تلفظ 106 کلمه ی سخت انگلیسی

Pronounce 106 Most Difficult English Words

Vanessa: Hi, I’m Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com. Are you ready to pronounce 106 difficult words in English? Let’s do it. Last month I asked you in the community tab on my YouTube channel, which words are the most difficult for you to pronounce in English? And wow, did you give a lot of responses. I got over 450 comments about difficult words, but do you know what?

A lot of those words were the same. It’s quite interesting that no matter what your native language is, no matter what background you come from, some of the same words are difficult in English. I challenge you today to shadow my voice. This means that I want you to repeat directly after I speak. I’m going to say each of these words two times. The first time I want you to listen to my pronunciation, and the second time I want you to speak out loud and try to use your pronunciation muscles and imitate me.

When I was making this lesson, I thought, “Oh my goodness, there are so many words. How can I make this more digestible?” Digestible means easily understood, easily learned. So I’ve grouped these words into different categories. And this is my goal for you, I want you to find the words that are the most difficult for you and study that category. So maybe it’s the short /i/ sound. Spanish speakers, I’m looking at you.

Or maybe it’s the /r/ and /l/ sound, East and Southeast Asian speakers I’m looking at you. Or maybe it’s just words like eaten, button, forgotten. Go back and review those words that are the most difficult for you. You don’t need to review all 106 words because probably not all of them are going to be difficult for you. But I want you to find the category that’s the most challenging for you and after this lesson, go back and review those. All right, with that said, are you ready to get started?

The first category are words that sound exactly the same. Some of you asked me, how do I pronounce this and this word, and I thought, “Well, they’re pronounced the same. Why is that hard?” But maybe you didn’t know that they’re pronounced exactly the same. So I’m going to say these words and I want you to repeat with me. Are you ready? Aunt, ant. Aunt, ant.

The first one is the person who is related to you, and the second one is the little insect. Some people say for that first word, for the person who’s related to you, some people say aunt, but it’s more common to call her your aunt. Buy, bye. Buy, bye. You buy something at the store and you say goodbye, bye. Clothes, close. Clothes, close. You might see some tutorials on YouTube where they say you should use a /th/ sound there. Clothes with a little /th/ in there. You can say that, but when native speakers are speaking quickly, we just these two words the same.

Close the door, I’m putting on some clothes. Clothes, close. Hare, hair. Hare is a way to say rabbit. It’s a type of rabbit. Hare, hair. Hear, here. Hear, here. Meet, meat. Meet, meat. It’s nice to meet you. Do you want to eat some meat? There, their, they’re. They’re over there with their friends. There, a lot of native speakers have difficulties writing these words correctly. There’s a lot of common typos where people use one type of their instead of the other, but these are all pronounced the same.

There, their, they’re. Traitor, trader. One word has a T, why does it sound like a D? In American English, when there’s a T between two vowels, we often change that T into a /d/ sound. So if you say something against your friends, they might say, “Oh, you’re a traitor.” Even though this word has a T, sounds like a D. Traitor, trader. Two, too, to. Two, too, to. Were, we’re. Were, we’re.

The contraction we are can be pronounced in two different ways. We are or in the lazy, relaxed way we’re, and that’s the same as the verb were. We were tired. Were. If you’d like to check out how to pronounce 81 contractions, make sure you check out my lesson up here because contractions can be tricky to pronounce. You might pronounce them we are or we’re. Let’s quickly also add the word where.

We can say these three words together. Were, we’re, where. Do you see how my mouth opens more for that final word? Where. Your, you’re. Your, you’re. Or we could pronounce both of these words in a different way, but they’re the still the same as each other. Your, you’re. Your, you’re. Sometimes it sounds like an /er/ sound, your, and sometimes it sounds like your, it just depends on if you’re speaking quickly and which one you want to use. Your, you’re.

