It is likely that some of the sounds that are common in English are not used in your native language. The most common ones are 'r' as in 'right', 'l' as in 'light' and the 'th' sound as in 'thing'. The 'th' sound, where your tongue is between your teeth is uncommon in other languages.
The other sounds that you will most likely find difficult are the 'moving vowel' sounds or "diphthongs".
Pronouncing Dipthongs
Here are some examples of diphtongs:
hipriceeyeby
The vowel sound in these words changes as you say them, it starts off as 'a' and becomes 'e'
Here is a picture showing the starting and finishing mouth positions:
Notice that your mouth position changes considerably when saying this vowel. You start off with your mouth open and your tongue at the bottom of your mouth, and go to having your mouth closed with your tongue at the top of your mouth.
It is very common for students learning English to have difficulty making both sounds. Many students pronounce just one one of these sounds, either the starting 'a' sound or the finishing 'I' sound. To speak well and be understood, you need to make both sounds.
Here is another example of a diphthong:
This is the sound in words like
'boat''goat' and 'coat'
Your tongue needs to start off near the middle of your mouth, with your mouth open. Then your tongue needs to move back and up slightly at the same time as you close your lips. Your lips also need to be 'rounded' slightly.
Here is a technique you can use to feel the difference in different mouth shapes:
1. Start by putting your finger on your lips like you are saying 'shhhhh' and telling someone to be quiet. (Perhaps you don't make this gesture in your culture, or it is rude to do so. Actually, it can be a little rude in European cultures also, so you need to use it with care. You're most likely to see it among audiences at live shows, at the movie theatre, or in the library if someone is rudely talking.)
Hold your finger still - don't move it when your lips move. Now make an 'ee' sound. You should feel your lips come back to be flat against your teeth. Your finger should now not be touching your lips.
Now make an 'au' sound sticking your lips out. You should feel your finger be pushed out, away from your mouth. This is what 'rounding' your lips means.
Now say the word 'goat' with your finger touching your lips, and check that your lips become rounded at the end of the vowel sound.
Well done! You are probably making the vowel sound correctly now.
As you know, the 'th' sound can also be difficult. Here is how you need to make the 'th' sound:
Can you see how your tongue needs to between your teeth so that someone watching you can actually see the tip of it? Many people find this strange to do, but if you do not "poke your tongue out" a little in this way, you will not pronounce the sound correctly.
Pronouncing The "th" Sound In English.
The 'th' sound is quite common in English and found wherever the letters 'th' are found together. Here are two common examples for you:
Mouth Thumb
Usually, It's Better To Order "Rice" Than "Lice".
The Difference Between The "r" And "l" Sounds.
The R and L Tongue Positions
The images above illustrate the difficulty in distinguishing the two tongue positions; however there are important differences:
For 'r':
Your tongue curls up around the edges, and you blow air through the middle of your tongue.
The top part of your tongue does not touch the top of your mouth.
Your lips should be slightly rounded.
For 'l':
The top of your tongue should touch the top of your mouth.
Your lips should not be rounded
Most people say 'l' correctly however for further help with 'r' you may find the following video helpful:
You most likely know how to say these sounds: 'm' 'p', 's' and 'd'. However do you know how to say them when they are together? For example have you ever had to say a word like 'glimpsed'
There are FOUR consonants in a row at the end of this word, 'mpsd'. The 'e' is not a vowel. Even though 'glimpsed' has seven sounds in it, it is only ONE syllable!
Here are some common consonant clusters and examples:
Cluster
Examples
br
bridge
abrupt
bright
bd
absorbed
bribed
disturbed
fs
cliffs
beliefs
ft
craft
shaft
left
mp
bump
lump
camp
pt
egypt
except
suspect
ths
baths
maths
paths
nth
month
tenth
seventh
nd
friend
land
hand
sp
sponge
clasp
lisp
st
start
last
sting
lmd
filmed
lk
milk
silk
str
strength
destroy
strip
vs
behaves
waves
valves
You need to know that when you are saying words with consonant clusters in them it is very important that you say all the consonants as one syllable. A mistake often made by Asian speakers among others is to put them into extra syllables.
For example:
'glimpsed' could become 'glimp sid'
or 'bribed' could become 'brib id'
This does not sound correct.
Finally here is an exercise to let you know when you have really mastered this.
Try saying the following: 'The sixth twisty crisp'
Another reason English is so hard to pronounce correctly is because of its 'syllable structure'. In many languages, especially Asian languages such as Japanese and Chinese, syllables very often go:
Consonant - Vowel - Consonant - Vowel
This means that English words are often said this way.
For example, the word 'hot dog'
Has structure:
Consonant Vowel Consonant Consonant Vowel Consonant
This is shown here, with C standing for consonant and V standing for vowel
Hot
dog
CVC
CVC
Now this can often be said wrong:
Ho
ta
do ga
CV
CV
CV CV
Notice how there are now four vowels instead of two.
