What is the difference between work and walk? Well, I'm gonna focus on this in this video. We're
going to talk about the British English Modern Received Pronunciation of these two words. We'll
practice them in sentences together and by the end of this video you will know how to pronounce
these two and you'll never confuse them again or confuse other people. Hi! My name is Emma and
welcome to my channel Pronunciation with Emma, where I focus on British English pronunciation
and listening skills. So if that's something that interests you, then why not subscribe
to my channel? It's completely free to do. If you're looking for some guidance, some feedback,
and some structure to your pronunciation learning then why not check out my course Pronunciation
Pro? When you join Pronunciation Pro you'll get access to over 100 lessons dedicated to British
English pronunciation and listening skills. They'll take you from the very very basics of
pronunciation, such as the most difficult sounds, comparing them with each other,
and it will lead you all the way up to the most advanced features of pronunciation. By learning
more about these Advanced features you'll be able to understand native speakers much more
easily as well as sound more fluent and natural with your own speech. So if all of that sounds
like your cuppa tea and something you'd be interested, in the link to Pronunciation Pro
is down below in the description. Go and check it out! Let's start with one word at a time:
work work. Notice that the 'r' is silent in British English Modern Received pronunciation.
Work. We have that first sound /w/ so make sure that your top teeth are not touching your bottom
lip. So not /v/ 'vork' but 'work' so make sure your lips are very small, very round, /w/, and
then they get bigger to move on to the vowel sound. So that vowel sound is super relaxed,
'uh', notice I'm not doing anything, it's super lazy, nothing is being tensed, nothing is moving,
the tongue is not high, it's all relaxed, it's all relaxed, all flat, not doing anything. In theory,
this should be the easiest sound ever to pronounce because it's so lazy, you don't have to do
anything. But it's not because we're so used to having to do something with our mouths, that it's
a strange concept to make a sound without doing anything, right? But trust me, don't do anything.
'uh'. Now let's put that together with the /w/, we get 'wor'. Now,
don't try and pronounce that 'r'. There are some accents where they do pronounce it,
but in Modern Received Pronunciation, and even Received Pronunciation, and the majority of
accents across the UK, they don't pronounce the 'r'. So together, so far we've got 'wor',
super relaxed, make sure you're not saying 'where', make sure you're not smiling, make sure
not raising the tongue 'wor' super lazy. Then, we just add that /k/ to the end. So it's pronounced
at the back here, /k/. Make sure you're not doing something like a /x/ sound, so not 'work'
but 'work' 'work'. Now, for the second word, the key difference here is the vowel sound,
they're both different vowel sounds. Everything else around them is exactly the same. So that 'l'
is completely silent. We don't say remove it. It's hard to pronounce actually. So remove that 'l',
it is silent. 'wa' notice the mouth placement, this time is much rounder, 'wa'. Jaw drops
a little bit 'wa' 'walk' 'walk'. So let's break it down again, sound by sound. /w/ 'wa'
so that 'o' make sure it's nice and long. Don't make it short otherwise it becomes
'wok' and that's a different word. Take that 'wok' but make the vowel longer,
'walk', drop that jaw, make it round, 'walk'. Let's compare it to the other one: 'work',
super lazy. 'walk', jaw drops and it's rounder. Then the last sound, exactly the same /k/ 'alk',
'walk'' walk'. Let's practice now in some sentences. 'I walk to work'.
I 'wa', make sure it's rounded, walk, make it long,
I walk to work. Relax it. Super lazy and a long sound. work. I walk to work.
I work, uh, I work in a shop. I work in a shop. They walk to the station.
They 'wa', nice and round, not 'wok'. Walk. Make it longer. They walk to the station,
they walk to the station. Well done for sticking to the end of this lesson. I know
it was a lengthy one, but I really really wanted to create a lesson that talked about these two
words in detail because I know they can be a real pain in the bum. I hope you enjoyed it.
Check out my pronunciation course if you're interested in improving your British English
pronunciation and listening skills. It's down below in the description for you to
click on and check out. Enjoy the rest of your week and before we leave hmm...
tell me in the comments are there any other words that you tend to confuse? I'm planning on making
a video on like 'mayo', 'mayor', and 'major' in the future. So something along those lines,
where it's two very similar words, let me know if there are any more that you'd like me to focus on
in future videos, just pop them in the comments and then I'll use those comments as inspiration
in the future for other videos. Thank you for watching and enjoy the rest of your week. Bye bye!