English Pronunciation Level Test: What is your score out of 15?

Hello, lovely students, and welcome  back to English with Lucy. Today,  

I am going to test your pronunciation level.

Clear and accurate pronunciation is  key to effective communication, but

pronunciation is often neglected in  classrooms and in learning materials,  

and it can be really difficult to know  how good your pronunciation really is. So,  

that's why I've created today's lesson for you.

We're going to go through 15 pronunciation  questions designed to test your skills,  

from beginner to advanced level.

Let's take a look at those levels now:

So, for the beginner section,

pronunciation isn't really closely tied to a level  of English, but we're looking at around A1 to A2  

level. For the intermediate section, around  B1 to B2 and for advanced around C1 to C2.

At the beginner level, you should be able  to articulate most individual consonant and  

vowel sounds, like 'a,' 'sh' and 'g',  clearly. You will also know where to  

place words stress on many basic words. For  example—'APPle,' 'baNAna'—and you'll also be  

able to accurately place stress in simple  sentences like—'I WANT to GO for a WALK'.

Listeners should be able to  understand most of what you're saying,  

but sometimes pronunciation  will cause miscommunications.

At the intermediate level B1 to B2, you  will generally be able to use intonation  

appropriately, and that means that the  pitch of your voice will go up or down,  

depending on the meaning you  are trying to get across.

You will start to have a better understanding of  English rhythm, including strong and weak forms.

You will also begin to join words together with  vowel-to-vowel and consonant-to-vowel linking.

And at the advanced level and beyond C1 to C2,

you'll not only expertly and almost effortlessly  do everything we've mentioned so far,  

but you'll also be able to use intonation  and stress to reinforce and convey meaning.

Also, please note that I am teaching  Modern Received Pronunciation—my accent.

Now, if you're interested in finding out  more about the different pronunciation  

features from beginner to advanced,  and you want to get a better in-depth  

understanding of how good your  English pronunciation really is,

I've created something for you. You can  check out my new English Pronunciation  

Test. Today's video will give you  a good idea of your general level,  

but the test will go into much  more detail and will give you a  

clearer picture of your pronunciation,  strengths, and the areas to work on.

I'm offering it to you for free. If you would  like to take this new free Pronunciation  

Test, you can click on the link in the  description box or scan that QR code there.

You take the test and I will  send you your results by email.

Right, let's get started,

make sure you write down your  score because I'll ask you to  

share it at the end, in the comment section.

Question number 1, read these words out  loud, which word has a different vowel sound?

I'll give you 5 seconds to think about it.

'Hear' is different as it has  the /ɪə/ diphthong. 'Bear',  

'wear' and 'there' are all  pronounced with the diphthong /eə/.

Question number 2—in which of these nouns does the  

plural 's' add an extra syllable  to the pronunciation of the word?

The answer is A) changes. When the last sound  of a noun is /s/, /z/, /tʃ/, /ʃ/ or /dʒ/,  

we add an extra syllable to the  word /iz/, to make it plural.

The noun change ends in the /dʒ/  sound, so 'change' becomes 'changes'.

Some other examples are 'watch' - 'watches',  'prize' - 'prizes', and 'class' - 'classes'.

Number 3—say these words out loud, which  syllable is stressed? The first or the second,  

and remember, a stressed syllable is generally  louder and pronounced with more energy.

So, which sounds more natural to you—'HOtel',  

'Event' and 'POlice' or  'hoTEL', 'eVENT', 'poLICE'?

The correct answer is B), stressed on the  second syllable—'hoTEL', 'eVENT', 'poLICE'.

Although most two-syllable nouns like 'APPle',  'TAble' and 'LONdon' are stressed on the first  

syllable, there are many exceptions. Can you  think of any more? Let me know in the comments.

Question number 4—how do we pronounce  the letters -ed at the end of this word?

Is it A) /d/, B) /t/ or C) /ɪd/?

It's B) /t/ 'worked'.

We matched the unvoiced consonant  /k/ with the unvoiced /t/.

