The FUNNIEST Mistake in English — SHEET or SH*T? BEACH or B*TCH?

Hi, excuse me, I'm looking for the  most beautiful "beach" in town.

I don't know what kind of hotel you think  this is, but we do not offer escort services.

I was just wanting you to tell me where i can  find the most beautiful "beach" around here.

Sir, I am going to have to call  security if you keep this up.

So pronunciation mistakes can be pretty  embarrassing, especially when it makes  

a word sound like one that you did not intend to  say. Now one really common pronunciation mistake  

that I've seen learners make is confusing the e  and sound in English. Now this can lead to some  

pretty funny misunderstandings in how the words  beach, sheet or keys are said in English. Now  

although I doubt that you will ever find yourself  in a situation like I did at the hotel reception,  

by the end of this video you will confidently  be able to tell the difference between these two  

sounds and even start applying it to your speaking  to sound more accurate in your pronunciation.  

Because here at RealLife English every week we  help you go from being a lost and insecure English  

learner to being a confident natural English  speaker. So don't doubt in hitting that subscribe  

button and the bell down below so that you don't  miss any new valuable lessons like this one.

All right now. Are you ready to get into  the nitty-gritty of pronunciation? So when  

you see a word that has a vowel combination  like i-e, e-a or e-e then we get this longer  

e sound which in many languages that I've learned  is usually represented by an i, that letter i.  

Also the mouth must be stretched into a smile in  order to produce the sound correctly like this.  

So let's take a look at some  examples leave feel seek believe me.

So the misunderstanding at the beginning of the  video happened because I was saying the word  

bitch instead of the word beach.  So to give you some more clarity,  

let's look at even more examples with the sound:

However the sound can also occur  with some unusual spellings.

All right, now why don't you give  it a go listen to me and repeat?

So when you learn something new in English  like how to pronounce a new sound, it's really  

important that as soon as possible you start  putting it into use so you can really master it.  

But what many learners tell me is that they're  frustrated because they just don't have anyone  

to practice their English with. So we decided to  go ahead and solve this by creating our RealLife  

App. Why don't you take a listen to what one of  our real app users said about their experience?

So just like Shivi you can also connect  with other people from around the world  

beyond borders and talk about your passions and  your hobbies and practice sounds like this. In  

fact, one of the best ways to master something  like a new pronunciation or new vocabulary  

that you're learning is to teach it to someone  else. So you could even do that over on the app.  

So why don't you give it a try? It's absolutely  free, you don't have to spend a dime.  

So you can try it now by clicking  up here or down in the description  

below or you can search in your favorite  app store for RealLife English. Aw yeah! 

Hey Thiago, how's it going? Hey Ethan, I'm doing fine. How about you? 

I'm doing pretty good. What's up? So the guys are meeting at the bar at 7pm tonight  

and I'm calling to see if you'd like to come. Yeah! That sounds great. What's the place? 

Nice, let me give you the  address. Can you write it down? 

Yeah. Uh.... I just need a sheet. Um... Okay, sure. Take your time. I can  

call you later if you need some  time. What?! No! I just need a sheet.

Come on! A sheet of paper. Oh, now I get it. Okay!

All right. So the other sound that we're going  to be looking at in today's lesson which a lot  

of my students used to tell me that they had just  tons of difficulty with is this short e sound like  

in the word sh*t. Now this sound you just keep  a really neutral position with the mouth. And  

it's much shorter than the e sound that we saw  before. So let's take a look at some examples 

Now in the phone conversation that  you just witnessed, Thiago got a  

bit confused because he couldn't hear  the difference between the two words  

sheet and sh*t. So to train your listening  let's take a look at some more examples:

And now if you're ready,  

let's put it into practice. Listen  and repeat to these example sentences:

All right, now I hope that you're much more  prepared to understand the difference between  

these two sounds and I want to hear from  you: Which sounds in English do you feel  

really frustrated about because you can't hear the  difference or because you have a lot of trouble  

producing them and you're speaking or hearing  them when natives say? Them why don't you let  

me know down in the comments below and maybe we  can make a lesson on that sound as well. Aw yeah!  

Now in the last part of this video, you will do  some practice by drilling. Listen and repeat after  

me. Pay really special attention to how your mouth  is moving when you try to produce these sounds:

Now let's see how well you are  paying attention in this lesson  

by testing your listening. So you will hear  me say some different words but you will  

not see it. You're going to have to guess  whether I said a word that has the short e  

in it or the long e sound in it. All  right, are you ready? Let's go. Okay

All right! Continue to test your listening and  your speaking with another hugely common mistake  

of English learners and that is being able to tell  the difference between the words can and can't in  

American English. So you can do that right now  by watching this lesson let's check out a clip.