)，你的语音面貌就会变得更好。

（编辑：何莹莹）