In the process of mastering English, pronunciation is one of the factors that learners need to prioritize because it plays a crucial role in making information exchange smooth and effective.

In English, a person's ability to pronounce correctly is assessed through two factors: Pronunciation and Accent.

1. Pronunciation

Pronunciation can be said to be one of the top criteria for evaluating a person's language ability. Accurate pronunciation of each syllable will help information exchange flow smoothly and avoid unnecessary misunderstandings in communication. Specifically, to pronounce correctly, learners need to ensure the accuracy of the following elements:

- Individual Sounds

The English phonetic alphabet has a total of 44 sounds, including single vowels, diphthongs, and consonants. To pronounce words accurately, learners need to understand the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbols for these sounds. This way, when encountering any new word, learners can identify its pronunciation by looking up the phonetic transcription displayed in a printed or electronic dictionary.

- Word Stress

In English, a word can consist of many syllables; however, one syllable is pronounced more differently than the others. This difference is clearly shown through the length, volume, and pitch of that syllable when pronounced. To pronounce correctly and avoid confusion in communication, speakers need to remember some principles for correctly stressing words and the exceptions.

- Sentence Stress

Besides remembering the stress of individual words, learners should also pay attention to emphasizing certain words that carry significant meaning in a sentence so that listeners can more easily understand the information from the speaker by focusing on the stressed words.

- Weak Sounds

To increase the speed of information transmission, some words in a sentence may be pronounced faster and more softly than others by changing the phonetic form of those words.

- Connected speech 

A common characteristic of native speakers when pronouncing words is the combination of sounds or words to increase fluency. Specifically, this includes three forms: linking, elision, and assimilation.

- Intonation

Another equally important element that learners need to pay attention to is intonation. Sometimes, with the same content, applying different intonations in a sentence will convey different emotional messages from the speaker to the listener.

- Accent

In the process of learning standard English pronunciation, accent is a relatively important criterion that learners need to master so that listeners can easily understand the information. Each region and country has its own distinctive accent, making it difficult for people from other areas to understand.

Therefore, the learner's task is to reduce the regional characteristics in their accent and imitate common accents that people around the world can easily understand, such as practicing British or American English accents.