How to Pronounce the Idiom: 'Learn the Ropes': American English

Today I'm going to go over the pronunciation of the idiom "learn the ropes." First, the

meaning. This means to understand how to do something. Learn the ropes. So let's look

at some example sentences. It's ok to ask questions while you're learning the ropes.

Or, After I learn the ropes, I'l be able to do it on my own. Learn begins with the L consonant

sound, ll. It then has the 'ur' as in 'her' vowel / R consonant sound together: rr, rr,

rr, lear-. So your tongue will go from being at the very top, forward part of the roof

of the mouth, lear-, rr, to being pulled back, raised in the middle, pressing against the

insides of the top teeth with the tip then hanging down, lear-, further back in the mouth.

Learn. Then the N consonant sound, so the tongue, doing acrobatics here, then has to

go back up to the roof of the mouth, learn, to make that N sound. Learn. The: the TH consonant

sound, voiced, with the schwa, learn the, learn the. It's an unaccented word. Ropes

begins with the R consonant sound at the beginning of the word. The lip position will be quite

tight, rr, rr. The tongue in that same R position. Ro-, the 'oh' as in 'no' diphthong, ro-pp.

The P sound, so the lips have to come together, pp, to release that, and finally, the S sound.

Both the P and the S are unvoiced. Ropes, ppss, ppss. Learn the ropes. That's it, and

thanks so much for using Rachel's English.