5 Words You Might Be Pronouncing Wrong Learn How to Pronounce These Difficult Words
Hi, I’m Daniel.
Welcome to Oxford Online English!
I’ve got a challenge for you.
Read this sentence aloud, as fast as you can:
‘The Worcestershire rural brewery queue
is the sixth longest in the world.’
Let’s try again: ‘The Worcestershire rural
brewery queue is the sixth longest in the
world.’
Could you read the sentence quickly and fluently?
There are many difficult words to pronounce
in this sentence.
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to pronounce
these and other difficult words in English.
You’ll see what makes some words difficult
to pronounce in English, and how you can train
your pronunciation so that you can pronounce
all of these words easily!
Before we start, don’t forget to visit our
website: Oxford Online English dot com.
You can see all our free lessons, including
pronunciation lessons.
You can also study English in online classes.
We have many qualified, professional teachers
who you can choose from.
But now, let’s get back to our difficult
sentence.
Say ‘word’.
Now, say ‘world’.
Many English learners can say ‘word’ easily,
but ‘world’ is more difficult.
Why?
The only difference between the words is the
/l/ sound: ‘word’, ‘world’.
Actually, the /l/ makes a big difference.
Let’s see why.
To say /l/, you probably know that your tongue
needs to touch the top of your mouth: /l/.
However, there are different ways to pronounce
/l/.
You can use the tip of your tongue or the
blade (the wider part).
You can touch the top of your mouth just behind
your teeth, or you can touch further back.
Different languages produce /l/ sounds slightly
differently.
The English /l/ is pronounced using the tip
of your tongue, touching near the front of
your mouth—just above and behind your top
teeth—like this: /l/ /l/
For most English words, it doesn’t matter
so much how you pronounce /l/.
However, if you produce /l/ differently from
a native speaker, you’ll have problems with
‘world’.
To say world, first say /w/ and /ɜː/: /wɛː/
/wɛː/
When you pronounce /ɜː/, your tongue should
be fairly relaxed, sitting in the middle of
your mouth.
Next, the tip of your tongue moves up and
touches the top of your mouth just above and
behind your top teeth.
Don’t pull your tongue too far back.
If you do, you won’t be able to move between
the two sounds.
You’ll pronounce it something like this:
Don’t do this!
Remember, just use the tip of your tongue,
and move it slightly upwards to touch the
top of your mouth: ‘world.’
If you get it right, your tongue should be
in the right position to pronounce the /d/
sound without moving.
This means you can move smoothly between /l/
and /d/.
If you have to move your tongue between /l/
and /d/, then your tongue is probably too
far back.
Try saying the /d/ sound.
Can you feel where your tongue is?
This is where your tongue should be to pronounce
/l/: ‘world’.
‘World’.
When you say the word correctly, it’s a
very small movement between /ɜː/, /l/ and
/d/.
Try one more time: ‘world’.
‘World’.
How’s that?
Can you do it at natural speed?
‘World’.
‘World’.
Don’t worry if you can’t pronounce it
correctly straight away.
Start by pronouncing it really slowly, one
sound at a time.
Focus on the movement between /ɜː/, /l/
and /d/.
Remember that your tongue should not move
at all between /l/ and /d/.
When the movements are correct and comfortable
for you, try saying it faster.
Here are some other words you can practise
with.
These words have the same sound combination:
‘curled’.
‘hurled’
‘unfurled’
OK, one down.
What’s next?
Ordinal numbers, like fifth, sixth or eighth
can be especially difficult to pronounce for
non-native speakers.
Why is that?
In all of these words, you have a lot of consonants
together.
Listen and look at the phonetics: ‘fifth’
‘sixth’
‘eighth’
In particular, you have to combine different
consonants with the /θ/ sound.
First of all, you should be comfortable with
the /θ/ sound before you practise this.
Say this sentence: ‘Both therapists think
Theo’s teeth are thoroughly filthy.’
Can you pronounce /θ/ easily?
If not, pause the video, practise this sentence,
and focus on /θ/.
Read the sentence slowly, and make sure your
tongue is between your teeth
every time there’s a /θ/ sound.
If you’re OK with the /θ/ sound, then let’s
look at how you can combine /θ/ with other
consonants.
We’ll start with ‘fifth’.
‘Fifth’
Can you work out what’s happening here?
