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One thing that’s strange about English is that words don’t always sound like how they’re spelled.
“Wednesday” sounds like Wenzdei. “Photo” is actually pronounced with an F, not a P.
This happens so often that it’s more of a norm than an exception.… Read more “10 Most Common Pronunciation Mistakes for Chinese Speakers and How to Fix Them”
Have you ever felt sure about which English words you want to say in your head – but then you’re not as confident with actually saying them out loud?
Or maybe you want to level up your English pronunciation to avoid miscommunicating or having to repeat yourself.… Read more “10 Most Common English Pronunciation Mistakes for Indian Speakers and How to Fix Them”
“Cashew,” “banana,” “potato,” and “chocolate” – these are all English words that Brazilian speakers would immediately understand.
In general, English has a lot of similar words to Brazilian Portuguese (“total” and “ordinary,” to name a couple more!).
Still, even with some overlap in vocabulary, you might struggle to say certain English words correctly as a Brazilian speaker.… Read more “10 Most Common English Pronunciation Challenges for Brazilian Speakers and How to Fix Them”
When you first started learning English, did you catch yourself wanting to roll your R’s?
Maybe words like “birthday” and “shampoo” were harder to pronounce because they contained unfamiliar sounds.
If your first language is Spanish, there are certain aspects of English pronunciation that you’ve probably never encountered before in your native language.… Read more “10 Most Common English Pronunciation Mistakes for Spanish Speakers and How to Fix Them”
What’s one sound in English that’s completely missing from Russian?
As a Russian speaker who’s learning English, you can probably think of at least one answer to this.
A lot of Russian students would say W or TH right away. These sounds show up in the most frequent words like “what” or “the.”… Read more “10 Most Common English Pronunciation Mistakes for Russian Speakers and How to Fix Them”
When you’re absorbed in listening to a song, you naturally nod your head or move your body based on the rhythm.
There’s a certain rhythm to speaking English too. It may not be as noticeable as loud drumbeats, but there are certain words in sentences that English speakers emphasize – while other words are said more quietly.… Read more “How to Use Sentence Stress to Speak English More Naturally”
English is a “stressed” language.
We’re not literally talking about how stressful English can sometimes be (especially with its contradicting rules!). What we mean is English stresses or emphasizes some words and syllables compared to others. They’re pronounced more strongly with higher pitch, and they even take more time to say.… Read more “7 Stress Rules in the English Language for Perfecting Your Pronunciation”
If you’ve ever taught children how to speak English, you’ll notice that they tend to have a harder time with vowels than consonants.
In particular, one of the toughest pronunciation points for children would be long vowel sounds. While short vowels are simpler and more intuitive, children often need guidance in saying long vowels properly, especially since these can have different spellings for each word.… Read more “7 Creative Ways to Teach Long Vowel Sounds for Children”
What’s the best way to teach long vowel sounds?
Every teacher will have their own unique approach, but there’s one thing that many effective English language classes have in common: they have a diverse mix of activities that get students naturally curious and interested in the lesson.… Read more “10 Long Vowel Sounds Activities to Fast Track Learning”
Which pronunciation is correct?
“Did you receive that eh-mahl yesterday?”
Or: “Did you receive that ee-meyl yesterday?
These two statements pronounce the word “email” differently. Although “email” has the letters E and A, the correct way to say it would be ee-meyl.… Read more “130+ Essential 2-Syllable Words with Long Vowel Sounds”