Mispronunciation Mayhem

If you are a learner of English, you may be encouraged to hear that you are not alone in your struggle to master English pronunciation. There are many words that the British too have a tendency to stumble over or mispronounce. I for one am forever correcting my husband’s infuriating pronunciation of 'nuclear' ("nyoo-kyuh-ler") and 'secretary' (“sek-yuh-teh-ree”) and am mocked in equal measure for my ingrained mispronunciation of 'phoenix' (“fee-uh-niks”) and 'weapon' (“weh-pin”). A poll of members of the British Institute of Verbatim Reporters (BIVR), the UK's leading organisation for professionals involved in taking down speech at court and tribunal hearings, revealed 10 words that Britons consistently mispronounce:

1. phenomenon           [fi-nom-uh-nuhn]

2. remuneration           [ri-myoo-nuh-rey-shuhn]

3. statistics                  [stuh-tis-tiks]

4. ethnicity                  [eth-nis-i-tee]

5. hereditary               [huh-red-i-ter-ee, -tree]

6. particularly              [per-tik-yuh-ler-lee, puh-tik-]

7. conjugal                  [kon-juh-guhl]

8. specific                    [spi-sif-ik]

9. processes                [proh-ses-iz]

10. development          [dih-vel-uhp-muhnt]

Leah Willersdorf, of the BIVR, said: "We work with many different types of professionals and hear all kinds of voices during our work. However, when it comes to the English language it always seems to be the same few words that verbally trip people up, with the speaker having to repeat the word in order to get it right, or just abandoning their attempts and moving on."

Which words in English do you find hardest to pronounce?

Source: www.mirror.co.uk

How Important is Pronunciation for Non-Native English Speakers?

Keeping on yesterday's theme of pronunciation: do you think it is important for foreign speakers of the English language to attempt to speak in an "English" accent, or is it only important that one is understood? 

It is clear that learners don't have to speak like the Queen to be understood. Arguably what is most important is that the communication is efficient, and if that means attempting to make one's English accent sound more neutral, and therefore understood by more English speakers and learners, then so be it.

'The real key to having good pronunciation is what we call ‘comfortable intelligibility’. In other words, the person or people listening to you should be able to understand what you are saying with minimal strain. This is something completely different from losing your accent entirely.'1

Are you a non native English speaker? If so, we would very much like to hear your views on this topic.

For more tips on how to improve your pronunciation, take a look at the pronunciation section of our online Language Lab page.

Language Learning with British Films

Learning a language is not an easy feat. First there's the pronunciation, then there's the grammar, then there's having the confidence to actually spit it out!

Of course, reading is one of the best ways to improve. Even if you don't understand every word, providing you can get to grips with the general gist of the text, the missing vocab will come with time and practice.

Sometimes, though, especially after a long day's work and/or studies, you're really not in the mood for any more reading. All you want to do is flop.

So why not watch a film? Providing you have internet access there are any number of online film sites which don't cost very much at all. These include Filmflex, Lovefilm, where you can stream thousands of movies for a small monthly subscription. Many of them come with subtitles, too.

Click on the image below to see Empire's top 100 Best British Films Ever!
 

How Important is Pronunciation?

It is argued that 'Historically received pronunciation* signified a higher social class than a local accent [...] That was why Margaret Thatcher moved from a Lincolnshire accent to sounding like the Duchess of Devonshire'.1

Another very public figure who has clearly tried to change the way he speaks by having elocution lessons is David Beckham. Compared with 10 years ago, he now sounds like a different person, 'from pure cockney to something approaching received pronunciation'.1

British politicians also change the way they speak, often to hide their privileged backgrounds, in an attempt to reach out to the lower social classes. Just recently, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, while speaking to a group of workers at a supermarket warehouse, began speaking with an estuary accent. This was a suspicious transformation from a man educated at Eton then Oxford University.

How important is pronunciation? Do you believe that people should try to make a concerted effort in the way they pronounce their words? 

