Have you ever found, as a Thai person, that it is hard to understand some words even though you can spell and read the words? You know you can understand the meanings of those words quite well but wonder why you can't understand when a native speaker says those words.
If the answer to the first question is YES, and you have to ask the second question very often, you need to improve your pronunciation.
The first thing you need to look at and improve is your way of stressing words in sentences.
As a Thai person with a Thai accent, you tend to stress the last syllable of each word, which causes a lot of problems. Moreover, you stress each syllable almost equally. For example, you say
วอเท่อ for the two syllable word "water". In fact, it should be pronounced "ว้อเถอะ" or phonetically "UK /ˈwɔː.tər/
US/ˈwɑː.t ̬ɚ/. Notice the stress mark / ' / in front of the first syllable. The stress or emphasis is actually put on the first syllable "wa" NOT THE LAST SYLLABLE "ter". This illustrates the fact that you should not pronounce some English words the way you used to do.
Click for an audio illustration:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/water_1?q=water
You should not assume that other people who are not Thai will understand the word you have said easily because they usually don't think of the spelling when they hear you say it. They will understand you only when you pronounce the word according to the standard pronunciation. Only the similar or nearly similar pronunciation can click their understanding. Many Thai people are not aware of this weak point and don't pay attention to changing the way they pronounce words.
Let me give you a few examples.
The first example is the word "analysis". Many Thai people pronounce this word "แอน-นา-ไล-
สีส" and don't realize that this is a wrong way to pronounce the word. It should be pronounced "เออะ-แน้ล-เลอะ-สิส" with the stress only on the second syllable NOT on every syllable. These phonetic symbols show how you should pronounce this word:
/əˈnæl.ə.sɪs/Click this link for an audio illustration:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/analysis?q=analysis
The second example is "proposal". Most of the Thais pronounce this word /พร็อบ-โพร-แซ่ล/ or /พร็อบ-โพร-เซิ่ล/. Apparently, they put the stress on the first and third syllable. The right pronunciation should be "เพรอะ-โพ้ษ-เสิ่ล". The second syllable is stressed. The following is the phonetic symbols for the word:
/prəˈpəʊ.zəl/
/-ˈpoʊ-/ http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/proposal?q=proposal
The last example is "management". The common mistake among the Thais is /แม-เหนจ-เม้นท์/. The word, in fact, should be pronounced /แม้-หนิจ-เมิ่นท์/. The stress is actually on the first syllable.
See the phonetic symbols for its pronunciation:
/ˈmæn.ɪdʒ.mənt/ Click the link for an audio illustration:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/management?q=management
It is very difficult, of course, to change the way you pronounce each word that you have repeatedly mispronounced for many years and have formed a habit that dies hard. Nevertheless, it is of no use continuing to stubbornly or ignorantly pronounce it the same way sticking to an attitude "Why do I have to care because English is not my mother's or father's language (my mother tongue)?"
Read on if you want to improve. Stop reading if you are too lazy or too busy to change!
The following video clips will help you to understand the importance of word stresses:
http://youtu.be/MxgykdX-C-o
http://youtu.be/WX1rrFh4OZw
http://youtu.be/rMLym5C3FHo
http://youtu.be/3gOuZxNfynk
http://youtu.be/RZY8MlaYDPA
How are you doing? Ok, so far?
The above video clips are good for raising your awareness and helping you to understand how words are normally pronounced with certain stress patterns.
Practice more with the help of the following video clips:
Words with the stress on the first syllable:
Words with the stress on the first syllable and the ending "er":
Words with the stress on the second syllable:
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