10 English pronunciation practice exercises & printables

Whether you’re trying to perfect your English accent or just need help with the tricky parts of English pronunciation, our easy exercises and interactive printables will help you sound more like a native speaker and improve your pronunciation skills in no time. 

1. Tongue twister exercises

Tongue twisters are tricky, but they can force you to enunciate similar sounding words to make each phrase intelligible. 

For example, “Peter Piper” can help you learn to enunciate consonants (in this case, “P”). “A Proper Cup of Coffee” emphasizes P’s and F’s while employing a variety of vowel sounds. 

You don’t have to start out fast. Take it slow the first few times and speed up gradually. Read along and practice for yourself.

Peter Piper

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked

If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers

Where’s the peck of pickled peppers that Peter Piper picked?

Fuzzy Wuzzy

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear,

Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair,

Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t very fuzzy, was he?

A Proper Cup of Coffee

Woodchuck

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much wood

As a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

2. Consonant exercise

Consonants are speech sounds that are created when you stop air from flowing easily through the mouth. Some are made by closing your lips and others by touching your tongue to your teeth or the roof of your mouth. 

ESL learners can have difficulty mastering some consonants, such as ‘p’, ‘t’, and ‘k’, which are sounds that not all languages contain. Further complicating things, some consonant combinations, such as ‘ch’, ‘sh’, and ‘th’, create unique sounds.

The International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA — more widely used in Europe than in America — was created in the late 19th century in an attempt to standardize how spoken language was represented in print. Learning the International Phonetic Alphabet has shown to be useful in mastery of these more difficult pronunciations, which is why it’s taught in ESL classes. 

Consonant board game

Our downloadable consonant board game requires 2 or more players, a single die, and place markers, such as coins or buttons, for every player. On each player’s turn, the die is rolled and the player advances the number of spaces shown on the die.

The player will first pronounce the consonant blend, then come up with a word that uses that blend. For example, if you land on /d/, you would pronounce “d,” and then say a word, such as “dog.” The first player to make it to the end of the board wins. 

3. Vowel exercise

Vowels are sounds made when breath flows through the mouth without being blocked by the tongue, teeth, or lips. Vowels have several variations, including “long” and “short” sounds. Sometimes vowels are silent altogether, as in the “ue” in tongue.

When combined, vowels can create further confusion, as when a double “o” in “cool” sounds like a long “u” or the “ei” in “vein” produces a long “a” sound similar to “lay” and “plane.”

Sound repetition exercises, starting with the basic long sounds for each of the five vowels, can help ESL students distinguish among the many different English vowel sounds and learn to vocalize them properly. 

Our morning vowel warm-up exercise can be accomplished either by individuals or in a classroom setting. To do this with a class, simply instruct students to go through each vowel together, in pairs, or as individuals for any amount of time, though this can be accomplished rather quickly as an easy start to your lesson.

Morning vowel warm-up

Choose a time of day that works for your schedule and devote 5-10 minutes to practicing your vowel sounds in front of a mirror. While looking in the mirror, think about the roundness of your mouth and the shapes you make when making each vowel sound. You might look silly, but this technique will help lengthen each vowel and allow you to focus on the phonetic sound of each letter: A, E, I, O, and U. 

• A

  as in

  ape

• E

  as in

  easy

• I

  as in

  eye

• O

  as in

  over

• U

  as in

  usually

For example, a long “a” would become “ayy.” Try to hold each sound for 5-10 seconds, just like holding the note of a song. Then, repeat for the next vowel. See how many times you can get through all five! 

As you become more comfortable with the sounds, speed up your practice with this exercise by going through the vowels faster and holding each for a shorter amount of time.

4. Commonly mispronounced words exercise

Similar sounds can confuse even native English speakers. For instance, many people say or write “should of” and “could of” instead of “should have” and “could have.” In other cases, syllables or consonants are deleted (“probly” instead of “probably” or “pitcher” instead of “picture”). 

It’s easy to add an S to the end of “anyway” or confuse “accept” with “except.” Learning to master the words that are commonly mispronounced even by native speakers can help with pronunciation and speaking practice.

