Chaos
Foreigner
Decision
Government
Do you know how to pronounce these words?
If you don’t, keep reading….
As my students know, I’m a great believer in the power of self-study. The activity I’m presenting today comes from material I use in class but you can also use it by yourself at home.
A pre-requisite is that you need to be familiar with the pronunciation chart. If you aren’t yet, you can learn it by yourself or book some classes with a teacher. I encourage you to do that if you want to acquire an invaluable tool to improve your pronunciation over time. It may take a while, but it’s not as hard as it seems.
20 words that you may be mispronouncing
Here are the steps:
1- Pronounce the word as you would normally do (no dictionary at this stage).
2- Read the phonemic transcription and say it again.
3- Listen to the dictionary pronunciation
4- Say it one more time
Go the extra mile (for self-study pros)
If you are really committed to improving your pronunciation, record it all. You will be able to listen later and compare your first attempt with the final result.
If you did it well from the start, that will give you a boost. You have proof of your progress.
Let’s dive in!
| WORD | TRANSCRIPTION | LISTEN |
| DECISION | /dɪˈsɪʒ(ə)n/ | decision |
| OPPORTUNITY | /ˌɒpə(r)ˈtjuːnəti/ | opportunity |
| EXACTLY | /ɪɡˈzæk(t)li/ | exactly |
| PUNCTUAL |
/ˈpʌŋktʃuəl/
|
punctual |
| FOREIGNER |
/ˈfɒrɪnə(r)/
|
foreigner |
| POSTPONE |
/pəʊsˈpəʊn/
|
postpone |
| AUGUST |
/ˈɔːɡəst/
|
August |
| MAGAZINE | /ˌmæɡəˈziːn/ | magazine |
| YOUTUBE | /ˈjuː.tʃuːb/ | youtube |
| VIDEO |
/ˈvɪdiəʊ/
|
video |
| EUROPEAN |
/ˌjʊərəˈpiːən/
|
European |
| VOCABULARY | /vəˈkæb.jə.lər.i/ | vocabulary |
| ROMANTIC |
/rəʊˈmæntɪk/
|
romantic |
| GOVERNMENT |
/ˈɡʌvə(r)nmənt/
|
government |
| CHAOS | ˈ /keɪɒs/ |
chaos |
| LETTUCE | /ˈletɪs/ | lettuce |
| ONION |
/ˈʌnjən/
|
onion |
| JANUARY |
/ˈdʒænjuəri/
|
January |
| COMPARISON |
/kəmˈpærɪs(ə)n/
|
comparison |
| TUNA | /ˈtjuːnə/ | tuna |
I hope this has been helpful. There will be similar posts in the future. Keep an eye on my web or subscribe by sending me an email with the word subscribe to receive the latest updates.
Have fun pronouncing!
