10 English words difficult to pronounce | American Accent 1-1 with @AndrÉs En InglÉs PART 2

Hey everyone, it's Hadar. Thank you for joining me. Do you know these words that always get stuck in your mouth when you say them and you're so frustrated and you think there's something wrong with you? Well, today, along with Andres from Andres and Ingles, we are going to talk about these words. Before sitting together, Andres posted a question to his community asking what are the most difficult words for you? It was so interesting to see how many of the same same words came up in all of those answers. So today we're going to tackle the most confusing words for Spanish speaking people. Also, don't forget to go check out the interview I had on Andres channel.

There.

We talked about speaking English as a non native speaker. English learning methods, limiting beliefs, and so much more. It's a lot of fun. So definitely go check it out and be sure to subscribe. While you're there, let's check out how to pronounce the most complicated words for non native speakers.

Thank you everybody who sent me those words. And I want to start with one that is very difficult for me and I've been trying to master. Can we start with the word world? Am I saying that right?

Actually, you were very. It's almost there and it is a very challenging word. Let's. Let's break it down. Okay, so we start with the W sound. And for that you round your lips, right?

Yeah.

But then even though there is an O here, you don't want to pronounce it because there is no O, you want to delete it.

So what would you do?

And you shift to the R directly. So from the W to the R. Oh my God.

World. Oh, my God. It's groundbreaking.

Yes.

Let me just try that again.

Okay.

World.

Oh, that was really good.

Oh, my God.

And also it works. It works. The system works.

You know, you definitely should try her course on. I always try to say improving your accent, but I know that's wrong.

No, improving your accent works, but speaking with clarity.

Let me try that again.

Okay. And I'm gonna say one more thing. For people who are not that familiar with the dark L as you do. So for your, you know, like Spanish speaking community, there is no ol. Right. They would go to. They may say something like world or world. Right. They won't. Or just word. It may be pronounced as a D. So the L is important. Now can you tell me what happens in your mouth when you say the l sound?

World. My tongue kind of like the movement. It turns into like a little U inside.

Yeah. Like something stretches there in the back.

Yeah.

And basically the L is this O sound.

I've been watching so many videos about pronunciation, and they try to show you the position, the position of the tongue. And sometimes I can't understand, but when you give me an example that you just did.

Yeah.

And you say, like, you. That's what we need. And that's like. You tell me, put your tongue this way, and I'll be like, I can't. Like, I don't even know how. It's like, I don't know that muscle that we don't know how to use. But when you said to me, just drop the O and just.

And everything just, like, fell into place. And you just listen to the pure sounds that your mouth will know how to make. And you let go.

Like, honestly, I'm blown away by this.

So if you think of it, I would write it differently. I would write it like W, e, R, E, were. And then I'll put probably like three Ls, and then it's world. So we have the word world.

Yes.

It sounds so good.

Oh, my God, I'm so happy.

Someone also requested the word.

Word, word.

Which is basically like world with no.

L. When you have that D at the end, is it a strong sound?

You do not want it to sound like a T. So you don't want to say word.

So, word, word. Sometimes I'm afraid that it's like I'm being a little too hard on the D at the end.

Yeah, yeah, but. But you gotta make that sound.

But it has to be subtle.

Yeah. Word, Word, Word.

Word.

Listen, it's like this word.

So you have to hold that. You have to hold it. Word, Word.

Just do this.

Word, Word. Word, Word.

Yes, Word.

I want to leave it like that because I did it. Right. So let's move on to the next.

Let's move on to the next word. Thursday.

So different within Thursday and Tuesday.

Yeah. That's a tricky one. Right?

Yeah.

So Thursday starts with a th, and then the R immediately. Let's do it together. So we stick the tongue up for the th, and then you pull it in for the R. Thursday. And then it's a Z sound.

It's like a Z sound.

Yeah. So Thursday.

So you have to feel that vibration here.

Yeah. Very good.

Learning from the best.

Thursday. Thursday. So Thursday and Tuesday.

Tuesday.

So Thursday has that thr. Thursy. And day. Thursday. Right. And also it's important to do the entire vowel, like day.

Thursday.

Right. So it's not Thursday. Thursday and Tuesday. Always think of it as like the Second day of the week, right? You have Monday. Tuesday. You start with Tuesday. That would be like.

Do you do the Z sound?

Tuesday?

Yeah, the Z. Oh, this is very difficult. I don't even know how to pronounce that. Murder. Am I saying that right?

Okay, so let's. The beginning was great. Mer.

Mer.

But then make sure that you don't stick the tongue up for the D. The remember that the D in Spanish turns like a T turns into a th. Yeah. So the D needs to be strong. The tongue needs to be on the upper palate.

You know, it's funny, there is, like, now I'm finding that a lot of the difference are based on the fact that we're not touching the upper part of our mouth.

