- Hello, this is Jack from ToFluency.com
and welcome to this English lesson where
I am going to test your ability
to say certain counties in England.
So I'm going to put the county on your screen,
give you a few seconds to think about
how best to say it.
Then I'm going to give you the answer,
some tips in this area.
And then I'm also going to talk about these counties
and give you more knowledge about England.
Now, if you don't what a county is,
it is a territory or region
that has been setup for local government purposes.
It's a little bit like an American state
but it's different.
For example, this is a county
and within this county there are towns and cities
like Blackpool, Preston,
Blackburn, and Burnley.
So again, you're going to see these counties
and I'm gonna share some key facts
about these regions too.
Now, stay until the end
because I have a question for you
and let's get started.
The first one is on your screen now.
This is Lancashire.
Lancashire.
Now, in this there are two schwas
and you're going to find that to be a common theme
throughout this lesson.
So Lan-ca-shire.
Lancashire.
Lancashire is where I am from
and to be more specific, Preston.
Now, Preston is famous for its football team,
kind of, Preston North End.
But it's also famous because it has
a festival that's quite unique.
It's unique because it's celebrated
every 20 years.
The last one was in 2012.
I wasn't able to make it.
The one before that was in 1992
when I was 10 and I was involved
in a lot of the events for that festival.
And it was so much fun.
The next one is going to be in 2032
and I plan on making it.
I've got a lot of time to prepare.
But yeah, it's a unique festival
and it's a lot fun at the same time.
Now, I also think that Lancashire cheese
is the best cheese in England,
especially the crumbly type.
Unfortunately, they say it doesn't travel well,
which means that people can't export it
from Lancashire to other areas
because it just doesn't travel well.
And finally, the Ribble Valley in Lancashire
is known as one of the most beautiful places
in the UK, and in this area
is Stonyhurst College, which apparently
is inspiration for the Shire
in the books like The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.
Moving on now, the next one is on your screen.
This is similar to Lancashire
because you say it like this,
Leicestershire.
Again, two schwa sounds.
Leices-ter-shire.
Leicestershire.
The main city in Leicestershire is Leicester.
Now, there is a Leicester very close
to where I am right now,
about five miles that way,
but here there is a debate
over how you pronounce this.
It's either Leicester or,
using my best Southern American accent,
Lacester.
Leicester is said in the UK
to be the birth place of modern English.
So you can thank Leicester for this video.
But also Leicester became famous
when Leicester city won the Premier League,
when the odds of them doing this
was 5,000 to one.
So it was a big surprise to everybody.
The next one is on your screen.
And it's this, Tyne and Wear.
Tyne and Wear.
So the last part of this, again,
is using the schwa.
We-ar, wear.
Wear.
And also, everything gets contracted
and the end becomes very short.
Tyne and Wear.
New Castle is a city in this county
and I think this is one of the best big cities in the UK.
It's really vibrant, the nightlife is excellent,
if that is your type of thing,
and it's a very cultural city as well.
So there is a lot going on there.
Now, there's something about New Castle
that I didn't know and apparently
it's one of the driest cities in the UK
because there's a rain shadow
due to the North Pennines.
You can read more about that in the description.
The next one is on your screen.
Cheshire.
Che-shire.
This one is interesting because you go
from the ch sound to the sh sound.
Che-shire.
Cheshire.
And that is a schwa at the end.
Chester is in Cheshire
and Chester was voted as the fifth prettiest city
in Europe by Americans.
And it is a very pretty city.
There are Roman influences there
and also some of the Tudor style architecture, too.
I do know that a lot of football players,
players who play for teams like Liverpool,
Everton, Manchester City, and Manchester United,
they tend to live in Cheshire.
It's a beautiful part of the world
and they also have a really good zoo there.
The next one is on your screen.
Yorkshire.
Now, Yorkshire borders Lancashire
and there is a big rivalry between those two counties.
And this goes back to the Battle
of the Roses centuries ago,
where the House of York and the House of Lancaster
went to war to contest the throne.
