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Teaching Games for Helping People With Poor Pronunciation

Help your students who have poor pronunciation by playing a few games. Games add excitement to learning and encourage everyone to play along; they are particularly useful when teaching pronunciation to non-native speakers. Pronunciation games can improve speech and help the participants learn how to pronounce difficult sounds. Additionally, playing games helps the participants learn in a non-threatening manner that helps them master pronunciation without embarrassment. Tailor each game to the age level of the learners who are involved by altering the difficulty of the target words.

Like Words
- Play a memory game using "like" words to help the participants learn how to pronounce similar words. For example, write words on index cards that sound the same; ideas include words such as, ̶0;making and baking,̶1; ̶0;sick and tick̶1; and ̶0;trail and mail.̶1; Write each word on a different card and place the cards face-down. Select one player to turn over two cards. If the cards have similar words, the player must say the words correctly, and then she can keep the pair. If the cards do not have similar words or she does not pronounce the words correctly, the turn moves to the next player. The player with the most pairs wins the game.
Syllables
- Teaching syllables can help teach your students learn how to divide words into distinct sounds. Give everyone an example of a one-syllable word like "bat" and a two-syllable word like "candy." For older players, give examples of three- and four-syllable words, such as "distinctive" and "operation." Give each player a word and have him tell you how many syllables are in the word. The player who correctly answers the most questions wins the game. Alternatively, play this game in teams. Give one point to each team for each correct answer; the first team to score 15 points wins the game.
Tongue Twisters
- Tongue twisters are a sequence of words that typically begin with the same letter that are difficult to say both quickly and correctly. Have all the students sit in a circle and select one person to go first. Read a tongue twister aloud to the group; the selected player must repeat the tongue twister as fast as possible without mistakes. If she makes a mistake, she is out of the game. Each player must continue repeating the tongue twister. The last player remaining that says the tongue twister correctly wins the game. Some tongue twisters include ̶0;friendly fleas and fireflies̶1; and ̶0;Penny̵7;s pretty pink piggy bank.̶1;
Word Pronunciation
- Divide the players into two or three teams. Have each team stand in a single file line or in a circle. Whisper a word into the ear of one person from each team; the teams must pass the word down the line or around the circle. The last player to hear the word must pronounce it aloud. If he pronounces the word correctly, the team earns a point. The team who has the highest number of points at the end of the game wins. Adjust the difficulty of the words depending on the ages of the players.

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