English Pronunciation

Never really understood the importance of pronunciation compared to how the word is spelt and used. To say the least, I am a bookworm but terrible with pronunciation. I never realized the importance of learning the right pronunciation for words while growing up. Many of my friends were like me. We used to pronounce the words the way we felt it sounds "cool" :). I was never caught for mispronouncing words while I was living in India. In fact, people thought I must be right since my entire schooling life was spent in Anglo Indian schools :P. To my chagrin in the recent years, I have been caught mispronouncing by Indian guys educated in mofussil schools. Thanks to the creators of answers.com and my mofussil Indian friends ;) without whom I would have blissfully gone through life digging a bigger pit for myself.