Практика Shadowing: Why is English Pronunciation So CONFUSING? | Silent Letters - Изучайте разговорный английский по видео

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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.

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.

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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.

110

Ake, anchor, architect, chaos, charisma,

111

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.

117

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.

119

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.

124

Here's what we're going to do.

125

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.

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.

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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.

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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.

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Mastering the English language is an adventure that contains many challenges along the way.

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Лексика и советы по произношению к этому уроку

В этом видео 167 предложений и 1718 слов для шедоуинга. Речь длится 13:43. Говорящий держит ровный темп — около 125 слов в минуту, удобный для шедоуинга. Только 80% слов входят в 3000 самых частых слов английского языка, поэтому лексика сложная.

Ключевая лексика этого видео

15 менее частых слов из видео с произношением и значением:

pronounce /pɹəˈnaʊns/ (глагол) — объявля́ть, объяви́ть. To declare formally, officially or ceremoniously.
silent /ˈsaɪ̯lənt/ (прилагательное) — ти́хий, молча́ть. Free from sound or noise; absolutely still; perfectly quiet.
litter /ˈlɪt.ɚ/ (существительное) — подсти́лка. Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals.
lesson /ˈlɛs.ən/ (существительное) — уро́к, ле́кция. A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided.
handsome /ˈhæn.səm/ (прилагательное) — краси́вый, привлека́тельный. Having a pleasing appearance, good-looking, attractive, particularly
architect /ˈɑɹ.kɪˌtɛkt/ (существительное) — архите́ктор, архите́кторша. A professional who designs buildings or other structures, or who prepares plans and superintends construction.
spelling /ˈspɛl.ɪŋ/ (существительное) — правописа́ние, орфогра́фия. The act, practice, ability, or subject of forming words with letters, or of reading the letters of words; orthography.
castle /ˈkɑːsəl/ (существительное) — за́мок. 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/ (существительное) — меч, шпа́га. 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/ (существительное) — ры́царь, ви́тязь. An armored and mounted warrior of the Middle Ages.
subscribe /səbˈskɹaɪb/ (глагол) — подпи́сывать, подписа́ть. To write (one’s name) at the bottom of a document; to sign (one's name).
chalk /t͡ʃɔk/ (существительное) — мел. A soft, white, powdery limestone (calcium carbonate, CaCO₃).
confuse /kənˈfjuːz/ (глагол) — пу́тать, запу́тать. to puzzle, perplex, baffle, bewilder (somebody); to afflict by being complicated, contradictory, or otherwise difficult to understand
pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/ (существительное) — произноше́ние, вы́говор. The formal or informal way in which a word is made to sound when spoken.
spell /spɛl/ (существительное) — заклина́ние, за́говор. Words or a formula supposed to have magical powers.

Фразовые глаголы, которые вы услышите

check out (глагол) — проверя́ть, прове́рить. To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.).
talk about (глагол) — ну и, вот э́то. Used to draw attention to the speaker's characterization of someone or something.

Произношение, на которое стоит обратить внимание

Говорящий использует 47 сокращённых и редуцированных форм, например don't, you're, we'll. Произносите их коротко, так, как слышите.

Звуки «th»: thumb /ˈθʌm/, thorough /ˈθʌɹoʊ/, wrath /ɹæθ/
Звуки «sh» и «zh»: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, translation /tɹænzˈleɪʃən/, immersion /ɪˈmɝʒən/
Длинные слова — следите за ударением: pronunciation /pɹəˌnʌn.siˈeɪ.ʃən/, hilarious /hɪˈlɛə.ɹi.əs/, unnecessary /ʌnˈnɛs.əˌsɛɹ.i/, intermediate /ɪn.tə(ɹ)ˈmi.di.ət/, charismatic /ˌkɛɹəzˈmætək/

Как заниматься с этим видео

Прослушайте всё видео один раз молча и выпишите незнакомые слова.
Повторяйте предложение за предложением на обычной скорости, пока ваш ритм не совпадёт с ритмом говорящего.
Запишите себя и сравните с оригиналом, обращая внимание на такие слова, как pronounce, silent, litter.

Грамматика в этом видео

Конструкции, которые говорящий использует чаще всего, с точными словами из видео:

Конструкция	В видео
Пассивный залог be + причастие прошедшего времени — важно, что происходит, а не кто это делает	can be pronounced · isn't pronounced · be understood
Present Perfect have/has + причастие прошедшего времени — прошлое действие, важное сейчас	has contributed · I've seen · you've paid
Вероятность с «might / may» might/may + глагол — возможно, но не точно	might be · might probably feel · might not be
Превосходная степень the -est / the most … — самое большое или малое в группе	The best · the most common

Что такое техника Shadowing?

Shadowing — это научно обоснованная техника изучения языка, изначально разработанная для подготовки профессиональных переводчиков и популяризированная полиглотом доктором Александром Аргуэльесом. Метод прост, но эффективен: вы слушаете аудио на английском от носителей языка и немедленно повторяете вслух — как тень, следующая за говорящим с задержкой в 1–2 секунды. В отличие от пассивного прослушивания или грамматических упражнений, Shadowing заставляет мозг и мышцы рта одновременно обрабатывать и воспроизводить реальные речевые паттерны. Исследования показывают, что это значительно улучшает точность произношения, интонацию, ритм, связную речь, понимание на слух и беглость речи — что делает его одним из самых эффективных методов для подготовки к IELTS Speaking и реального общения на английском.

Техника шедоуинга: читать полное пошаговое руководство →

Практика Shadowing: Why is English Pronunciation So CONFUSING? | Silent Letters - Изучайте разговорный английский по видео

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Лексика и советы по произношению к этому уроку

Ключевая лексика этого видео

Фразовые глаголы, которые вы услышите

Произношение, на которое стоит обратить внимание

Как заниматься с этим видео

Грамматика в этом видео

Что такое техника Shadowing?