Top 10 common mistakes you can make in English pronunciation

  • Tutorial
All English speakers claim that it is possible to understand a person who speaks with an accent. True, sometimes it is difficult. English is strikingly different from Russian in phonetic and intonational terms. The carrier of any other language is always audible at once: the vowels are not pronounced in such a way, the intonation is not so built up, the necessary sounds are missing or there are unnecessary sounds in the words. Let's make a reservation right away: without an accent, you don’t even speak Russian. But by learning a foreign language, you can learn to imitate good speakers and speak with minimal and non-cutting accent. In the meantime, let's learn the most frequent mistakes of Russian students learning English.


1. The absence of long and short vowels


It is explained by the fact that there are no such concepts in the Russian language. If you hear the difference between bad and bed, the Russian student can still, then the difference between beat and bit is not very. And even if he hears, then in speech does not always reproduce. Remember that longitude and brevity can change the meaning of a word. From the context, of course, it will be clear what you mean, but reservations can be ridiculous and very funny ( here is the most textbook example).

How to work out: with the help of oppositions - pairs of words in which one sound is distinguished. For example, hereThere is a list of the minimum “long / short vowel” pairs that you can read on your own or try to work it out with the teacher. You can use an interactive table of sounds with examples and listen to how a particular sound is pronounced. Record yourself on the recorder and check how reliably happened.

In general, the advice to record yourself on a voice recorder is applicable to any pronunciation exercise. Even if you study with a teacher, you don’t hear yourself, and sometimes it seems to you that you are being corrected unfairly, and you all speak correctly. The recording will show how correctly you pronounce the sounds, words and sentences.

And one more thing: you should pay attention to diphthong [в] in such words as don't, old, cold. For some reason, students often forget that in these words the sound is the same as in the word no .

2. Epentetic sound [ə]


Epenteza - is, simply put, inserting unnecessary sound. There is no such sound in the English word, but it is difficult for you to pronounce a combination of consonants, and you insert an unnecessary vowel to simplify your task. As, for example, in the unfortunate word clothes - [kloʊðz]. Strange sounds [ðz] are difficult to pronounce, so students tend to say [kloʊðəz]. Also a neutral sound is sometimes pronounced too explicitly. Yes, in the transcription of vegetables - [ˈvedʒtəbəlz] it is present. Only stress falls on the first syllable, so the other sounds are pronounced quickly. The Russians, on the other hand, get “windjabels” because the student seeks to pronounce every vowel, even unstressed.

How to work:repeat many times until it works out. You somehow learned the word "hello." By the way, we can encourage you: you are not alone. Spaniards, for example, say "estudent" and "espasibo" if they are not corrected, because it is not typical for them to begin a word with the sound combinations "st" and "cn" in the language.

3. Stunning final voiced consonant


Not that a fatal mistake, but also affects the meaning: to celebrate St. Patrick's Day, you still go to the pub (pub), and not to the pup (puppy). The problem arises from the fact that in Russian the final call the consonant is stunned. We do not say “oak” or “screech”, but “dup” and “whiskey”.

How to work out: in the same way as longitude and brevity of vowels - with minimal pairs and for recording onto a dictaphone. The skill does not come immediately, but with practice, because it is very difficult to get rid of the habit that you had in 2-3 years, You can console yourself with the fact that foreigners who learn Russian, turn gray with the difference between pronunciation and writing. It seems to say "malako", and write "milk". "The sun", but the "sun". Strange Russians!

4. Can't


The secret enemy of any Russian who studied under British textbooks. Well, it does not give us a deep chest long sound [ɑ] in quick speech. Whatever one may say, without practice and long work on the British standard accent in quick speech, the Russian will rather say a short [ʌ], and it will turn out to be “edging”. That's just a curse word. Therefore, Americans quite often laugh at the Russians, who immediately declare “Ai Kant!”.

How to avoid: even if you learn the British standard, and this word cannot be pronounced correctly, pay attention to the American equivalent. It is better to say “Kant” and not to become a famous master.

5. Combinations –ough-, -augh-, -igh-


Etymologically, they are still present in writing and cause difficulties for anyone learning English. Why? Yes, if only because the same –ough has at least 4 rules of pronunciation. But there is a good news: there are not so many words with these combinations, and they can be learned.

How to learn: read and listen to “Ough story” several times - stories in which all the words with this combination are used. In the context of their easier to remember. The combination –igh- is easy to learn, because it is always pronounced [ai]. The combination –augh- in irregular verbs is pronounced as long [o], and in the word laugh as [af]. The remaining, less common words can be found in the list .

6. The combination of th and the notorious interdental [θ] and [ð]


No, to replace them with "c" and "z" will not work. You have to learn to pronounce them, because the words thing and sing , think and sink , faith and face , bathe and bass mean different things. Some students find themselves looking stupid, sticking their tongues out and pinching them between their teeth. In vain: if you speak fluently, reproduction of interdental sounds is generally imperceptible.

How to work: you have probably guessed. Minimal pairs and voice recorder. And tongue twisters will help, some of the most famous can be found here .

7. Sound [ŋ]


Most often, Russian students state that they cannot utter this sound, so all verbs and participles that were not lucky enough to have –ing at the end acquire the final sound “k”. There are several British dialects where it is permissible to say “dink”, but still this is a deviation from the rules, and the nasal sound [ŋ] should be mastered. Immediately, the verbs with participles will begin to sound, and some words will finally become different, for example, sin and sing .

How to work: watch a video with Rachel and try to imitate what she says. And, of course, read and write yourself as much as possible, trying to avoid unnecessary “k” at the end of words.

8. The combination of ch


This combination has at least three different readings in English. In many words, ch will give the sound [tʃ]: chair, chime, change, choose . There are cases when the French word partially retains its pronunciation, and ch is pronounced in French style like [ʃ]: chandelier, quiche . But in Greek borrowing this is sound [k], and here the Russians usually make a mistake right away, pronouncing it as “x”. In words like technology, mechanic, stomach, chemistry, the combination of ch is pronounced [k], not [h].

How to work: read more. All borrowings are hard to remember, but with experience, the most frequent of them are remembered.

9. Sound [w]


It is not in Russian, so students often replace it with the familiar sound [v], which is pronounced the same in English as in Russian. Do not do this, because you can distort the meaning. For example, weary and very are two different words. As well as why and vie .

How to work: you can watch the minimum pairs in this video and work them out. And, of course, tongue twisters to help you.

By the way! In the word answer, the sound [w] is not pronounced - [ˈɑːnsə] or [nsə].

10. Kn-, ps-, pn-, -mb, -mn


The combination of kn- at the beginning of the word tells us that the sound k will not be pronounced: know - [nəʊ], knife - [naɪf]. However, this does not prevent sound k from appearing in the same combination, but not at the beginning of the word: acknowledge - [əkˈnɔlɪʤ]. All words with ps- and pn- at the beginning - borrowing, which are often found in medicine. Here you just need to lower the sound p: psychology - [saɪˈkɔləʤɪ], pneumonia - [njuːˈməʊnjə].

On the –mb and –mn combinations, the words end. Elementary rule: pronounce only sound m, and ignore the last letter. For example, climb - [klaim], column - [ˈkɔləm].

How to work out: you will remember the most common words very quickly, and more complex words will come with time. They do not need to be specially memorized, as a rule, they will fall into context with you, and they will be fairly easy to remember.

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