Michael Jackson Pronunciation Lesson American English
as I am sure you know the world lost an
icon last week when Michael Jackson
passed away the Rachel’s English way of
paying homage to him will be to go over
the pronunciation of some of his most
popular songs but first his name Michael
Jackson in both his first and last names
the first syllable is the stressed
syllable this means will be slightly
higher in pitch and also slightly laundr
Michael Jackson Michael begins with the
M consonant sound and opens into the AI
as in buy diphthong my Kol the second
syllable has the K consonant sound
followed by the dark L sound
of all all Michael Jackson begins with a
consonant sound where the lips round Jim
at the ass as in bat vowel sound
J Michael J the K consonant sound
Michael Jack and finally son the S
consonant sound the schwa and the n
sound son Michael Jackson first the
title track from his most popular album
actually the highest-grossing album ever
thriller thriller begins with a th sound
so the tongue must come through the
teeth thriller it then has the R
consonant sound fur fur so the tongue
has to pull back into the our position
thread the e as in sit vowel sound
thread ler the L consonant sound
followed by the schwa and the R
consonant sound thriller it’s the first
syllable here that is stressed thriller
beat it this title has two T’s in it
however neither of them are pronounced
the way that you may think a tea is
normally pronounced also they’re not
pronounced the same but let’s start at
the beginning beat it
begins with a B so the lips are closed
for that it opens into the EE as in she
vowel sound B now here comes the first T
and it is pronounced as some people call
it a flap T I really think it functions
just like a D B did you see how it comes
up and touches the roof of the mouth and
pulls down without air escaping through
the teeth it begins with the e as in sit
vowel sound
b-day and now the final T is not
pronounced as a T or as a D rather it’s
a stop so the tongue moves into position
for it beat it but then you stop the
sound so you don’t pull it down or let
air come through beat it bad bad has
also the B sound to begin so the lips
are closed over teeth that are slightly
opened back the ass as in bat vowel
sound and finally the D sound bad bad
the tongue moves up but it’s not a
strong sound bad it’s just a very light
release bad black or white another title
beginning with a B black this has the B
followed by the L sound full so full the
tongue is up in position for the L full
as soon as the mouth opens from the B
black the at as in bat vowel sound
followed by the K consonant sound black
now the next word is not pronounced or
because it’s not an important word in
this phrase it’s black or white so it
becomes reduced to simply this sound or
or the R consonant sound
blacker black or white white begins with
the W consonant sound so you can see the
lips have to be in that tight circle why
it opens into the AI as in buy diphthong
white and
ends with the T sound where you do that
air come through your teeth black or
white don’t stop till you get enough
don’t stop taking it enough sorry it’s
just so hard to resist singing them okay
this particular title has several stops
like I’ve talked about it begins don’t
you can see that T is a stop it begins
with the D consonant sound moves in to
the Oh as in no diphthong dou hmm the
tongue then moves up into the n don’t
and you don’t actually release it to
make the T sound
don’t rather you move right into the S
sound for stop the S sound is followed
by the T sound
the T sound stop it opens into the aw as
in father sound followed by you might
think the P but actually it’s another
stop don’t stop till so you don’t let
air out after that P don’t stop till you
move right into the T sound of till
which is followed by the as in sit vowel
sound and the dark L too don’t stop till
you the Y consonant sound followed by
the you as in boo you get the consonant
sound into the as in bed vowel sound
although I think I just said a T get
it’s not pronounced that way when you’re
saying the whole title don’t stop till
you get you see the tongue moves up but
it doesn’t release get enough enough you
move straight into the next vowel which
here is the e as and she or the it as
and sit it sort of depends on how you
pronounce it enough enough
the N consonant sound in the as in
butter sound and finally the F consonant
sound don’t stop when you get enough
don’t
stop till you get enough don’t stop till
you get enough man in the mirror man it
begins with the M consonant sound and
opens into the ass as in that but as
I’ve noted before when the ad as in that
is followed by a nasal consonant that is
M n or n G it is not the pure at is in
bat watch this man so it opens into that
but then it immediately starts making
this a sound as it moves into the nasal
consonant man man in the in the now both
of these words are less important than
man and mirror so they are lower in
pitch and they’re shorter in duration in
so it begins with a very quick a as in
sit then the N consonant sound the th
consonant sound and the schwa in the in
the man in the mirror mirror now this I
know is a difficult word it begins with
the M consonant sound and opens into the
e as and she me but now what’s happening
at the end of the word or were that’s
what can be difficult so the R consonant
sound for Mir or and then you sort of
slide quickly into the schwa and then
back into the R consonant sound it’s
like a second emphasis of the R
consonant sound mirror were were mirror
man in the mirror and finally Michaels
number one most popular song of all time
Billie Jean Billie Jean begins with the
B consonant sound big it opens into the
e as in sit vowel big Billie it moves
into the dark L all whole bill-e the EE
as in she sound Billy so note that it is
the first syllable that stressed the
Jeanne begins with it Jim as in jar
consonant sound the e as machine and the
N consonant sound Billie Jean Billie
Jean well we’ve lost a great artist but
luckily not his music