쉐도잉 연습: Why is English Pronunciation So CONFUSING? | Silent Letters - 영상으로 영어 말하기 배우기

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From the creators of the curse of English spelling comes silent letters.

Letters that are just there for no reason.

You as a learner of all people know how confusing English spelling is.

Why is it not consistent with how we pronounce words?

For example, O-U-G-H can be pronounced in many different ways.

Take a listen to how I pronounce these words.

Bought, though, thorough, tough, drought, through, and cough.

Weird right?

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.

This lesson is about letters we write in words, but don't actually pronounce.

Take a look at this word and think which letter isn't pronounced.

We don't say the P, it's empty.

There's this hilarious meme about this actually, let's check it out.

Here, we read this word as empty, not pronouncing the P.

This still reads empty.

This is still empty.

Here, we just say the letters M and T.

Here, there's nothing.

It's empty.

In this lesson, we'll take a look at some words with silent letters that you might be mispronouncing.

Why should you know this?

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.

And as you'll learn, some of these words are a lot easier to pronounce

when you don't actually pronounce all of the letters or the letter that is supposed to be silent.

But in case we are meeting for the first time, I'm Oli, your RealLife English Fluency Coach,

and we guide you beyond the classroom so that you can understand fast speaking natives,

be understood by anyone, and connect to the beautiful world we live in.

In fact, Onhiki says that our channel has contributed to his English learning progress, And he has a notebook full of our ideas.

So be like Onhike and learn with us.

All you need to do is hit that subscribe button

and the bell down below so you don't miss any of our new English tips.

Okay, we're gonna start with some more common phrases where we don't pronounce B, K, L or W.

For example, the silent B when it's after M, like in climb.

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.

Don't worry, we'll see these examples in just a moment.

And one that often confuses learners, W, when it's before an R, like in wrong.

Now the reason why we don't pronounce these letters in these words is because it is extremely awkward to do so.

And by that I mean it takes extra effort to pronounce these letters.

So that's why we don't say crumb, we simply say crumb.

Other words with a silent B are bomb,

comb, crumb, dumb, lamb, limb,

numb, thumb, If you're actually trying to pronounce the B in these words, you're not alone.

Many upper intermediate learners still do this.

Now here are some words when we don't pronounce the K.

knee, knife, knight, knit, knob,

knock, knot, no, and knuckle.

What about the silent N now?

Well, we don't pronounce it in chalk,

talk, walk, calm, and palm.

Other cases of a silent L are could, should, would, calf and half.

And the other pattern I mentioned is that of words where W is before an R.

For example, wrap, wrench, wrestle,

wrinkle, wrist, right, wrong, wrath, wreck.

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,

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.

So you see how minor adjustments like these can have a huge impact on your confidence speaking English.

A lot of people recommend that you first learn how to say a word and then how to spell it.

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.

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.

Which leads on to my hot tip, trust your ear and not your eyes.

And you'll be able to do a lot of that with our real life native immersion course.

In this 41 week course you're going to be able to practice identifying silent letters in words.

It's the next best thing to living in an English speaking country.

You know what?

The best thing is you can try it for free today with our three part power learning series.

To try it out you can click up here or

if you're on your mobile there is a link in the description below.

Let's continue on.

To illustrate this, here's a new word that you might not be familiar with.

Colonel.

Easy right?

Say it after me.

Colonel.

Now it's said like Colonel and spelt like this.

C O L O N E L.

Colonel.

Let's now look at three more common words with a silent B.

debt, doubt and subtle.

Now that you know that we don't pronounce the b in these words, try reading this sentence out loud.

Listen to me, I never doubted you.

As you see, the silent letter remains when you modify the base word by adding suffixes, doubted, doubtful.

With that in mind, this one could be a bit trickier.

How do you say this?

Yeah, that's right.

I am deeply indebted to him for his help.

Now, if you know that the B is silent in subtle, how do you say this word in this sentence?

You got it!

Some of the subtleties of the language are lost in translation.

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.

To watch it next, I'll link it up here or down in the description below.

Now let's move on to another silent letter.

How do you say this?

It's not handsome, it's handsome.

