Shadowing Practice: Why is English Pronunciation So CONFUSING? | Silent Letters - Learn English Speaking with Video
Elige un modo de práctica
Cada modo abre una sala de práctica a pantalla completa.
167 oraciones
Si las oraciones son demasiado cortas o largas, haz clic en Editar para ajustarlas.
1
From the creators of the curse of English spelling comes silent letters.
2
Letters that are just there for no reason.
3
You as a learner of all people know how confusing English spelling is.
4
Why is it not consistent with how we pronounce words?
5
For example, O-U-G-H can be pronounced in many different ways.
6
Take a listen to how I pronounce these words.
7
Bought, though, thorough, tough, drought, through, and cough.
8
Weird right?
9
And for many of you, silent letters are another nightmare of English pronunciation, and because of this, that's what we're focusing on today.
10
This lesson is about letters we write in words, but don't actually pronounce.
11
Take a look at this word and think which letter isn't pronounced.
12
We don't say the P, it's empty.
13
There's this hilarious meme about this actually, let's check it out.
14
Here, we read this word as empty, not pronouncing the P.
15
This still reads empty.
16
This is still empty.
17
Here, we just say the letters M and T.
18
Here, there's nothing.
19
It's empty.
20
In this lesson, we'll take a look at some words with silent letters that you might be mispronouncing.
21
Why should you know this?
22
Well, as one of my non-native friends told me, speaking English is a lot easier when you don't need to pronounce a given letter in a word.
23
And as you'll learn, some of these words are a lot easier to pronounce
24
when you don't actually pronounce all of the letters or the letter that is supposed to be silent.
25
But in case we are meeting for the first time, I'm Oli, your RealLife English Fluency Coach,
26
and we guide you beyond the classroom so that you can understand fast speaking natives,
27
be understood by anyone, and connect to the beautiful world we live in.
28
In fact, Onhiki says that our channel has contributed to his English learning progress, And he has a notebook full of our ideas.
29
So be like Onhike and learn with us.
30
All you need to do is hit that subscribe button
31
and the bell down below so you don't miss any of our new English tips.
32
Okay, we're gonna start with some more common phrases where we don't pronounce B, K, L or W.
33
For example, the silent B when it's after M, like in climb.
34
The unnecessary K before N, like in no. The L, which we don't pronounce when it's before K and M in some words.
35
Don't worry, we'll see these examples in just a moment.
36
And one that often confuses learners, W, when it's before an R, like in wrong.
37
Now the reason why we don't pronounce these letters in these words is because it is extremely awkward to do so.
38
And by that I mean it takes extra effort to pronounce these letters.
39
So that's why we don't say crumb, we simply say crumb.
40
Other words with a silent B are bomb,
41
comb, crumb, dumb, lamb, limb,
42
numb, thumb, If you're actually trying to pronounce the B in these words, you're not alone.
43
Many upper intermediate learners still do this.
44
Now here are some words when we don't pronounce the K.
45
knee, knife, knight, knit, knob,
46
knock, knot, no, and knuckle.
47
What about the silent N now?
48
Well, we don't pronounce it in chalk,
49
talk, walk, calm, and palm.
50
Other cases of a silent L are could, should, would, calf and half.
51
And the other pattern I mentioned is that of words where W is before an R.
52
For example, wrap, wrench, wrestle,
53
wrinkle, wrist, right, wrong, wrath, wreck.
54
Now that you know these rules, you might probably feel like my friend who told me that he knew about the silent K in these words,
55
but he always pronounced, or at least tried to pronounce, the B in words like thumb or dumb, and the W in words like right or wrong.
56
So you see how minor adjustments like these can have a huge impact on your confidence speaking English.
57
A lot of people recommend that you first learn how to say a word and then how to spell it.
58
The reason for this is because when you learn the spelling first, it tends to make you think that you need to pronounce every single letter.
59
But if you first learn how to say it, you obviously won't pronounce a letter that you don't know is there in the spelling.
60
Which leads on to my hot tip, trust your ear and not your eyes.
