Fix Your English Pronunciation Errors: Food & Restaurants

Hi. Hi, Rebecca from engVid, and this lesson might make you hungry. Why? Because today,

we're going to correct some common pronunciation errors when talking about food and restaurants.

Okay? So, here we go. Let's start with food. So, these words are the most common words

which are mispronounced. There may be others, but let's start with these.

The first one, pizza. Not sure how you're pronouncing it, but this is how it should

be pronounced. Pizza. Okay? You can see I've written it here, and what's written in capital

letters is what should be stressed. So, we stress on the first part here, pizza. Say

it after me. Pizza. Good. The next one, salmon. Again, salmon. Now, you see what I've written

here? M, apostrophe, N. Because really, if you look at it in the dictionary, they will

write an upside-down E, which is called a schwa, which is a very short sound, like "uh",

so they would put that in the middle, but I'm just putting an apostrophe to show you

that there's almost no sound there. Okay? So, for example, salmon. Min. Okay? Say it

really short. Good. Hamburger. Again, hamburger. Okay? The stress is on the first part. Hamburger.

Again, "gr", very fast. Again, hamburger. Salmon. And the first one, pizza. Good. This

one, chips. Just one syllable. Chips. What's important here is that the I is really short,

so make sure you're saying it fast and short. Chips. Got it? Good. The next word, salad.

Salad. Okay? The stress is on the first part. Say it after me. Salad. Good. Okay? Onions.

Just look at how it's actually pronounced. Onions. Second part, again, we can see that

contraction, right? Yins. Onions. Good.

By the way, in one of my pronunciation lessons about how to master and say long words more

easily, there is a lesson about something called backchaining, which is what we did

just now. We pronounced the word from the end instead of from the beginning. It doesn't

matter so much in short words, but when you have a long word, it can be very useful. So,

if you want to check out that lesson, that will also help you. Okay? It's called backchaining,

that technique. So, here we would say "yins", "onions". Okay? All right. What's this word?

I know there's an "l" there, but you know what? We don't pronounce it. So, it should

be "ah-mins", "ah-mins". There's a silent "l" there. Okay? Forget about the "l". All

right? Ah-mins. Or you could say "mins", "ah-mins". Okay? Very good.

Bowl of soup. Now, here, it's not so much to teach you the pronunciation of soup, but

really about "bowl", because many students mispronounce this word, and because of various

reasons. All right? So, in case you do, then this is how we actually pronounce it. The

line I've written on top of the "o" shows it's a long sound. Okay? So, say it after

me. "Bowl". Ready? "Bowl". Good. This word, "snacks". "Snacks". The stress is a little

bit more in the first part. "Snacks". The last part is "ks", "ks". "Snacks". Okay? Good.

This one, also mispronounced all over the world. "Dessert". Okay? "Dessert". Stress

is on the second syllable. All right? Remember, don't mix this up with another word called

"desert". That's a very dry place somewhere in the world with lots of sand, and this is

something you want to eat. Okay? After dinner. Like this fancy dessert. In this case, the

dessert is a cake. All right? "Dessert". So, let's say them once again. Ready? If it's

easier for you, look over here. Let's do that. "Pizza", "salmon", "hamburger", "chips", "salad",

"onions", "almonds", "bowl of soup" or whatever. "Snacks", "dessert". Okay? Did you get those?

You can always pause the video, go back, listen to it again, listen to it another time. Practice

it through the week if you're making a lot of these mistakes. Okay? Because with pronunciation,

we really need practice. So, maybe it's not enough to just watch it once. Come back again

another day or after a couple of days, and then again in a couple of days, and make sure

you're saying it correctly. Okay?

Here are a few other words that have to do with this world of food which are often mispronounced.

Okay? "Recipe". Okay? A recipe tells you how to cook something. Right? It lists the ingredients,

it lists the processes or the methods that you follow, but the word is pronounced "recipe".

Do you have the recipe? Okay?

"Menu". When you go into a restaurant, you ask for the menu. Okay? It's just like "men-u",

"menu".

Now, the next word, there are two very common pronunciations, "buffet" or "buffet". You

can pronounce it either way, but let's repeat it. "Buffet", "buffet". Okay? You choose what

you like. All right?

Okay, so on this board, we're going to look at two types of errors that are often made

when saying the names of restaurants and also of some hotels. Okay? So, let's start here

first. Now, what's common in all of these that are written in black? Well, all of them

have an apostrophe "s" or an "s". And what's the problem with the pronunciation of those?

