If you say "rural" perfectly every time, you must be superhuman. Synecdoche 19. If you know a language purist, watch out. 1. voiced (vocal cords vibrate) as in the words: the, this, father 2. unvoiced (Vocal cords don’t vibrate) for example: three, thanks and mouth French speakers find the “TH” sound particularly difficult to pronounce as it doesn’t exist in their own language. That’s why we’ve created a list of some of the hardest English words to help you learn how to say them correctly. Temperature 20. No one would say the English language is simple. While the popularity of this ancient grain has grown in recent years because of its “superfood” powers, many people still struggle with how to pronounce quinoa because of its numerous vowel blends. For many non-native speakers, the “xth” three-consonant cluster in words like “sixth” are quite the tongue twister. We’ve compiled thirty such words. Literally. Isthmus 10. Well, aside from the silent “h” and the irregular use of the consonant “y,” the word has 21 letters and eight—yes, count ’em, eight—syllables. Can you tackle the 14 toughest tongue twisters in the English language? “Overlook” and “oversee” have opposite meanings, while “look” and “see” mean the same thing. In German, the “rl” typically comes at the end of a syllable like the name Karl, but in English the “rel” forms a syllable of its own. 5 Things That Make English Difficult for Foreigners to Learn. Thank you to everyone who has told us about words you find hard to pronounce. 40 Hard-to-Pronounce Words You're Probably Getting Wrong Share Flipboard Email Print Elly Walton / Getty Images. Nemo’s answer: “An anemonemone. We are no longer supporting IE (Internet Explorer) as we strive to provide site experiences for browsers that support new web standards and security practices. Colonel 2. The 31 Most Hard-to-Pronounce Words in the English Language. At first glance, the word looks like it should be pronounced “succ-ess-ful” but that is incorrect because the second “c” is pronounced like an “s,” which can confuse anyone learning how to read or speak English. Many English language learners are quite unsuccessful reading and pronouncing the word “successful” for the very first time. If you’re a fan of Finding Nemo, you might remember the scene where Mr. Ray asks Nemo what type of home he lives in. Okay, so this is a difficult one even for English people. If you are an English learner, you have probably been confused by those words or difficult words like them.. The list below contains some of the most commonly mispronounced words (mostly by foreigners) in English. Hell, we’re so creative we have words that defy exact translation into English. If you … Say what? There are innumerable examples of conundrumssuch as: 1. Non-native English speakers can easily get confused by the pronunciation of this British word because it has a double irregularity: first with the a-u vowel combination, and then again with the g-h-t consonant blend. Then, to further complicate matters, the “th” in this word is silent, so you can ignore it anyway. First off, the “th” combination doesn’t even exist in some languages, including German and Dutch, which raises the difficulty level. It looks like it’s pronounced “wor-cest-er-shi-er,” but it actually retains is British-English pronunciation. Yeah, that was great. Here, we’re looking at the common 18 English words that Spanish speakers mispronounce when trying to learn English. Despite the word’s short length, its five syllables filled with many “i’s” and “o’s” is enough to get anyone tongue-tied. A billion people are learning English around the world and most of … It’s also one of the most confusing hard words to pronounce for non-native English speakers to learn. Misuse of this word has been known to raise people’s blood pressure. Keeping your tongue behind your teeth while speaking this word can help with pronunciation. On top of that, those hardest words often contain Polish diphthongs: ‘sz’, ‘cz’, ‘rz’ and special Polish characters like ł, ś and ć. We are no longer supporting IE (Internet Explorer), 14 toughest tongue twisters in the English language, how to properly pronounce these 35 medical words, Do Not Sell My Personal Information – CA Residents. I’m Vicki and I’m British. Anemone 9. And I’m Jay and I’m American. We will teach you how to sound like a native Korean speaker! Worcestershire sauce originated in the town of Worcester, England, and is pronounced “Wooster,” while the term “shire” is the British word for “county” and sounds like the ending of “Hampshire.” Therefore, the word is pronounced “WOOster-sher.” Make sure you never say these food words wrong again, as well as know how to pronounce gyro. 1. Which words are most difficult for Spanish Speakers to pronounce? And we’re back with another 10 words that are hard to pronounce in British and American English. Ignominious 13. English Grammar An Introduction to Punctuation Writing By. Sixth 15. Specific 18. Quinoa 6. Tip: See my guide to the Most Common Pronunciation Errors in English. If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? As a follow up to our article on confusing words, here are ten of the most difficult words in English. So if you have problems using the formal pronunciation, which is “oh-toh-rye-no-lar-ing-GOL-uh-jee,” you can just refer to the doc by her more informal title: an ENT. At Confidence Learning Services, we freely admit that English is a difficult language to pronounce.That’s why we offer advanced English Pronunciation courses and offer tips and videos on Accent Reduction. Yes, this is a fairly common word, and most native native speakers have no trouble learning how to pronounce it. Find out what the longest word in English is. However hard you try to learn English, there will always be exceptions to the rules to make your life harder. What may seem at first incomprehensible series of letters is actually your new challenge! 3. Neither is there any apple nor pine in pineapple. While it looks like it might be pronounced “drot,” it’s actually pronounced “draft,” (like the word “laugh”), and usually refers to an alcoholic beverage drawn from a keg. After all, most of us have grown up saying the word squirrel on a regular basis. Here are 17 words even smart people mispronounce without realizing it. Onomatopoeia. Worcestershire 3. As native speakers, we rarely stop to think how illogical many of t… Tip: See my guide to the Most Common Pronunciation Errors in English. Senior Writer. Successful 14. A Reddit thread asked users to weigh in on which words in the English language were hard words to pronounce and “sixth” made the list. 1. The problem that most English learners face is the great number of confusing words in the language. When a German speaker tries to say the two-syllable word “squirrel,” it comes out as the monosyllabic “skwörl.”Dissatisfied with this result, the German speaker tries to produce a real ‘R,’ of the sort you get in (Rock ‘n) Roll, in the end cluster, wreaking havoc,” Carlos Gussenhoven, a linguist in the Netherlands, told Live Science. We recommend our users to update the browser. Onomatopoeia 7. Often Squirrel 12. Still struggling? This article was based on my guide to English pronunciation mistakes, which explains many similar topics. Hello everyone. They sometimes replace the “TH” sound with the letters “f” or “s” … The tricky part, for German speakers in particular, is the “rel” ending. Pronunciation can also be a problem. If you have more suggestions for hard-to-pronounce German words, send them to us at feedback.english@dw.de. Otorhinolaryngologist 11. Now that you know how to say otorhinolaryngologist correctly, make sure you know how to properly pronounce these 35 medical words too. Rural 17. Not to mention that it ends in an “s,” which typically refers to a plural and is called a “pair,” even though it’s a single instrument. Like Worcestershire, “mischievous” is one of those hard words to pronounce that many Americans also have trouble saying. This question may be somewhat controversial, but, in my opinion, English is a very hard language to learn. Next, find out the 20 words even smart people mispronounce. You can also join the discussion on Twitter with DW at … Tip: See my guide to the Most Common Pronunciation Errors in English. This two-syllable word, which is pronounced “is-muss,” refers to a narrow passage of land between two seas. And there are also everyday words even native English speakers say incorrectly. 16 English Words That Are Hard for Non-Natives to Say By. 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