A short instructional YouTube video (Accent's Way) by Hadar Shemesh teaching correct pronunciation of the English word "frustrating." The speaker breaks the word into sounds and syllables (F + R + schwa + tray + final flap T), explains mouth/tongue placement, primary stress on the first syllable (Frus-), how TR can sound like /tʃ/ (as in "train"), and that the final T often becomes a flap (sounding like D) in American English.
Chapters
Hey, guys, it's hadar. And this is the accent's way. A word that keeps coming up when my students express their feelings when they're communicating in English is the word frustrating. Frustrating. And there is nothing more frustrating than trying to say this word and not being able to say it or not getting it right. So today I'm going to teach you how to say the word frustrating so you can express your frustration clearly and accurately. So let's start. Start with an F sound. For that, you bring the bottom lip to the top teeth, release air. F. And as you're pronouncing the F sound, you are already waiting with your tongue up there for the R. Fur. So the only thing you need to do when you shift to the R is just round your lips. Fur. Fur. And then you open your mouth to the as in cup. Fr. Fr. Which is just like a schwa with a bit more emphasis. Frus. Frus. That's the primary stress of the word Frus. The second syllable is tray. Tray. A as in day. So it's not frustrating. The second syllable is not stressed. It's not frustrating. It's not an sound. It's frustrating. When the TR go together, it often sounds like a ch sound instead of a T. Listen. Frustrate. Tray. Like train. Frustrate. And then you end it with a flap T. Frustrating. Ding. So it sounds just like a D. You can say frustrating. That's also okay. But you can make it a little smoother and softer and more American by making it a flap T. Frustrating. It's very frustrating to know what you want to say but not being able to say it. Frustrating. Okay, that's it. Thank you for watching. Please share this video with your friends and don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Have a great week and I will see you next week in the next video. Bye.