That many people around the world are forgetting to say the "s". Is that a major crime? No,

of course not. Will people understand if you don't say the "s"? Yes, they'll understand,

but is it better to say it naturally and authentically? Yes, and you'll be able to do that. All right?

So, let me show you how. So, the first thing is to be aware. Okay? That you're not saying

the "s", and now you're aware. Now, let's say this one that's very famous. First, without

the "s", and then with the "s". Okay? So, you can hear it clearly. So, without the "s",

McDonald. McDonald. With the "s", the way it should be, McDonald's. McDonald's. Okay?

Let's go to McDonald's. Okay? That's how you would say it in a natural sentence. All right?

The same here. We don't say, "Let's go to Wendy." We say, "Let's go to Wendy's." Let's

go to Wendy's. All right. Or, here. Now, sometimes the names just have one word with

the apostrophe "s". Sometimes we see the apostrophe "s" on the first word, like here. Domino's

Pizza. So, don't say, "Domino Pizza", say, "Domino's Pizza". Repeat it after me. Domino's.

Here. Church's Chicken. Church's. Okay? So, you need to hear the "s", because if you don't

say it, what happens is that it sounds like you don't know and it doesn't sound very good.

Okay? So, try to correct that. You can. You can once you pay attention to it. All right?

Here's another famous ice cream company. Ben & Jerry's. Ben & Jerry's. Not Ben & Jerry,

but Ben & Jerry's. Right? You hear the "s". Or, Papa John's. Papa John's. Okay? Make sure

you're saying the "s". Now, here, there's no apostrophe, but there is still an "s".

Here we go. This famous coffee restaurant, right? Starbucks. Starbucks. Okay? And this

one, Five Guys. Okay? That's a kind of a burger place, very famous also. Starbucks coffee

shop, Five Guys. You should hear the "s" at the end. All right? So, that's what was wrong

here. So, all you have to do to fix the name of those particular restaurants is just make

sure you're saying the "s".

Now, as a bonus, I've thrown in a few hotels, because perhaps you visit these hotels and

go to the restaurants that are inside those hotels. So, make sure you know how to pronounce

the name of these hotels. Now, what's the problem here? Here it was the "s", here it's

the ending, "ton". Okay? You see that in all three, there's a "ton" at the end. So, the

problem is this, when we say "ton" by itself, the word is "ton". Okay? "Ton". But here,

it gets shortened. Sheraton. "Ton", not "ton". "Ton". Sheraton. Hilton. Ritz Carlton. Okay?

So, you should be saying "ton", not "ton". "Ton". Let's say them one more time. You can

repeat it after me. Sheraton. Hilton. Ritz Carlton. Okay? Did you get that? That wasn't

so hard. Right? I'm sure you can do it.

Now, these are just some examples that I've given you. Okay? And they're just to give

you the type of mistake that is often made. But obviously, you have many more restaurants

around you, or hotels, and also many kinds of food and drinks that you like to order.

So, what I suggest is think about what you like most, and learn the correct pronunciation

of those foods, of those drinks, of your favorite restaurants, and of your favorite hotels.

Because then, when you go there, you'll be saying their names properly. Okay? So, that's

the most important thing. Check that out. And if you're not sure how to pronounce it,

if it's something famous, you can find out. You can call them, you could call the hotel,

or you could call the restaurant and ask them, "By the way, I really want to know the correct

way to pronounce your hotel or the name of your restaurant." And they'll be happy to

tell you. Or ask a waiter when you're inside, or ask one of the staff members. Okay? They'll

be more than happy to tell you. They'll be happy that you care, that you want to pronounce

it properly. Okay? And you can do the same with different foods. All right?

So, what can you do to make sure you know this? Well, practice. With all pronunciation,

you're training your ear, you're training your mouth. So, go back, and if you got any

of these wrong, just practice some more. Come back after a couple of days, because pronunciation

can't change immediately overnight; needs a little bit of reinforcement. So, go back

through the week and practice them until you get them right. Okay? And don't forget to

subscribe to my YouTube channel. There's no quiz on this on engVid, but do visit us at

www.engvid.com for lots and lots of other lessons. Okay? Thanks very much for watching.

Good luck with your pronunciation and with your English. Bye for now.