10 pronunciation mistakes RUSSIAN SPEAKERS make | Как улучшить произношение на английском

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2019-02-08 ・ Accent's Way English with Hadar


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10 pronunciation mistakes RUSSIAN SPEAKERS make | Как улучшить произношение на английском

76,902 views ・ 2019-02-08

Accent's Way English with Hadar


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Hey, what's up! It's Hadar and this is the Accent's Way. Today
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we're going to talk about the top 10 pronunciation mistakes
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Russian speakers make. We're gonna talk about why you make those mistakes and also how you can improve.
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So let's begin. The first is
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mispronunciation of the 'a', as in 'cat'. The 'a' sound is an open front vowel
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So, first of all, you have to open your mouth quite wide, which is something that
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Russian speakers don't always like because it doesn't happen in Russian.
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So, the tendency is to open the mouth a little less and the result. Is that the 'a' sound
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becomes 'e' and
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then a word like 'bad' it may sound like 'bed' or
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'cat' may sound like 'ket',
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'hepi' instead of 'happy'. Or you just turn it into an 'a' sound' the 'A' that exists in Russian
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especially when it's at the beginning like in the words
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'after' or
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'accent' instead of 'after' and
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'accent'. To make the 'a' sound you want to make sure that your mouth is open
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But also that your tongue is pushed forward 'a'
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The front part of the tongue is low and flat but the back is high 'a'
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It's like when you when something is disgusting and you're like 'baa' ,'a'
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Make sure it doesn't stay on the 'e' sound
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'he-appy' , 'he-a'
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You can start with an 'e' and then gradually open it to an 'a', 'a' .
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'Happy',
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'lea-st' not 'last',
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'lea-st' and
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cat.
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One of the most important things in English is the primary stress of the word.
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That means the one syllable that sticks out the most in the word.
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So, for example, in the word table, the primary stress is on /teɪ/.
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TABle. If I were to say something like taBLE it would be completely unclear
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especially in context, when you wanna use it in context like 'put it on the taBLE', right?
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What did I just say? Now a table is a
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simple example and no one says 'taBLE'.
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However, when we get to words with three syllables, four syllables and more not all Russian speakers
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but many speakers tend to misplace the stress. So, for example, you may hear someone saying
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'EN-gi-neer' instead of 'en-gi-NEER'.
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'CA-tas-trophe' instead of
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'ca-TAS-trophe'. The primary stress is probably the most important thing when pronouncing words
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You have to listen closely to English, especially
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long words that you use quite often and try to detect what is the primary stress.
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Which syllable which unit is pronounced with the most emphasis, right.
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Usually the primary stress is higher in pitch and longer. Okay, so do not take anything for granted.
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Always look for the primary stress try to detect what is the one syllable that is stressed
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the most, that is higher in pitch that is longer and if you can't tell go to pronunciation dictionaries
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And usually you'll see it in bold or if you read it in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)
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you'll see that the primary stress is marked by an apostrophe to the left of the syllable that is stressed.
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So, in the word 'engineer', it's going to be right before the last syllable near and not at the beginning.
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Okay, so you've got to practice it you've got to listen to it closely and then you'll be able to pronounce words with the right
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stress. In English here is the 'ow' as in 'go' sound.
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It is a diphthong, a changing sound from one vowel to another, 'ow'
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as in 'go'. As you can see I'm starting open and then I'm closing my lips gradually as I'm pronouncing the sound
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'go',
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'low'. A lot of Russian speakers
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substitute this 'ow' sound that doesn't exist in Russian with a similar sound
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that is the neutral 'o' sound in Russian. And then instead of 'gow' you may hear something like 'go'
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instead of 'low'
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'law'. You can even hear it more clearly when the 'ow' appears at the beginning of a word or before another syllable like /only/
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instead of /ownli/ or
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'gol' instead of 'gowl'.
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Okay, so make sure that when you have the 'ow' as in 'go' you round your lips at the end as if you're actually adding
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'w' sound 'gow'
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go
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won't
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won't
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don't
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not don't
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don't
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Okay, so add the 'w' for the 'ow' as in 'go' sound. Now speaking of 'w's Russian doesn't have a 'w' sound, 'w'.
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So, a lot of speakers actually substitute the 'w' sound with a closest sound that does exist in Russian, which is the 'v' sound
