How to Teach Pronunciation
How to teach pronunciation - 5 tips for ESL teachers. Of the hundreds of thousands of English classes that have taken place all over the world today, only a tiny fraction [...]
What are the aims of accent reduction?
An authentic ‘English Accent’ or simply ‘Clear Speech’ - what are the aims of accent reduction? Accent reduction is a term being used more and more frequently in the world of [...]
English Vowel Sounds
English Vowel Sounds (19 of them) [ssba] A neutral British English accent uses 19 vowel sounds, they are (in the order they appear in the sound chart above): Written [...]
Why is English so difficult to pronounce?
Why is English so difficult to pronounce? As everybody who has studied English as a foreign language knows - English is a relatively easy language to learn, up to a point. [...]
How to pronounce ‘are’.
'are' - the hardest monosyllabic word to pronounce [ssba] What’s the problem? 'Are' is the trickiest word in English. It can be weak (ə) or strong (ɑ:) [...]
How to pronounce ‘ask’.
'I axed him!' How to pronounce 'ask'. [ssba] What’s the problem? It is very hard to pronounce all of the sounds in the word quickly, so native speakers often [...]
How to pronounce ‘have’.
The 5 pronunciations of 'have'. [ssba] Number 3 in our top 5 most difficult one syllable words is 'have'. What's the problem? It looks simple enough, but hidden under [...]
How to Pronounce ‘world’
'World' - the 4th most difficult 1 syllable word in English [ssba] Have you ever struggled to say the word 'world'? Look no further than today's post: What’s the [...]
How to Pronounce ‘Can’t’
'Can't' - a dangerous word [ssba] On this week's blog we are counting down the 5 most difficult one syllable words in English pronunciation. At number 5 is 'can't [...]
Cockney – England’s Most Famous Accent
Everyone's heard of 'Cockney'. [ssba] If there is one English accent that everyone has heard of, far more so than either RP or Estuary, it is Cockney. Pronunciation teachers will confirm [...]
Received Pronunciation vs Estuary
What are the key differences between RP & Estuary? [ssba] One topic that frequently arises when teaching pronunciation & accent, is which accent to model in class. Most [...]
How to Pronounce Place Names with ‘ham’.
How to pronounce place names with 'ham' in them. [ssba] A group of names that often cause pronunciation errors are those containing the ending 'ham'. Often the error is [...]
What is a consonant sound?
What is a consonant sound? [ssba] It often helps to go back to basics when teaching new skills. What question could be more straightforward in teaching pronunciation than 'What is a [...]
Where’s the stress in ‘afternoon’?
'Afternoon' is deceptively difficult to pronounce due to its stress pattern and vowel sounds. STRESS Firstly, it uses a shifting stress pattern. That means that depending on the words after it, [...]
How to pronounce ‘Southwark’, ‘Borough’ & ‘London’
How to pronounce 'Southwark', 'Borough' & 'London' [ssba] There is a small group of places on the South Bank of the river Thames just East of the centre [...]
