A lot of pronunciation practice is generic. You work through a textbook, complete an app lesson, practice a particular sound, or follow a pronunciation curriculum designed for learners in general.
But your pronunciation problems are your own, and you may have trouble getting rid of them. I know this because my accent clients often struggle with the same sounds over and over. Or they get a sound right in some words, but there is one specific word in which it is mispronounced.
For example, today one of my students was mispronouncing the /oʊ/ sound in the word “focus,” which here is represented by the letter “o.” Here’s the thing though – it was only in this word that this was a problem! In every other word, his /oʊ/ sound was perfectly fine!
Now, we went over the word “focus” several times in the session, but is that enough to make it stick in his head for the future? One of the best ways to address this issue for the longer term is for the student to create and maintain a Problem Phrase Bank.
What Is a Problem Phrase Bank?
A Problem Phrase Bank is simply a running list of the specific words and phrases that you regularly stumble over in real-life English. It makes your pronunciation practice more individualized and targeted.
For example, imagine you notice that you repeatedly stumble over:
- “I really appreciate it.”
- “What I wanted to say was…”
- “I’m particularly interested in…”
- “It’s a little bit different.”
- “I was wondering if…”
These may not be phrases that appear in a standard pronunciation textbook, but if you struggle with them repeatedly, then they’re the phrases you should be practicing.
Why Your Own Mistakes Are So Valuable
Now, I have nothing against generic pronunciation exercises in general. If you have difficulty with, say, /r/, /θ/, or a particular vowel, targeted sound practice can be quite useful.
But real communication might give you specific information about your own individual situation. For example, you might know how to pronounce every individual sound in a phrase and still stumble when those sounds have to work together at normal conversational speed.
Or there are certain words and phrases that your accent coach, as in my example above, regularly points out to you as ones you should pay attention to and correct.
Step 1: Capture the Problem Immediately
Here’s what to do:
Keep a note on your phone called “Problem Phrase Bank.” You could also use a voice memo if speaking is faster than typing. Then, whenever you stumble over a word or phrase during an actual conversation, add it to the list.
Don’t worry about analyzing it immediately, just capture it.
For example, “particularly,” or “nevertheless,” or “focus.” It doesn’t matter what the exact word or phrase is – the important thing is to record the phrase while you still remember it. A few hours later, you may remember that you had trouble with certain words, but you may not remember the exact phrase that caused the problem anymore.
Step 2: Look for Patterns
After you’ve collected phrases for a while, look through your list. Are there any patterns? For instance, do several phrases have the /θ/ sound (the voiceless “th” as in “thing”), or do you struggle with flap t, specific consonant clusters, or certain r-controlled vowels?
If you stumble over “I was wondering if…” four times in one week, that phrase deserves more attention than a random pronunciation exercise you happened to find online.
Step 3: Practice the Exact Phrase
Once you’ve identified a problem phrase, don’t just practice the difficult word by itself, but as part of a phrase. Suppose your problem phrase is:
“I was wondering if…”
Start slowly and identify the specific part that’s causing difficulty, then repeat the entire phrase several times. For example:
I was wondering if…
I was wondering if…
I was wondering if…
Then gradually increase your speaking speed until you can produce it comfortably at a natural conversational pace. The goal isn’t to memorize the phrase mechanically but to make the pronunciation pattern automatic.
Step 4: Put It Back Into Real Speech
Look up your word or phrase on a website such as youglish.com and repeat it in context after the speakers in at least 5 videos. For example:
“I was wondering if you could help me.”
“I was wondering if we could reschedule.”
“I was wondering if that’s still available.”
“I was wondering if you had a minute.”
This contextual practice will help solidify your knowledge through practice from real-world examples.
Don’t Practice Every Problem Forever
Your Problem Phrase Bank isn’t supposed to become a giant collection of phrases that is designed to make you feel guilty. Just the opposite!
Once you can consistently say a phrase correctly and comfortably in conversation, mark it as “Solved” or move it to a separate list. This gives you something incredibly useful: visible evidence of progress.
A phrase that used to trip you up every day eventually disappears from the active list, then another one takes its place. Over time, the list becomes a map of your pronunciation journey.
And there’s another benefit. The act of noticing your own mistakes makes you a better listener – of your own speech. You’re no longer simply speaking and hoping everything sounds right, but developing the ability to notice:
“I always stumble here.”
“That vowel gets weaker when I speak quickly.”
“I keep dropping this ending.”
“I can say this word by itself, but not inside this phrase.”
That kind of awareness not only helps make pronunciation feedback from your accent coach stick in your head, but also gives you the ability to make pronunciation changes on your own without a coach.
