10 British Brands You Pronounce Incorrectly

Hello Eat Sleep Dreamers.

What is your favourite British brand?

Ted Baker?

Jack Wills?

or maybe Paul Smith?

Today we're looking at how to say ten famous British brands correctly.

One of Britain's most famous fashion brands, Burberry.

It looks like Bur berry, in fact we only have three syllables.

Let's look at that separately.

So Bur is the same sound as bird so Bur.

Then Burbe is the schwa sound, so it's Burberry same sound as tree but without the /t/.

Let's say it all together Burberry.

You can see there, the stress is on the first syllable, Burberry.

Let's put it into an example sentence 'I love my Burberry coat.'

A quick tip if you want to practise your pronunciation for a certain word is not to repeat the same

sound Burberry Burberry etc.

That's really boring, you're going to fall asleep, you're not going to want to practise.

So what I suggest is changing the speed, the volume, the amount of times you say a word.

Sometimes sing it, so just say Burberry, Burberry, Burberry, Burberry etc.

Just play with the words, that's what I'd suggest, just play with the word.

Don't just say Burberry Burberry you are going to fall asleep, you're going to be so bored.

Play with it, make it exciting Burberry, make it sad Burberry, make it funny Burberry.

OK, maybe this is something to do when you are practising at home but just play with

the word and it'll make it more fun when you practise saying the word.

Another British designer Paul Smith.

Let's look at that first name.

Paul so my lips, it's the /p/ sound, so my lips are going out, so Paul and to make the

'ul' sound my tongue goes up.

The tongue is doing a lot of work to make this name correctly.

So Paul.

Paul Smith, so it's Smith.

At the end there you've got the /th/ sound.

Now to make that sound you need your tongue touching your top teeth and then you are blowing

air out.

So Smith, Paul Smith.

Let's put that into an example sentence 'Paul Smith is my favourite designer'.

Probably Britain's most famous car company Rolls-Royce.

Now this is a tricky one so let's look at different sounds that we need.

So the first and most important sound /r/.

Now I know this one causes a lot of problems for some speakers of English.

The /r/ sound, the most important thing, your tongue is doing nothing.

Let it relax, let it chill out, take a holiday.

The /r/ sound you don't need your tongue.

So Rolls-Royce, Rolls- Royce.

Now at the end of Rolls you've got the /z/ sound.

Rolls so a very subtle sound Rolls-Royce and at the end of Royce you've got the /s/ sound.

Rolls-Royce.

Let's put that into an example sentence 'Rolls-Royce make engines for airplanes.'

Another famous fashion brand Ted Baker.

Baker is the same pronunciation as the job, the person that makes bread, baker.

Ted Baker.

Let's put that into an example sentence 'I just bought a Ted Baker shirt.'

Next one, Jack Wills.

I remember when I lived in Hong Kong I used to see so many people wearing Jack Wills t-shirts

and shorts and all those kind of things.

Ok, so Jack Wills.

Jack and then Wills, the /w/ sound can be quite difficult /w/.

So lips are close and then we just push air out air /w/ Wills.

At the end there the /z/ sound Wills, so Jack Wills.

And an example sentence 'There's a sale at Jack Wills.'

Easily Britain's most famous shop and now a brand in itself Harrods.

Let's break that down, so we've got Harrods.

At the end there there's a /z/ sound Harrods.

The stress is on the first syllable.

If yo don't know what Harrods is check out Mr Bean's Christmas special.

He goes to Harrods in that it's pretty hilarious.

Let's put that into an example sentence 'Harrods is one of London's most famous shops.'

One of Britain's most popular female designers Cath Kidston.

Cath which is a short form of the name Catherine has the /th/ sound again.

So again tongue touching your top teeth and blowing air out.

Cath and then Kidston, Cath Kidston.

Let's put that into an example sentence 'I love your Cath Kidston bag.'

Remember if you find any of these names difficult just rewind and listen again, rewind and listen

again and hopefully with time and practice you'l be able to pronounce them perfectly.

Another famous car company Jaguar.

Now this looks difficult, it's actually not that hard.

Three sounds Jaguar.

Stress is on the first syllable, Jaguar and an example sentence 'My next door neighbour

drives a jaguar.'

They are famous for making big strong boots and I'm sure most people have had a pair in

their lives Dr Martens.

Two names, Dr and then Martens.

When you put it together personally I don't pronounce the /k/ sound on that C the/k/ Dr

I would just say Do Martens.

So actually not saying the /k/ sound.

Let me put that into a practise sentence for you 'I used to have a pair of Dr Martens.'

Our final brand for today Mulberry.

Now just like our first brand Burberry there are three sounds.

It looks like Mulberry but in fact it's three sounds Mulberry.

Ok, let's put that into an example sentence 'I'd love to have a Mulberry bag.'

Are there any other British brands that I've missed out guys?

Let me know in the comments below and also tell me which ones do you find hardest to

pronounce?

Alright if you want any more English lessons please check out my website which is Eat Sleep

Dream English dot com.

But for now guys, this is Tom the English Hipster saying goodbye.