British English pronunciation

4 things you may wish to be aware of when practicing Received Pronunciation.

A tip for French speakers that will show you the difference between French and English pronunciation.

A tip for Spanish speakers that will show you the difference between Spanish and English pronunciation.

A tip for Russian speakers that will show you the difference between Russian and English pronunciation.

A tip for Arabic speakers that will show you the difference between Arabic and English pronunciation.

A tip for Italian speakers that will show you the difference between Italian and English pronunciation.

A tip for Chinese speakers that will show you the difference between Chinese and English pronunciation.

This secondary warm up should be completed in conjunction with the 'Initial warm up'. This warm up will build on what was seen in the initial warm up, giving further exercises to allow the muscles in your mouth to relax and be ready for future videos.

There are 7 monothong vowels. In this video, we will look through all 7 before moving into further detail on each one in a separate video.

You may find it helpful to download the attached pdf.

As you work further on your pronunciation you may find this online Cambridge dictionary helpful -

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/pronunciation

The first monothong - i - as in 'it'.

Repeat words - it- is - in - trip - pin

The second monothong - D - as in 'COT'.

Repeat words - hot - plot - clock - cot

The third monothong - U - as in 'COULD'.

Repeat words - could - would - look - book - cook

The fourth monothong - A - as in 'CUT'.

The fifth monothong - e - as in 'PEN'.

Repeat words - pen - when - ten - hen - bed - bet

The sixth monothong -  as in sat

Repeat words - cat - hat - sat -  lap - tap

The seventh monothong - ə - as in 'THE'.

Repeat words - The secretary and the chairman agreed the agenda

Long monothong vowels are essentially short monothong vowels that last a little bit longer. The video above will run through all 5 before moving into each long monothong vowels individually in other videos.

The first long monothong sound - i - as in 'tree'.

Repeat words - sheep - we - he - me - meet (meat)

The second long monothong sound - ɔ - as in 'more'.

Repeat words - four - more - saw (sore) - shore

The third long monothong sound - u: as in 'WHO'.

The fourth long monothong sound - ɑ - as in 'far'.

The fifth long monothong sound - ɜ - as in 'bird'.

A warm up is key to being able to speak with clarity. Much like an athlete before a race, your muscles around your mouth and jaw need to be relaxed and warmed up before performing at their best. This video will teach you short tips on how to relax your muscles in your lips, which will in turn improve your ability to create the vowel sounds in future videos.

Diphthong vowels are, quite simply, two monothong vowels running together without a consonant in between. Diphthongs make up a large proportion of the English language, so it is important to understand the pronunciation behind them.

You may find it helpful to download the attached pdf.

The first diphthong - eɪ - as in 'PAY'.

The second diphthong - aʊ- as in 'HOW'.

The third diphthong - əʊ- as in 'GO'.

The fourth diphthong - ɪə - as in 'EAR'.

The fifth diphthong - aɪ - as in 'HIGH'.

The seventh diphthong - ɔɪ - as in 'VOICE'.

Diphthong #8 - eə - as in 'hair'.

The pronunciation of diphthongs is so important, here is a recap for further practise.

Your tongue is another important muscle to focus on when warming up. Coupled with the warm up for your lips, you will find it far easier to articulate in the correct way when pronouncing the vowel sounds in upcoming videos.

Triphthong vowels are three monothong vowels running together in one syllable. They are rarer than that of Diphthong vowels, however they are still an important component to the English language. Watch the introduction on this page, and work your way through the videos in this section to learn what each Triphthong is.

You may find it helpful to download the attached pdf.

The first triphthong - eɪ - as in 'LAYER'.

The second triphthong - ɔɪ - as in 'LAWYER'.

The third triphthong - aʊ - as in 'HOUR'.

The fourth triphthong - əʊ - as in 'SLOWER'.

The fifth triphthong - aɪ - as in 'HIGHER'.

Together with the tongue and lips, the soft palate is important to warm up prior to your speech. People often forget the importance of the back and roof of their mouth when speaking received pronunciation. This short warm up video will teach you how to effectively use this muscle in order to speak with clarity.

Consonants are the bulk of the English vocabulary. Language would not work without consonants, so it is important to be able to pronounce them correctly in order to sound like a native English speaker.

You may find it helpful to download the attached pdf.

The first consonant - b- as in 'BIRD'.

The second consonant - p - as in 'PEN'.

The third and fourth consonants - d & t - as in 'DOOR' and 'TOP'.

The fifth and sixth consonants - g & k - as in 'GOOD' and 'COULD'.

The seventh and eighth consonants - v & f - as in 'VERY' and 'FUN'.

The ninth and tenth consonants - s & z - as in 'ZOO' and 'SLEEP'.

The 11th consonant - m as in 'ME'

The thirteenth and fourteenth consonants - ʤ & ʧ - as in 'JUMP' and 'CHIP'.

The fifteenth consonant - ing - as in 'SING'.

The sixteenth consonant - n - as in 'NIGHT'.

The seventeenth consonant - w - as in 'WHEN'.

The eighteenth consonant - j - as in 'YELLOW'.

The nineteenth consonant - r - as in 'RUN'.

The twentieth consonant - l - as in 'LOOK'.

This section is for practising the light and dark l, which have subtle differences.

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a Cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden Daffodils;
Beside the Lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A Poet could not but be gay
In such a jocund company:
I gazed and gazed but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude,
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the Daffodils.

by William Wordsworth

Poor, Paw, Pour & Pore - How has the pronunciation of these words changed?

Every language has a natural rhythm, it’s the music of the language. We learn our first language by ear and copy its rhythm instinctively. Watch and listen to this video and mimic the way we link words together for a natural smooth spoken English. It can be helpful to use a smooth flowing gesture as you speak the phrase on the screen.

Inflection - the change in pitch in the voice - is something that can change the meaning of what we say. Watch the tutorial video and learn exactly how this impacts our language.

"Is that your coat?" - This sentence can have a different meaning depending on which word is given emphasis. In the English language, we have a wide ranging variety of ways to put stress on our speech, giving emotion and meaning to sentences.