The Secret to Speaking Like a Native? It Starts With Pronunciation

Written by Katja Parmar & Jack Pulman-Slater

Pronunciation has long been one of the most challenging—and often neglected—aspects of language learning. Over a century ago, Danish linguist Otto Jespersen described the frustrating cycle familiar to many language learners: a student mispronounces a word, the teacher corrects it, the student tries again, and the process repeats with little progress and mounting fatigue. Jespersen lamented the “long and laborious” path to improvement, often abandoned before results are seen.

At City Lit, we’re tackling this issue head-on with an exciting new series of pronunciation courses designed to break that cycle. Our new pronunciation courses on German, Welsh and Swedish introduce students to the key sounds of the language using a phonetically informed approach. Through guided practice, listening exercises, and visual aids, learners gain the tools to produce sounds more accurately and confidently— moving beyond repetition toward real intelligibility.

Who are the pronunciation workshops for? 

Perfect for Beginners

Pronunciation courses are ideal for complete or near beginners. Tackling pronunciation early avoids endless, often fruitless corrections later on, when fluency tends to take over as the main focus. Building strong pronunciation habits from the start leads to clearer speech and a more natural feel when speaking.

Great for All Learners

 Whether you're revisiting a language or refining your accent, pronunciation training benefits learners at any level. It enhances clarity and helps speakers feel more at ease and authentic in conversation — especially for those aiming to sound closer to native speakers.

For the Phonetically Curious

If you're intrigued by how sounds vary across languages, pronunciation courses offer a practical and engaging way to explore phonetics and improve your ear for language.

The importance of pronunciation

These new pronunciation classes are designed to do more than just fix mistakes —they help you really understand how sounds work and can change the meaning of words. 

Students are encouraged to think about those sounds which don’t exist in English. In the German course, for example, you’ll learn how to hear and say important consonants and vowels using a clear, step-by-step method. You’ll spend time on tricky sounds like the German “ch” in ich and Buch, which can be tough for learners and also on the rounded vowels “ö” and “ü”, which need a bit of practice to get right.

Instead of just repeating words over and over, the course uses helpful diagrams showing how the mouth moves, and guided practice to help you get a feel for how German sounds are made. This way, you’re not just copying.

One of the main goals of these classes is to help you understand how sounds work in the language you’re learning. For example, you’ll learn about vowel length—how long a vowel is held or drawn out when you say it. In Swedish, this can actually change the meaning of a word! Think of glas (glass) with a long vowel, versus glass (ice cream) with a short one. You’ll get lots of support to hear and say these differences correctly. By exploring these kinds of concepts in practice, you’ll start to see pronunciation as something physical—like a skill you can train and improve, just like playing an instrument or learning a sport.

Who are the pronunciation workshops taught by?

The Swedish, Welsh and German pronunciation workshops are taught by trained phoneticians Jack Pulman-Slater and Katja Parmar. Both are incredibly passionate about pronunciation when learning and speaking a foreign language.

Both keen language learners themselves, Katja and Jack are aware of how frustrating getting your pronunciation right can be and of how time demands in class can often crowd out pronunciation-focussed practice.

As a trained phonetician, singer and teacher, Katja specialises in coaching German pronunciation and teaching German to singers, conductors and directors in the international operatic world including at the prestigious Jette Parker Artist programme at the Royal Ballet and Opera, Covent Garden since 2003,  Garsington Opera, Welsh National Opera , Stadttheater Freiburg , the Academy of Ancient Music, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and The English Concert . Katja is also the primary editor of Jacquelyn Stucker’s translation and phonetic transcription of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck published by Pendragon Press, 2020.