10 mispronounced words in EDUCATION and ACADEMIA | American English Pronunciation Lesson

Hey, it's Hadar and this is the Accent's Way.

Today I'm going to teach you how to pronounce the top ten words in education.

Let's begin with

'education'

You start with an 'eh' sound and then it's a 'dj' sound.

It is not a 'd-' sound there is no 'd' here.

It's a 'dj' as in

'judge'

as in

'Germany'

'eh-dj'

'dj'

The next vowel is an 'u' as in 'cook'.

Primary stress right after is 'KEI'.

And then you drop again to

'sh'n'

'sh'n'

It's a Schwa. So don't pronounce it as 'shion'. It is not French.

'eh-dju-KEI-sh'n'

If it's difficult for you to pronounce the 'u' as in 'cook' in the second syllable, then just drop it to a schwa.

'eh-dj'-KEI-sh'n'

'academia'

'academia' the first sound is the 'a' as in 'cat' and then it's a 'k' sound.

A 'k' and a schwa

'a-kuh'

So it's not 'aca'

'a-kuh'

'DEE', high 'e', so pull your lips to the side, and then another high 'e'

but a little lower in pitch, because it's not the primary stress

'a-kuh-DEE-mee'

And then it's a 'y' sound and another schwa.

'yuh'

'yuh'

It's like you're very cool about it.

'yuh'

'a-kuh-DEE-mee-yuh'

'a-kuh-DEE-mee-yuh'

'student'

'student', start with an 's' sound and then stop it abruptly with a 't'

'st'

And then open it up to an 'uw' as in 'food'

'stew'

'stew'

The long 'uw' sound is a transitional sound, so you hear it forming up as you pronounce it

'stew'

'ew'

So bring your lips forward at the end, imagine like you have a little 'w'.

'stew'

Don't add any vowels at the beginning.

Not 'estudent'

No start with a long 's'

's...'

Move on to the 't' and then to long 'uw' sound.

'stew'

The second part is

'dn't'

'dn't'

That's kind of a weird sound.

That's because the 'd', the 'n' and the 't' blend in together, for all three consonants here, the tip of the tongue is up.

So basically what you're doing is you bring the tip of the tongue up for the 'd'

You make a 'd' sound, but you don't release it.

'dn't'

You just release it through the nose, so you don't drop your tongue.

'dn't'

And then the 'n' is held abruptly by the held 't' at the end.

'dn't'

'dn't'

So it's

'stew-dn't'

'stew-dn't'

If it's too difficult, you can release slightly the 'd'.

'stew-dn't'

'stew-dn't'

So either

'stew-dn't'

or 'stew-dn't'

Both are okay, use whatever feels more comfortable.

'pedagogy'

'pedagogy', it's a 'p' sound at the beginning of the word, so it's aspirated.

So it feels like there is a little 'h' after

'peh'

'peh'

'pehdagogy'

'pehdagogy'

'peh'

'peh'

Then you drop your jaw for the 'e' as in 'red'.

The second syllable is

'd'

'd'

It's a 'd' sound and then a schwa.

Because the 'd' is between two vowels, it's a very light 'd'.

'peh-d'

'peh-d'

The next syllable is 'gow' as in 'go away'.

So you have a 'g' sound and then a long 'ow' diphthong.

So make sure you start with an open 'o' and then close it to an 'u', as if there is a 'w' there

'gow'

'gow'

'p-eh-d'-gow'

And then it's a 'dj' sound and a high 'e'

'djee'

'djee'

'p-eh-d'-gow-djee'

I have heard people saying

'p-eh-d'-gaa-djee'

with the 'aa' as in 'father', so both are okay, you can either say

'p-eh-d'-gow-djee'

or

'p-eh-d'-ga-djee'

The next pair is

'thesis'

and

'theses'

singular and plural.

To say the word 'thesis' you start with a 'th' sound, so make sure you stick the tongue out and release air.

Allow the air to pass otherwise it's still gonna sound like a 't'

't-sis'

'th'

And then push the tongue forward for a high 'e', pull the lips to the sides a bit

'thee'

'thee'

The second syllable is

'sis'

'sis'

An 's' sound, not a 'z', is not

'thezis'

But an 's', a relaxed 'i' as in 'sit' and another 's' at the end.

'thee-sis'

You can also drop the second syllable into a Schwa

'the-s's'

'thee-sis' or 'the-s's'

That's the singular form, to say the plural form change the second syllable into a high 'e' sound

and a 'z' at the end.

'thee-seez'

'thee-seez'

'see' as in 'I see you'

'sees' as in 'he sees it'

'thee-seez'

'thee-sis' and 'thee-seez'

'syllabus'

It's an 's' sound and the 'i' as in 'sit'.

'si', that's the primary stress, so it's going to be higher in pitch than the rest of the syllables

'si'

The second syllable is an 'L' sound and a schwa.

'luh'

'luh'

The 'L' is a little heavy, so you want to engage the back of your tongue a bit

'luh'

But don't make it too heavy.