Words ending with voiced consonants or vowels  sounds add /d/. For example—'apply', 'applied'.

The only exceptions are words which  end in /t/ and /d/ which are pronounced  

/ɪd/ and add an extra syllable to the  word—'want' - 'wanted', 'need' - 'needed'.

Question number 5—look at this sentence.  Which words would we normally stress?

Pause the video now and  read the sentence out loud.

Let me give you a little bit of help,  which sounds more natural to you?

A) 'YOU SHOULD take AN umbrella  WITH YOU BECAUSE IT'S raining.'  

Or—'You should TAKE an UMBRELLA  with you because it's RAINING.'

The correct answer is B) 'You should TAKE  an UMBRELLA with you because it's RAINING.'

In English, we usually stress content  words such as nouns, verbs and adjectives.

Grammar words like articles and prepositions,  

and modal and auxiliary verbs in the  positive aren't generally stressed.

Okay, how are you getting on so far?

I hope you're keeping track of your score so that  you can let me know your total in the comments.

It's time to move on to some more intermediate  pronunciation features for question number 6.

We've already looked at word stress in  2 syllable words. Let's take a look at  

word stress in some longer words.  Read these 4 syllable words aloud,

which word has a different stress pattern and  

isn't stressed on the second  syllable? Pause the video now.

Okay, listen and repeat. You still  have time to change your answer.

'Ingredients', 'uncomfortable',  'celebration', 'incredible'.

Final answer, the word with a different  stress pattern is C) celebration.

Words which end in the suffix -tion (T-I-O-N) are  usually stressed on the syllable just before the  

suffix—'inforMAtion', 'defiNItion'.

Prefixes, like the (U-N-) or -un in  uncomfortable aren't usually stressed.

And did you notice I said 'un-comf-ta-ble' with  4 syllables not 'un-com-for-ta-ble' with 5.

It's more common to pronounce it this way.

Question number 7—look at these words.  Can you identify the silent letter in  

each one? A silent letter is a  letter which is not pronounced.

For example, the 'n' in 'autumn'.

Pause the video now and read them out loud.

Okay, here are the silent letters.

'Answer'. 'Answer'.

I don't pronounce the 'w',  and I don't pronounce the 'r'.

In my Modern RP accent, I don't normally pronounce  

the letter 'r' unless it's  followed by a vowel sound.

So, technically the letter 'r' is silent here too.

We also have 'island' with a silent 's'.

'Biscuit' with a silent 'u'.

'Receipt' with a silent 'p'

and muscle with a silent 'c'.

Well done, if you got them all.

You have to get them all right to score one point.

Okay, now it's time for question  number 8—read this sentence out loud,

paying close attention to the words in bold.

Which sentence sounds closer to your version?

'The class was /wəz/ so engaging that I  can /kən/ still remember every detail.'

Or B) 'The class was /wɒz/ so engaging that  I can /kæn/ still remember every detail.'

Now, if your pronunciation sounded  more like B) the second version,  

I'm sorry to tell you that it's the wrong answer.

In English, many grammar words  have a strong and a weak form.

The weak form of 'was' is /wəz/ and  the weak form of 'can' is /kən/.

We generally use weak forms in statements  and questions unless we need to emphasise  

something. So, it's not wrong to use the  strong forms. It just sounded less natural.

So, try to use the weak forms with /ə/ to  make your pronunciation sound more natural.

Question 9—contractions like  'she's' instead of 'she is'.  

And 'I'd' instead of 'I would' or 'I  had', a very common in spoken English.  

But do you know how to pronounce  the contracted forms accurately?

Take a look at this sentence  in the third conditional.

Try to read it out loud with the contracted forms.

Okay, here's a clue.

Give it another go if you need to.

Are you ready to compare your version with mine?

'We /ˈwʊdntəv/ bought the house if /wiːd/  known about the plans to build the road.'

That's right. 'Would not have' contracts  to /ˈwʊdntəv/. Or even just /ˈwʊdntə/.

And 'we had' contracts to /wiːd/.

Now, remember, you don't have to use  contractions and double contractions  

when you speak, but it does help speed  things up and you'll sound more fluent.