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vhy/why,
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vel/well. However,
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most Russian speakers are aware that there is a 'w' sound and they know how to pronounce it
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but then sometimes they overapply it. So instead of just using 'w' when it needed
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sometimes they also use a 'w' when there is a 'v' sound. 'Wery' instead of 'very' and 'ewen' instead of
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'even'.
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The hardest phrase for Russian speakers,
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I think is 'very well' where you have a 'v' sound and a 'w' right after. Try with me 'very well' .
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There's also 'r's and 'l's and else
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So it's a big party of sounds. 'Very well'
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In order to improve you want to make sure that when there is a 'w' sound and. mind you, it's
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not always when you see the letter W.
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Sometimes you hear a 'w' sound when there isn't a 'w'. For example. 'queen', right. Here
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we also have a 'w' sound. So, when there is a 'w' sound
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you want to make sure that the bottom lip does not touch the top teeth.
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'W'. For the 'w' sound the lips round as if you're rounding them for a kiss
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'wha' and
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nothing touches here. The lips are now too close. 'Wha' then it's gonna sound like a very soft 'v'. 'Wha' and
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also the back of the tongue goes up a bit. 'Wha'. For a 'v' the bottom lip touches the top teeth
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creating this friction sound and that is the 'v'
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'very',
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'well',
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'Very well'.
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The next thing is the 'h' sound as an 'hi' or a 'head'.
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When Russian speakers pronounce the 'h' they bring that back over the tongue high up
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creating this tense sound. It sounds something like this 'x-x-x'
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instead of an open free sound 'h'
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like you're breathing out. And then the word 'hello' is going to sound like
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'х-x-xеллоу' and 'hope' becomes 'хоуп'
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'Х-х-хоуп'. You do want to relax the back of the tongue, lower it and create this free open sound 'h'
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as if you're just 'a-h'
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breathing out after a long workout.
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'hi',
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'hi',
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'hello',
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'Hadar' and
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'hope'.
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The American 'L' is often mispronounced by Russian speakers. In Russian there are two different 'L's. There is the 'dark L'.
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'La',
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'La'. And there is the really 'light L, 'Le'. I
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hope I'm pronouncing it correctly.
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'Le'. I got to learn Russian! Anyway, so there is this really 'ultra light L'.
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You know how it sounds.
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I don't want to I don't want to butcher it, and there is 'the dark La sound' that is more
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frequent, more common because that really 'light L' only happens before certain vowels, before front vowels. Now in American English
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there are also two different kinds of 'L's.
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So, there is 'the dark L', the very same 'L' as in Russian
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but it only occurs at the end of words.
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So, that 'La' sound is great when it's at the end of the word or before a consonant like 'well', right.
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So go for it, go as dark as you want 'feel', 'LL',
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milk.
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But try not to apply this really 'dark L'
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when the 'L' is at the beginning of a word or in the middle of the word, 'light',
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'hello', right. You don't want it to be too heavy.
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So you want to reduce the tension in the back of the tongue.
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Actually, what you want to do is bring the tip of the tongue to touch the upper palate and that's about it. 'La'
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'Listen'. Maybe you want to create a little bit of tension here, so it's not ultra light like 'la'
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but 'light' ,
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'listen',
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'hello'. Okay, so soften it out a little bit so it's not too heavy.
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The next thing is the merge of the tense 'ee' as in 'sheep' and the relaxed 'I' as in
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'ship'. They both merge into the same sound that exists in Russian 'и'.
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'sheep',
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'sheep', 'sheep',
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and 'ship'. Okay, so
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first of all, understand that there are two different 'e' sounds in American English and there is no 'и',
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British English as well, not just American, all English dialects.
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So, it's not just one 'и' sound that doesn't exist in English
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The first one is a high 'ee' sound, the tongue is actually higher, the body of the tongue, the tongue rolls forward
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'ee', right, until you feel this really tense sound. 'We',
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'see',
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'feet'.
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Imagine as if you're adding a 'y' sound after the 'ee'.
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'Fee-t', but keep the tongue forward and pushed against the sides of the teeth and don't relax it in the middle,
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so, it doesn't sound like 'fee-yt'.
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'Fee-yt'. And you know what I'm talking about!
