Doctor That's a Long Word! English Pronounce Practice - British English Podcast

Well, hello there.

You are listening to the English Like A Native Podcast, the

podcast that's designed for lovers and learners of English.

I'm your host, Anna, and today we are doing some pronunciation.

Hello everyone.

In this episode, we will be learning how to correctly pronounce some

tricky words that are commonly used in conversations with medical professionals.

Though these words may seem specific to doctors, many of them are

in fact, widely known and used.

So today we shall be focusing specifically on cardiovascular health, cardiovascular.

Now, that in itself is a big word.

Let's just take a quick look at this.

Let's break it down so we have cardio.

Cardio.

This refers to anything heart related.

You'll often hear people in the gym talking about doing a cardio workout.

They may say, oh, I'm not gonna lift weights today, I'm just gonna do cardio.

In this context, cardio refers to exercise that greatly raises your heart rate.

You are exercising your heart.

A cardio workout could involve activities such as running, rowing, or cycling.

It's a workout that raises the heart rate, makes you feel out

of breath, and if you're doing it properly, it should make you sweat.

I always use that as my measure of how much I've worked.

When I've finished doing my cardio, I look at myself and say, am I sweaty enough?

Have I done enough work today?

So cardio doesn't really focus on building muscle.

Cardio is all about the heart.

Now, vascular, cardiovascular, vascular refers to your blood vessels.

Your vascular system is your body's network of blood vessels.

Therefore, cardiovascular refers to your heart and blood vessels.

These two things are part of the same network.

Your heart is the pump that pumps the blood around your vascular system.

Now, doctors who specialise in these areas of the body are called

cardiologists, cardiologists.

Cardiologists are heart specialists and vascular surgeons.

Vascular surgeons, a vascular surgeon is a blood vessel specialist.

Hopefully, you'll never have a reason to visit a cardiologist or a vascular

surgeon, but if you do, fingers crossed that you are in good hands.

Now I promised you that we would look at pronunciation, so let's begin with that

word that we've just been looking at.

Cardiovascular, cardiovascular.

It has six syllables.

Repeat after me.

Cardiovascular, cardiovascular.

Now the tricky part of this word is the end: vascular cular, cular.

We need that.

It's quite tricky to explain this on podcast.

So we need that /j/ sound as if you're saying the word you, /j/

so the back of your tongue is touching the roof of your mouth.

So it's you, not me, but you, ular.

Cular, vascular, vascular, and then you've got to move your tongue tip

up to touch the roof of the mouth.

For the /l/ vascular, vascular.

Many students will struggle with the L sound.

The L is made with the tip of the tongue at the front

touching the roof of the mouth.

So here you've got the /j/, which is the back of the tongue touching

the roof of the mouth, followed by /l/, the tip of the tongue.

So you've got to move the back, and then the front, the back, the

front, the back, the front, like a seesaw, vascular, vascular, vascular.

And you may notice that I don't pronounce the final syllable, which is AR.

We don't pronounce this as R.

Vascular vascular.

Instead, it's pronounced as a schwa sound.

The /ə/ sound.

Vascular.

Vascular.

Vascular.

Okay.

Vascular.

Vascular.

So the whole word is cardiovascular.

Cardiovascular.

Alright, so here are 10 words that are related to cardiovascular health.

Now the first one is hypertension.

Hypertension.

You might also know this as high blood pressure.

High blood pressure.

So whether you are saying, I've got high blood pressure, or

you are using the medical term, hypertension, you must pronounce the H.

And this is just like a breath out, an audible breath.

Hypertension and high blood pressure.

Hy-per-ten-sion.

Hypertension.

Hypertension.

Hypertension.

Have you ever had hypertension?

Right.

Moving on from hypertension, we're going to something that we all should keep

an eye on, which is our cholesterol.

Cholesterol.

Cholesterol is the fatty substance in the blood that can

contribute to heart disease.

So you want to keep your level of cholesterol low.

You don't want lots of fat in your blood because it can block your vessels, can

block your veins, and cause you to have all sorts of problems with your heart.

So we often work towards having low cholesterol.

Cho-lest-er-ol cholesterol.

Now, this is a strange one because it starts with the letters CH, which would

normally be pronounced as /tʃ/ /tʃ/ like chair, but here it just represents

a /k/ sound, which is quite unusual.

Cho-lest-er-ol, cholesterol, cholesterol.

Alright, so this one is really tricky.

Probably the hardest one for me as well.

Atherosclerosis, atherosclerosis.

Now, atherosclerosis is very much a medical term.