'si-luh'

And then it's a 'b' sound, a schwa and an 's'

'si-luh-b's'

'si-luh-b's'

To say the plural form, you want to end it with

'bai'

as in 'bye bye for now'

'si-luh-bai'

'si-luh-bai'

You can also say 'syllabuses'. No one's gonna kill you.

'syllabi' or 'syllabuses'

'curriculum'

'curriculum', you start with a 'k' sound and then a schwa

' k' '

' k' '

A 'k' sound is also aspirated at the beginning of a word, so there is a little 'h' after

' k' '

' k' '

The primary stress is the second syllable, an 'r' sound and the 'i' as in sit.

'ri'

'ri'

Round your lips for the 'r', pull the tongue in and make sure your tongue doesn't touch anything.

So it's not

'k'-RRi'

or

'k'-gri'

'k'-ri'

The next syllable is a 'k' sound a 'y' and a Schwa.

'k'-ri-kyuh'

'yuh'

Don't skip the 'yuh' sound

'k'-ri-kyuh', it's a 'y' as in 'yes', and then a schwa.

'k'-ri-kyuh'

And then an 'L' sound, make it a little darker by engaging the back of your tongue, a schwa sound and an 'm'.

' l'm '

' l'm '

'k'-ri-kyuh-l'm'

A lot of schwas in this word.

'k'-ri-kyuh-l'm'

'graduate' or 'graduate'

Both the noun and the verb are spelled the same but pronounced differently.

Let's start with a noun

let's start with a noun

A 'graduate'

For example, a high school graduate.

You start with a 'g' sound, and then round your lips for the 'r' and lift the tongue up

'gr'

And then it's the 'a' as in 'cat'

'gra'

'gra'

Then it's a 'dj' sound, again a 'd' that sounds like a 'dj' as in 'giraffe'

'gra-dj'

Don't forget to round your lips at the end, close them up nicely to a 'w' sound.

'gra-djuw'

And then for the noun, we finish it up with a schwa.

' w't' '

' w't' '

'gra-dju-w't'

In between you have a sound that sounds like a 'w' sound

'gra-dju-w't'

' w't' '

The verb ends with 'eit', so again, it spelled the same, but the verb turns into the 'ei' as in 'day'.

So the beginning is the same

'gra-dju-weit'

'gra-dju-weit'

'I'm a high school graduate'

or

'I need to graduate high school'

'methodology', you start with an 'm' sound and then is the 'e' as in 'red'

'meh'

'meh'

Then stick the tongue out for the 'th' and drop your tongue down right after to a schwa

' meh-th' '

' th' '

' th' '

You want to make sure that air passes between your tongue and teeth so it doesn't sound like a 't'

'meh-t'

'meh-t'

' meh-th' '

Then the primary stress is a 'd' sound and then the 'aa' as in 'father'

'meh-th'-daa'

'daa'

Drop your jaw, relax your lips.

It's not 'meh-th'-do'

'meh-th'-daa'

Both vowels here are not an 'o' sound. One is a schwa

'uh'

One is the 'aa' and father

'aa'

'meh-th'-daa'

And then the suffix '-logy', is an 'l' sound and then a schwa

L

L

A 'dj' sound

'dj'

And then a high 'e'

L-djee'

L-djee'

'l'-djee'

As in 'anthropology'

'geology'

and

'methodology'

'methodology'

'campus'

'I love hanging around the campus'

'campus'

It starts with a 'k' sound and then it's the 'a' as in 'cat'

Push your tongue forward, pull the lips to the sides and drop your jaw.

'ka'

'kam'

Because there is an 'm' sound right after, the 'a' sound is a little milder, it's a little stretched out.

It's not a pure strict 'a' sound as in the word 'cat', listen to the difference

'cat'

'kam'

'kam'

If I were to pronounce it the same, it would have sounded like 'kam'

'kam'

Sounds a little British.

In American English when the 'a' appears before a nasal sound like an 'm' or an 'n', we stretch it out.'

It's like we're adding an 'e' sound before or a schwa sound right after

'kam'

'kam'

As in 'camera' or 'campaign'

'kam'

'kam'

The second syllable is a 'p' sound, a schwa and an 's'

' p's '

' p's '

' p's '

So it's not an 'u' sound, it's not

'kam-pus' or 'kam-pos'

It's 'kam-p's'

' p's '

Make sure that you do stick the tongue forward for the front vowel

'a'

'kam' and you don't centralize it to something like

'compass'

'compass'

Because then it will start sounding like the 'aa' as in father

and that's already a different word.

'compass'

'compass'

'campus'

'compass'

That's it! These were the top ten words in education.

If you liked it and you want to practice it, you can download a list of all of these ten words.

You'll get a PDF sheet with the words written out phonetically and also an audio of me saying these words

with examples in sentences.

And the only way to change your pronunciation habits and learn the new

pronunciation is by repetition so you can do it with the audio drills.

That's it, don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and please share this video with your friends

your students, your teachers and anyone else that is curious about education like me.

Also, let me know in the comments below which word was completely new to you

and if you have other suggestions for more words, write them in the comments below as well.

Thank you for watching, and I will see you next week in the next video.

Bye.