If the English we speak is clear, people will listen to us and appreciate what we say.
But if we simply utter the words without pronouncing them properly, nobody will listen to us.
Good pronunciation depends on the correct pronunciation of English vowel sounds, and in the ability to place the accent on the correct syllable of a word, and the clear utterance of words.
We in Sri Lanka are not expected to speak British English or American English, we must speak in such a way that other Sri Lankans and foreigners will understand us. If we learn to do this, our English will be quite good.
We should also listen to good speakers and learn good pronunciation though a lot of practice.
To speak correct English we must know the speech sounds. There are some sounds that have no equivalent letters in the alphabet, and some letters are pronounced in different ways.
Therefore we have to learn the fundamental sounds of English without thinking of the alphabet.
The alphabet is not the complete list of speech sounds.
AL. Mohamed Anas
Eng. triand. Teacher of English