Take a moment to pronounce the following words that also have a silent D.

Did you say badge, edge, Wednesday and sandwich?

Now repeat these sentences after me.

On Wednesday, my handsome husband and I had a sandwich at a Subway restaurant.

The soldier was awarded a badge of honour.

The edge of the table.

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Let's move on to the letter G.

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And we don't pronounce this letter in words like campaign, Assign, design, sign, rain.

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Say it after me, campaign.

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Assign, design, sign, rain.

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He was assigned the design of an ad campaign.

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Another word that has a silent G is one that I've seen many learners trip up with.

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This word is pronounced foreign.

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Now, we do pronounce the G in kingdom, but in rapid speech it often gets dropped.

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So you'll hear, she reigns in a foreign kingdom.

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H is a big one and there are a lot of words with silent H letters.

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Ake, anchor, architect, chaos, charisma,

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choir, chord, echo, honest, school, stomach.

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Here are some examples.

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John's a charismatic and honest architect.

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By the way, the H in John is silent as well.

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John's vocal chords hurt, so he can't sing in the choir.

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Now let's take a look at a few words with a silent T.

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Butcher, castle, listen, mortgage, often which.

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There's also the words Christmas and match, which I often see my students trying to pronounce the T.

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Another one is often, however you can also pronounce the T and say often.

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Both options are used almost equally.

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Now we already talked about the W when it's in its initial position and before an R,

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but it can also be a tricky one in words like answer, to and sword.

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Okay, let's test your knowledge.

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Here's what we're going to do.

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First, I'll say a few words and you'll repeat after me.

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Write, and now you repeat.

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Chalk, say it.

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Answer, you say that again.

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After that, I'm going to show you a sentence, just like this one.

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We'll give you about three or four seconds to read and practice saying the words in the sentence,

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and after that I'll give you the pronunciation of the sentence.

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For example, she wrote the answer with chalk on the board, so that you can check and see if you pronounced it correctly.

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Ready?

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Let's go!

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Number one.

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Walk.

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Castle.

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Wrinkle.

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Witch.

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Echo.

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The castle where the wrinkled witch lives is an echoey place.

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How did you go?

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Sentence two.

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Debt, foreign, architect.

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The foreign architect is in a lot of debt.

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Sentence number three.

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Handsome, knight, sword.

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The famous handsome knight died from a sword wound.

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Sentence number four.

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Wrestle.

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Match.

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Wednesday.

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He has a wrestling match on Wednesday.

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Let me know how you did with those four sentences down in the comments below.

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And I hope you enjoyed the exercise at the end and that you found this lesson useful.

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We saw a total of 70 words that have silent letters in them.

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These are for sure the most common words that learners still confuse and mispronounce.

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So if you've paid attention, you're in a much better place to avoid these common mistakes.

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The great benefit of knowing that you don't need to say the silent letters is

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that it actually makes it a lot easier to pronounce these words.

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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.

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이 레슨의 어휘와 말하기 포인트

이 영상에는 섀도잉할 문장 167개와 단어 1718개가 있습니다. 말하는 구간의 길이는 13:43입니다. 화자는 분당 약 125단어의 일정한 속도로 말해서 섀도잉하기에 편한 속도입니다. 영어에서 가장 많이 쓰이는 3,000단어에 속하는 단어가 80%뿐이라 어휘가 어려운 편입니다.

이 영상의 핵심 어휘

영상에 나오는 덜 흔한 단어 15개를 발음, 뜻과 함께 정리했습니다.

