hello and welcome back to real English with real teachers today is a very
special episode because we are starting a brand new series of videos and it's
all about pronunciation we're going to be talking about minimal pairs what is a
minimal pair a pair of words which differ by just one sound and Harry did a
pronunciation video with Lucy a while back you may remember this coke cock so
we thought that we would take the time to explore some more minimal pairs that
you guys have suggested in the comment sections of our videos let's get going
so what do you like about me the most oh well your fanny I beg your
pardon you haven't even seen it yet You
cheeky bugger I mean here Charlie has mispronounced the word funny for the
word Fanny Harriet was a little bit shocked because in British English
Fanny refers to a ladies genitals so it was perhaps a little bit
forward for Charlie to say this on a first date in American English this
would have been slightly less offensive because Fanny actually means bottom but
it's still not a recommendable thing to say on a first date especially not with
a classy lady like Harriet so let's learn how to pronounce these
two words correctly so that we don't make the same mistake as Charlie I mean
you're funny you're funny oh you think I'm funny do you yes I am
quite funny that's one thing you're good-looking
really I love your hair looks really good on you
thanks My my mum dyed it for me for the vowel sound in the word Fanny keep
your tongue low to the front of the mouth stretch out your lips to the side
as if you are smiling with your mouth wide open and make a short voiced sound
ah ah ah very good Harry, very good. Or, Harriet.. sorry Harriet
for the vowel sound in the word funny keep your tongue low and between the
middle and the back of the mouth that's it now make a short voiced sound with
your mouth open and relaxed ah ah very good and what's that word Harry Harriet
funny funny yes you are funny , aren't you Harriet yeah funny, yeah you also have a
fanny, don't you Harriet ....no... repeat after us
Fanny funny fanny funny very good
so another minimal pair that contains the same vowel sounds are bun and ban
bun and ban and another example is ton and tan ton and tan so
Charlie I like passionate men men who you know have interesting interests
What am I talking about? Anyway, what is your biggest passion in life? my biggest passion well I could say I'm
very passionate about my whores your whores yeah my whores yeah I love my
whores ah I didn't see anything about this on your Instagram I always post my
whores on my Instagram... you misogynistic Pig what have you got against my whores?
you're disgusting
in this scene Charlie has incorrectly pronounce the
word horse for the plural form of the word whore so instead of impressing
Harriet by showing his sensitive animal loving side
Charlie has basically admitted that he objectifies woman sells them for sex and
then boasts about it on his Instagram that's no way to get a second date is it
let's see where he went wrong here to pronounce the Z sound in whores place the
front of the tongue close to the alveolar Ridge at the top of your mouth
this is the the small lumpy bit that sits just behind your front teeth and
then make a short voiced sound hmm your vocal cords should vibrate hmm yeah they
ah yeah very good Harriet very good all right now for the sound in horse the
front of the tongue is placed close to the alveolar Ridge the same as the Z
sound but this time you need to push the air through the space along the center
of the tip of the tongue without vibrating your vocal cords you got that
yeah I'll try so I'm pushing harder than before yeah yeah you are Harriet push
harder go on
so the aspiration of air is what allows you to create this sound and
differentiate the words horse and whores really interesting thanks charlie
gonna practice those two sounds okay horse horse whores whores oh good yeah so
do you like horses or whores I like horses I like riding horses not whores
you don't like riding whores you like riding horses good maybe we've got a
second date then do you forgive me okay then repeat after us horse and
whores whores whores
horse horse so another couple of minimal pairs with the same consonant sound on
this difficult pronunciation is Moore's and Moore's repeat after us
Moore's Moore's very good and another one is course and cause repeat after us
course cause very good so in this video we've
drawn your attention to the specific phonemes that allow you to distinguish
the difference in the word's total sound if you want to get really good at
British English pronunciation you need to stop focusing on how the word looks
because our language is not written the way that we speak it the way that we
pronounce it so what you need to do is to get familiar with these phonemic
symbols and start to use a dictionary so that when you learn a new word you can
look it up and figure out exactly how we would say it thank you very much Harriet
for being such a good sport and I look forward to taking you on a ride on my
horse Thank You charlie you're cheeky but you've won me over in
the end I'm I'm touched honestly that wig I mean that hair is
just lovely lovely it brings out your eyes
you're such a you're such a charmer get out of here you see you next Tuesday
silly Harriet miss you oh she's gone that's all for today but we hope you
have found these minimal pairs useful do remember to keep on practicing them
aloud so that you can master them and if you like this video and you think that
Harriet is cute please do give us a thumbs up and now finally it is your
turn to get active and answer these questions in the comment section firstly
what other minimal pairs can you think of which contain the same phonemic
differences as the words in this video number two what minimal pairs would you
like to see in future videos of ours and number three does Charlie deserve a
second date and if not why now before we go we'd like to inform you of our pretty
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