Mispronounced words worksheet

Our downloadable worksheet helps ESL students perfect their pronunciation of commonly mispronounced words by asking them to choose which pronunciation is correct. 

5. Homograph exercise

Homographs are words that have the same spelling but different meanings — and sometimes, different pronunciations. For instance, you can “bow” before royalty (“ow” sound) or use a bow (“oh” sound) to shoot an arrow. An entrance, with the accent on the first syllable, is a noun meaning a way in; to entrance, with the accent on the second syllable, is a verb meaning to delight.

Homographs should not be confused with homophones, which sound alike but are different, such as “two,” “to,” and “too.” Then there are homonyms. A homonym is a word that’s pronounced the same as another word but carries a different meaning. One example is “spring,” which can be a coiled piece of metal, a season, a water source, or a verb meaning to shoot forth.

Pancake Panic online game

Sometimes simple games are the best way to reinforce a concept. Pancake Panic allows players to match homographs and homophones or rely on their memory to help either build a stack of pancakes (matching) or flip pancakes to reveal different words (memory).

Here are a few common homographs and homophones that students can practice before playing Pancake Panic:

• bear

  and

  bare

• ad

  and

  add

• peace

  and

  piece

• stair

  and

  stare

• close

  and

  close

6. Similar words pronunciation exercise

English has a large number of homophones, which can create confusion for those learning the language. Words that sound similar can be difficult even for native speakers, who may confuse “their” with “they’re” or “there” in their writing. 

Practice can help English learners recognize different spellings and meanings for words like “shoot” and “chute” or “colonel” and “kernel.” It can also help emphasize subtle differences between words such as “accept” and “except” or “boy” and “buoy.”

Minimal pairs game

This game will help develop a better ear for hearing the English language spoken, and can be played alone or with a partner. 

To play with a partner, have your partner read one of the words on the worksheet and circle or mark the word you hear. Then, compare your answer with what your partner said.

To play alone, simply read each word aloud and pay attention to the differences in how each word is pronounced. Speak slowly and sound out each syllable. 

7. Syllable stress exercise

A syllable is a unit of speech that consists of a vowel or a vowel combined with one or more consonants. Words can have one or more syllables. When spoken, words with more than one syllable will be uttered with an emphasis placed on a particular syllable, as with “gage” in “engage” or “ar” in “architect.” This is called syllable stress.

Pronunciation exercises that focus on syllable stress can be helpful to ESL students. Focusing on the stressed syllable can help make speech clearer and pronunciation cleaner.

Syllable stress practice table

Our downloadable worksheet for syllable stress allows you to practice words with two, three, and four syllables with ease. Each section on the worksheet has a word followed by a series of dots (two dots for two syllables, three dots for three syllables, etc.) that will help you figure out how to sound out each English word with the proper word stress. 

8. Reduced sounds exercise

While some syllables are stressed, others are shorter and less clear. There are two reduced vowel sounds in English: a barred “i” sound, as in “monitor,” and the schwa sound (often expressed as “uh” and written as Ə in the International Phonetic Alphabet). 

The schwa sound is an unstressed vowel that is pronounced “uh” as in the “e” in “problem” or the initial “a” in “again.”  

Learning to pronounce the schwa sound is important to developing a natural-sounding accent in American English because it helps the speaker avoid stressing the wrong syllable. For this reason, pronunciation exercises that focus on reducing certain sounds can be helpful to ESL students. 

Schwa Song

The Schwa Song is a fun way to introduce speakers to how the schwa sound is used in speech by providing examples. The “uh” sound in words like “about,” “around,” “pizza,” and “sofa” helps familiarize singers with the schwa in common use.

(To the tune of “The Wheels on the Bus”)

The Schwa sound is in pizza and sofa,

Pizza and sofa,

Pizza and sofa, 

The Schwa sound is in pizza and sofa, 

Do you hear an uh?

9. Rhyming exercise

Rhyming exercises and games can help English learners become familiar with how different words contain similar sounds. Repeating these words and sounds helps them become more natural with practice. 

Rhyming memory flashcard game

Flashcards can reinforce how words are used and pronounced through repetition. Memory games improve visual recognition and help learners spot detail and differences. This creates greater familiarity with the distinctions in language. Flashcards can also help with your English reading skills.