silent /ˈsaɪ̯lənt/ (형용사) — 조용하다. Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.
lesson /ˈlɛs.ən/ (명사) — 수업, 과. A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided.
handsome /ˈhæn.səm/ (형용사) — 잘생기다, 멋있다. Having a pleasing appearance, good-looking, attractive, particularly
architect /ˈɑɹ.kɪˌtɛkt/ (명사) — 설계자, 계획자. A professional who designs buildings or other structures, or who prepares plans and superintends construction.
spelling /ˈspɛl.ɪŋ/ (명사) — 철자법, 맞춤법. The act, practice, ability, or subject of forming words with letters, or of reading the letters of words; orthography.
castle /ˈkɑːsəl/ (명사) — 성, 성곽. 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/ (명사) — 검, 칼. 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/ (명사) — 기사, 나이트. An armored and mounted warrior of the Middle Ages.
subscribe /səbˈskɹaɪb/ (동사) — 구독하다. To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
chalk /t͡ʃɔk/ (명사) — 백악. A soft, white, powdery limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO₃).
confuse /kənˈfjuːz/ (동사) — 혼란시키다. to puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult to understand
pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ (명사) — 발음. The formal or informal way in which a word is made to sound when spoken.
spell /spɛl/ (명사) — 주문, 마력. Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers.
echo /ˈɛk.oʊ/ (명사) — 메아리, 에코. A reflected sound that is heard again by its initial observer.
badge /bæd͡ʒ/ (명사) — 배지. A distinctive mark, token, sign, emblem or cognizance, worn on one’s clothing, as an insignia of some rank, or of the membership of an organization.

주의할 발음

화자는 don't, you're, we'll 같은 축약형과 약화된 형태를 47번 사용합니다. 들리는 대로 짧게 발음하세요.

“th” 소리: thumb /ˈθʌm/, thorough /ˈθʌɹoʊ/, wrath /ɹæθ/
“sh”와 “zh” 소리: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, translation /tɹænzˈleɪʃən/, immersion /ɪˈmɝʒən/
긴 단어 — 강세 위치에 주의: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, hilarious /hɪˈlɛə.ɹi.əs/, unnecessary /ʌnˈnɛs.əˌsɛɹ.i/, intermediate /ɪn.tə(ɹ)ˈmi.di.ət/, charismatic /ˌkɛɹəzˈmætək/

이 영상으로 연습하는 방법

먼저 말하지 않고 영상을 끝까지 듣고 모르는 단어를 적어 둡니다.
보통 속도로 한 문장씩 섀도잉하고, 화자의 리듬과 맞을 때까지 반복합니다.
자신의 목소리를 녹음해 원본과 비교하고, silent, lesson, handsome 같은 단어에 특히 주의합니다.

이 영상의 문법

화자가 가장 많이 쓰는 문형을 영상 속 실제 표현과 함께 정리했습니다.

문형	영상 속 표현
수동태 be + 과거분사 — 누가 하는지보다 무슨 일이 일어나는지에 초점	can be pronounced · isn't pronounced · be understood
현재완료 have/has + 과거분사 — 과거의 일이 지금도 관련이 있을 때	has contributed · I've seen · you've paid
“might / may” 가능성 might/may + 동사 — 가능하지만 확실하지 않은 일	might be · might probably feel · might not be
최상급 the -est / the most … — 집단에서 가장 높거나 낮은 것	The best · the most common

쉐도잉이란? 영어 실력을 빠르게 키우는 과학적 방법

쉐도잉(Shadowing)은 원래 전문 통역사 훈련을 위해 개발된 언어 학습 기법으로, 다언어 학자인 Dr. Alexander Arguelles에 의해 대중화된 방법입니다. 핵심 원리는 간단하지만 매우 강력합니다: 원어민의 영어를 들으면서 1~2초의 짧은 지연으로 즉시 소리 내어 따라 말하는 것——마치 '그림자(shadow)'처럼 화자를 따라가는 것입니다. 문법 공부나 수동적인 청취와 달리, 쉐도잉은 뇌와 입 근육이 동시에 실시간으로 영어를 처리하고 재현하도록 훈련합니다. 연구에 따르면 이 방법은 발음 정확도, 억양, 리듬, 연음, 청취력, 말하기 유창성을 크게 향상시킵니다. IELTS 스피킹 준비와 자연스러운 영어 소통을 원하는 분들에게 특히 효과적입니다.

섀도잉 방법: 단계별 전체 가이드 읽기 →

쉐도잉 연습: Why is English Pronunciation So CONFUSING? | Silent Letters - 영상으로 영어 말하기 배우기

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쉐도잉이란? 영어 실력을 빠르게 키우는 과학적 방법