The next section is highly requested and it includes words with a /th/ at the beginning. Through, threw. These two words sound the same as each other. Let’s practice this /th/. Make sure your tongue is coming out of your mouth and there is a stream of air. Through, through. /Th/. If you put a piece of paper in front of your mouth, you should see that paper moving. Through, through. Let’s add a word to that. Throughout, throughout. Throughout. But what about this word?

Thorough. Thorough. The first section sounds like the. Like an E, the, the, and then the final part is going to sound like thorough. O W, thorough. Thorough. Thorough. Thought. Thought. Think. Think. Make sure for all of these your tongue is coming out of your mouth. Think. Thought. And there’s a stream of air. Think. Thought. Three. Tree. Three. Tree. For the second word, we’re not using a /th/ sound. It’s just TR. It’s the green plant that grows, tree. Let’s say both of those words.

Three. Tree. I see three trees. I see three trees. That T H R is really tricky. For these next two words we need to use a different /th/ pronunciation. There are two /th/ pronunciations. One of them we just practiced. It’s what I’m going to call an aired TH because air is coming out. Three, three, but when we say these words, though, though there is a vibration happening. Your tongue is still in that same position, but there’s going to be vibration that’s happening. Though, though.

You’re going to feel your lips vibrating, maybe your throat as well. Though. And the final part sounds like O W, though. And we can add a letter to the beginning, although, although. If you’d like to practice more TH words, I made a tongue twister video that includes a lot of /th/ sounds and it’s a great fun practice. If you want to practice /th/ and also have a good laugh, you can check out this video up here.

The next section include words with a short /a/, and a short /e/. These are called minimal pairs. We’ll be working on minimal pairs in this section and also the next section. It means that everything else in the word is the same except for one thing. The first pair is man, men. Man, men. Do you see when I say the /a/, man, man, my lips are kind of wide here, man. And when I say men, men, my tongue is coming out a little bit. My tongue is flat. Men, men. Sand, send. Sand, my lips are wide again.

Sand, send. Sand, send. Tan, ten. Tan, ten. Let’s say these words in columns. Let’s say all of the /a/ words together and all of the /e/ words together. Man. Sand. Tan. One more time, man, sand, tan. Do you see how my lips look the same for all of these three words? Let’s go onto the short /e/ words. Men, send, ten. Men, send, ten. If you have difficulties with the short /a/ and the short /e/, this is what I recommend doing.

Finding those minimal pairs like we practiced and saying them together and then trying to say all of the words that are the same. This is going to train your muscles to say that same sound again and again. And then when you feel comfortable with it, you can mix them together. Man, men. Sand, send. Tan, ten. When you say them together like that’s a little bit tricky. So saying them all of those same sounds together, that’s going to be a great way to practice kind of initiate yourself into those sounds. The next section includes words that are also minimal pairs.

They include words with the short /i/, long /e/ and short /e/. Some of these words include swear words, so if you’re watching this with your kids, just be aware. Bit, beat, bet. Here we have a short /i/, bi, /i/, /i/. Your mouth is kind of raising into your nose here. Bi, bit, bit. I know that the short /i/ sound is really tricky for Spanish speakers, so focus on this. Bit. Beat. Beat. Your lip should be wide here, beat. And then when we say the short /e/, bet. Bet, /e/, /e/, this is like men, send, ten, bet, your tongue is flat. Did, deed, dead, /d/ /i/ /i/. We have a short I.

If the short I is tough for you, try to say that sound by itself, /i/ /i/ did. Deed, the long E. Deed. And then the short E, dead, /e/ /e/ dead. Sick. Sick. Seek. Seek. Six /i/ /i/ six. Sex. Make sure that when you say the short /i/ sound it is si /i/ /i/. Your lips are raising here towards your nose. /Si/ six, six. And when you use the short E, your tongue is flat. Se-e sex. You don’t want to mix these two up.

