English Pronunciation -- "It Sounds Like..."

[habeascor]

Finally! I can pronunce "thing" correctly, thanks.

[geemac100]

init im english wat are you going on about????????

[95briannanicole]

i dont even understand this, and i speak english. jeez

[Iamsky15]

see my vids

[pierewiet200]

in a 'good cook book' there are already 3 different 'oo' sounds and i believe there even is a fourth.

The guy is a douche

[himonfukwe]

@pierewiet200 They're not different vowels in any dialect I know. The sounds are slightly different because all vowels in English are slightly different depending on the consonants next to them. A vowel before a voiced consonant (m, n, ng, b, d, g, j, v, z, zh, voiced th) is longer than a vowel before a voiceless consonant (p, t, k, f, s, sh, ch). You don't really need to teach that to a beginning English learner, and I doubt most English teachers ever explain that rule.

[jgehl]

Guys! If you're a foreigner trying to learn Emglish or a student of phonetics and linguistics, don't believe this guy shit. He know's no phonetics at all! This is highly unscientific crap!

[beenn15]

@jgehl everybody learns differently... especially phonetics. Some people picks up sounds by listening, others need more detailed and unconventional ways to understand and mimic a particular pronunciation.

If this method doesn't work for you, try something else.

[VolkColopatrion]

you know, I wonder why the international phonetic alphabet isn't used in junction with this.

[jgehl]

@VolkColopatrion I second that! This guy know's no phonetics at all!

[starcheese]

=D 1:11

[rebecakemp]

thank you for your time, im traying to be waiter but i dont have a perfect english and accent. i have a big problem with the ORDER word i just cant say it.

and is more complicated when i try to say ready to order. if you can help me?

[alennna]

awesome. thank you so much!

[stirwins333]

what's up with his tiny baby finger at the end? Weird.

[Jdd20sYTAccount]

@fordtruckrule You're the reason people dislike us Americans.

(Although, I gotta agree a bit)

[jgehl]

@fordtruckrule being American, I have to you're a disgrace to our country. Look at your spelling, for Christ's sake!

[jsfpp]

'turn' without 'u'? c'mon! it's BrE /t3:n/ or Ame /t3:rn/ and in both cases it has a vowel there.

[EMPERORMIKI]

Boy toy oil ...

[ukrainesov21]

I don't agree you put "father" and "top" together as one sound...

[mczr00]

damn..i still couldnt decide how to pronounce the word on .. i mean like on..or.. aan.. ?

[weetabixharry]

Much of this is so very different in British English accents.

[baigandine]

It may be different in practice, but the theory is the same on paper.

[RepublicofSocialismZ]

The virbrated th is really supposed to be "dh"

so you have:

th- thing

dh-that

zh-tresure

wh-what

ph-photo

In reality without having the vowel shifts and revisions of middle english, any W should be said as "V" without an h following.

[Siphon880yt]

You have a good voice too.

[targettman]

and.... (sorry to drag on, but I would like to hear you rebut my potential problems)

I don't understand how this would replace IPA for students of English anyway.

The major cause of error I have seen in English learners pronunciation is lack of clear pronunciation guides in dictionaries. If students have heard the word, they don't tend to have as much trouble remembering the vowel.

I do not see how this system could be written in a short hand way in a vocab list etc.

[baigandine]

I agree about teaching the looseness and inexactitude of the vowel sounds, but the exactitudes of English should be taught as well. A student should understand why the U in pro-DUCT-ion sounds different than in pro-DUCE, and so forth. English 70-80% follows phonetical rules.

[baigandine]

And he's absolutely right about those R-dominated words. And the phonetics on that point are quite predictable and clear.

[targettman]

...cont...

I think you should also have schwa on that sheet, because it is a very important part of English, and is a major reason why vowel clarity is not as important in English as in other languages.

