Pronunciation

Text to Speech

If you have an Android phone, or a modern Chromebook running Android apps, you are recommended to download one of the amazing voices from CEREPROC. These only cost a Euro and are very realistic. Make this voice the Android default. I also like the XODO android app for reading PDF and Google Docs - select the 'read' option under the three vertical dots on the menu bar.

Pronunciation of "'ED" words ... e.g. regular past participles.

Remember the rules.

Rule A... Stem ending in /t/ or /d/ ... pronounce as /id/.

accepted, acted, admitted, decided, expected, included, indicated, lasted, needed, reported, started, suggested, tested, waited, wanted.

Rule B... Stem of verb is unvoiced (sounds /p/, /f/, /s/, /t/, /k/).

asked, changed, developed, finished, helped, introduced, liked, , promised, reached, stopped, talked, walked, washed, watched, worked.

Rule C... Stem of verb is voiced (feel your vocal cords).

agreed, believed, called, carried, explained, followed, happened, learned, lived, listened, played, remembered, seemed, showed, travelled,

Choose how you'd like to pronounce "WH" words

They are pronounced as two different sounds in Scotland and Ireland and much of the USA, but as a single sound in England.

Read the words below ...

Biscuit, minute, island, laugh, vegetables, Edinburgh, colleague, choir, chef, castle.
Beach, church, money, biologist, crisps, library, busy, hello, Spain, wifi.
Chocolate, receipt, prescription, iron, ironed, salmon, sword, soared, said, sour, yawn, doubt, debt.
Suitcase, July, schedule, ballet, quiche, exhausted, women, woman, answer, foreign, comfortable, aisle, corridor.
Fruit, build, built, soup, soap, law, adequate, suitable, particularly, sauce, early, genre, parents.
Since, flood, climb, on purpose, mountain, world, lettuce, let us, work, tough, lifeguard.
Literature, very, yogurt, although, bear, heart, mirror, chemist, church, chef, anchor, anger.
Puzzle, sweat, sweet, steak, stick, village, promise, yacht, cousin, archive, thumb, Asia.
Jewellery, jewel, soldier, cough, pilot, clothes, queue, chaos, recipe, receipt, prescription, drought, flood.
Dinosaur, dessert, desert, monkey, money, ambulance, surfing, ketchup, laundry, ache, Autumn, honey.

Also listen to these words being pronounced by a text to speech programme.

Now these tongue twisters!

Betty bought a bit of butter, but she found the butter bitter, so Betty bought a bit of better butter to make the bitter butter better.
Did Doug dig David's garden or did David dig Doug's garden?
Do drop-in at the Dewdrop Inn.
Four furious friends fought for the phone.
Five flippant Frenchmen fly from France for fashions.
How was Harry hastened so hurriedly from the hunt?
In Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire hurricanes hardly ever happen.
James just jostled Jean gently.
Jack the jailbird jacked a jeep.
Kiss her quick, kiss her quicker, kiss her quickest.
My cutlery cuts keenly and cleanly.
Can a clam cram in a clean cream can?
Larry sent the latter letter later. (Note a double consonant after an “a” causes it to be LONG, when followed by a single consonant the “a” is SHORT (listen to this for examples).
Lucy lingered, looking longingly for her lost lap-dog.
You know New York, you need New York, you know you need unique New York.
Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. If Peter piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where's the peck of pickled peppers that Peter Piper picked?
Quick kiss. Quicker kiss. Quickest kiss. Quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly...
Quite quiet quiz question.
Round the rugged rocks the ragged rascal ran.
Reading and writing are richly rewarding.
Rory the warrior and Roger the worrier were reared wrongly in a rural deanery.
Six thick thistle sticks.
The shrewd shrew sold Sarah seven silver fish slices.
Sister Susie sat on the sea shore sewing shirts for sailors.
Seventy seven benevolent elephants.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice-cream!
Ten tame tadpoles tucked tightly in a thin tall tin.
Two toads, totally tired, trying to trot to Tewkesbury.
The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
Elizabeth's birthday is on the third Thursday of this month.
Vincent vowed vengeance very vehemently.
Vera valued the valley violets.
Wear a jazzy yellow jacket on the yacht.
Lump of red leather, yellow leather lump.

This poem is the ultimate test ...

Chaos, Gerard Nolst Trenité

American Pronunciation

British pronunciation

DO NOT MUMBLE. Clear pronunciation is crucial in English and can change the meaning of the word. Pronounciation of the "t" at the end of a word is vital - e.g. "can" versus "can't"

USEFUL WEBSITES

This is a very useful table of the 44 English sounds (phonemes).
common mistakes made by Spanish speakers
do not mumble exercises in this link
worksheet on pronouncing the "ed" sound at the end of words
moving your mouth tips here
pronounciation tests here
BBC learning english - pronounciation tips
spellzone.com is a wonderfull site linking spelling and pronounciation.
Listen to Dylan Thomas pronouncing do not go gentle into that good night

Note that in countries like Scotland, Ireland and the southern United States there is another digraph "wh" used to distinguish, for example, "which" from "witch" or "whales" from "Wales"