Bi-i bitch. You don’t want to mix these two up either. Beach, beach. Make sure that when you say the word beach, it’s the place that you go on vacation, your lips are wide. Beach, beach. Shit, /i/ /i/ shit. Sheet, sheet. If you need to exaggerate these sounds, if this sound is tough for you, it’s okay to exaggerate them. I’m going to the beach. I need a new sheet. You can make sure that your lips are in the right place.

If you say that vowel a little bit longer than is necessary, especially if this worries you that you’re saying the bad word instead of the word that you mean to say you can always elongate it a little bit. Let’s do the same thing we did before. We’re going to read down the columns so that you can practice those sounds again and again. Bit, did, sick, six, bitch, shit. Beat, Deed, seek, beach, sheet. Bet, dead, sex. The next category includes words that have a stop T in the middle.

A stop T is when your tongue stops at the top of your mouth. It’s going to make that T sound but it doesn’t let any air follow through. Let’s look at a quick sample word. Eat. Eat. When I said it the first time, did you hear that T? Eat. Eat. No, because I’m using a stop T. My tongue is stop at the top of my mouth, eat, and I don’t let that air follow through. Eat. So let’s add this stop T in the middle of these words. It kind of sounds a little bit strange if you don’t know what’s going on.

But now that you know there’s a stop T, I hope that it will help you. Important. Important. Here we have a tricky word to start off with because we have a stop T in the middle and also at the end. So those two T’s, your tongue’s going to be in that position, but you’re not going to let any air follow through. Important. Important. Eaten. Eaten. Do you see here how my tongue is stopped in the middle of this word? Have you eaten yet? Eaten yet. Eaten. Threaten. Threaten.

My tongue is stopped at the top of my mouth. I didn’t say threaten. Of course, you can say all of these words with all of the sounds if you want. But if you want to sound the most natural, this is how you’re going to say it. Threaten. Threaten. Written. Written. Button. Button. Do you hear button? Nope. Just button. Forgotten. Forgotten. Definitely. Definitely. We’re stopping at that /t/ sound. Definitely.

The next category include words where the T changes to a D. This is a typical concept in American English, so if you’d like to practice this a little bit along with other concepts that are typical to speaking like an American, you can check out this video that I made up here. The first word is literally, literally. It sounds like lid. Something that you put on a container. It’s a lid. Literally, literally. Little. Little.

Little. Water. Water. Automatic. Automatic. This word has two T’s that change to D’s. Auto, auto, matic, matic. Don’t be afraid to use a really clear /d/ sound here. Automatic, automatic. The next category includes words that have an RL. These words were also highly requested and I understand why they’re so tricky. They’re just weird and tough. So let’s practice. Girl. Girl. In American English, we’re going to insert a /u/ sound, this is called the schwa sound, after the R. Girl.

Do you hear /rl/ /rl/ there? Girl, girl, girl. That’s going to be the same for all of these words. World. World. It kind of sounds like W-O-R-U-L-D. World. World. Squirrel. Squirrel. This word actually does have an E there. So you can visually see that sound. Squirrel. Squirrel. And then we have another word that has an R L but we’re not going to include that U. Early. Early. Make sure that you have /r/ and then you just simply add L Y at the end, early. Early. Early. Early.

The next category include words with an /r/ and an /l/ sound. Garden. Golden. Did you see when I say that second word, my tongue is coming out of my mouth? Listen again. Garden. Golden. Garden. To say the R, you need to pretend like you’re an angry dog, /r/ /r/ garden. Gol, there’s my tongue. Golden. Arrive. Alive. Arrive. Alive. Grammar, glamour. Grammar, glamour. Maybe you want to study a grammar lesson and you don’t want to study a glamour lesson.

The next category are words that include a silent letter, receipt, receipt. Which word is missing here? The P. Receipt. Receipt. After you make a purchase, usually the cashier will give you a receipt. Awkward, awkward. The first W is silent. So make sure that you say the A and the K together. Awkward. Awkward. This word is kind of awkward, isn’t it? Difference. Different. Difference. Different. Which letter is silent here? It’s the E. Difference. Just simply cut out that middle /e/ sound.

