English Puns (aka ‘Dad Jokes’)
English Puns (aka 'Dad Jokes') A pun /ˈpʌn/ is a play on words for comic effect, often highlighting their pronunciation, so it's safe to say we like a good pun at [...]
AHH – the Dentist Sound
AHH - the Dentist Sound Mouth Position /ɑː/ is a vowel sound made with the jaw open, the lips relaxed, and the tongue slightly back. It is such an open sound that [...]
SH – The Whisper Sound
SH - the Whisper Sound How & When to Pronounce /ʃ/ /ʃ/ is a voiceless fricative sound made slightly further back in the mouth than /s/, the sides of the tongue [...]
English Vowel Length
How Long is an English Vowel Sound? Here's a moment most students and teachers of English pronunciation will be familiar with: Well, let’s test that answer: [...]
2016: Blog Review
2016: Blog Review The 10 most read Pronunciation Studio articles from 2016: 10. H Some English speakers never pronounce /h/, others drop it sometimes in connected speech. Here we saw how to pronounce, [...]
10 New Words 2016
10 New Words 2016 Every year the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) adds new words, here is our pick from 2016 - 10 words that sum up the year's social developments perfectly, how to pronounce [...]
TH – The Tooth Sounds
TH - the Tooth Sounds Dental TH sounds do not appear in many languages, but English has two. Often difficult to pronounce for learners, in today's lesson we learn how to [...]
The Thinking Sound
The Thinking Sound - /ɜː/ Which sound do English speakers make when they think? Er, well, it's /ɜː/ - the central vowel. Difficult for learners because many languages do not have a similar sound. [...]
What is ‘Estuary English’?
What is ‘Estuary English’? Spoken by a large and growing number of people in the South of England, Estuary is tipped to dominate general British pronunciation within 50 years. But what [...]
H
H Lots of British English speakers never pronounce /h/, others pronounce it sometimes, but nobody pronounces it all the time, in other words, it's a grey area. So what is H? When [...]
What is Accent Reduction?
What is ‘Accent Reduction’? It's designed to make second language speakers’ English clearer and reduce the influence of a mother tongue, but what does Accent Reduction actually involve and why is it called ‘reduction’? [...]
r – the strangest sound in English?
'r' - the strangest sound in English? One of the most common sounds in English, but also one of the most difficult for learners. /r/ is both tricky to pronounce, and tricky [...]
Post-Brexit Chaos – a Pronunciation Guide
Post-Brexit Chaos - A Pronunciation Guide A lot has happened since our first article on Brexit, Britain has become a soap opera of twists and turns. Here's an update to the chaos, featuring [...]
English Manners – a Pronunciation Guide
A Pronunciation Guide to English Manners Excuse me! Here's our guide to English manners, cheers. [ssba] Greetings /ˈgriːtɪŋz/ When you meet someone, "Hello" /ˌheˈləʊ/, "Hi" /ˈhaɪ/ and "Hiya" /ˈhaɪə/, are the [...]
BREXIT – a Pronunciation Guide
BREXIT - a Pronunciation Guide A shock result and a raft of new words to accompany the new political climate, here's the Pronunciation Studio guide to help you through the conversational chaos: [...]