*Received Pronunciation, or RP for short, is the instantly recognisable accent often described as ‘typically British’. Popular terms for this accent, such as ‘The Queen’s English’, ‘Oxford English’ or ‘BBC English’ are all a little misleading. The Queen, for instance, speaks an almost unique form of English, while the English we hear at Oxford University or on the BBC is no longer restricted to one type of accent.2 

Pronunciation Tips

22/2/13

112 Most Mispronounced English Words

18/12/12

Tomato/Potato:

 The usual quote is: "You say 'to-may-to', I say 'to-mah-to'", but it's actually a misquote -- it's "You like 'to-may-to', I like 'to-mah-to'" and it's from a song called Let's Call the Whole Thing Off. It's been sung by many different people and the lyrics vary, but here's part of the version sung by Fred Astaire:

You say "ee-ther" and I say "eye-ther",
You say "nee-ther" and I say "ny-ther";
Ee-ther, eye-ther, nee-ther, ny-ther!
Let's call the whole thing off!
You like "po-tay-to" and I like "po-tah-to",
You like "to-may-to" and I like "to-mah-to";
Po-tay-to, po-tah-to, to-may-to, to-mah-to!
Let's call the whole thing off!

It's about differences in dialect, and different pronunciations of the words "either", "neither", "potato" and "tomato" (although I have never heard anyone pronounce "potato" as "po-tah-to"). Because "to-may-to" is the usual American pronunciation and "to-mah-to" the usual British pronunciation, the line is usually quoted in reference to the difference between British and American English.


Source: www.usingenglish.com

How To Improve Your Pronunciation:

1. English is considered a stressed language while many other languages are considered syllabic.
2. In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable has its own length).
3. English pronunciation focuses on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, non-stressed, words.
4. Stressed words are considered content words: Nouns e.g. kitchen, Peter - (most) principal verbs e.g. visit, construct - Adjectives e.g. beautiful, interesting - Adverbs e.g. often, carefully
5. Non-stressed words are considered function words: Determiners e.g. the, a - Auxiliary verbs e.g. am, were - Prepositions e.g. before, of - Conjunctions e.g. but, and - Pronouns e.g. they, she
6. Read the following sentence aloud: The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.
7. Read the following sentence aloud: He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening.
8. Notice that the first sentence actually takes about the same time to speak well!
9. Even though the second sentence is approximately 30% longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to speak. This is because there are 5 stressed words in each sentence.
10. Write down a few sentences, or take a few example sentences from a book or exercise.
11. First underline the stressed words, then read aloud focusing on stressing the underlined words and gliding over the non-stressed words.
12. Be surprised at how quickly your pronunciation improves! By focusing on stressed words, non-stressed words and syllables take on their more muted nature.
13. When listening to native speakers, focus on how those speakers stress certain words and begin to copy this.

Tips:
Remember that non-stressed words and syllables are often 'swallowed' in English.
Always focus on pronouncing stressed words well, non-stressed words can be glided over.
Don't focus on pronouncing each word. Focus on the stressed words in each sentence.

Source: http://esl.about.com

29/11/12

Pronouncing the 'r' sound

Source: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish


12/12/12

Pronouncing the 'th' sound (as in 'the')

This is a sound that many students find challenging to pronounce in English and yet occurs very frequently in words such as 'this', 'that', 'other', 'worthy' and 'bathe'. Brush up on your pronunciation with this helpful tutorial:

Source: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish

Pronouncing the 'th' sound (as in 'the')

Pronouncing the 'th' sound (as in 'the')

This is a sound that many students find challenging to pronounce in English and yet occurs very frequently in words such as 'this', 'that', 'other', 'worthy' and 'bathe'. Brush up on your pronunciation with this helpful tutorial:

Source: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish


How do you pronounce the word 'the'? 

There are two pronunciations: 'The' sometimes sounds like 'thee'. Sometimes it sounds like 'thaaa'. 

 I think because 'the' is such a common word in English - it is in fact the most common word both in writing and in speech - we often tend to overlook it. 

