12 Words You're (probably) Pronouncing Wrong | Even my advanced students make these mistakes!

Today, let's improve your pronunciation.

We're going to review common words  that are difficult to pronounce,  

and these words are even difficult  to pronounce for native speakers.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course.

I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

Our first word.

Do you know how to pronounce this?

Well, it's not hyperbole, because remember,  spelling and pronunciation are not the same.

In English, you cannot learn  pronunciation from the spelling.

So this isn't hyperbole.

It's hyperbole.

Hyperbole.

So listen to that syllable.

Stress hyperbole.

Now your turn.

Repeat it out loud.

Hyperbole.

Hyperbole is a way of speaking  where you make exaggerated claims,  

but they're not meant to be taken literally.

We use hyperbole every single day.

If you've ever said I didn't sleep at all  last night, of course that's just hyperbole.

I slept for three hours.

Our next word.

This is one that I didn't know how  to pronounce when I first saw it.

Do you know how to say this?

When I first saw it, I said Quay Quay.

But it isn't.

There's no qua sound in it.

It's simply key.

Key.

Like a key to your house.

So that one's easy.

Repeat it.

Key.

Now what is a key?

It's a stone structure, and boats are tied to it  so they can load and unload goods and passengers.

That's a key.

You could say the tourist strolled  along the key, our next word.

This is an important communication technique  that you can use to sound very professional.

Do you know how to pronounce it?

Well, it's not segue.

It's segue segue.

So the syllable stress is on segue, segue.

Repeat it.

Segue.

Now I said this is an important  communications technique.

A segue is when you transition from  one topic of conversation to another,  

and if you do it very professionally then you  will look like an excellent public speaker.

Let's say you're in a meeting and  the topic is accounting software  

and then someone asks a question and  the question is about expense reports.

The presenter could say that questions a great  segue to our next slide on filing reports.

So it's a great segue.

The question act as a way to transition  from one topic to another topic.

That's a great segue.

That's a good segue, our next word.

A lot of native speakers have  no idea how to pronounce this  

because it isn't a word of English origin.

So they'll say a Kai or a si, but that's not it.

It's Asayi asayi repeatant asayi.

Now this is a Berry,  

a Berry from Brazil that's very popular  in North America for its health effects.

A lot of restaurants and cafes serve this  Berry commonly in smoothies or breakfast.

So you might say I'll have a  smoothie with acai and pineapple.

MMM Yum.

That sounds delicious.

And acai berries are a total scam.

How about this one?

Every time I see the spelling, it confuses me.

So I have to think about how it's spelled  phonetically, because it's not Colonel.

Colonel.

It's Colonel Colonel.

Repeat that, Colonel.

And of course, a Colonel is a position, a  high-ranking position in the Army or the military.

But when I hear Colonel, I always  think of Colonel Sanders from KFC.

Did you know that Colonel Sanders  founded KFC when he was 62 years old?

Isn't that incredible?

And it just goes to show that it's  never too late to start our next word.

Sometimes native speakers and students confuse  this syllable stress and they say artisanal,  

and they put the syllable stress  on zone, which isn't correct.

The correct pronunciation is artisanal,  tisanal, that's the syllable stress.

Artisanal.

Repeat that artisanal.

Now artisanal represents goods  that are made in a traditional  

way by someone who is skilled with their hands.

I always think of bakeries that  sell artisanal bread, for example.

So you might say I bought some  artisanal bread at that new cafe.

Our next word.

This is one that is debated by native speakers  because some native speakers add an extra  

syllable and they say realtor, realtor, and  they say it with three syllables realtor,  

when in fact it's two syllables, realtor, realtor.

So if you hear a native speaker say realtor, just  know that that's an alternative pronunciation.

But some people get really annoyed  by it, some native speakers.

So stick to two syllables because that's the  correct way, and say realtor, repeat realtor.

You got it.

And of course, a realtor is someone  who sells your home for you,  

represents you in the transaction of  buying and selling a home or property.

Oh, he's my realtor.

I'm both your Realtors.

Our next word.

This is something that I eat  frequently as part of my diet.

Many native speakers have no idea how to say this.

I've heard some funny pronunciations like  quinoa, quinoa, but it's actually quinoa, quinoa.

So that emphasis on Keene quinoa.

Repeat that.

Quinoa.

Now quinoa is a grain and you can  cook it very similar to rice and  

you can use it as a substitute  to rice and it's very tasty.

Our next word.

This is another one that really annoys some native  

speakers when all their native  speakers pronounce it incorrectly.

Do you know what the issue is?

Some native speakers will say it with an X sound,  espresso, espresso, espresso, espresso, espresso.

And it really bothers some other native speakers  who know it should be espresso with an S sound.

So make sure you have that espresso, espresso.

Repeat after me espresso if you're Italian.

Of course you have no issues  pronouncing this word.

Now, As for me, I don't like espresso.

I find it's too strong.

But I love cappuccinos, which is espresso  with some steamed milk, our next word.

This is also one that I frequently  don't know how to pronounce.

When I see the spelling of it and it confuses  me and I forget the actual pronunciation when  

I see the spelling, I want to say  Peony Peony, but it's Peony Peony.

So emphasis on that Peony.

Repeat that Peony.

Now, if you didn't know, Peony  is a beautiful flowering plant.

I have 3 peonies in my garden.

I love watching them bloom in early summer.

I have two white peonies and  one pink Peony, our next word.

This is another one where native speakers commonly  add an extra syllable when it's not needed.

And technically it's incorrect.

It's incorrect pronunciation, so native speakers  

will say verbiage E edge so they  add that extra syllable verbiage.

You can hear that extra syllable in this clip.

Let's listen now.

There's that classy verbiage I love so much.

There's that classy verbiage I love so much.

But there should only be two  syllables, verbiage, Verbage.

Repeat that verbiage.

Now this is an important  one for language learners.

Verbiage is language that is unnecessarily  

complicated and contains a  lot of unnecessary words.

So this is a negative thing and it's  used to criticize a communicator.

Someone might complain and say  his explanation contains so much  

technical verbiage that I couldn't understand it.

Our next word, one I hear many different  pronunciations of for native speakers.

I hear almond, al, but it's not al.

It's al, almond, almond.

And the emphasis is on that al almond.

Repeat that almond.

And of course an almond is a type of nut.

In North America right now is  very popular to offer almond  

milk as an alternative to dairy to cow's milk.

Is it the same in your country?

So you might go to a cafe and say can you  make me a drink with espresso and almond milk?

Did you enjoy improving your pronunciation?

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