Pronunciation Patterns

English pronunciation is difficult, we already know that, and there are no rules, which makes things even more complicated. However, there are certain patterns we can follow when we don't know how to pronounce a word, as we saw the other day in class. Here you are the document which includes these patterns for you to download.

Pronunciation Patterns File

Moreover, on this blog you can find other interesting posts on pronunciation, such as one on the pronunciation of the -ed ending for the past, a post on silent consonants, a post on the difference between b & v, among others. You can see them all by clicking on the label "pronunciation". 

Common Mispronounced Words

I know that English pronunciation is difficult and if you're one of my students you already know how much I like phonetics and how I insist on you pronouncing English in a correct way.

We already discussed how mispronounced words lead to misunderstandings when speaking in English and therefore it's necessary for you to pronounce well if you want to communicate with other speakers.

I strongly recommend you to watch the following video since I'm sure you've mispronounced some (if not all) of the words that appear in it.

French Words Used in English

When speaking English we use some French words such as avant-garde, au pair, chic or cuisine, in the same way in Spanish we use words from English, such as hot dog or sandwich. These are frequently called loan translations or loanwords.

When using these words it's necessary to pay attention to their pronunciation, since they may differ from the typical English pronunciation.

In the following video you can find some common words from French with their pronunciation. Enjoy the learning!

Do you know that English speakers also use words from Spanish?
Can you think of any? Write them in a comment!

Pronunciation: B & V

The other day in class two students were talking about the sounds /b/ and /v/ and about how if you pronounce "very" in a wrong way, you say the fruit "berry". As you know in English /b/ and /v/ are two different sounds. Spanish native speakers must be careful when speaking English since we don't have that difference in our language. 

Watch this video to practise the /b/ & /v/ pronunciation.

Do you find it difficult to pronounce these two sounds differently?

Silent Letters

I always remind you in class about the importance of pronunciation. A particular trait of English pronunciation is the existence of silent letters, that is to say, letters which are written but we don't pronounce. 

In  the following videos you can have a look at common words with silent letters.

Can you think of more words with silent letters? 

Write them in a comment!

Pronunciation Video

I know, I know, English pronunciation is difficult! That's why you have to spend time listening to good examples and practising your pronunciation. As you already know, everyday  in class I try to teach you how to pronounce words, especially exceptions, common mistakes, vowels...

If you think you have a bad English pronunciaton, watch this video to cheer you up!

Click Here to Watch the Video

ed Pronunciation

When you form the regular past tense in English you need to pay attention to the
'-ed' pronunciation.
As you already know -ed can be pronounced in three different ways: /t/, /d/ and /id/.
We pronounce /t/ when the pronunciation of the infinitive of the verb finishes in a voiceless sound, /d/ when the verb finishes in a voiced sound and /id/ when the pronunciation of the verb finishes in -t or -d.

Here you have a video which gives an explanation of this pronunciation.



and some exercises about this pronunciation:

Listen to the pronunciation of the verb and choose the correct sound:  Quiz 1

Listen to each sentence and decide if the pronunciation is right or wrong: Quiz 2