In this English Pronunciation tutorial, you're going to improve your English speech
by learning the five very worst English Pronunciation mistakes that you can possibly make.
These are some of the rudest and most offensive words in the English language
and yet they sound just like normal everyday words.
What happens is, with these words there will be exactly the same as a normal word in the English language
but there's just one sound in the middle of the word that is different.
And that one sound completely changes the meaning from something polite to something extremely rude and offensive.
This video is going to be invaluable for improving your English speech
and making sure that you never make one of these critical mistakes.
At the end of the video I'm going to give you a short test to test your recognition of these words and these sounds
so you can see for yourself where you are with your English Pronunciation.
If you don't feel like your English speech is as good as it could be or if you feel like you've still got room for improvement
then make sure to subscribe and turn notifications on
for English Pronunciation tutorials that come out like this on a weekly basis.
So the first worst English Pronunciation mistake is the word: 'can't'
and what people can confuse it with which is the rudest word in the English language 'c*nt.'
Now, I apologize for using these rude words in this video, but it's essential that I do
so you can hear how the rude words sound and then how the correct words sound.
So 'can't' as in 'I can't do this' and the rude word which is 'c*nt' which is an extremely rude word for a lady's private parts, okay.
Now, the rude word in English it can also be used as a very offensive insult.
So if I wanted to say the this thing that I could possibly say to someone I'd say to them 'you c*nt,' okay.
That is about the rudest thing that you can say in English.
So if you said to me 'can I use your pen,' and I didn't understand this pronunciation mistake.
Instead of saying 'no you can't,' I might say 'no you c*nt.'
And right there I've just called you something super super rude.
So the difference between these first two words is the vowel sound in the middle.
'Can't' as in 'no you can't' it's the /a:/ sound it's a long vowel sound
/a:/
Compared to that is the /​ʌ​/ sound
/​ʌ​/
which is a short English vowel sound.
What I've done, and I'm going to do throughout this video, is I'm linking to tutorials
explaining how to make each of these individual sounds above
but now I'm just going to go through and actually compare the two sounds, so here you go:
/a:/ as in can't and /​ʌ​/ as in c*nt.
/a:/, /​ʌ​/
Okay.
That is pronunciation mistake number one.
The second worst pronunciation mistake that you can make in the English language are
by confusing the two words 'fork' as in 'a knife and fork' and the word 'f*ck.'
You've probably got this word in your language and you've probably heard it used in English.
People use it all the time. It can be used as an offence to tell someone to 'f*ck off.'
It can be used as a rude word to describe sex and it's got many other rude meanings in English.
But what you don't want to get confused are the two words 'fork' and 'f*ck.'
So, how could you confuse these two sounds?
Imagine you've gone out for meal maybe with your partner's parents.
You've met your boyfriend or your girlfriend's parents for the first time they're English.
And you're sitting down having dinner and you've not got a four you've got a knife but you've not got a fork.
What would happen is you could say to your girlfriend or your boyfriend's parents 'I want a fork.'
but instead of saying 'fork' or you say 'f*ck' /​ʌ​/.
So imagine now saying to these people on an important occasion:
'Excuse me I want to f*ck'
All of a sudden you're saying to these important people 'I want to f*ck.' Which is like saying I want sex.
It's extremely rude and it's extremely offensive.
So the two sounds in question here are /​ɔː/ the long English vowel sound /​ɔː/
and the short English vowel sound:
/​ʌ​/.
Now I'm going to compare the two
/​ɔː/, /​ʌ​/
These two vowel sounds come from the same position in my mouth the main difference here is that for /​ɔː/ as in 'fork'
my lips are rounded look at my lips /​ɔː/
and for 'f*ck' /​ʌ​/, my lips are unrounded, they're just open.
/​ʌ​/
Okay, so:
/​ɔː/, /​ʌ​/
'Excuse me can I have a fork,' and not 'excuse me I want a f*ck,' okay.
That's English Pronunciation mistake number two.
The third worst pronunciation mistake that you can make in English, and this actually happened to me,
is the difference between the two words 'coke' as in 'a can of coke' and the word 'c*ck'
which is a rude word in English for a man's penis.
A few years ago I was doing a drink promotion for a company, where I was giving out cans of a fizzy drink.
And a young girl came up to me, English wasn't her first language, and she said:
'I want c*ck!'
So essentially what this person, she was in her twenties, had just said to me is 'I want your penis.'
Now, I realized that she didn't mean that, but that's exactly how it sounded..
And for the-- I said 'can you repeat yourself?' And it took me about three times of her saying 'I want 'c*ck'
for me to realize what she was saying.
So the two sounds in this combination are /​ɒ/ 'c*ck' which is the rude one
/​ɒ/
Lips rounded /​ɒ/.
And the correct sound which is /əʊ/.
/əʊ/
Now what you might notice is my lips are moving throughout this sound; /əʊ/ 'coke.'
That's because this sound is a diphthong in English
It's made of two English vowel sounds /ə/ which is the schwa ,the most common vowel sound in English,
and /ʊ/ in 'put.'
/əʊ/
'Coke'
'I'd like a can of coke'
/​ɒ/
'C*ck'
'I want c*ck,' okay.
So the two sounds next to each other would look like this:
/əʊ/ 'coke,' /​ɒ/ 'c*ck.'
/əʊ/, /​ɒ/
Can you tell the difference comment below letting me know which ones of these sounds
you're finding the hardest and if you can hear the difference.
We're now moving into the second part of this video. And the reason why it's the second part of this video
is because the next mistakes all contain the same two sounds that people are getting wrong.
These are the two sounds /i:/ as in sheep and /ɪ/ as in ship.
Now as an English Pronunciation coach this is one of the most common mistakes that I hear people confusing in English.