So any game between two teams
in Lancashire and Yorkshire
always has the added rivalry
and they're known as the Battle of the Roses
because Yorkshire has the white rose
and Lancashire has the red rose.
Even though we are rivals, I love Yorkshire.
It's a beautiful county.
It's known for its villages and its flowers
and its welcoming people.
I went to University in Yorkshire
and you might know Yorkshire from Yorkshire puddings,
which aren't a type of dessert
because usually when we say pudding
we mean dessert in British English,
but it's this like savory item
that you add to your roast dinners.
And I always used to get very excited
when we had Yorkshire puddings.
The next one is on you screen.
Again, we are using the schwa.
Suffolk.
So that last sound is ek, Suffolk.
Now, I don't know too much about this county
and I don't think I've ever been
but I found an interesting fact about it.
At 15 feet by seven feet,
the Nutshell pub in Bury St Edmunds
is officially Britain's smallest pub.
It stands at the heart of that historic Suffolk town,
and has been serving beer since 1867.
The record for the most people
to have ever squeezed in at once
currently stands at 102,
though thankfully you can expect
far fewer than that on a normal Friday night.
Sounds like a very cozy pub.
The next one is on your screen.
Are you ready for this?
Worcestershire.
Again, two schwas, Worces-ter-shire.
Worcestershire.
Now, you probably have heard of this before
because of the famous sauce.
I know this is really popular,
or it's quite popular in the United States.
Is it popular where you live?
Worcestershire sauce.
It's quite difficult to say that
because you're going from the sh sound
to the s sound.
Worces-ter-shire sauce.
Worcestershire sauce.
In fact, we can make a tongue twister here.
Worcestershire sauce
is from Worcester
in Worcestershire.
Try and say that quickly.
Pause the video and try that.
The next one is on your screen.
This is Merseyside.
Merseyside.
No schwa.
No schwa in this one.
Merseyside.
And the name Merseyside comes from the River Mersey
and the most famous city here is Liverpool.
There's a very famous song
about the River Mersey too,
which many people think is ferry across the Mersey.
But it's actually used as an imperative statement.
Ferry, cross the Mersey.
It's quite a nice song actually.
So I'll leave a link in the description.
You probably know about Liverpool
through the famous football team
and also the Beatles.
The Beatles are from Liverpool.
Now, Liverpool also used to be part of Lancashire.
But then, I can't remember when,
they decided to create their own county
and call it Merseyside.
The last one is on your screen now.
This is Essex.
Ess-ex.
Essex.
Now, I've been to Essex a few times
because I have friends and family there
and many people live in Essex
and commute to London.
Colchester is in Essex
and this is the oldest recorded town in England,
and it was also the first capital
of the Roman Empire.
Essex is known as well for a certain TV show
called The Only Way is Essex.
I've never seen the show
but I know what it's about.
And I think it's quite similar to Jersey Shore,
which is from America.
Now, this show has often been criticized
for its negative and stereotypical representation
of people of Essex.
But one of the characters said this,
"We are all from Essex, so this is Essex.
"It's not acting.
"It's not like they've got people
"from America and said, "Right,
"act like you think you know where Essex is."
"We are Essex people so what you're watching is Essex."
Now, he said Essex quite a lot in that quote.
But check it out and then let me know
what you think of the show.
And if you've seen it before,
then please leave a comment
telling me what you think.
Okay, those are the counties of England
which you now know how to pronounce.
What I want to know is, have you been
to any of these counties,
and how was your experience?
So tell me if you've been to Lancashire
or Merseyside or Essex before,
or any of the other counties
that we have mentioned.
And then leave a comment telling me
if there are any counties
or towns and cities in the UK,
which you find hard to pronounce.
And maybe I'll make a part two of this video.
If you are new here, then please subscribe
and then also get my book,
The 5-Step Plan for English Fluency,
which is free to download.
I'll leave a link to that in the description.
Again, thank you for watching.
While you're here, why not watch another video?
I'll leave those on your screen.
Speak to you soon!
Bye-bye!