For the D for some.

Some letters.

Some sounds.

Some sounds.

Yes, yes. So for the D for sound of speakers, when the D is in the middle of a word between vowels, then the tongue, the teeth, and you need to bring it to the. To that fleshy part, to the gums. So.

Murder. Murder.

Right. Say der.

Der.

Murder.

Murder.

Now the D is lighter, so it means. Yeah, Murder.

Yeah. Because I feel like it's like. Yeah, like. Like it is there, but it's not murder.

Actually, this D is like the flat T, which is like this short. Spanish are. Murder.

Okay, I'm gonna try that.

You're gonna try that.

Okay. Uncomfortable.

That was great.

Thank you.

Okay, so let's break it down.

So you break it down because I kinda think I know how it sounds because I use that word a lot.

Right. So if you read it phonetically, it would be uncomfortable. Right? Uncomfortable. Un. Uncomf.

Com.

Ter.

Ter. Ball. Uncomfortable.

Good. Do it again.

Uncomfortable.

Very good. And the bowl at the end, which you're doing super nicely, it's a dark L, so a little trick that will help you. If you say uncomfortable. Like a light L is to add. To think as if you're adding an O between the B and the L. Yes.

I think I said that on one of my videos. Like a hack that I use that. It's not really a proper use of it, but it's a hack.

It's a hack, and it's a good one. So use it.

It's a life hack.

Yeah.

So. Oh, wow. This is like, everybody's drinking that for.

Halloween, and I feel like the crime.

So let me try pumpkin spice latte.

Yeah, very good. So pumpkin. Pumpkin. So the P in the middle is not super clear.

Pump can.

Pumpkin. Yeah, say it again, Tom.

Ken.

Relaxed. Air. Spice.

Spice.

Not. How would some Spanish speakers Say it.

Spice. Spice.

Right. No E. Before an esp.

I saw this in one of her videos, and I thought it was so helpful. Just try to be like spice.

Right. Start with the S because, you know.

And that would sound like an S.

Not like a C. An S. Right, exactly. So you make the S a little longer, and then in your. You won't accidentally add an E sound like you would in Spanish. So pumpkin spice. And you want to connect it.

Spice. Latte.

Right.

And the latte that is actually not an English word.

Not an English word. But when you use it in America or in a place where people speak English, then you use. You want to use the English sounds. So it's not latte, but la.

La. Te. That would be like, what kind of.

As in father.

Father.

Okay, right. As father and not te, but tay.

Oh, really?

Right. There are never words that end with a in English, so it's probably going to be a long a sound. Latte. Ballet. Cafe. Okay, Right. Not eh. Not cafe.

So pumpkin spice. Latte.

Latte.

Latte. Oh, wow.

Yeah. Try it again.

Pumpkin spice latte. Yes. Nice.

It's. Oh, that's a good one.

If it's not a boy, it's a girl.

Yes. So you want to round your lips a little bit, move from the G sound to the R. Grr, grr. Just grr, grr. And then you create that tension in the back of your tongue for the L, girl.

Right.

So for the dark L, you don't even have to bring the tip of the tongue up. You can just create that tangent.

Girl. So one thing there that I think confuses a lot of people is the eye, the sound of the I that everybody's looking for, that they try to.

Erase it, delete it even.

You're gonna be trying to say E, girl.

Yes. Don't forget to round your lips just a bit. So, yeah, it gets like a deeper sound. And not girl, but girl.

I want to stop you here and talk a little bit about how your voice is going to change. Like, I learned this. It's like sometimes we're afraid because I started listening to myself, and especially when I'm recording, which is part of her course. Check it out. But when I record myself, I'm like, oh, I sound deeper. Is that my real voice? Am I faking it too much?

Yeah, this is such a good question. And it comes up so often with my students. So English is placed differently in the body and in the mouth. So Spanish, for example, it's more of a head voice. It's a little Nasal it is. And in English, like, the voice resonates more in the chest, and that's the deeper voice that you're hearing. And actually, if you don't hear that, you can practice it by dropping your voice more towards your chest. Of course, if it doesn't feel comfortable, then it's okay. You know, like, you. It. It's not the first thing that you need to focus. But to your question, like, I think that if you feel that it sounds a little different, it's okay, right? It's okay. It makes sense if you. It make. Now I'm gonna add something small to it. Sometimes we change the voice because we're nervous. Sometimes you may find yourself speaking in a much higher or much lower voice, and you want to recognize that if you sound unclear, that maybe you're changing the voice in the wrong way in a way that doesn't allow your voice to come out. So make sure that you also don't speak in a very high voice that is different from your native tongue or very low, low, quiet voice, because when you go too low, you can't go loud, you know? And so if you feel that your voice is too soft, then maybe it's because you are misusing it. So you always want to feel comfortable, but it's okay if it's slightly different.