As you release the /f/ sound, your tongue
needs to move between your teeth to produce
the /θ/ sound.
The two movements—releasing the /f/ and
pronouncing the /θ/–need to be very close
together.
There shouldn’t be any gap between them,
otherwise you’ll add a vowel sound and pronounce
the word incorrectly.
Try it slowly.
First, start to say fifth, but stop on the
second ‘f’, and hold the /f/ sound: /fɪfffffffff/
Here, you’re making the /f/ sound with your
top teeth and your bottom lip: /fɪfffffffff/
Next, you /f/ by pulling your bottom lip down,
and at the same time you push your tongue
forward so it’s between your teeth, and
pronounce /θ/: ‘fifth’
‘Fifth’
Remember, if it’s difficult, start slowly
and focus on producing the movements accurately.
When it’s easier, try at a more natural
speed: ‘fifth’
‘Fifth’
OK, but what about sixth?
The sound combination is different, but the
principle is the same.
Look at the phonetics for sixth.
You need to move from /s/ to /θ/ very quickly,
without relaxing.
First, pronounce /s/.
Try to hold the sound.
Where’s your tongue?
It’s just above and behind your top teeth.
To move from /s/ to /θ/, your tongue needs
to slide forward
and end between your teeth.
Your tongue should be touching the top of
your mouth the whole time.
Don’t relax and let your tongue move away
from the top of your mouth.
Otherwise, you’ll add a vowel sound and
mispronounce the word.
Try it slowly.
Say and hold /s/, then slide your tongue forward
to pronounce /θ/, like this: /sθ
/sθ/
Practice this a few times until you can make
the movement comfortably.
Next, let’s try the full word: ‘sixth’
‘Sixth’
Let’s try at full speed: ‘sixth’
‘sixth’
Can you pronounce the sound combinations correctly?
Remember, start slowly and train the movements.
What about ‘eighth’?
It’s the same idea.
Think about what happens when you say /t/.
You put your tongue above your top teeth,
you build pressure, then you move your tongue
to release the pressure and release the sound:
/t/.
Normally, after you say /t/, your tongue relaxes
and finishes in the middle of your mouth.
When you say ‘eighth,’ instead of relaxing
your tongue, you need to release the /t/ so
that your tongue finishes between your teeth
and you can say /θ/.
A good way to think about this: imagine you
want to ‘catch’ the /t/ sound between
your teeth.
Let’s try slowly: ‘eighth’.
‘Eighth’.
Remember, you want your tongue to go directly
from /t/ to /θ/.
Don’t let your tongue relax or pull back.
Let’s try at natural speed: ‘eighth’
‘Eighth’.
With all these words, start slowly and train
the movements.
When you are comfortable with the movement,
then you can try going faster.
On the other hand, if you can’t pronounce
it correctly, slow down!
Get the sounds right first.
You can work on speed later.
Now, let’s look at our next word.
Can you say ‘rural brewery’?
Many English learners say that these are some
of the most difficult English words to pronounce
correctly.
So, what makes these words difficult?
Listen and look at the phonetics: ‘rural’,
‘brewery’.
The combination of /r/ with the /ʊə/ vowel
sound is the problem here.
Remember in part one we talked about /l/ sounds?
You saw that there are different ways to produce
/l/.
/r/ is the same.
There are many ways to say /r/.
For example, in Spanish—and many other languages—/r/
is produced by touching your tongue to the
top of your mouth.
The English /r/ is produced differently.
To say ‘rural brewery’, you need to produce
/r/ in the English way.
Otherwise, you’ll have a really bad time
trying to say the words.
It will make you angry.
So, let’s see how to pronounce /r/.
First, say /w/.
If possible, practise with a mirror.
You see the way your lips move?
Your lips start closed, and then open to make
the /w/ sound: /w/
/w/.
Next, try to curl your tongue up and back,
towards the back of your mouth, like this:
Very important: your tongue does not touch
anything.
It curls towards the top of your mouth, but
it doesn’t touch the top of your mouth at
all.
You can also pull the back of your tongue
up towards the top of your mouth.
It doesn’t matter whether you use the tip
of your tongue or the back; you just need
to pull your tongue towards the top of your
mouth, but without touching it.
So, let’s go back to where we were: you’re
trying to make a /w/ sound, but with your
tongue pulled back and towards the top of
your mouth.
Your tongue should be tense.
Do all of this and try to make a /w/ sound.