10. Shadow speaking exercise

Shadow speaking is a technique for learning language. It involves listening to what someone says, then repeating it with as little delay as possible. This technique is often used with audio recordings to help people learn new languages. Common words and phrases are played on the recording, and the listener is encouraged to mimic what is heard. This can help language learners master difficult pronunciations. 

One way students can learn shadow speaking is by playing the telephone game, which is a common game played during childhood. In the telephone game, one person whispers something to the person next to them, who repeats what they heard and whispers that to the person next to them. For online learning, our interpreter exercise can help teach this skill. 

Interpreter exercise

You can also work on shadow speaking with interpretation exercises. Have someone explain something or tell a story. Their partner should rephrase what they said and repeat it back to them. For example:

• Speaker:

  “To make toast, you need to make sure the toaster is plugged in and then grab whatever you want to toast, such as bread or a bagel.”

• Interpreter:

  “Before you can make toast, check to see if the toaster is plugged in, then get bread.”

• Speaker:

  “Check the dial to make sure the toaster is on the setting you prefer and then put the bread into the slots on the toaster.”

• Interpreter:

  “Adjust the toaster’s setting and then put the bread in.”

The goal of this exercise is to teach English learners how to decipher what they hear and repeat it using words they know. The goal of the speaker should be to speak slowly and carefully, giving clear directions for the interpreter. The interpreter should focus on giving the rest of the class the closest possible directions or version of the story based on what they hear.

General tips to improve English pronunciation

You don’t need formal exercises to improve your English pronunciation. Examples of how English is used in speech are all around you and can be useful in providing opportunities to practice. Here are a few.

Read out loud and record yourself

Read sentences and phrases aloud and record yourself. When you play the recording back, you can hear how you sound to others. Comparing what you hear on the tape with examples of how native speakers pronounce words can help you recognize similarities and differences. You can then work on modifying your speech where you hear the differences. This can also help with English grammar. 

Watch movies and TV shows in English

Television shows and movies provide other examples of how people speak. You can practice your listening skills and work to mimic what you hear said on the screen. Keep in mind that you may hear different accents, such as a New York accent or a Southern accent. 

If you find yourself in a section of the country where accents are strong, try tuning in to shows where that accent is used so you can practice speaking the way others in your region do.

In the internet age, you can turn to news sites, music sites, and even sites that offer word games to help you learn English. You can learn from your PC or download apps for your mobile device.

Sing songs in English

Music is the universal language, so it’s no surprise that songs can help learners familiarize themselves with English terms and pronunciations. 

Try singing “ABC” by the Jackson 5 to get a handle on pronouncing letters and numbers, or “Friday I’m in Love” by The Cure to familiarize yourself with the days of the week. “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music contains rhyming, alliteration of consonant sounds, and a primer on vocabulary. 

In fact, many songs contain rhyming phrases that can help make pronunciations of different words more familiar. Children’s songs can be a great resource, too.

Find a native speaker for weekly chats

A friend who’s a native speaker and speaks English fluently can help you with the process of learning English in several ways. Or, if you don’t have a friend who speaks the language fluently, consider an ESL tutor to help you practice. Ask the person if you can shadow speak with them. If you’re having trouble with certain words, bounce those off of the person. 

Ask about how you’re progressing and where your friend thinks you might need more work. The person will be able to observe how you’re learning over time and offer valuable feedback about your English conversation skills.

Speak slowly

Children learn to sound out words syllable by syllable, and that’s a good exercise for English learners, too. It can help you get a better handle on pronunciation, but it can also help you get into the habit of speaking more clearly in conversation. When you slow down, you’re easier to understand, regardless of whether English is a new language to you or your native tongue. 

Conclusion

Learning a new language is always a challenge, and English is one of the most difficult to learn. But it can be helpful to do so. While English is one of many languages in America and worldwide, it is also the most commonly spoken. Anyone who wants to learn English as a second language has plenty of options for honing these skills, including online resources and ESL tutors.

Whether you’re singing, watching movies, chatting with a native-speaking friend, or doing formal exercises, you can learn to speak English fluently and master pronunciation so you fit right in wherever you are.