All right? And also, we were talking about this on my video. When you speak faster, but you're doing wrong.

Oh, yeah.

What do you call that?

I call it the bad fast speaker.

So it happened to me just before, and she called me on it. So can we talk a little bit about that?

Yeah. So you started, like, if you watch your videos in Spanish, you are like a. Like a. Like a storm, you start. Like, I wish I could do it in Spanish. One day. I will be able to do it. Yes. With your new channel that you're gonna open, Teaching Spanish, I'm gonna be your first subscriber. So you go so fast. So Spanish is a language where the vowels are very short. So not only you feel confident and you have your own rhythm, but also the vowels are short, so you move quickly from one sound to another. In English, they're longer vowels, like, all the O and a. And if you try to squeeze it into the rhythm of Spanish, it's just not going to sound right. That's the first thing. Second, like, a lot of words in English are stretched, all the stress words. So when you speak fast and you try to implement, like, the rhythm of Spanish, you're not clear and you get stuck, which is what Happened because you were coming like, this is how I'm used to speaking. Expecting yourself to show up like this in English. But no, you gotta have a different speaking strategy. So I told you to slow down, and then you sounded amazing.

And to breathe.

And to breathe.

And I think it's also. It plays on our own insecurities. We think that by speaking faster, we speaking better.

Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah. We're better. Or people won't notice our mistakes. Yes. Yes. So fast. No one will notice. Of course they won't notice because they won't understand either.

They probably will be like, what?

Yeah. Or just nod and be like, yeah.

So think about that when you're speaking English. Just slow down, breathe, and give yourself a chance. Yeah.

Yeah. And allow the work that you've done to show up. Because when you slow down, it will.

It did. Check out my video. The schedule. Oh, schedule.

Almost. There is that one sound in the middle that I'm missing, which is the sound sk.

Okay, let's try that out.

So first of all, not esque.

Did I say ske?

No, no, no, no, no. You said it right. I'm, like, anticipating.

All right, thanks.

Sk.

So you want to feel the vibration.

It's a voice sound.

But now let's break it down to two. Schedule. And then think as if you have a W, O, L. Wol. Schedule.

Okay. Schol. Wo.

Yeah, because technically it's a dark L. And then you have an U sound before. So what you get is that W sound. Schedule.

Schedule. In the same family. That little animal. Can I try that out?

Yes, please.

Go. Okay. This is a tough one. Okay.

Can you guess? Can you guess what it is?

Squirrel.

Okay, good. Say it again.

Squirrel.

Yes. Squirrel.

Squirrel.

So you want to think of it as one sound, one syllable.

Squirrel.

Yeah.

And the end will be the longest.

E. No, because there is no E. Listen. Listen to the sounds.

So we have squirrel.

Squirrel.

Squirrel.

So we have SK. The W shifts into the R. Squir. And the R shifts into the L, adding that mini O that helps us. Squirrel.

Squirrel.

Yep. Do it again.

Squirrel.

That's square. Squirrel.

Okay. Squirrel.

Yes.

A lot of, like. You know what? I'm learning a lot today about, like, this.

So important.

Squirrel.

It gives you a deep, deeper quality to the. To your R sound. Even if you're getting. You get your tongue right. A lot of people don't push the lips. And then sounds like squirrel. Right.

Squirrel.

Round your lips, it'll give you a deeper sound, and that way you won't add extra vowels. That don't exist.

I think that will be my best takeaway from this video.

Good.

Okay, let's try one more word.

One more word. Must have been. Okay. Because then we get to talk about the shortcuts. The word have is usually reduced when it's unstressed to, which is the schwa. For those of you who know, you know the schwa sound, I have a video about it. I'm going to link to it here. So instead of saying must have been, just add that sound after the must, musta, musta been, musta been, musta been. It must have been hard.

It must have been hard.

It must have been great.

It must have been great.

It must have been challenging.

It must have been challenging. But you did it after this. Oh, wow, that's great. That's how. What do you call that?

I would call it reductions or, you know, like reduced English where you reduce the less important part and connect it together.

Well, this is great. I hope you know this. Help your community to understand that we all go through challenges when we're learning a new language. And.

And just to show that like no matter where you are, you. And just to show that no merit. And just to show.

And just to show you that it happens to all of us.

Oh, my God. If you watch my outtakes, no matter where you're at on your journey, like, there's always something to learn and we're always open to learning. Even me, like to. To making mistakes. To being open about it. Not a big deal. Right? Because that's the only way to learn the accent way. Okay, that's it.

Thank you so much for watching.

If you like this video, don't forget to subscribe. Don't forget to subscribe to Andres channel.

And give us a thumbs up if you like it.

Absolutely.

And.

And I will see you here next week in the next video.

Bye.