Difficult Pronunciation & How to Remember It #2

Today, I will continue to focus on common English words that many of you find difficult to pronounce. (See my previous post: Difficult Pronunciation & How to Remember It)

Here is a quick reminder:

My students can usually pronounce these difficult words if I give them an easy keyword containing the same sound. For example, how would you pronounce the word ache? (Headache,  earache, toothache) It’s not easy, is it? However, I’m sure you can say make. Take off the m and you have the same sound: ..ake = ache. Easy! 

Check-out the new list of difficult words in the table below. The same sounds are in orange. Practise saying the words and examples and your speaking and confidence will certainly improve! 

Difficult Words	Key Words	Practice Sentences & Pictures
physics, physical, physician	fizzy	I miss fizzy drinks!
cough	off	I’m off work for a week! I have a  terrible cough.
island	I, eye	I want to buy my  own island. The ‘s’ is silent.
though, although	go	Oh no! Although I know Joe, I must go, go, go!
bear, pear, scare	hair	The hairy bear eats pears and scares mares.
might	tonight	I might go out for a light bite tonight.
talked, walked	talk to walk to	* talk to the … talk_t * walk to the … walk_t (*The aim here is to link to the ‘t’ sound at the start of the second word but no further: ‘talked’ should sound like talkt; ‘walked’ should sound like  walkt. One syllable only.) I talked to the fork to the cork to New York too.
asked	ask Ty	* ask Ty… ask_ T I asked Ty about the Masked Ball.(* See note above.)
whole	hole	I dug the whole hole all by myself!
soup	soon	Would you like some soup soon?
soap	hope	a. I hope there’s soap in Jo’s boat. b. Nope. Just a slow goat, a coat and  a rope.
doubt	out	I doubt we are out of sauerkraut, but could you find out?
one	won,	My mum wonders why I only won one race at the Swimming Carnival.
kind	find	A kind heart can be hard to find.

* If you can read the example dialogues and manage the correct pronunciation, clap yourself on the back! You have conquered some really weird English pronunciation! Well done!

Did you know that native English speakers often find spelling difficult? However, they have the advantage of learning pronunciation of common words before they learn spelling. This is one reason why listening is so important for you and this is why I recommend listening to and singing along to songs.

That’s all for now. Soon, I will be looking at problems that Spanish speaking learners have when speaking English. Make sure you click ‘Follow’ if you would like to receive future Posts to help you on your English journey.