It has two pronunciations. One pronunciation - the one that most learners will know - is 'the' with a vowel that we call a schwa - a very common vowel. So we talk about 'the sound' ; 'the word' ; 'the number'. This pronunciation appears before consonants. The other pronunciation 'the' comes before a vowel. So you will notice that I said 'the other pronunciation'. 

One warning though - there are words that look as if they begin with a vowel, but they actually begin with a consonant. One example is the word 'university'. It starts with a /j/ sound, which is a consonant. So we say, 'the university'. Another example is the word 'one' - 'the one that most learners will know'. So remember that these words are consonants, not vowels. 

The other place you would use 'the' is when you are stressing the word and adding extra emphasis to the noun coming after it. So you talk about restaurant that you like and say, ' It's THE best restaurant in town'; or 'It's THE restaurant in town'. Very useful for expressing your enthusiasm about anything.

Source: www. bbc.co.uk/worldservice

How To Improve Your Pronunciation:

1. English is considered a stressed language while many other languages are considered syllabic.
2. In other languages, such as French or Italian, each syllable receives equal importance (there is stress, but each syllable has its own length).
3. English pronunciation focuses on specific stressed words while quickly gliding over the other, non-stressed, words.
4. Stressed words are considered content words: Nouns e.g. kitchen, Peter - (most) principal verbs e.g. visit, construct - Adjectives e.g. beautiful, interesting - Adverbs e.g. often, carefully
5. Non-stressed words are considered function words: Determiners e.g. the, a - Auxiliary verbs e.g. am, were - Prepositions e.g. before, of - Conjunctions e.g. but, and - Pronouns e.g. they, she
6. Read the following sentence aloud: The beautiful Mountain appeared transfixed in the distance.
7. Read the following sentence aloud: He can come on Sundays as long as he doesn't have to do any homework in the evening.
8. Notice that the first sentence actually takes about the same time to speak well!
9. Even though the second sentence is approximately 30% longer than the first, the sentences take the same time to speak. This is because there are 5 stressed words in each sentence.
10. Write down a few sentences, or take a few example sentences from a book or exercise.
11. First underline the stressed words, then read aloud focusing on stressing the underlined words and gliding over the non-stressed words.
12. Be surprised at how quickly your pronunciation improves! By focusing on stressed words, non-stressed words and syllables take on their more muted nature.
13. When listening to native speakers, focus on how those speakers stress certain words and begin to copy this.

Tips:
Remember that non-stressed words and syllables are often 'swallowed' in English.
Always focus on pronouncing stressed words well, non-stressed words can be glided over.
Don't focus on pronouncing each word. Focus on the stressed words in each sentence.

Source: http://esl.about.com

Tomato/Potato

18/12/12

Tomato/Potato:

 The usual quote is: "You say 'to-may-to', I say 'to-mah-to'", but it's actually a misquote -- it's "You like 'to-may-to', I like 'to-mah-to'" and it's from a song called Let's Call the Whole Thing Off. It's been sung by many different people and the lyrics vary, but here's part of the version sung by Fred Astaire:

You say "ee-ther" and I say "eye-ther",
You say "nee-ther" and I say "ny-ther";
Ee-ther, eye-ther, nee-ther, ny-ther!
Let's call the whole thing off!
You like "po-tay-to" and I like "po-tah-to",
You like "to-may-to" and I like "to-mah-to";
Po-tay-to, po-tah-to, to-may-to, to-mah-to!
Let's call the whole thing off!

It's about differences in dialect, and different pronunciations of the words "either", "neither", "potato" and "tomato" (although I have never heard anyone pronounce "potato" as "po-tah-to"). Because "to-may-to" is the usual American pronunciation and "to-mah-to" the usual British pronunciation, the line is usually quoted in reference to the difference between British and American English.


Source: www.usingenglish.com

Pronouncing the 'r' sound

29/11/12

Pronouncing the 'r' sound

Source: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish