More Difficult English Words to Pronounce for ESL Students!

Welcome back!

You asked for more, so we're giving you more!

The first word of today is "sixth"

Say it slowly with me : "sixth"

But, you wanna do it the easy cheaty way, right?

So, the easy cheaty way is this :

Just say it like "sikth"

"Sikth"

So it looks more like this : "Sik-th"

"Sikth"

Say it with me : "sikth"

If you say it alone, like "sikth",

it might sound a bit strange.

But, in a sentence, like for example :

Then, of course, it's more common to just say "sikth".

If your birthday is on the sixth of December, write it in the comments, we'll say happy birthday to you!

Even when you're saying it correctly,

that "f", the second /f/ sound is very very soft.

We say it the lazy cheaty way as well :

Again, if it's like a date for your birthday,

Just say "fith", "the fith of December"

The /kw/ sound is difficult, so try to say it with me.

Say it with me so you practice it : "question".

"Fur" :

most British accents are non-rhotic,

most American accents are rhotic,

what is rhotic? It means you emphasise the "r" sound in words, for example, in "fur" :

Non-rhotic : "Fur" /fɜː/

Rhotic : /fɜːr/

So the "r" sound is emphasised, it's a strong "r" sound.

So, again, British English : /fɜː/

It's a soft sound, not /fɜːr/

Say it with me : "Fur" /fɜː/

Now use it in a sentence :

- "Do you wear animal fur?"

"Gorgeous"

"Gorgeous" : so again, it's that "r" sound, it's non-rhotic, it's soft,

"Gor", "Gorgeous"

American English, might be "Gorgeous" /gɔrʤəs/

British English : /gɔ:ʤəs/

Repeat with me : "Gorgeous"

Use it in a sentence :

Why is the only name coming to my head Ryan Gosling?

It's true!

"Mirror" : this one's a fun one : "mirror"

British English : /mɪrə/

"Mi"-"rror"

Be careful, the /rə/, it's your lips that make the /rə/ sound,

not the tongue,

so be careful, not "Mirror" /mɪɾə/, no, /mɪrə/

Americans would pronounce this one "meeeeeeer", like three times,

but, no, British English : /mɪrə/

The stress is on "ca", VoCAbulary,

and also, the "la",

it's not a /læri/ sound,

it's a /lə/, a soft schwa sound.

Say it with me : "vocabulary"

Remember, "literature",

well, it's the same principle :

That first sound has a glottal T sound,

/lɪ'/

/lɪ'tərəli/

Say it with me : "literally"

Use it in a sentence :

Next one : we have to apologise to any French people because it's this word :

I'm probably saying it wrong, why are you concerned?

British people are rubbish when we have to pronounce a word from another language,

we just make it British and sound ridiculous!

"So, let's talk about this karaoke"

"Karaoke"

"Karaoke", that's how we pronounce "karaoke", for crying out loud!

We're British, we don't wanna say "Karaoke",

because we're embarassed to try anything ever.

There are two ways to pronounce it :

avec quatre syllabes,

but it sounds better to smoothe the first two :

If there are any other words that are difficult for you to pronounce,

let us know in the comments, and I'll see you in the next class!

Bye!