Hi and welcome back to Love English I'm Leila and in today's lesson it's gonna
get a little bit controversial some of you might not actually agree with what I
have to teach you because today I want to share 12 words in the English
language that I think you can say wrong yes you can mispronounce these words
English is a global language so not only do we have differences in pronunciation
from region to region within the United Kingdom but we also have differences
globally and these words in particular have two distinctive pronunciations now
some of them are technically wrong but again English is an evolving language
it's changing all the time and that means that words change the meanings of
words can change and the pronunciation of words can change over time and
gradually as more and more people use these different forms of pronunciation
they become acceptable and even get put into a dictionary so if you want to see
whether you pronounce these words correctly or whether like many you may
pronounce them slightly differently then keep watching to learn more now if your
pronunciation is something you would like to improve or indeed if you would
simply like to have the opportunity to improve your conversation skills maybe
practice for an exam or even just grammar yeah grammars pretty essential
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that right on with the lesson 12 words that
you can can mispronounce right so before I start with number 1 I'm actually going
to test your English here I'm gonna test your pronunciation this word this cake
it is a cake a very traditional British afternoon tea cake how do you pronounce
it would you say scone like home or scone like gone scone scone scone scone
very controversial in the UK as to which it should be
in fact both are correct often it depends on or the region that you live
in up north it's more common to say scone down south a little bit more
common to say scone and generally speaking scone is considered to be the
pasha pronunciation but like any of these pronunciations whichever you
choose or prefer to use you're not wrong you
going to be understood people will not think that you're speaking badly because
truth be known English native speakers will also say many of these words wrong
and actually I would even say they're not wrong they are just a difference in
pronunciation an alternative choice number one the first one I want to start
with is actually one that people point out to me that I say wrong and I googled
this I checked on some very reputable dictionary sites and in fact there are
two alternative pronunciations the most common pronunciation for this word is
often often I often eat chocolate there we are
omitting leaving out the T sound often however I like pronouncing my T's that's
just how I speak and I say often often with many of you on YouTube commenting
but teach her you said it wrong it shouldn't be often google it check it if
you don't believe me it's an alternative pronunciation and nothing wrong with it
really I just prefer to pronounce my teeth and I'm not changing my
pronunciation just because someone tells me it's wrong it's not it's an
alternative so I often go to the shops I often go to the shops which do you
prefer the sound of one or two which pronunciation do you use right number
two a month that's right a month of the year is it February or February February
I say the second February but traditionally the correct form should be
February however because there's so many R's
there there's a consonant cluster it's a little bit of a mouthful and when you're
speaking quickly it's just easier to say February February now you can pay
attention to native speakers and you will hear native speakers like me so
February it really is not a big deal and it's not wrong it's just an alternative
it's a different way to pronounce it so listen carefully next time you're
watching TV or in conversation with a native speaker how many of them say
February February not February or February and
not February February laughs it does make your mouth go a little bit I'm
happy saying February and I'm not changing it I often say February there
we go see native English teacher that's how I say it okay number three and yes
this one is really controversial the correct pronunciation correct in the
dictionary is mischievous mischievous meaning a little bit naughty children
are often mischievous mischievous now the noun is mischief mischief so you can
hear there's more of a similarity there with mischievous and mischief
what many people do and this includes me is say mischievious mischievious so
actually we're adding an extra syllable there and we're along gating that sound
not mischievous but mischievious so technically the first is correct but
again I'm gonna emphasize English like all languages changes and evolves and I
would argue that mischievious has become acceptable no one is going to look at
you and say how are you saying that how did you just pronounce that no and
they'll also understand you perfectly mischievous or technically wrong but
acceptable mischievous mischievous they're very mischievous children
they're very mischievous children if you do say mischievous probably sounds a
little bit more sophisticated and posh now why is it that this pronunciation
exists because actually the way it's spelt is really the way it should be
said well in America the Harvard dialect survey found that 26% of Americans
actually pronounced mischievous with four syllables why well according to the
merriam-webster dictionary a long time ago back in the 16th century there used
to be a variant a different spelling for this word with IOUs so it may be that in
fact a long time ago mischievious was acceptable because the spelling was
slightly different we go a very good example of evolving
language mischievous or mischievous you choose number four now this is a very
good example of the fact that English is actually borrowed a lot of words from
other languages do you say envelope envelope or envelope envelope now some
people may considered envelope a little bit more posh sophisticated and
basically because that is the original pronunciation it's a French word we've
taken it from the French language so don't lick for the envelope it tastes
disgusting but don't lick the envelope it tastes disgusting both are acceptable
there's no problem using either I say envelope may be a sign that I'm not very
posh but again the British pronunciation would probably be envelope whereas the