I think for an international language such as English the students should learn that vowels have a little freedom in English. (a lot of your rhymes in American English, were not infact rhymes in Australian English) And thus should learn to deal with in-exact vowels

[targettman]

I like the system perhaps for American pupils that are having trouble with English, but to be honest I don't think it is the best system for second language students.

The differences in vowels between English accents are going to confuse them if the vowels are learned in a rhyming fashion such as this.

Also, the word 'minute' does not have two 'i's' in it.... The second vowel is a schwa...

[ainamelas]

cut and sun sound like an a ?

[edgarvila]

Teacher!!! Thanks a lot for your help!!! I am very grateful!!! your job is fantastic..

Thanks!!!!

[gongfubaby]

phonics!!!!!!!!!!!

now,i can understand the vidio.

this is phonics!!!!!it is very very useful.

so.thanks very very much!!

i at last understand!!!!!!

[mistermath]

US children use a system called SHORT and LONG or ugly and beautiful

cat pen fish hot cut are ugly

day night pete go cute are beautiful

[LuStar86]

@mistermath Hi there!

Your video is amazing!! In lovely language (portuguese), we also make variation with the vowels sounds... But we distinguish them by symbols like ~, ^ or ´...

You have also a brilliant voice!! Congratulations!!!

[gongfubaby]

i was heart the American children study english without KK symbols,or IPA symbols studing. Is it true? really??? so ,can you tell me how the children make sure the pronounciation about the words. thanks.

[thePsyGuy]

so its GAmE?

[12lugares]

I'm sure it's American english, not British, but with this, i could help my pupils!...

[diegotob1986]

you are a behaviourist! people shouldn´t learn in this way

[sugarLJK]

too fast..

[enter19]

you should use IPA symbols and say the words more slowly, how am i supposed to repeat a vowel if your saying too fast that i cant even try to say it. thanks

[ncoldblood]

Wow i never realised the "vibration" noise on the second set of th words until just now 0.o..and i've been speaking english all my life...kinda sad when you think about it.

[dfctv3]

Ha, when I watch this it makes me realise how difficult our language is. And not to mention how ugly it sounds :x

Haha, I'm American, btw.

[cygan2002]

sorry m8 but ur pronunciation is not entirely british english.. :/ I don't wanna be rude - i'm just saying. Try to work on it thou.

Cheers!

[ngelay]

why should he sound like british ,btw?he isnt even british..

[cygan2002]

what i mean is that if someone claims that he/she knows british english pronounciation he/she should be doing it the proper way. I'm not criticising - I just said that the author needs working on the proper accent. Coz what I understand as pronounciation is accent as well m8...

[dylanXhorsieXtime]

He's doing American accents not British.

[mairsil]

His tags are for American English, and the only place 'british' shows up on this page is in this comment thread.

[AdeonWriter]

This is US English, not British English. The dialect is significantly different. (A British accent to American ears is so different to the degree that, if one is very thick, it may render people unable to understand you.)

[ousys]

I like your video, I can learn a lot here, Nice teacher, thank you!

[jazabell14]

i love ur voice..although you remind of of the voice they use on the kiddies computers the ones that help them with spelling/math/ etc.. cat hat bat lol

[dfctv3]

haha thats so true ((:

[HoldingOn2DaMemories]

i have trouble with the TH sound xD...i need to make my pronounciation better

[ieBrazil]

thank you very much, Sr.! For a Brazilian like me, your video is very useful ...and easy to understand!

Tnx a lot!

ieBrazil

[lookatthere]

your videos are really great and useful..I enjoy them very much!

[Brandon112878]

WAIT! How can this be?? You pronounce "dog, saw, bought, caught, walk" differently from the way you pronounce "top, pot, father". For me, all these vowels are [ɑ]. I'm American (from Seattle), yet I never, ever heard a difference between those two sets of words growing up. Why do you pronounce them differently?