Difference. Different. Difference, different. The next category doesn’t really fit into any other sections, so it’s just the other category. These words are pretty tricky, so take a deep breath and let’s practice them. Warm. Warn. Worm. Warm. Warn. Worm. The first two words have an /or/ sound. Warm, warn. And the final word sounds like an ER, worm. There’s a worm on the ground.

I need to warn you that on a warm day there are some worms on the ground. Work, walk. Work, walk. Do you notice the first word sounds like an ER? Work, work. And the second word, walk. Your mouth is more open for walk. And the L is silent. Walk. Walk. I walk to work. Say that with me. I walk to work. Done, dawn, down. Done, dawn, down. Done, I’m finished. I’m done. Dawn. Dawn, in the morning the dawn arises. Down. Down. Make sure that you slide into that /w/ sound.

Down. Down. Look down. Hurt. Hearth. Hard. Hurt, this word also sounds like E R, hurt. Hurt. She hurt her arm, hurt. Hearth. Hearth. This is a place in your house. Hearth. Notice my mouth is open. Hearth. Hard, an important sound here is that /r/. Hard. Hard. Brick. Break. Brick, break. If the short /i/ sound is hard for you, practice this one. Brick, break. Notice how my mouth goes up for brick, the short /i/ sound and is wide, break, when I say the long /e/, break. Than. Then. Than. Then.

I want to tell you something though, sometimes when native speakers are speaking quickly, the word than sounds like then. Let me give you a quick example. He’s faster than me. He’s faster than me. The word here is than with an a, but when you say that quickly, it sounds like T-H-E-N. He’s faster than me, than me. So you might hear native speakers say this, and you’re welcome to say this too as long as you’re speaking quickly. He’s faster than me, than me. But make sure that you write this correctly. T-H-A-N. He’s faster than me or he’s faster than me. Quit, quite, quiet.

Quit. It’s a short I, quit, it. Quit. Quite. Quite is a long I. Quite. Quiet, we need two vowels in that final word. Quiet. And we can see both of them. The I and the E, so that makes it a little bit more simple. Quiet. Outer. Order. Outer. Order. Notice the first word has a T, but we’ve changed it to be a D sound. And those vowels need to be correct. Outer. Sounds like O W. Outer, order. Go to outer space, that’s an order. Go to outer space. That’s an order. Make sure that R is correct, order.

Bear, bare, beer. Bear, this is the animal. Bare, means no clothes. Beer is the drink. Bear, bare, those first two words are pronounced the same. The bear was bare. The bear didn’t have any clothes on. The bear was bare and he was drinking beer. Beer. It’s a long E. Beer. Bus, boss. Bus, boss. We have a short /u/ here, bus. Ride the bus with my boss. There needs to be an /O/ sound. Ride the bus with my boss. Hall, haul, howl, hull. There’s a lot here. Hall, it’s a place in your house.

The long corridor. It’s a hall. And I’m hauling something, means I’m pulling or dragging something heavy. I’m hauling something down the hall. But then I heard a howl, howl. I think it came from the hull of a ship. That’s the bottom of a ship. Hull. This is a short U like bus, hull, hull. And finally one of the most requested words was entrepreneur. Entrepreneur. Let’s break this long word down.

En-tre-pre-neur. En-tre-pre-neur. Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur, entrepreneur, entrepreneur, entrepreneur. I’m an entrepreneur. I have my own business. I’m an entrepreneur. You’ve made it. Congratulations. Before you go, let’s practice a challenge sentence. The girl was quiet throughout the bus ride then she arrived at the beach. Let’s take a look at this sentence. The girl was quiet throughout the bus ride then she arrived at the beach. Can you say this sentence with me? The girl was quiet throughout the bus ride then she arrived at the beach.