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Shadowing practice: Master the 10 Hardest English Words in NO TIME

Listen to the line, then say it out loud
Line 1

Full transcript

  1. Eastley Dreamers, we have taken our English class outside today.0:00
  2. We are, where are we?0:03
  3. Buckingham Palace, the home of King Charles III and the Royal Family.0:05
  4. Now, we're going to learn 10 very difficult words to pronounce for most English language learners.0:08
  5. I can't wait to get started.0:13
  6. Let's roam around London and learn some English.0:14
  7. Alright, a word that most people struggle with is comfortable.0:31
  8. Now, it looks like it has multiple syllables, comfortable, four syllables, but actually, we squeeze those sounds.0:36
  9. So it's comfortable, comfortable.0:42
  10. Another word that people struggle with is kernel, because there's an L there, but we don't pronounce it.0:45
  11. Now, there are loads of silent letters in English.0:50
  12. This is one of them.0:53
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  1. So in this situation, don't say the L, kernel, kernel.0:54
  2. Alright, our next word is hyperbole.0:59
  3. Now, this one I used to get wrong all the time, because it looks like hyperbole, or hyperbole.1:02
  4. Maybe it should be, but we actually pronounce it hyperbole, hyperbole.1:07
  5. Alright, our next word is mischievous.1:12
  6. Now, it looks like mischievous, but actually, we just say mischievous.1:15
  7. Mischievous, mischievous.1:20
  8. Few syllables, more mischievous.1:22
  9. Our next word that causes so many problems, rural, rural.1:24
  10. Now, I guess it's because it's got that RUH sound and the dark L sound.1:29
  11. RUH, RUH.1:33
  12. That ends with that dark L.1:35
  13. Oh, oh, you have to pull your tongue down and back, rural, rural.1:37
  14. Is that for me?1:42
  15. Alright, you've got it, rural.1:44
  16. Alright, I'm in one of London's parks.1:46
  17. I talk about an animal that you'll find in the trees, in the grass.1:48
  18. It's called a squirrel.1:51
  19. Squirrel.1:54
  20. This one causes so many problems.1:55
  21. Slow it down, squirrel.1:57
  22. Two syllables, squirrel.2:01
  23. Squirrel.2:03
  24. Have a go.2:04
  25. It's a good one.2:05
  26. Squirrel.2:07
  27. That's it.2:08
  28. Okay, our next word has two pronunciations.2:09
  29. One is schedule.2:12
  30. That's the British English way.2:14
  31. And the other is schedule.2:16
  32. That's the American English way.2:18
  33. Now, if I'm honest, I probably say both.2:20
  34. I probably say schedule and then schedule the next minute.2:22
  35. So it doesn't really matter.2:25
  36. You say it how you want.2:26
  37. Schedule or schedule.2:28
  38. Our next word is a French origin.2:29
  39. The pronunciation?2:32
  40. Genre.2:33
  41. Genre.2:34
  42. So we borrow that pronunciation of the G -E -N and make it a G.2:34
  43. So that's not what you would normally find in an English word.2:39
  44. But because it's French, it has that G sound.2:41
  45. Genre.2:44
  46. Genre.2:46
  47. Our next word is continuing the theme of French words in English.2:47
  48. This one entrepreneur.2:50
  49. There are four sounds here.2:52
  50. Entrepreneur.2:55
  51. This is a tricky one.2:56
  52. It's not easy.2:57
  53. That's how we say it.2:58
  54. Entrepreneur.3:00
  55. Entrepreneur.3:00
  56. Alright, we're getting tricky now.3:01
  57. This one.3:02
  58. Any idea?3:03
  59. Alright, there are lots of syllables here.3:04
  60. Onomatopoeia.3:10
  61. Onomatopoeia.3:12
  62. Yeah, that's a tricky one.3:12
  63. To be honest, it took me a while to get that one as well.3:14
  64. Onomatopoeia.3:17
  65. Set it for me?3:18
  66. Onomatopoeia.3:20
  67. Alright, this one.3:20
  68. I'll be honest.3:22
  69. I think I only learned how to say it a couple of months ago when someone corrected me.3:23
  70. The pronunciation, I think, quinoa.3:26
  71. Not quinoa, like I used to say.3:32
  72. Quinoa.3:34
  73. So now you can order it with confidence.3:35
  74. Quinoa.3:38
  75. Now let's be honest.3:39
  76. I could have chosen any UK place names and you'd probably be like, yeah, how the hell did we say that?3:39
  77. Leicester.3:44
  78. Gloster.3:45
  79. Okay, yeah, fair.3:46
  80. This one I think is probably the trickiest.3:47
  81. Wusterche.3:50
  82. Wusterche.3:52
  83. So on the C it's a su sound.3:52
  84. So wuss.3:55
  85. And then the shire.3:57
  86. It looks like shire but actually it's a shir.3:59
  87. So we use a schwa sound there.4:00
  88. Wusterche.4:03
  89. You would see that in all counties in the UK.4:04
  90. So Glosterche, Lincolnshire, places like that.4:06
  91. So this one, Wusterche.4:10
  92. Alright, have you got it?4:12
  93. Now, let me know in the comments below.4:14
  94. Are there any other UK place names that you struggle with?4:15
  95. Okay, here's a classic one.4:18
  96. Really, really simple but it looks hard.4:20
  97. Sixth.4:24
  98. Sixth.4:24
  99. Okay, so you've got two sounds here.4:25
  100. Sixth.4:27
  101. Sixth.4:29
  102. Now that T8 sound is quite tricky.4:29
  103. It's the unvoiced one.4:31
  104. Tha, tha, tha, tha.4:32
  105. Now the trick here is to show your tongue.4:33
  106. Alright, to show your tongue and you'll say it perfectly.4:36
  107. Sixth.4:39
  108. Sixth.4:40
  109. That's the one.4:41
  110. Alright, our next one is another tricky one.4:42
  111. February.4:45
  112. February.4:45
  113. There are three sounds here.4:46
  114. Feb -y -u -ree.4:49
  115. February.4:50
  116. Nice and smooth.4:52
  117. February.4:52
  118. There's a helicopter above me.4:54
  119. I'm in Soho Square.4:56
  120. It's loud.4:57
  121. It's noisy.4:58
  122. This isn't just a normal pronunciation lesson.4:58
  123. This is one in London.5:00
  124. We've taken our classroom into the city before you go.5:02
  125. Make sure to download my free guide that goes along with this lesson.5:05
  126. Okay, it's a worksheet that has self -study activities.5:08
  127. It also has an activity for teachers.5:12
  128. If you are a teacher and you want to use this in a classroom, then go ahead, download it.5:14
  129. The link is in the description below.5:18
  130. There are lots more tricky words to pronounce plus loads more pronunciation exercises.5:19
  131. Go check it out.5:24
  132. It's in the link below.5:25
  133. Thank you so much for watching, guys.5:26
  134. This is Teacher Tom from London saying goodbye.5:27

