Learning how to pronounce a word is key if you want to remember it and use it correctly. Even your skills as a writer will be improved when you study a word’s pronunciation, because of the way pronunciation and spelling are linked. The correct pronunciation means that your listeners won’t be confused by what you’re saying – unless, of course, their vocabulary isn’t as good and they don’t even know the meaning of the words you’re using! (Note: Remember that simply choosing “big words” to impress your audience isn’t usually a good strategy. Focus on choosing the right words instead.)

Although English is now widely considered to be the global language for communication, there are differences in pronunciation of certain words and even in the meaning of those words and how they’re used. When it comes to pronunciation, the main difference is between the “UK” and “US” version. In general, anyone who grows up in Great Britain or in any of the countries that were formerly colonized by the British (such as India) will follow the UK pronunciation – except for the United States, which was also a former colony, but now has a distinctly different way of speaking English. For example, in the UK you’ll generally hear the word laboratory pronounced “luh-BOR-ah-tree” while in the US it’s pronounced “LAH-bor-ah-tor-ee.”

If you want to learn the correct way to pronounce a word, you need to:

1. Listen to it. Most online dictionaries have audio links so you can hear a word pronounced.
2. Repeat it. Listen to the word and repeat it out loud until you’re sure you have it right.
3. Use it. Test your confidence in pronunciation and context by using the word in conversation.

There are a lot of resources available, online and in print, that will help you perfect your pronunciation. To get a good look at some of the words that people most often mispronounce, we recommend The Big Book Of Beastly Mispronunciations: The Complete Opinionated Guide For The Careful Speaker by Charles Harrington Elster. Although it’s focused more on US pronunciation, it’s a valuable guide to some of the words that tend to make people trip over their tongues.

Practice your pronunciation skills, and you won’t have any trouble communicating with people, no matter where they live!