This refers to that buildup of plaque in the arteries that

leads to reduced blood flow.

So if you have high cholesterol, it might lead to atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis.

Notice how I stop before saying it each time because I have to prepare

myself for that pronunciation.

So this one has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 syllables.

Again, ath, ath, is the first one we have that TH, ath, the TH should be pronounced

with the tongue between the teeth.

Ath, ath, ath, ath.

It doesn't have to come far out, but just touch the teeth with your tongue, /θ/.

Ath and then we have a schwa /ə/, ather, ather.

And then we have row like to row, row row your boat gently down the stream.

Athero, athero, athero athero.

Life is but a dream Athero.

Athero, and then we have this really tricky constant cluster.

We've got SKL.

Skl, skl, skl, skl, skl, skl.

Can you do that?

Skl, skl.

And then we have row again, row, row, row again.

Athero, sclero, athero, sclero.

And we finish with a sis.

Atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis.

Okay.

Let's move on from that one to an easier, much easier phrase or word.

It's not a phrase, it's a word, Anna.

Come on.

It's the word angina.

Angina.

Angina, angina.

Angina is like a pain in your chest or a discomfort in your chest where

your heart is, which is caused by reduced blood flow to the heart.

Oh, oh, pain, pain, pain.

My angina.

I need my angina tablets.

Another slightly tricky one is arrhythmia.

Arrhythmia.

This has another TH in it and it has an awful spelling.

Arrhythmia.

Arrhythmia.

So, /ə/ schwa.

Ar-rhyth...

Here we have a voiced TH this time.

Ar-rhyth.

So I want to hear that vibration.

Ar-rhyth-mi-a.

Arrhythmia, arrhythmia.

Arrhythmia, it's similar to word rhythm because it's all

about the rhythm of the heart.

It's an irregular heart rhythm.

Arrhythmia.

Many people suffer with arrhythmia later in their life.

Okay, so next we have myocardial infarction.

I don't know why I find this funny.

I think because I used to see this when I, I'm dyslexic so

sometimes I don't see words fully.

I kind of skim them and then misinterpret them.

And I always used to read this as myocardial infaction.

Infaction.

And then when I was preparing for this video, I realised that it's infarction,

which just seems a bit funny to me.

Infarction.

So for that second word, infarction, we have to open our mouth wide.

Infarction.

This is a technical term for a heart attack.

Most of us would just say, heart attack.

I'm having a heart attack.

He's going to have a heart attack.

Don't play squash.

You'll have a heart attack.

Heart attack.

But if you are a doctor or speaking to a doctor or reading your medical notes,

you might see the words myocardial.

There's the word cardio slightly different.

Cardial.

Infarction.

Infarction.

So this is a heart attack that occurs because the blood flow

to the heart has been blocked.

Sounds very scary.

And then even scarier still, we have congestive heart failure.

Congestive heart failure.

You might notice that when I'm saying the word heart, I'm giving

you a long /ɑ:/ vowel, and I'm not pronouncing the letter R, the sound

R, I'm not saying heart, heart, heart.

I'm just giving you a long vowel, followed by a T.

Heart.

Heart.

Like the art is beautiful.

Who painted this?

This is the most beautiful piece of art I've ever seen.

This art is depicting a heart.

Okay, so congestive.

Con, con.

Notice how CON, con, I'm making it weak and saying con.

Con, congestive.

Congestive heart failure.

Okay, and then I think this is the last one on the list.

Maybe it's not.

It's a list of 10, isn't it?

I can't keep count.

Next, we have coronary artery disease.

Coronary artery disease.

Now important, the word disease is quite a common word.

It has two Ss, but they are not pronounced as S.

They're pronounced as a Z.

Disease, disease.

So that is a really common mispronunciation that I hear.

So if you take nothing else from this particular lesson, remember

disease is full of Zs, or as we say in British English, zeds.

Disease.

So coronary.

Coronary coronary.

It's got lots of, uh, schwa sounds, so you have co, co-ron-ary rather than coronary.

Coronary coronary.

And then we have a long /ɑ:/ for artery.

Again, it's like the art of the heart.

Artery.

Artery, coronary artery disease.

This is a condition in which the coronary arteries, which are the important

blood vessels that supply the heart with blood, the really big ones, they

become narrow or they become blocked, which is obviously a huge problem.

So try to avoid getting coronary artery disease.

The next one is very common.

It's a much smaller word, and it's the word stroke.

Stroke to have a stroke.

If you have a stroke, then it means that the blood vessels supplying blood to

the brain become somehow blocked, or you have some sort of clot or bleeding that

affects the supply of blood to the brain.