People say /i:/ when they mean /ɪ/ and they say /ɪ/ when they mean /i:/.
So let's look at the worst pronunciation mistake number four that you can make in English.
It's the two words 'sheet,' as in the piece of linen that you put on a bed a 'sheet'
and 'sh*t,' which is an extremely rude word in English and it can be a rude word for saying poo.
and it can also be a rude word just to describe something.
So if I'm feeling really really bad and someone says 'how are you?' I might say 'I'm feeling sh*t,' okay.
It's a very commonly used word when people are speaking very rudely in English
but you absolutely don't want to confuse it with the other sound /i:/, so let's put it into context.
Imagine you're staying in a hotel and there's not a sheet on your bed.
So you call them up and you say 'I want a sheet on the bed.'
But instead of saying 'I want a sheet on the bed' you say:
'I want a sh*t on the bed.'
All of a sudden now you're saying that you want to do a poo on the bed, and you're using a very very rude word for it.
So now let me put these two words together and then I'll compare the sounds
'Sheet,' 'sh*t'
Okay comparing the two words, we've got:
/i:/, /ɪ/
These two sounds come from a very similar position in the mouth.
The positions are slightly different and I've got tutorials explaining the difference between these two sounds.
But the main difference between these two sounds, which is the important point that you need to learn,
is that one sound /i:/, is a long English vowel sound. And the sound /ɪ/, it is a short English vowel sounds
/i:/, /ɪ/
This leads me nicely on to pronunciation mistake number five.
This is the fifth worst pronunciation mistake that you can make in the English language
That is the two words 'beach' and 'b*tch'
'Beach' and 'b*tch'
So let's put these two words into context.
The beach is something that everyone, or nearly everyone, likes going to. 'I love going to the beach.'
'I want to go to the beach.'
If someone said to me
'if you could have anything in london that you don't have what would it be?'
I might say 'I want a beach in London.'
But what that sounds very like is the rude word 'b*tch.'
Now the word 'b*tch' actually in English is the name for a female dog.
So if there's a female dog, the correct name for that in English is 'a b*tch.'
But it's also a very rude word to describe a woman. So if you call a woman a b*tch, it's like you're calling her a female dog.
As you can imagine that is extremely rude it's very offensive and you absolutely don't want to say it.
Especially in a normal conversation
So make sure that when you're saying beach it's 'beach' /i:/ and not 'b*tch,' /ɪ/.
Let's now compare the two words.
'Beach,' 'b*tch'
Okay, again the two sounds
/i:/, /ɪ/
So those are the five worst pronunciation mistakes in English.
But!
I've got one bonus pronunciation mistake for you.
Again, it uses the same two sounds /i:/ and /ɪ/, and again it's an extremely rude word if you get it wrong.
So what is the sixth bonus worst pronunciation mistake in English?
It's the two words 'piece' as in 'can I have a piece of cake,' and the rude word 'p*ss'
which is a rude word to describe when you go for a wee in English or
a rude word to actually describe what comes out of you when you go to the toilet, 'p*ss.'
So let's compare these two words 'peace' as in 'I love peace' what do we all want in the world? 'We want peace.'
And the rude word 'p*ss'
'P*ss'
If you've had a really busy day and someone says to you 'what do you want?' You might say 'I just want peace.'
Okay, that would be the chance to breathe, the chance to relax.
Because the word 'peace' in English has a few different meanings.
You've got 'world peace' but you've also got peace as in 'peace and quiet.'
It means 'calm' and 'tranquil.'
But that sounds very very like the rude word 'p*ss.'
So in England in London if you hear a group of men together that are lads in it and a bit rude
you might hear them saying 'I'm going for a piss' it's a very commonly used slang word in English
but it's also a very rude word. It's not the kind of word that you'd want to use in a formal situation.
So when you say 'I want a piece' you have to have to have to make sure that you're saying 'piece' /i:/, and not 'piss' /ɪ/.
'Peace,' 'piss'
So now, let's recap these six worst English Pronunciation mistakes
and then after that I'm going to give you a test to test your recognition of these mistakes
Word one was 'cant' and 'c*nt.'
Word two was 'fork' and 'f*ck.'
Word three was 'c*ck' and 'coke.'
Word for was 'sh*t' and 'sheet.'
Word five was 'beach' and 'b*tch.'
And the bonus one word six was 'peace' and 'p*ss.'
I'm now going to read you six sentences that contain these words.
Some of them are going to contain the correct word with the correct sound
and others are going to contain the rude word and the rude sound.
What I want you to do is, in the comments below, write down which sounds and which words you hear.
Do you hear the right words? Great! Do hear the rude words? Boo!
And let me know which words and sounds you're finding the most difficult
So!
Sentence number one do you hear /​ɑː/ as in 'can't' or /​ʌ​/ as in 'c*nt.'
Ready?
'You can't do this you can't do this ah or our
Sentence two, we're listening for the sounds 'fork' /​ɔː/ and 'f*ck' /​ʌ​/.
Sentence three, /əʊ/ coke and /​ɒ/ 'c*ck.' Comment below which one you hear.
Sentence four, we're looking at the words 'sheet' and 'sh*t' the sounds /i:/ and /ɪ/.
Ready?
Sentence five, again /i:/ and /ɪ/, this time it's 'beaches' and 'b*tches'.
Ready?
Comment with your answers below and I'm going to see who's got them right who's got them wrong.
Let me know which words you're finding the most difficult and which sounds you're finding the most difficult.
I've linked tutorials to all of these in particular sounds, so if you're having difficulty with any of
them then you can really drill down and improve these sounds for yourself.
Subscribe for more videos that come out like this on a weekly basis helping you to improve your English speech
so you sound confident, credible, and professional.
And most importantly that you never make any of these dreadful pronunciation mistakes!
Thumbs up! See you next time.