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9 Words you’re Mispronouncing

Hi, everyone!

I’m Georgiana, founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com.

My mission is to help YOU to speak English fluently and confidently.

In today’s episode:

• I’ll focus on the pronunciation of some words which my students often mispronounce.

• Later, you’ll practice your English speaking with a funny mini story.

Before you get started make sure you read the text. Go to my website SpeakEnglishPodcast.com and look for episode #046.

Awesome! Let’s get started!

I’ve noticed that you love my pronunciation episodes, so I’ve selected nine more popular words that most students mispronounce.

I’ll start by telling you the correct pronunciation, and then I’ll use each word in a sentence.

Captain

A captain is someone who leads or has authority over others.

In American English, we pronounce it like this: “kap-tuh n”

Example:

“He was the captain of the ship and the sailors had to obey him.”

Cousin

A cousin also called first cousin, or full cousin is the son or daughter of an uncle or aunt. Let me say it again and you can repeat after me: “kuhz-uh n”

Example:

“My cousin and I always used to get in trouble when we were kids.”

Island

Another word on my list is island. I must have listened to my students mispronounce this word thousands of times. And yeah… We never pronounce the consonant S. We say “ahy-luh nd” and never “is-land”

Example:

“Every time I have a fight with my sister I feel like fleeing to a deserted island.”

Muscle

The following word is pronounced muhs-uhl. You should always say: muhs-uhl and not “mus-cle”

Example:

“After exercising at the gym yesterday, all the muscles in his body were sore.”

Situation

Many people find this word difficult to pronounce because it’s not easy to guess the pronunciation based on the way it’s written. This is the proper way to pronounce it: “sich-oo-ey-shuh n”

Example:

“This tense situation is becoming increasingly difficult to bear.”

Society

This is another word that many students find it challenging to pronounce. I’m talking about the word society. You should pronounce it like this: “suh-sahy-i-tee”

Example:

“Their parents are more comfortable living in a traditional society.”

Soldier

I also wanted to include the word soldier in today’s lesson. For those of you who don’t know the meaning of this word, a soldier is someone engaged in military service. I’ll pronounce this word again so you can repeat after me: “sohl-jer”

Example:

“Every dead soldier has a face, a story and a heartbroken family.”

Statue

The word statue is another word that I wanted to include in today’s lesson. A statue is usually a representation of a person, animal or mythical being that is created by sculpting or modeling.

Listen and repeat: “stach-oo”

Example:

“The moment he saw her for the first time, John stood still like a statue.”

Vehicle

And here’s the last word for today; the truth is that many people are mispronouncing it. I’m talking about the word vehicle. A vehicle is used to transport people or goods, especially on land, such as a car, truck, or car. You should pronounce it like this: “vee-i-kuh l”

Example:

“Jimmy insisted on leaving the vehicle at her disposal in case she needed it.”

Before I continue with the next section let’s practice the 9 words again: o captain

o cousin

o island

o muscle

o situation

o society

o soldier

o statue

o vehicle

I hope you’re enjoying today’s lesson. Let me just point out that in order to get a better pronunciation, you should be listening more. Many students enjoy reading books or articles; but, especially if you have a low or intermediate level of English, it’s very convenient to listen to the audio of the text as well.

Now let’s continue with a story told with questions and answers!

Mini Story 📖

(Improve your Speaking)

I’ve created a mini story so that you can practice your speaking.

Let’s see how the mini story works:

• I’ll start by giving you some information. (A phrase or two).

• And then I’ll ask simple questions.

• After each question, there will be some seconds of silence: now it’s your turn to answer the question! Just try to give an easy and short answer, not a complex one.

• And after you answer, I’ll give you a correct answer.

This process will continue, and I’ll gradually tell you a story with questions and answers.

Let’s get started!

This morning I told my cousin that I had a bizarre dream. I was on an army captain on a tropical island.

To whom did you tell about your dream?

To my cousin. I told my cousin about my dream.

When did you tell your cousin about your dream? This afternoon?

No. No. Not this afternoon. I told my cousin about my dream this morning.

Was it a regular dream or a bizarre dream?

Oh, it wasn’t a normal dream. I must confess, it was a bizarre dream.

Were you a navy captain in your dream?

Not a navy captain. I was an army captain in my dream.

Were you at sea or on an island?

I wasn’t at sea. In fact, I was on a tropical island.

In my dream, I had huge muscles and looked just like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Did you have any muscles in your dream?

Yes. I did. In fact, I had huge muscles in my dream.

Did you have huge muscles in real life?

No. No. Not in real life. Only in my dream. I had huge muscles in my dream.

Did you look like Woody Allen?

No. Absolutely not. I didn’t look like Woody Allen. I looked just like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I was standing, entirely still while a famous high society sculptor was carving a statue.

Were you dancing in front of the sculptor?

Oh, no! I wasn’t dancing in front the sculptor. I was standing entirely still.

And what did the sculptor do? Did he paint a portrait?

No. No. Sculptors don’t paint. The sculptor was carving a statue.

Was he a famous sculptor?

Apparently, he was. He was a famous high society sculptor.

Was he carving a statue of your cat?

Not a statue of my cat. I didn’t have a cat. He was carving a statue of me.

Suddenly, a soldier ran towards me saying, “Captain, we have a situation!”

Did the soldier walk quietly towards you?

No. No. He didn’t walk. The soldier ran towards me.

Did the soldier sing?

Oh, no! He didn’t sing. The soldier said something to me.

Did the soldier tell you to relax because everything was going well?

He didn’t tell me to relax. The soldier said that we had a situation, something about a dragon.

Apparently, the angry dragon woke up! So, I immediately got into the military vehicle.

Who woke up? Your wife?

No. No. Not my wife. I didn’t have a wife in my dream. It was the dragon who woke up!

Was the dragon gentle?

Absolutely not! Dragons aren’t usually gentle. And the dragon in my dream was angry!

So, did the dragon wake up or fell asleep again?

He didn’t fell asleep. The dragon woke up!

Did you get into the Ferrari?

No. No. I didn’t drive a Ferrari in my dream. Instead, I got into the military vehicle.

Suddenly I woke up and I had no huge muscles, no soldiers, and no military vehicles. I was just an ordinary guy.

Did you continue sleeping?

No, unfortunately not. Suddenly I woke up and realized that it was all just a dream!

Did you still have huge muscles?

No. No. I didn’t have huge muscles anymore. Nor did I have any soldiers or military vehicles. Everything was gone!

Did you still look like Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Oh no! Sadly, I was just a regular guy with an ordinary life.

Great! It’s the end of this short story. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it!

Can you see how many questions you can answer? It’s like talking to another person in English. And now imagine a whole story told this way.

It’s incredible how much you can learn by using this technique.

Find out more about this method. Take action now and Sign up for my free mini-course!

go to: Method.SpeakEnglishPodcast.com

And speak English fluently once and for all!

I’ll be back with a new episode next week!

See you soon! Bye! Bye!