0Once Fluency Is Fixed, Pronunciation Is Harder to Change
When learners become fluent in everyday speech with the wrong pronunciation, those pronunciation habits settle into motor memory and become surprisingly hard to alter later; in other words, fluency can become a double-edged sword. Think of learning to type: if you practise a fast but incorrect finger pattern for months, retraining that muscle memory slows you down far more than starting with slower but correct technique. The same happens with speech — repeated, fluent errors create automatic patterns (sounds, stress, rhythm) that are resilient. That doesn’t mean don’t speak — speaking is vital — but it does mean early, focused attention to key pronunciation points prevents long-term fossilised errors. Practical steps: identify 2–3 recurring error sounds (for many Indian learners these are /θ/ vs /t/, /v/ vs /w/, or vowel length differences), do short daily drills (minimal pairs, slow exaggeration, shadowing short phrases), record once a week to track change, and get corrective feedback from a teacher or a reliable app. Takeaway/activity: spend 8–10 minutes daily on targeted pronunciation drills from day one of learning, and pair those drills with free speaking so you build both automatic fluency and correct articulation together.
