Practice makes Chemistry

Have you dreamed of better pronunciation in English? Do you imagine yourself talking effortlessly to English-speaking colleagues and friends?

I advocate the method of self-monitoring together with awareness of muscle memory when speaking. Self-monitoring is the process of monitoring your speech by recording it, transcribing, checking for target features, and correcting over time. What does all this have to do with changing old habits of pronunciation?

In order for old habits to change, they must be replaced and reinforced. This is why repeated practice is the key. But even before repeated practice is implemented, the awareness of the way your muscles move in your mouth must be solidly learned. You need to learn the correct ways to move your muscles in your mouth and its environs.

 In his book Evolve Your Brain, Dr. Joe Dispensa, a Doctor of Chiropractic states that, “The repeated action of learning semantic knowledge with attention and awareness initiates a strong enough signal to make new intellectual data that we never experienced before form long-lasting and more synaptic connections. The key ingredient here is focused attention. By paying complete attention to our task, we produce a strong enough signal to form that new synaptic connection. In doing so, we have created a more refined memory. The more numerous synaptic connections formed in the brain, the greater the working mind at that level. When we turn on that particular neural network, we will have more enriched machinery to process more enhanced mind. We can therefore perceive more information from our environment, demonstrate a skill with greater ease, or learn more readily because we paid attention to the stimulus to make more circuits.”

What does this mean for my students? Once I teach you the correct movements, you will need to make sure you understand them. This means asking me to re-teach and show you again and again until you “get it”.  Then you have in place the knowledge to train yourself through structured practice. As your practice progresses, you will be speaking with greater ease.

Can this be done, actually done? Yes, I’ve seen it. But first you must remove your limiting beliefs that say, “I can’t do this. It’s too hard.” It’s not brain surgery, just brain ‘chemistry’!

To work with me, go to http://english4professionals.webs.com