[hultonclint]

Hi, I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic (?), since you did use an IPA symbol. Anyway, this is the traditional distinction. Dialects like Seattle no longer make the historic distinction. Google "low back merger." :)

[saiyajedi]

The Pacific Coast and all of Canada have what's known as the "low back merger", where the "ah" sound (in "father", "top", "pot", etc.) and the "aw" sound (in "dog", "saw", etc.) are pronounced the same. It drives this Easterner nuts.

[akaKakashiFanatic]

@saiyajedi i think this also applies to the midwest, because that's where i live and we do the same thing. this guy's pronunciation of 'dog' reminds me more of new york and that whole upper-east part of america

[baigandine]

It can be an awkward accent, like when you ask someone to hand you the cock rather than the caulk.

[stuvo1977]

@saiyajedi Easterners sound funny to westerners. You guys draw your vowels out. The low back merger is spreading and it will soon take over. The low back merger has prestige, as it is predominate in California, where movies and television shows are made. Just give it a generation or two.

[ziyadjawabra]

thanx alot it helps non natives

[AMAJGAGFILMS]

thanks for the video. is interesting.

[disneynguyen]

"MEENOOT!"

lol. props.

[richivinsky]

I forgot to mention that I like this video very much. It clearly distinguishes between the vowel sounds in english.

[mistermath]

i will include your observations about sell sail tell tail. Thank you. I'm putting together a chapter in my book about pronuncation and "It Sounds Like" is a lot easier than the usual IPA system with upside e and V, backwards C and strange symbols. what is your position. are you a teacher or a learner?

[doctorbowe]

@mistermath 

[richivinsky]

I haven't seen the other videos, and this might actually be more advanced pronunciation, but there's also a distinction between "sail" and "sell" and also "tail" and "tell".

[hundred4ever]

cavemeister- that's mean. i don't think it matters who is right or wrong, we have different accents, so what? though, sometimes when i'm watching something english,i can't understand anything ya'll are saying, sometimes ya'll speak really fast and it seems to get muddled. I hate that because I really want to know what ya'll are saying.

[maruciooki]

if i american visiting London,they will understand what i say?what about vice-versa?Thanks

[Brandon112878]

Yes, if you speak the way this gentleman speaks in this video, Londoners will definitely understand you. There is very little lack of comprehension between American and British English speakers. The dialects are very much mutually intelligible.

[JaysMyBabe]

thanks! now im back in prschool. >: [that sucked.

[DarkDEATHx]

Great vid!!! thank you for posting these videos. i am not from England and just catching up with the pronounciation.

could you please give me some tips on how to say "TH". i.e. thanks, throat etc. iv been trieng to say it from 6 months but still cant say it properly.

many thanks

[tymons3]

It's very usefull. Could you try to make a list of a few words and read it on the video?

[granadilla3d]

thanks for the video. is interesting.

[cavemeister]

hehe im not spanish but im from north east of england(like billy elliot) so theese spanish ppl probably talk better than me.

[valberm]

I just don't understand why. *Engl*ish is the language from *Engl*and. Thus your English pronunciation must be correct. People actually seem to like to get overcome by the americans, by "american way of life" and hence "american way of speaking". My opinion is therefore: if either an american or an english one is "mispronouncing" any word I'd bet it is the american one, merely because English comes from England.

[valberm]

P.S.: I don't mean with this that American pronunciation is wrong, but only if one wants to compare it to English from England.

[cavemeister]

the american way is wrong i hate the way they speak :)

[Brandon112878]

You're so intelligent.

[dreamissbehaved]

the "american way" and our pronunciation is because of our accent. so every one who has an accent other than the "original english" one is wrong?

[Churck]

Nothing is wrong with the languange, if you transmit clearly the massage, it is always right, but exit "suitable" and "not suitable"...

[grazikitty]

Bravooo!!!

[urumita]

wow, amazing thank you for your time, i'm spanish but i would like to improve my pronunciation how can you help me

[mistermath]

write to me ... send me a message

[jirotaro]

awesome!

[oxfordde]

nice close up - and system is clearly shown...kip

[puimnida]

good VID