original French envelope both correct number five home poem poem poem or poem
so have we got two syllables or have we got one using a diphthong om Oh poem or
poem so are you using a diphthong meaning a sound that has two sounds
combined poem this is Oh your mouth moves that's a sign it's a diphthong or
do you say poem poem so either or again it is your preference I would probably
say poem he read me a beautiful romantic poem he read me a beautiful romantic
poem very little difference there technically correct pronunciation
library library library box often you will hear people say library library two
syllables library or library I actually think I prefer the second and probably a
little bit lazy when I speak but library is the correct pronunciation so do you
often go to the library do you often go to the library what do you prefer
ah this next one one that you probably have question before either either
neither neither which is correct well English is a global language they are
both correct one is traditionally British one is more
American but again we've both been influenced by each other particularly
the British language by American pop culture cinema television series so
you'll find many British people saying either when either is the traditional
British pronunciation the same neither would be British but neither would be
American up to you really doesn't make a difference
don't be fixated on learning only British English or only American English
pronunciation English is global if you're learning English you are likely
to be speaking with people of all nationalities with Americans with Brits
and as long as your pronunciation is clear and intelligible it's really not
going to make a big difference so either either neither neither you choose number
8 a very simple three-letter word again with two pronunciations but either
totally fine with me and generally it's just acceptable everywhere it doesn't
make a difference how you pronounce this word you could say ah ah our car is
parked there our car is parked there or our car is parked there our our
pronounced like our one our time or our pronounced like the verb ah
we are happy either is completely acceptable you really don't have to
worry about making a mistake with this one but again pay attention which do you
notice you're using are is probably a little bit easier our car but our
there's a little bit more movement in the mouth there's a diphthong there our
ow our technically two syllables with a
diphthong so our car or our car you choose number eight and this is another
one that I will often mispronounced say wrong no wait it's not wrong it's just
different you can say schedule schedule what's on your schedule for today or
schedule schedule what's on your schedule today
Shh a jewel is the British pronunciation but schedule is the American at
pronunciation and again because pop culture because of movies television
series often you will hear British people saying the American pronunciation
schedule schedule it doesn't matter we can understand you English is a global
language we don't own the pronunciation rights here in the UK it's totally
acceptable to have different variants of pronunciation so there you go
another one to add to your list privacy or privacy again American and British
but again the Brits have been influenced by Americans and you will often hear
privacy but traditionally the more accepted pronunciation in the UK was
privacy we don't have a lot of privacy in our garden we don't have a lot of
privacy in our garden either or is perfectly correct and in fact sometimes
I think I use both privacy privacy you really don't have to worry which you use
as long as you use one of those I don't know of any other pronunciation
alternatives privacy British privacy American number eleven and this is one
that when I've heard said differently to how I pronounce it I actually thought
they were saying it wrong but I've looked into this and technically to say
niche niche is correct it just sounds really strange because I
haven't heard this used in the UK we would say niche niche niche is referring
to a specialization or a specialized role or place so for example teaching
English on YouTube is a niche subject teaching English on YouTube is a niche
subject I don't like niche it's up to you what
you say it really doesn't matter either way when someone has used this
pronunciation with me an American in fact it's more commonly pronounced niche
in American English I understood what they were saying I was going like that
in my head saying is that correct but I understood them I didn't say anything
and then I looked it up online checked yes it's acceptable
so niche or niche and finally I'm ending with another french word a word we have
borrowed from the French language is it garage
garage or barrage inch it's the ending there that makes the big difference
garage garage technically the French correct
pronunciation garage now I think I actually use the French pronunciation I
just prefer the R sound don't know why but there's nothing wrong with saying
barrage that's how the Brits have kind of evolved and taken that word to make
it their own so a great example of how languages influence each other and how
we can make it our own by putting a new twist on the pronunciation so I hope
that lesson has been enlightening I hope it's made you realize that whether you
say either either neither neither our are often often it really doesn't matter
as long as you are speaking intelligibly clearly using clear pronunciation people
will understand you you're not going to be judged on whether you choose the
French pronunciation or the American pronunciation use what you are
comfortable with remember English does not belong to
England anymore it is very much a global language and you will always find
differences in pronunciation if you're not sure Google it Google is probably
one of the best teachers even for me and you will find lots of forums people
discussing different pronunciations and of course some great online dictionaries
I'll put a link down below to a few of my favorite dictionaries online to help
you improve your pronunciation in the meantime don't forget if you do want to
practice your English with a native professional teacher you can click the
link down below to check out Camberley and of course download the app on your
phone thank you so much for watching take care and we'll be seeing you very
soon bye