If your tongue is in the right place, it will
be difficult to say /w/ cleanly.
You’ll produce a sound between /w/ and /r/.
Get your tongue in the right place, then try
saying /r/ with a small movement of your lips:
/r/
/r/.
So, why are we doing all this?
To say ‘rural’ or ‘brewery’ fluently
and correctly, you need to say them without
moving your tongue–except at the end of ‘rural’
where your tongue moves forward to pronounce
/l/.
This is the secret.
If you move your tongue around, you won’t
be able to connect the sounds smoothly.
In both words, your tongue stays pulled back,
and your lips do most of the work.
However, your lips also shouldn’t move too
much.
If you open your mouth wide, it’ll be hard
to pronounce the words.
You need to make small, minimal movements:
‘rural’.
‘rural’.
Do you see how little my lips move?
Remember, your tongue needs to be pulled back
and tense through the whole word, until you
move forwards to pronounce /l/ at the end.
To help you, let’s see how to pronounce
the word one sound at a time.
Pronounce /r/ with your lips, moving onto
the round shape of /ʊ/, like this: /rʊ/
/rʊ/
Relax the /ʊ/ sound to produce a schwa, but
don’t move your lips too far: /rʊə/
/rʊə/
Bring your lips together again, keeping your
tongue pulled back, to produce another /r/
sound.
Then relax to pronounce the second schwa,
then move your tongue forwards to pronounce
/l/: ‘rural’.
Can you do it?
Try it slowly: ‘rural’.
Now let’s try a little faster: ‘rural’.
‘Rural’.
What about brewery?
You can use the same techniques.
You need to move from /r/ to /ʊə/ and then
back to /r/ again.
Again, you need to keep your tongue pulled
back, and use small lip movements to produce
the sounds: ‘brewery’.
‘Brewery’.
If it’s difficult, you need to practice
the /rʊər/ sound combination some more.
Go back to ‘rural’ and practise the steps
to combine these sounds.
If it’s easy, great!
Let’s try at natural speed: ‘brewery’.
‘Brewery’.
Got it?
Let’s move on!
Actually, ‘queue’ isn’t difficult to
pronounce: /kjʊː/
But, many English learners mispronounce it.
Why?
It’s because the spelling and the pronunciation
are so different.
English is not a phonetic language.
The same letter can make different sounds
in different words, and different letters
can have the same sound.
However, ‘queue’ is an extreme example,
which is why many English learners get confused
and make mistakes.
Remember: letters and sounds are not the same
thing in English!
English spelling is not your friend.
The spelling does not necessarily tell you
how to pronounce a word, and in many cases
it can be actively confusing.
What other words are like this?
The words ‘choir’ and ‘thoroughly’
are good examples, but there are many more.
What can you do?
You have two choices: you can complain and
make yourself angry at how illogical English
spelling is, or you can learn phonetics.
Remember that in these words, the pronunciation
itself is not generally difficult.
If you have a problem, it’s almost always
because the spelling is confusing.
Unlike English spelling, phonetics are logical
and regular.
Phonetics will never lie to you.
Learn phonetics!
Or just get angry and complain.
Your choice!
Let’s look at one last thing.
Similar to part four, the pronunciation of
‘Worcestershire’ isn’t so difficult,
but the spelling and pronunciation are not
closely connected: ‘Worcestershire’.
In particular, the word Worcestershire has
a lot of silent letters.
In fact, it’s only three syllables: /‘wʊ-stə-ʃe/
Many English place names are like this: the
pronunciation can be difficult to guess from
the spelling.
For example, how would you pronounce these
place names?
Pause the video and think about it if you
want.
Ready?
Let’s check: ‘Leicester.’
‘Salisbury’.
‘Warwick.’
‘Berkshire’.
Did you guess the correct pronunciations?
Again, you can see that the pronunciation
doesn’t match the spelling at all.
Don’t worry if this is confusing.
Many visitors from to the UK from other English-speaking
countries also find it difficult!
Do you remember the sentence from the beginning
of the lesson?
‘The Worcestershire rural brewery queue
is the sixth longest in the world.’
Try saying it.
Has your pronunciation improved?
I hope so!
If not, just keep practising.
It can take time to get better.
What other English words do you find especially
difficult to pronounce?
Let us know in the comments, and maybe they’ll
appear in a future video!
Thanks for watching!
See you next time!