Challenges in Learning Pronunciation

After a few days of learning to use Elsa Speak, I got a few challenges. The most difficult skill for me is to pronounce vowels, such as a, i, e, and o. I have tried many times to pronounce correctly, but the results are always red. Besides vowels, I also had difficulty when trying several consonant and diphthong letters. Consonant letters that are difficult for me to say are like / tʃ /, / dʒ /, / θ /, / ð /, etc.

I have tried many times and keep repeating the pronunciation of these letters. In fact, I got upset because I kept getting low scores even though I already felt that I was saying it correctly 😤. I also tried playing tongue twister and it made me even crazier. I never played Elsa Speak for a few days because I was still upset and lazy to start learning again, but I realized that in the learning process it takes patience :). So, guys, you also have to be patient in every process you go through. Keep your spirits up and good luck! 😊😊

First Experience as An Elsa User

I first learned about Elsa Speak when I was in the Computer Literacy Online with Ms. Mariska After I heard information about the application, I immediately looked for it in the Google Play Store and tried it. The first material I tried was how to pronounce the letters /p/, /t/, /k/. I don't have much difficulty in mentioning these letters. But I have to repeat the letter pronounce several times until it is truly perfect. In the pronunciation of /p/, /t/, /k/ we must use strong breaths from our mouths. For example in pronouncing the word please take a piece of cake. In this /p/, /t/, /k/ letter pronunciation skill, I get a score of 98%, meaning that I am in the advanced level. However, I cannot be quickly satisfied with the results I get, there are still many lessons that I must learn more. 

This is the picture :

Another skill that I can learn well is the letters / L / and / R /, I'm not saying that learning both is very easy, but it's also not as difficult as the others. This is because producing the letters L and R is not so inconvenient the parts of the mouth, only need to move our tongue. I not only practice how to pronounce letters, but I also try to practice my listening skill and word stress with the features provided by Elsa Speak. In the picture above, I also tried the conversation feature with Elsa which is practiced my speaking skills. So far, I am still fine in learning pronunciation with Elsa Speak, but will I have difficulties learning with Elsa Speak in the future? 😀😀

What is Elsa Speak ?

Elsa Speak is an English speaking practice application for English learners. ELSA (English Language Speech Assistant) is suitable for anyone who wants to learn English, especially learning pronunciation. This application is very easy to use, we only need to download the application through the Google Play Store, then install it on our smartphone. The use of Elsa Speak is very easy with its attractive appearance. Elsa Speak provides many features for its users. We can learn how to pronounce a letter sound in English. When we are wrong in the mention of a word, Elsa will detect our mistakes in red or yellow. We can record our voice and then listen again to our pronunciation, so that we can know the location of our pronunciation mistakes. With Elsa Speak, we can practice as many times as we want until we really understand how to produce the sound. Elsa speak is not only used to practice pronunciation, but also to practice our listening skills. Besides, we can also understand the meaning of the word. Elsa Speak provides several topics for you to choose which topics are most interesting to you. You can also choose which skills you will train, for example regarding vowel sounds, consonant clusters, ending sounds, how to pronounce / p /, / t /, / k /, etc.

Here, I will give a video about how to use Elsa Speak:)

About Nafis

Bismillaahirrahmaanirrahiim...

Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuh:)

Hello, Friends.. My name is Nafisah Nur Aini. You can call me Nafis. I was born on November 27^th, 1999. Now I am 20 years old. I live in Brajan, Tamantirto, Kasihan, Bantul, Special Region of Yogyakarta. I live in a small house with my father and mother because I am the only child in my family. I like reading various books, such as novels, newspapers, comics, or other articles. My favorite genre is fantasy. I think, when we read a fantasy novel, our brain can imagine freely. Reading can make my mind clearer and fresher, so I love to read. When on campus, I like to visit the library. My other hobbies are drawing, writing, and photography. I also a cat lover. I like cats because they are so funny and cute. Playing with cats makes my mood better.

I am currently studying in English Language Education Department at Muhammadiyah University of Yogyakarta. I have been loving English since childhood because learning English is very fun for me. I think it is a new thing to learn. I often learn English by watching films and listening to songs in English. I choose to study in English Education because I want to be an English teacher for kids, especially young learners. It will be fun if we can share our knowledge with other people, and it makes us useful to others. Be a student of English Education was make me very grateful and have a more spirit to reach my dream as a teacher.

For your information, this is my first blog. In this blog, I will share my experience about learn pronunciation in English using ELSA Speak. I hope I can manage this blog well and give you all useful information. Therefore, I am very happy to receive constructive criticism and suggestions from all of you.  

Wassalamu'alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakaatuh.