Don't you wish there were a magic button you could push to improve your English pronunciation? Wouldn't it be great to wake up one morning and, all of a sudden, you could say all those difficult sounds?

Of course, there is no magic button, but sometimes your hard work and persistence seems to suddenly pay off, when a sound that has eluded you for a long time unexpectedly comes out perfectly.

In the popular musical My Fair Lady, young Eliza Doolittle finally masters the "proper" English pronunciation of the long A sound, after lots of hard work and practice. Just at the point when her tutor is about to give up on her, she gets it.

With a pleased but astonished look on her face, she repeats the target sentence over and over again.

"The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain."

Thrilled and amazed, her tutor has her repeat it again, and in the style of all good musicals, they begin to dance around the room singing her practice sentences together.

Eliza's purpose in working so hard on her English was to be seen as a "lady" instead of just a flower girl on the streets. She was motivated by a desire to improve herself and gain more opportunities in life. What motivates you to improve your English pronunciation? The chance for a better job? The freedom to be understood every time you speak to friends? The desire to feel confident that you CAN speak clearly and be understood?

Let's take a few minutes to practice your pronunciation of the long A sound. You must open your mouth wide to make this sound come out right. You try saying her famous sentence: "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain."

That's great!

You know that the more you practice, the better your results will be. So, try saying this sentence to a native English-speaking friend to be sure you're pronouncing all the sounds correctly.

Even if it seems hard at first, one of these days you will wake up and, as if by magic, you too will have mastered the correct English pronunciation of the long A sound.

I know you want to feel confident in your ability to communicate clearly, and you want to feel comfortable speaking English. But sometimes, your accented speech gets in the way.

I am Lisa Scott, a nationally certified speech pathologist who specializes in accent reduction training. I am passionate about working with you to remove communication barriers so that people hear YOU and not your accent. To receive my free guide, How to Speak English Like an American, or to learn more about my classes via Skype, visit http://www.losemyaccent.com.

[Edited by Administrator (admin) 2014-04-12]