And this will cause you to have all of these terrible symptoms.

And if it's not caught early, it can be fatal.

So this is often talked about.

There's been a campaign running quite a lot recently reminding you of how

to spot a stroke in time, 'cause you've got very little time to react

when someone's having a stroke.

So stroke, you've got that O and you've got STR at the beginning,

str, str, str, str, str, str.

Stroke, not strok.

It's not an /ɒ/ in the middle.

It's an /əʊ/ stroke, stroke, stroke.

Unfortunately, someone in my family had a stroke a few months ago.

It was a complete shock, came out of nowhere.

He is recovering, uh, but it's a long road back, unfortunately.

So stroke, very common, not a nice thing to deal with.

And the last thing on my list before I move into a very exciting

dialogue is the word palpitations.

Palpitations.

This is something I've probably said quite a lot lately.

A pal-pi-ta-tion.

A palpitation is, it's like when your heart does something unusual

and you become aware of it.

So it could be like a flutter of your heart or like suddenly a rapid

heart beat or an irregular heartbeat.

So sometimes if your heart skips or double beats, you might feel it and you go, oh,

oh, something, I felt something strange.

That's a palpitations.

A palpitational or suddenly if your heart stops throbbing, unusually in your throat,

oh, oh, oh, I'm having palpitations.

People tend to have palpitations when they're stressed or if something's

going on, and they would probably be checked for things like arrhythmia.

Palpitations may go hand in hand with angina.

That pain that you feel in your chest, if there is a problem with the heart.

Like coronary artery disease.

So pal, make sure you get that L.

Pal-pi-ta-tion, a palpitation, a palpitation.

Okay, I think it's time for you to hear all of these words and

little phrases in a dialogue.

I had fun writing this one.

It's a patient and a doctor.

Ladies and gentlemen, here is a dialogue between a doctor with a terrible

bedside manner and a hypochondriac.

Good morning, doctor.

I've been feeling this unbearable heaviness on my chest lately.

I'm convinced it's a heart attack.

Oh, no need to be so melodramatic.

It's probably just indigestion.

Have you been eating those greasy burgers again?

Well, yes, I do enjoy an occasional burger, but I'm worried

it's something more serious.

I've had high blood pressure in the past, you know.

Oh, come on.

A bit of hypertension never killed anyone.

The World Health Organization says it contributes to around

13% of all deaths globally.

Relax.

It's not the end of the world.

We'll check your blood pressure, but I'm sure it's just your

overactive imagination.

Should we check my cholesterol as well?

Could that be causing this heaviness?

Cholesterol, smolesterol.

I doubt you have an issue there.

It's not like you are living on a deep fried diet.

Just cut down on french fries and you'll be fine.

Well, my real concern is atherosclerosis.

I've read about it.

Doctor, it's a silent killer.

What if I'm a ticking time bomb?

You should be an actor.

You are so dramatic.

Unless you are a cheeseburger-eating marathon runner, I highly doubt it.

Now, let's focus on something more probable, like you overreacting

to a little discomfort.

My mum had arrhythmia and my dad had congestive heart failure.

Shouldn't we check for those?

Look, if it makes you happy, we'll run an ECG to look at your heart

rhythm, but it's more likely that you are just getting ahead of yourself.

And of course there's coronary artery disease.

I've heard that.

That's a silent assassin.

You are not exactly a heart disease poster child, my friend.

Just relax.

Take a deep breath and stop googling your symptoms.

Would an ECG rule out a stroke, doctor?

Better to be safe than sorry.

What makes you think you're having a stroke?

Well, my left arm was a bit numb when I woke up this morning.

Let me guess.

You were sleeping on your left side.

That's right.

Oh dear.

What is it?

A classic case of pins and needles caused by lying on your

arm for a prolonged period.

Now, is that all?

No, I'm also having palpitations.

Palpitations.

It's probably just caffeine addiction playing tricks on you.

Cut back on the energy drinks and calm down.

Thank you doctor for your, uh, reassuring words.

I feel so much better now.

You are welcome.

I guess.

Just remember, not every little twinge means you have a heart problem.

Stay calm, take care of yourself, and try not to make a mountain out of a molehill.

Now, please leave before you convince yourself you're on the verge of a

cardiac arrest, or I may be forced to crack out the defibrillator.

Next.

Now, I do hope you found today useful.

I hope that it helped you a little with some vocabulary, medical

understanding, and pronunciation.

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I do hope to see you again soon, or I hope to tickle your eardrums.

Until next time, take care and goodbye.