British English Pronunciation Practice on a London Walk

This clip is a British English pronunciation practice lecture shot outdoors around Buckingham Palace and a London park, not a studio recording. The host walks while teaching, at a fast 210 words per minute pace, faster than most of the catalogue, so the words arrive close together and you need to catch each one before the next line starts. The transcript is rated B1, which fits: the sentences are short and plain, but the target words themselves are the hard part.

What happens in it is a string of small pronunciation drills. The host names a word most learners say wrong, breaks it into syllables out loud, then repeats the correct form two or three times before moving on. That pattern, say it, slow it down, say it again, is exactly the shape an English shadowing practice line needs: short, isolated, and already modeled twice by a native speaker before you try it yourself.

The Words That Trip Up B1 Learners: Comfortable, Kernel, Genre

Three lines from the transcript show why this is a genuine how to pronounce English words lesson rather than a vocabulary quiz.

  • "Now, it looks like it has multiple syllables, comfortable, four syllables, but actually, we squeeze those sounds." The host is pointing at syllable compression: four written syllables collapse into fewer spoken ones, which is the actual reason this common word trips learners up.
  • "So in this situation, don't say the L, kernel, kernel." A flat statement of a silent letter rule, then the correction repeated twice in a row so you have two chances to hear it land.
  • "Now, if I'm honest, I probably say both." Said about schedule, this line admits there are two accepted pronunciations, British and American, and that switching between them is normal, not a mistake.
  • "Our next word is a French origin." Introduces genre, where the G keeps its French sound instead of turning into the usual English G, a small but real accent detail worth noticing.

How to Work Through This B1 English Speaking Practice Walk

Work the clip word by word in the order the host gives them, since each one is set up, drilled, and repeated before the next starts.

  • Start at line 7, "Alright, a word that most people struggle with is comfortable." Play the line, then repeat comfortable on your own until the four syllables shrink the way the host's does.
  • Go to lines 10 to 13 for kernel. Listen for "So in this situation, don't say the L, kernel, kernel," then shadow just the two repeated tries of the word, not the explanation around them.
  • Spend extra time on squirrel, said on its own five separate times in a row. Repeat it at the same short length each time rather than stretching it, since that is what the host is modeling.
  • Take schedule at lines 41 to 49 as a pair. Shadow both pronunciations the host gives, British then American, so you can produce either one and improve your English accent in both directions.
  • Close on genre, lines 50 to 58. Say it right after the host each time it repeats, paying attention to the borrowed French G rather than the usual English one.
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