Hi, excuse me, I'm looking for the most beautiful "beach" in town.
I don't know what kind of hotel you think this is, but we do not offer escort services.
I was just wanting you to tell me where i can find the most beautiful "beach" around here.
Sir, I am going to have to call security if you keep this up.
So pronunciation mistakes can be pretty embarrassing, especially when it makes
a word sound like one that you did not intend to say. Now one really common pronunciation mistake
that I've seen learners make is confusing the e and sound in English. Now this can lead to some
pretty funny misunderstandings in how the words beach, sheet or keys are said in English. Now
although I doubt that you will ever find yourself in a situation like I did at the hotel reception,
by the end of this video you will confidently be able to tell the difference between these two
sounds and even start applying it to your speaking to sound more accurate in your pronunciation.
Because here at RealLife English every week we help you go from being a lost and insecure English
learner to being a confident natural English speaker. So don't doubt in hitting that subscribe
button and the bell down below so that you don't miss any new valuable lessons like this one.
All right now. Are you ready to get into the nitty-gritty of pronunciation? So when
you see a word that has a vowel combination like i-e, e-a or e-e then we get this longer
e sound which in many languages that I've learned is usually represented by an i, that letter i.
Also the mouth must be stretched into a smile in order to produce the sound correctly like this.
So let's take a look at some examples leave feel seek believe me.
So the misunderstanding at the beginning of the video happened because I was saying the word
bitch instead of the word beach. So to give you some more clarity,
let's look at even more examples with the sound:
However the sound can also occur with some unusual spellings.
All right, now why don't you give it a go listen to me and repeat?
So when you learn something new in English like how to pronounce a new sound, it's really
important that as soon as possible you start putting it into use so you can really master it.
But what many learners tell me is that they're frustrated because they just don't have anyone
to practice their English with. So we decided to go ahead and solve this by creating our RealLife
App. Why don't you take a listen to what one of our real app users said about their experience?
So just like Shivi you can also connect with other people from around the world
beyond borders and talk about your passions and your hobbies and practice sounds like this. In
fact, one of the best ways to master something like a new pronunciation or new vocabulary
that you're learning is to teach it to someone else. So you could even do that over on the app.
So why don't you give it a try? It's absolutely free, you don't have to spend a dime.
So you can try it now by clicking up here or down in the description
below or you can search in your favorite app store for RealLife English. Aw yeah!
Hey Thiago, how's it going? Hey Ethan, I'm doing fine. How about you?
I'm doing pretty good. What's up? So the guys are meeting at the bar at 7pm tonight
and I'm calling to see if you'd like to come. Yeah! That sounds great. What's the place?
Nice, let me give you the address. Can you write it down?
Yeah. Uh.... I just need a sheet. Um... Okay, sure. Take your time. I can
call you later if you need some time. What?! No! I just need a sheet.
Come on! A sheet of paper. Oh, now I get it. Okay!
All right. So the other sound that we're going to be looking at in today's lesson which a lot
of my students used to tell me that they had just tons of difficulty with is this short e sound like
in the word sh*t. Now this sound you just keep a really neutral position with the mouth. And
it's much shorter than the e sound that we saw before. So let's take a look at some examples
Now in the phone conversation that you just witnessed, Thiago got a
bit confused because he couldn't hear the difference between the two words
sheet and sh*t. So to train your listening let's take a look at some more examples:
And now if you're ready,
let's put it into practice. Listen and repeat to these example sentences:
All right, now I hope that you're much more prepared to understand the difference between
these two sounds and I want to hear from you: Which sounds in English do you feel
really frustrated about because you can't hear the difference or because you have a lot of trouble
producing them and you're speaking or hearing them when natives say? Them why don't you let
me know down in the comments below and maybe we can make a lesson on that sound as well. Aw yeah!
Now in the last part of this video, you will do some practice by drilling. Listen and repeat after
me. Pay really special attention to how your mouth is moving when you try to produce these sounds:
Now let's see how well you are paying attention in this lesson
by testing your listening. So you will hear me say some different words but you will
not see it. You're going to have to guess whether I said a word that has the short e
in it or the long e sound in it. All right, are you ready? Let's go. Okay
All right! Continue to test your listening and your speaking with another hugely common mistake
of English learners and that is being able to tell the difference between the words can and can't in
American English. So you can do that right now by watching this lesson let's check out a clip.