And at the end of this video, I'll give you a link to a web page that contains free pronunciation exercises.

並且，在這部影片的最後，我會給你一個連結，裏頭包含了

First of all, why is it so hard for you and I to improve our English pronunciation?

免費的發音練習

Well, one of the reasons is that we can't make some sounds in English because those sounds are not present in our native languages.

首先，為什麼要改善英文的發音對你和我而言，都很困難呢？

So when we speak English, we replace those difficult sounds with some other sounds that we can make.

其中一個原因是，我們發不出英文的某些音，

And that's why we mispronounce words all the time.

因為那些音並不存在於我們的母語之中，所以，當我們說英文的時候，我們將那些困難的發音

So the first step to improving your pronunciation is to learn to pronounce all of the main sounds in English correctly.

替換成了其他我們發得出來的聲音，這就是為什麼我們總是

So how do you do that?

發音不標準的原因

Well, one way to do that is to find some pronunciation exercises for each sound in English and just practice.

因此，要改善發音的第一步，就是要學習正確地

After you've practiced making all the sounds, you will have the perfect pronunciation.

發出英文的主音

Now, I really wish it were that simple.

我們該如何做到呢？

But it's not: There is a problem.

其中一個方法是尋找並練習英文中每個音的發音訓練

And the problem is the sounds in English are very similar to each others [other].

當你練習過了發所有的發音，你的發音就會變得很好了

Now, why is that a problem?

現在，我真的很希望這個有這麼簡單，但事實並非如此，這就是問題所在，問題就在於

Well... unlike babies, adults don't have the ability to easily distinguish between all the different sounds in a foreign language.

英文中的每個音都很相近

So, when you hear two different sounds in English, if those sounds are similar, you brain might perceive those sounds as the same.

那為什麼這是個問題呢？

That's why learning to make each sound separately may not work.

嗯...不像嬰兒，大人們無法輕易地辨別

In the past, I couldn't hear the difference between these sounds.

外語中兩個不同的音，所以當你聽到英文中兩種不同的發音，

So to me, the words "cheap" and "sheep" sounded the same.

如果這兩個音是很相近的，你的大腦或許就會將他們視為是一樣的音

If I did an exercise teaching how to pronounce these words, I would mispronounce all of them.

這就是為什麼學著將每個音分開來發聲是不可能的事情

And I would believe that I was pronouncing those words correctly even though that wasn't true.

在過去，我無法聽出這些音的不同，所以對我來說，

And that's the biggest challenge when it comes to improving your pronunciation.

「cheap」 和 「sheep」聽起來是一樣的，如果我做一個教導我如何發這些單字的音

If you can't hear the difference between two sounds, how can you learn to produce each sound correctly?

的練習，我會全部都念錯，而且，我會覺得我都是念對的，

So what should you do?

即使這不是事實

Fortunately, there's a method for overcoming this problem, and this method is based on a number of research studies.

當你要改善你的發音時，這將會是個很大的挑戰，如果你聽不出

These studies suggest that if you have trouble differentiating between two sounds or two words, the best way to train your brain to recognize the difference is to listen to the words at the same time.

兩個音的不同，你要如何學習正確的發出每個音呢？

I mean, not exactly at the same time, but you listen to one word immediately after the other.

那麼，你應該怎麼做呢？

If you hear those words at the same time, you are more likely to notice the difference.

非常幸運地，有個辦法可以克服這個問題。這個方法來自很多的研究資料

And after you've noticed the difference, you can then practice pronouncing those words.

這些資料顯示，如果你有辨別兩個音上的困難，

There are many free pronunciation exercises that apply this idea.

要訓練你的大腦辨認不同，最好的方式就是

These exercises contrast one sound with another.

同時聽這些單字。我的意思並不是說，在同一個時間點上

And here is what such an exercise might look like.

但你可以聽了一個單字之後，馬上接另一個，如果你同時聽這些單字

This exercise contrasts the "æ" sound with the "ɛ" sound.

你會比較能夠注意到它們之間的不同，在你注意到它們之間的不同之後，

This kind of exercise has three key benefits.

你就可以開始練習它們的發音了

Firstly, it makes you aware that the words in each pair are pronounced differently.

有很多免費的發音練習可以應用在這個方法上，這些練習

Secondly, in an exercise like this, the presenter tends to exaggerate when pronouncing words, making it even easier to hear the differences.

將兩個不同的音相互對比

And lastly, since similar words are presented together for comparison, it reduces the tendency for a non-native speaker to pronounce two different words the same way.

而一個練習可能會長這樣，這個練習將 "AA" 的音

Now, you might be wondering, does this really work?

和 "EH" 的音做對比

And the answer is yes.

這種練習有三個主要的好處：第一，這讓你注意到

I used this method myself to improve my pronunciation.

每對中的單字都是發不同的音

Before I began applying this method, I mispronounced a lot of words, and here are some examples.

第二，做像這樣的練習，錄音者都會傾向以誇大的方式發音，

Look at these word pairs.

讓我們能夠更輕易地聽出差別

The words in each pair are pronounced differently, but I used to pronounce them the same way.

最後，因為相似的單字都被放在一起比較，這減少了

So, sometimes I would say something confusing.

非母語者將兩個不同的字用同樣方式發音的機會

But thanks to this method, I was able to fix most of the mistakes, and now my pronunciation is much better.

現在，你或許會很懷疑，這真的有用嗎？答案是：有用，我自己是用這個

All right, now it's time for you to improve your pronunciation.

方法來改善我的發音的，在我開始使用這個方法之前，我念錯了很多的單字，

I've created a resource page that includes exercises for all the confusing sounds in English.

例如，來看看這對單字，每對單字

Just click here to go to that page.

的發音都是不同的，但我以前都以相同的音來唸它們

And if you want more useful content like this, subscribe to this channel and click the like button.

所以，有時我會說出一些令人困惑的話，但幸好有這個方法，我才可以修正