Use PHONETICS to Fix Pronunciation Problems!

While learning English, you've probably come across some words that

just seem impossible to pronounce.

Don't worry, it happens to all of us.

But today, I'm going to show you how to fix some of the most

common mispronunciations using the International Phonetic Alphabet, or IPA.

Trust me, once you know how to read these little symbols, you'll never have

to guess how a word is pronounced again.

Hello everyone!

If you don't know me, my name is Anna, founder of englishlikeanative.co.uk,

offering an online community and courses to help you to

become fluent English speakers.

So, Why do we mispronounce words in English?

A lot of it comes down to English being a bit of a tricky language when it

comes to spelling versus pronunciation.

Words don't always sound the way they look.

That's where the IPA comes in — it gives us a clear, reliable guide

to pronunciation, no matter how strange the spelling might be.

Today, we're going to look at a few common words that often confuse

people, and I'll show you how to pronounce them correctly using the IPA.

Let's start with this word.

Many learners pronounce this as /ˈkʌmfeteɪbəl/, but native speakers

actually reduce the sounds, and it's pronounced /ˈkʌmftəbəl/.

So, let's just break down some of these weird-looking symbols.

We have two symbols that you've possibly never come across.

The /ʌ/ sound /ʌ/, /ʌ/ nice and easy /ʌ/.

And the schwa sound which sounds like an /ə/, /ə/, /ə/.

So, those are the two symbols that are completely unrecognisable

when you're used to the general characters that we use when spelling.

So this is pronounced, /kʌmf/, /kʌmf/, and then /tə/, and then /bəl/.

Notice that the, or, isn't pronounced here at all.

We go straight from /kʌmf/ to a /tə/ /kʌmf.tə/, /kʌmf.tə/

and then onto /bəl/, /bəl/.

So, try saying it with me.

Comfortable.

Comfortable.

Comfortable.

Once you know the IPA symbols, you can see exactly where to shorten or reduce sounds!

Next up is the word.

This is a tricky one because it has that 'th' sound that's represented

by this symbol — /ð/, /ð/.

Now, many people actually skip that sound entirely, and that's okay.

So you can pronounce it like the word 'close', like 'to

close the door' — 'close'.

That's quite common, but if you want to give it its full pronunciation,

then use the IPA to help you.

We have /kləʊðz/, clothes.

So, we start with C L sound — /kl/, /kl/, /kl/ at the start.

Then we have this moving diphthong sound which is represented by

a simple O and it's /əʊ/, /əʊ/.

So, /kl/, /əʊ/.

Then the tricky /ð/ moving to a /z/ — /ðz/, /ðz/.

You have to slide the tongue between the teeth and then pull back — /ðz/, /ðz/.

Let's put it all together — /kl/ /əʊðz/, /k/ /ləʊðz/ /kləʊðz/, /kləʊðz/.

It is tricky, but remember, it's okay to just simply pronounce it as, close to.

"Today I'm wearing clothes.

How about you?"

Hopefully.

Another word that confuses a lot of learners, which is similar

to comfortable, is this word.

Often people pronounce all the letters saying /ˈvedʒəteɪbəl/, but the actual

pronunciation is slightly reduced and we can see using the IPA it is /ˈvedʒtəbəl/,

/ˈvedʒtəbəl/ — vegetable, vegetable.

Here, the middle part of the word is reduced, so it's not

/ˈvedʒəteɪbəl/, but /ˈvedʒtəbəl/.

So, we start with /ˈvedʒ/, like /ˈvedʒ/, fruit and /ˈvedʒ/ — veg.

And then you've got /t/, the /t/ and the schwa — /tə/, /tə/.

And then — /bəl/, /ˈbəl/.

Let's say it all together — /ˈvedʒtəbəl/, /ˈvedʒtəbəl/.

See?

How much simpler is that?

Once you know the IPA, it's all good.

Here's another one.

Yes, this is a classic.

A lot of people say — /ˈwednezdeɪ/ or /ˈwednesdeɪ/, but native speakers usually

skip over the middle of that and we simply have — /ˈwenzdeɪ/, /ˈwenzdeɪ/.

So, from the IPA symbols, you can see that we drop the first D.

The first D doesn't exist in the pronunciation.

We simply have /wen/, like when — when did it happen?

When, and then a Z — /ˈwenz/, /ˈwenz/, and then /deɪ/ you'll see /eɪ/ is

represented by these IPA symbols /eɪ/.

So, /ˈwenzdeɪ/, /ˈwenzdeɪ/, /ˈwenzdeɪ/.

And just like that you've cracked one of the trickiest

days of the week — Wednesday.

Now the word 'often' has an optional silent letter, the T sound.

Many people don't know whether to pronounce it as /ˈɒftən/ or /ˈɒfən/.

Honestly, it doesn't really matter.

The more common pronunciation leaves out the T and simply is /ˈɒfən/, /ˈɒfən/.

Just make sure that you are pronouncing the vowels correctly.

So, let's break it down.

We start with an /ɒ/ sound — /ɒ/ represented by this symbol — /ˈɒ/

like in the word 'off' and 'on'.

And we have the F there, so it's exactly the same as off, off.

I'm off, see you later, off.

And then the ending is a schwa — /ə/ and an N /n/, — /ˈɒfən/,

/ˈɒfən/, /ˈɒfən/ just like that.

But like I said, if you want to say /ˈɒftən/, that's okay too.

As you can see, the IPA is a fantastic tool to help you to avoid

common pronunciation mistakes.

It shows you exactly which sounds are present, which sounds

we drop, shorten, or blend.

And if you get into the habit of checking the IPA transcription of

tricky words, you'll soon find that your pronunciation improves naturally.

For more help with the IPA, I have two fantastic resources to help you.

The Complete IPA for British English and a guide on how to memorise the IPA symbols.

I'll put links in the description for you.

Now, click that like button if you have any pronunciation struggles and let

me know in the comments which words you struggle with the most and I'll

try to cover it in a future video.

Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next video.