61
And you'll be able to do a lot of that with our real life native immersion course.
62
In this 41 week course you're going to be able to practice identifying silent letters in words.
63
It's the next best thing to living in an English speaking country.
64
You know what?
65
The best thing is you can try it for free today with our three part power learning series.
66
To try it out you can click up here or
67
if you're on your mobile there is a link in the description below.
68
Let's continue on.
69
To illustrate this, here's a new word that you might not be familiar with.
70
Colonel.
71
Easy right?
72
Say it after me.
73
Colonel.
74
Now it's said like Colonel and spelt like this.
75
C O L O N E L.
76
Colonel.
77
Let's now look at three more common words with a silent B.
78
debt, doubt and subtle.
79
Now that you know that we don't pronounce the b in these words, try reading this sentence out loud.
80
Listen to me, I never doubted you.
81
As you see, the silent letter remains when you modify the base word by adding suffixes, doubted, doubtful.
82
With that in mind, this one could be a bit trickier.
83
How do you say this?
84
Yeah, that's right.
85
I am deeply indebted to him for his help.
86
Now, if you know that the B is silent in subtle, how do you say this word in this sentence?
87
You got it!
88
Some of the subtleties of the language are lost in translation.
89
Now if you want to learn why the T in can't in American English is sometimes not pronounced, then you need to check out this amazing lesson that Ethan made.
90
To watch it next, I'll link it up here or down in the description below.
91
Now let's move on to another silent letter.
92
How do you say this?
93
It's not handsome, it's handsome.
94
Take a moment to pronounce the following words that also have a silent D.
95
Did you say badge, edge, Wednesday and sandwich?
96
Now repeat these sentences after me.
97
On Wednesday, my handsome husband and I had a sandwich at a Subway restaurant.
98
The soldier was awarded a badge of honour.
99
The edge of the table.
100
Let's move on to the letter G.
101
And we don't pronounce this letter in words like campaign, Assign, design, sign, rain.
102
Say it after me, campaign.
103
Assign, design, sign, rain.
104
He was assigned the design of an ad campaign.
105
Another word that has a silent G is one that I've seen many learners trip up with.
106
This word is pronounced foreign.
107
Now, we do pronounce the G in kingdom, but in rapid speech it often gets dropped.
108
So you'll hear, she reigns in a foreign kingdom.
109
H is a big one and there are a lot of words with silent H letters.
110
Ake, anchor, architect, chaos, charisma,
111
choir, chord, echo, honest, school, stomach.
112
Here are some examples.
113
John's a charismatic and honest architect.
114
By the way, the H in John is silent as well.
115
John's vocal chords hurt, so he can't sing in the choir.
116
Now let's take a look at a few words with a silent T.
117
Butcher, castle, listen, mortgage, often which.
118
There's also the words Christmas and match, which I often see my students trying to pronounce the T.
119
Another one is often, however you can also pronounce the T and say often.
120
Both options are used almost equally.
121
Now we already talked about the W when it's in its initial position and before an R,
122
but it can also be a tricky one in words like answer, to and sword.
123
Okay, let's test your knowledge.
124
Here's what we're going to do.
125
First, I'll say a few words and you'll repeat after me.
126
Write, and now you repeat.
127
Chalk, say it.
128
Answer, you say that again.
129
After that, I'm going to show you a sentence, just like this one.
130
We'll give you about three or four seconds to read and practice saying the words in the sentence,
131
and after that I'll give you the pronunciation of the sentence.
132
For example, she wrote the answer with chalk on the board, so that you can check and see if you pronounced it correctly.
133
Ready?
134
Let's go!
135
Number one.
136
Walk.
137
Castle.
138
Wrinkle.
139
Witch.
140
Echo.
141
The castle where the wrinkled witch lives is an echoey place.
142
How did you go?
143
Sentence two.
144
Debt, foreign, architect.
145
The foreign architect is in a lot of debt.
146
Sentence number three.
147
Handsome, knight, sword.
148
The famous handsome knight died from a sword wound.
149
Sentence number four.
150
Wrestle.
151
Match.
152
Wednesday.