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'Feet', okay. Keep it tight until you reach the next consonant.
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That's the high 'ee'. The relaxed 'I' is somewhere between 'i' and 'e', right. 'Sit',
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'kid'. So, you want to think is if you're saying that 'I' sound but you want to drop your jaw relax your lips create space
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between the top and bottom teeth 'I',
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'kid',
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'list',
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'finish'. The relaxed is usually spelled with a letter 'I' but that's not always the case.
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So, don't trust the spelling, start categorizing the words understanding that there are these two
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sounds and that's it, the tense 'ee' and the relaxed 'I'. 'Sheep' and 'ship',
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'Leave' and 'live', not 'leave' and 'leave'
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'beach' and 'bitch'.
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So, it's it's important to practice this vowel pare.
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Another vowel pair that is often confused by Russian speakers is 'the pool vs. pull' vowel pare.
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Here as well a lot of Russians pronounce these two different vowels as the same vowel 'pull' and 'pull'. Now,
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it's the same thing. Here we have a tense 'uw' sound, so it's longer. It's actually double the length of the Russian 'y' sound
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'room',
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'two',
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'you'. So, it's it's as if I'm adding a 'w' sound at the end. 'Two',
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'room',
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'fool'.
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Okay, that's the tense 'uw'. The relaxed 'u' is somewhere between 'u', and 'o' and 'a'.
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'Cook',
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not 'кук'.
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'Cook', 'look'. Imagine like you have a hot potato in the back of your mouth.
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'Foot',
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'push',
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'look',
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'book', 'facebook', not 'faceбук', 'facebook', 'book'.
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'Push', 'look'. And then we have some pears like 'pool-pull',
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'luke' -
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'look',
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'food' - 'foot'.
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'The Russian 'Р' is different from the American 'R'
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sound. So in Russian you bring the tip of the tongue up to trill against the upper palate. 'Р-р-р-р'.
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It's called the trilled 'R'. It's so much fun to pronounce this 'Р'. 'Р-р-р-р'.
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Do it with me. 'Р-р-р-р'.
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Now, in English when you pronounce the 'R,' there is no contact between the tip of the tongue and the upper palate. In fact,
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the 'R' is this state where the tongue just
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stretches in the middle of the mouth
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creating this tension 'R-r' and as a result you hear this 'Urr'.
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sound. 'Ur-r'.
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So, the sides of the tongue touch the sides of the teeth there is contact but only on the sides of the tongue, the
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back of the tongue goes up a little bit and the tip of the tongue can either be up or down
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usually up, 'ur', but not touching anything.
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'Ur'. You also don't want it to be too close because then you'll hear these vibrations
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'vr-vr-vr'. It's kind of like you're you want to pronounce the the Russian 'Р' but you're not really pronouncing it.
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But also it's not really the American 'R'. It's this hybrid 'R' right there in between, 'right',
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right. So, bring the tongue in 'ur'
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'ur', but not too far back. 'Ur', because then it's gonna sound hollow, right. So make sure you round your lips a little
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'hear', and you create that contact between the sides of the tongue and the sides of the teeth. 'ur'.
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'hear', 'car',
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'where'.
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There is no 'th' sound in Russian, but
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unfortunately for some people there is in English. For the 'th' sound the tongue has to come out.
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as in 'think' or as
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in 'they'.
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Because it's difficult and weird to stick the tongue out
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a lot of Russian speakers keep it inside and then it sounds something like an 's'
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'sink' /think,
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'seatre'/theatre or
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'Z' as in zay/they if it's the voiced 'th'.
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Sometimes people substitute it with the 'T'. 'Tanks' instead of 'thanks'.
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So you want to make sure that the tip of the tongue comes out and that it's soft enough to allow the air to pass
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and
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believe me
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I know it feels weird and weird is good and artificial and strange and fake is good at
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the beginning when you practice it. Because it's something that you're super uncomfortable doing. You don't do it in your native tongue.
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So, why would it feel comfortable. Be ok with that
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but do it over and over again until you make it your own and then you get comfortable with it and then it sounds natural
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and effortless.
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Stick the tongue out and drill it in words. Okay, that's it. Thank you so much for watching.
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Please share it with your friends and consider subscribing if you like this video because there is more coming.
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Have a wonderful week, and I will see you next week in the next video. Bye.
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