496. 10 words even advanced speakers mispronounce

What you see is not what you hear. Spelling does not always correspond with pronunciation and even though there are patterns, they're not consistent. Because why make it simple if you can make things interesting, which is what English does. And we need to be thankful for it because it keeps us on our toes and it makes things interesting even though sometimes a little harder.

Hey, you're listening to the Influency Podcast. I'm Hadar, your host, a pronunciation expert, fluency coach, and a proud non native speaker with over 16 years of experience teaching. I am here to share with you all my secrets on how to show up in English clearly with confidence and freedom. On this podcast, I'll provide step by step strategies, lessons, stories and practical tips to keep you inspired and motivated on your English English journey.

Are you ready? Let's do it. Mischievous or mischievous Epitome or epitome? Entrepreneur or Entrepreneur? In this video we're going to talk about common pronunciation mistakes even advanced speakers make. These are pronunciation mistakes made by native speakers as well, and non native speakers. And the reason is because these words are not that common in spoken language and when people don't hear it enough times, they may assume the pronunciation based on the spelling, which is not always correct because we already know that English is not a phonetic language. What you see is not what you hear. Spelling does not always correspond with pronunciation and even though there are patterns, they're not consistent. Because why make it simple if you can make things interesting, which is what English does and we need to be thankful for it because it keeps us on our toes and it makes things interesting even though sometimes a little harder. Are you ready to get started? Common pronunciation mistakes even advanced speakers make. But before we start, a few words About Me I'm Hadar. I'm a non native speaker of English and I am here to help you speak English with clarity, with confidence and with freedom. And I help learners from all around the world build confidence and fluency with a lot of free lessons and resources that you can find on my website@hadar shemish.com or when you follow me on social media right here where I share daily lessons. Let's begin with the first word. The first word is entrepreneur. Entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is a person who starts and manages a business, usually taking some financial risk or building a business on their own. I'm an entrepreneur. I consider myself an entrepreneur. For example, she became an entrepreneur after launching her own company. People often mispronounce the word entrepreneur because of the spelling, because of that strange e at the beginning. But this word is derived from French and it kept the spelling. So the first sound in this word is on. On.

On.

Open. Oz and father. On. Tr. Two schwa sounds. The TR together turns into a ch sound. Tr. And then you have three options. Either nur. In my opinion, that's the easiest for someone just trying to learn this word. Entrepreneur. And the second option is entrepreneur. Or as in tour. Entrepreneur. And the third option is your with a Y sound before the. Or entrepreneur. Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur with a Y sound. The next word we're going to practice is mischievous. Mischievous. Behaving in a playful way that causes small trouble but not serious harm. For example, the kids were mischievous during the break. Mischievous. A common mistake is to say this word as mischievous. Mischievous. Probably because of the spelling, but the stress is on the first syllable. Mischievous. Let's practice it a little bit. He's a mischievous kid. That was mischievous of you. That's pretty mischievous. Mischievous. Mischievous. Good. The next word is epitome. Epitome. Ep Flap. T. If we're thinking about American pronunciation. Epitome. Epitome is a perfect example of something. The epitome of patience. He's the epitome of patience because he's so patient. Epitome. I hear a lot of people say epitome because of the T, o, M, e. Spelling. Usually when you have o, a consonant and an E, the last vowel is going to be pronounced with a long o, as in go, like hope or bone. But in this case, no, it's epitome. The O is actually a schwa. Examples. This is the epitome of comfort. So comfortable. I can stay here forever. It's the epitome of style. Right. If I'm thinking style, this is it. The epitome of style. Or she is so kind. You know what? She is the epitome of kindness. Epitome. The next word is hyperbole. Hyperbole. Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement, not meant to be taken literally. Hyperbole. For example, saying you waited forever is hyperbole. Hyperbole. And a lot of people say hyperbole. Hyperbole. And it's not hyperbole. Hyperbole. That's just hyperbole. Or he uses a lot of hyperbole. He uses a lot of hyperbole. The next word is hierarchy. Hierarchy. You can also say hierarchy. Hierarchy. Hierarchy. Hierarchy is a system where people or things are ranked at different levels of importance. For example, the company has a clear hierarchy. Hierarchy. And common mistakes could be hierarchy. Hi, Archy. And not hierarchy or hierarchy. I heard that as well. Hierarchy. The stress is always on the first syllable. Hi. Hierarchy. Hierarchy. Let's drill it a little bit in more sentences. The hierarchy changed. The hierarchy changed. Or it's a clear hierarchy. This word is a formal word meaning, although. So usually you won't hear it when people just speak. You'll see it mostly in legal documents. However, sometimes you might have to pronounce it or you might come across it and you want to pronounce it correctly. So, albeit, albeit and not. Albeit and not. Albeit. Albeit. Three syllables. Albeit. For example, the test was simple, albeit long. The test was simple, albeit long. It's nice, albeit pricey. It's nice, albeit pricey. I mean, listen, it's a nice word, albeit. I wouldn't use it in my day to day speech. See what I did there? And the last word for today is. How do you say this one? I actually use this one quite a lot. This one is pronounced as segue. Segue. Not seg and not segue, but segue. I don't know why there is a u there. Where is the w in the spelling? I don't know, but this is how you say it. Segue. Segue is a smooth transition from one topic or activity to another. So right after my pronunciation explanation, I'll segue effortlessly into giving you examples. For example, the presenter made a nice segue into the next chapter. The presenter made a nice segway into the next chapter. Or let's segue to the next point. Let's segue to the next point. All right, that is it. These are words that even advanced speakers often confused when it comes to pronunciation. And native speakers too, because of the spelling. Because these words are not used in day to day speech, they're not that frequent. But either way, when you learn the pronunciation of a new word, especially if you've gotten used to pronouncing that specific word differently, the way to change pronunciation patterns is, first of all, to understand the mistake. To understand how you used to make it versus how you're expected to make it. To pronounce it slowly. It's kind of like you build the new muscles of pronouncing this word. I know it sounds a little exaggerated, but I'm not kidding. Like, you've got to train your mouth to say it differently. Because a lot of times we think that we say it differently, but then we're actually saying it in the same way. So we want to say it and then repeat it again and again and again and in small short examples. Okay. Just like we did. Just so that you also learn how to say it in context. And it's not just the word two, three times and that's it. No, you say the word ten times and then you say a few sentences, and then you might want to come up with your own sentences with the correct pronunciation. This is how you start shifting from old pronunciation patterns to new pronunciation patterns. And that is what we are here to do. But no judgment. We all make pronunciation mistakes, and it is okay as long as you learn from them. And in general, what you have to say is more important than how you say it. Not to say that how we say it is not important.

But.

But I want you to remember that your words matter more than speaking perfectly. So it's better to speak up and to share your thoughts, even if you're not sure of the pronunciation, even if you feel insecure, because that's how you learn. That's how you build confidence, and that's how you share your voice with the world, which is what we are here to do. Okay. Thank you for being here. I appreciate you so much. So much. And if you enjoyed this episode, then subscribe, share it with your friends and follow me on social media. Just come say hi there, and that's it. Have a beautiful, beautiful rest of the day, and I will see you next week in the next video. Bye.