153
He has a wrestling match on Wednesday.
154
Let me know how you did with those four sentences down in the comments below.
155
And I hope you enjoyed the exercise at the end and that you found this lesson useful.
156
We saw a total of 70 words that have silent letters in them.
157
These are for sure the most common words that learners still confuse and mispronounce.
158
So if you've paid attention, you're in a much better place to avoid these common mistakes.
159
The great benefit of knowing that you don't need to say the silent letters is
160
that it actually makes it a lot easier to pronounce these words.
161
When your pronunciation improves, so does your confidence and that's what it's ultimately all about, right?
162
And I wanna say thank you again for joining me today.
163
If you aren't subscribed to our channel, make sure you hit the subscribe button and the bell down below so you can continue learning with us.
164
Ah yeah.
165
So in this lesson, we'll talk about your mindset and how it determines whether you're ready for success
166
or crippled by your fear of failure.
167
Mastering the English language is an adventure that contains many challenges along the way.
Descargar app
Todo lo que necesitas para hablar con fluidez
Pronunciación con IAEvalúa cada oración
Práctica de IPADomina cada sonido
VocabularioConstruye tu banco de palabras
Juego de vocabularioAprende mientras juegas
Mismo canal
B21
Learn English with PODCASTS — Our Favorite Movies of 2026
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B21
How to Keep the Conversation Going After “HOW ARE YOU?”
Business EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students
C1How English Helps with Loneliness, Anxiety & Depression — Podcast for English Learners
Daily ConversationUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
FOR YOU
Recomendar Video
B13,358
19 oraciones
Why You Cannot Understand Native Speakers Even When You Know The Words
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B11
186 oraciones
How to Pronounce /h/ in English | Sound, Sentence Stress, Silent Letters
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B1334 oraciones
American English Vowels | IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) vowel chart FREE DOWNLOAD
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B1424 oraciones
Copy Our Pronunciation From French to American English
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B1354 oraciones
Learn English with Real Conversations Podcast | How to Use “DO” vs “MAKE”
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B12
107 oraciones
The most common sound /ə/: in English BBC Learning English #episode1
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B1248 oraciones
Pronunciation Practice: 50+ English Words to Sound Natural
Daily ConversationHigh School StudentsUniversity Students
B14
202 oraciones
How to SOUND Better in English! | Pronunciation Lesson
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B14
188 oraciones
12 Confusing English Verbs
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B12
140 oraciones
Linking sounds rules #1 & 2
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B2203 oraciones
English Pronunciation | The Letter 'A' | 9 Ways to Pronounce the Letter A
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
B12
142 oraciones
English Intonation Essentials
Daily ConversationWorking Adults
Vocabulario y notas de pronunciación para esta lección
Este vídeo tiene 167 frases y 1718 palabras para practicar shadowing. La parte hablada dura 13:43. El hablante mantiene un ritmo constante de unas 125 palabras por minuto, cómodo para el shadowing. Solo el 80 % de las palabras está entre las 3.000 más comunes del inglés, por lo que el vocabulario es exigente.
Vocabulario clave de este vídeo
15 palabras menos comunes del vídeo, con su pronunciación y significado:
- silent /ˈsaɪ̯lənt/ (adjetivo) — silencioso, callar. Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.
- litter /ˈlɪt.ɚ/ (sustantivo) — cama, lecho. Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals.
- lesson /ˈlɛs.ən/ (sustantivo) — lección. A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided.
- handsome /ˈhæn.səm/ (adjetivo) — apuesto, guapo. Having a pleasing appearance, good-looking, attractive, particularly
- architect /ˈɑɹ.kɪˌtɛkt/ (sustantivo) — artífice. A professional who designs buildings or other structures, or who prepares plans and superintends construction.
- spelling /ˈspɛl.ɪŋ/ (sustantivo) — deletreo, espeleo. The act, practice, ability, or subject of forming words with letters, or of reading the letters of words; orthography.