This often happens with English words that end in a special type of consonant called a 'stop' consonant. 'stop' consonants are sounds like b, d, g, p, t, k and here are some words that end in them:
Bed Cab Bag Cat Cap Brick
It is important that you do not put an extra vowel at the end, for example some people will say 'bed' like 'bed a' however this is wrong.
Syllable structure can get quite difficult in English, for example:
'conscientious' has this structure
Con sci en tious
CVC CV VC CVC
And 'glimpsed' like before, is like this:
Glimpsed
C C V C C C C
This has two consonants, then one vowel, then four consonants in a row.
In English it can often be very confusing when you see a word written down to know how to say it. This section has some simple rules and examples that will greatly improve your pronunciation and save you much time in learning English pronunciation.
One Or Two Syllables At The End Of A Word?
There are many words in English where it is not clear whether there is an extra syllable at the end. For example, is 'liked' all one syllable, or two?
How about 'added'?
Now you most likely know these words, however how do you pronounce a word you have not seen before? Here are some rules that will help you in this situation.
'ed' At The End Of A Word
Most of the time, 'ed' at the end of a word does not mean there is a separate syllable.
For exampled 'liked' is a one syllable word.
Here are some examples of words that follow this rule: liked disturbed performed exposed
However there are some common exceptions, when the following letters come before 'ed'
d e i o t u
For example words that end with 'ded', 'eed', 'ied' all have two syllables at the end.
Here are some words that break this rule: ad ded at ten ded col lec ted a pplied
These are two syllable words because d/e/i/o/t/u come before the 'ed'
'e' At The End Of A Word
Rules:
It is a separate syllable when the following letters come before 'e'
a e i o
It is a not a separate syllable when the following letters come before 'e'
b c d f g h k n p u z
Examples
Rule 1:
a gree re fe ree mo vie Rule 2: tube type bone
Special Letters And Letter Combinations
Here are some letters and letter combinations that can sometimes be difficult. Some common rules are shown to help you.
How To Pronounce 'c'
'c' is a difficult letter, because sometimes it is pronounced 'hard' like a 'k' in 'cake'
and other times it is 'soft' like a 's' in 'nice'
Rules:
If 'c' is before 'a', 'o' or 'u' then it is often said like a 'k
Examples:
'academy'
'balcony'
and 'acute' all have the 'c' pronounced like a 'k'
If it is before and 'e' or an 'i' it is often said like an 's'
Examples:
'adjacent'
and 'acid'
have the 'c' pronounced like an 's'
How To Pronounce 'g'
The letter 'g' is most often pronounced like in 'go', however sometimes it can be pronounced as a 'j' sound, like the 'j' sound in 'just'
Rule: It is a 'j' sound when it is followed by 'e: 'i' or 'y' Examples:
'age'
'cage'
'agile'
and 'strategy' all have 'j' sound
Exceptions:
Begin
giddy
and foggy .
These have the 'g' sound
The combination 'wh'
This is usually pronounced as a 'w' sound like in 'white'.
However there are some exceptions, where it is pronounced like an 'h' sound: Exceptions:
Who
whoever
whole
who'll
wholly
whom
who's
whose
The combination 'gh'
This is an unusual combination because when it is in the middle of the word, it has no
sound at all! Example: bright is pronounced 'br ii t'
The vowel before 'gh' is often long.
When it is at the beginning of a word, it is pronounced as 'g'
Examples:
ghost
ghastly
At the end of the word, it can sometimes be pronounced 'f'
Examples:
Another reason that English is difficult to speak is how words are stressed. For words of more than one syllable, some syllables are always accented or stressed more than others.
Here is an example: 'carry'
In this word the first syllable 'car' is more stressed than 'ry'.
If you were to pronounce it with the second syllable stressed, like:
ca RRY
This would sound very strange.
You may be wondering how to you actually make a syllable sound stressed. Here is how:
Pitch
Your pitch should be higher for a stressed syllable
Length
A stressed syllable should be longer than an unstressed one
Loudness
A stressed syllable is usually louder than an unstressed one
Vowel sounds
The vowel sound in a stressed syllable is normally more pronounced, your tongue is further away from the middle of your mouth than an unstressed one. Here is an example:
'Company' com pa ny
For this word, 'com' is stressed and 'pa' is not stressed. For this reason, the vowel in 'pa' is not stressed, and when you say this syllable, your tongue is in the middle or your mouth. This neutral vowel sound is called 'schwa'
Please compare the correct pronunciation to the incorrect one:
Company
comPAny
Here are some examples of common words with the stress shown for you. Stressed syllables are shown in bold