Question number 10—let's have  a look at another feature of  

connected speech. Linking vowel sounds together.

We often add an extra sound  between words to join vowel  

sounds together smoothly and speak more fluidly.

Take a look at this phrase. Read it out loud  

and try to connect the vowel sounds  highlighted with either /j/ or /w/.

Here are the answers:

'Why /j/ are you going to /w/  arrive so /w/ early /j/ in  

the /j/ evening?' 'Why /j/ are you going to /w/  arrive so /w/ early /j/ in the /j/ evening?'

When a word ends in /iː/, /i/, /aɪ/, /ɔɪ/ or /eɪ/,

we can smooth the transition  to the following vowel

sound

by adding /j/.

When a word ends in /uː/, /əʊ/ or /aʊ/, we can  join the vowel sounds together with a soft /w/.

Now, although it isn't obligatory  to do this, it can help you avoid  

unnecessary pauses between words and  speak more quickly and efficiently.

Okay, we're done with the intermediate section.  Let's go to the advanced or expert level section.

Question 11—let's test your intonation.

Read this short dialog out loud.  Does your voice go up or go  

down at the end of each  phrase? Pause the video now.

Are you ready for the answers? Here they are:

'What do you fancy doing tonight? I'm  not sure. Is it going to rain? Well,  

if it rains, we can just stay in.'

Intonation usually falls for open questions  and statements and usually rises for yes/no  

questions. In conditionals, there's  usually a rise in the 'if' clause.

'What do you fancy doing tonight? I'm  not sure. Is it going to rain? Well,  

if it rains, we can just stay in.'

Question 12—let's examine how  stress can convey meaning.

Read these sentences out loud, placing  the main stress on the word in bold.

Okay, now match each sentence with the meaning.

Are you ready to check?

Number 1—'I didn't say she stole the  money.' The stress on the 'I' suggests  

that someone else did, like Jim. 'I didn't say she stole the MONEY.'

By stressing the object, I  draw attention to the mistake.

'I didn't say she stole the MONEY.'

(It was a monkey she stole, not money.)

And the last one—'I didn't  say she STOLE the money.'

Here, the action is incorrect.

She didn't steal the money. She did something  else with it. Like borrow it, for example.

Okay question number 13—listen carefully  and decide what happens to the /t/

sound

in this sentence.

Is it A) pronounced clearly, B)

changed to /k/

or C) changed to /d/?

Shadow me now.

'I heard that Claire doesn't  want Gary to come to the party.'

Can you feel the back of your tongue  lift up at the back of the throat?

If so, congratulations. You're making a /k/ sound.

This process of sounds changing  is called assimilation.

It's not obligatory, but it does  make speaking more efficient.

Question 14, we're nearly at the end here.

I'm going to read the same sentence twice. Which  

statement sounds genuine  and which sounds sarcastic?

I'm going to hide my face so  you can't see my body language.

'Well, that went exactly as planned.'

'Well, that went exactly as planned.'

So, in the second example, my tone of  voice implied that I was being sarcastic.

Okay, time for our final question, number 15—pause  the video and read this out loud. Think about  

where you would naturally pause and which words  you would chunk together without any pauses.

Okay, let me add in the punctuation to help you,

have another go if you want to.

Now, here's my model.

Notice how I take a slight pause after a  comma and a longer pause after a full stop.

Feel free to shadow me to practice.

'Taking risks can feel frightening,  / but it's often the only way to  

grow. // If we let fear hold  us back, / we might miss out  

on great opportunities. // By trying, /  we discover what we're truly capable of.'

Right, that brings us to the end of the  test. Let me know your scores out of 15.

And don't forget to share  your score in the comments.

In today's lesson, we've only had time to  briefly touch on some key pronunciation features.

If you want to get a better understanding  of your pronunciation skills,

don't forget to try my test—it has  45 questions designed to help you  

notice your strengths and areas for  improvement. It's free! You can click  

on the link in the description  box or scan that QR code there.

I will see you soon for another lesson. Muah!