- castle /ˈkɑːsəl/ (sustantivo) — castillo, castro. A large residential building or compound that is fortified and contains many defences; in previous ages often inhabited by a nobleman or king. Also, a house or…
- sword /soɹd/ (sustantivo) — espada, tizona. A long bladed weapon with a grip and typically a pommel and crossguard (together forming a hilt), which is designed to cut, stab, slash and/or hack.
- knight /ˈnaɪ̯t/ (sustantivo) — caballero, caballera. An armored and mounted warrior of the Middle Ages.
- subscribe /səbˈskɹaɪb/ (verbo) — suscribirse, subscribirse. To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
- chalk /t͡ʃɔk/ (sustantivo) — tiza, creta. A soft, white, powdery limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO₃).
- confuse /kənˈfjuːz/ (verbo) — confundir, barahustar. to puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult to understand
- pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ (sustantivo) — pronunciación. The formal or informal way in which a word is made to sound when spoken.
- spell /spɛl/ (sustantivo) — hechizo, conjuro. Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers.
- echo /ˈɛk.oʊ/ (sustantivo) — eco. A reflected sound that is heard again by its initial observer.
Phrasal verbs que vas a escuchar
- look at (verbo) — mirar, funar. To observe or watch.
- check out (verbo) — investigar, chequear. To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
- know about (verbo) — saber de/sobre. To have positive inclinations regarding (someone or something); to have no doubts regarding (someone or something).
- talk about (verbo) — hablar de, hablar sobre. Used to draw attention to the speaker's characterization of someone or something.
Pronunciación a tener en cuenta
El hablante usa 47 contracciones y formas reducidas, como don't, you're, we'll. Dilas en su forma corta, tal como las oyes.
- Los sonidos de “th”: thumb /ˈθʌm/, thorough /ˈθʌɹoʊ/, wrath /ɹæθ/
- Los sonidos de “sh” y “zh”: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, translation /tɹænzˈleɪʃən/, immersion /ɪˈmɝʒən/
- Palabras largas — cuida el acento: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, hilarious /hɪˈlɛə.ɹi.əs/, unnecessary /ʌnˈnɛs.əˌsɛɹ.i/, intermediate /ɪn.tə(ɹ)ˈmi.di.ət/, charismatic /ˌkɛɹəzˈmætək/
Cómo practicar con este vídeo
- Escucha el vídeo entero una vez sin hablar y anota las palabras que no conoces.
- Haz shadowing frase por frase a velocidad normal, repitiendo cada una hasta que tu ritmo coincida con el del hablante.
- Grábate y compara con el original, prestando atención a palabras como silent, litter, lesson.
Gramática en este vídeo
Las estructuras que más usa el hablante, con las palabras exactas del vídeo:
| Estructura | En el vídeo |
|---|---|
| Voz pasiva be + participio pasado — importa lo que ocurre, no quién lo hace | can be pronounced · isn't pronounced · be understood |
| Present perfect have/has + participio pasado — una acción pasada que sigue importando ahora | has contributed · I've seen · you've paid |
| Posibilidad con “might / may” might/may + verbo — algo posible pero no seguro | might be · might probably feel · might not be |
| Superlativos the -est / the most … — lo más alto o lo más bajo de un grupo | The best · the most common |
¿Qué es la Técnica de Shadowing?
Shadowing es una técnica de aprendizaje de idiomas respaldada por la ciencia, desarrollada originalmente para la formación de intérpretes profesionales y popularizada por el políglota Dr. Alexander Arguelles. El método es simple pero poderoso: escuchas audio en inglés nativo y lo repites en voz alta de inmediato, como una sombra que sigue al hablante con solo 1-2 segundos de retraso. A diferencia de la escucha pasiva o los ejercicios de gramática, el shadowing obliga a tu cerebro y músculos de la boca a procesar y reproducir simultáneamente patrones de habla reales. Las investigaciones muestran que mejora significativamente la precisión de la pronunciación, la entonación, el ritmo, el habla conectada, la comprensión auditiva y la fluidez al hablar, convirtiéndola en una de las metodologías más efectivas para la preparación del IELTS Speaking y la comunicación en inglés en el mundo real.