Pronunciation ChallengeStop Trying to Be Nice All the Time

“It’s easy to be taken advantage of if you’re not honest.” – Katherine Heigl

Hello everyone and welcome to the Pronunciation Challenge! The name’s Hugh and I’ll be your host today! For this episode, we’ll be talking about being “nice” and how there are times where we shouldn’t be too nice! What does that mean? Well, think of it this way. What if you are good friends with someone and his/her partner treats them horribly but your friend is too “in love” to see it? Should we be the person who tells them that their partner is not a good fit for them? Do we tell them that their partner doesn’t appreciate them? By telling our friends this, we risk upsetting them and even losing them as a friend altogether! However, in my opinion, I would probably be the one who tells them their partner is mistreating them and that they should do something about it. I don’t like it when people treat my loved ones like trash. There are other scenarios I’d like to talk about but let’s get to the featured sentence first.

Today’s featured sentence:
Their distinctive sensitivity has often have been fostered by childhoods in which the consequences of being honest and forthright were especially difficult.

I’ll say that again.

Their distinctive sensitivity has often have been fostered by childhoods in which the consequences of being honest and forthright were especially difficult.

Ok, now time for the Pronunciation Tips.


For the first word, we have
distinctive
3 syllables
“DIS” has a short i sound. “TINC” sounds like “ink” like the ink you use with a printer but with a T sound in front. “TIVE” sounds like “live” like you have to live on but also with a T sound in front. Distinctive.

Next up, we have
consequences
4 syllables
“CON” has a short O sound. “SE” has a short U sound. With “QUEN”, I’m going to go back to phonics. The Q sound is usually paired with the U sound to give you “QU”. Combine that with “EN” to give you “QUEN”. “CES” has a short E sound. Consequences.

Lastly, we have,
forthright
2 syllables.
This is essentially two words. The first word is “forth” which is pronounced the same as “fourth” like “He/she came fourth in the race.” “Right” like left and right. Forthright.

Moving onto Vocabulary!

The first word is:
1. distinctive
Definition
Something that is distinctive is easy to recognize because it is different from other things.

Used in a sentence you could say,
“I always remembered that distinctive scar on his face.”
我忘不了他臉上那獨特的傷疤。
Next word,
2. foster
Definition
to encourage the development or growth of ideas or feelings
Used in a sentence, you could say:
“We try to foster a safe environment for all students in this space.”

And lastly,
3. forthright
Definition:
(too) honest or direct in behaviour
Used in a sentence, you could say:
“Stop wasting time and be more forthright with me.”

I have another situation for you listeners. What if your friend is trying to do something creative and they’re not exactly great at whatever they’re trying to do? Let’s say that they’re trying to become a singer but they can’t even hit the right note? Do we pretend that they’re Ed Sheeran and say they’re amazing or do we tell them that they stink? (When I use stink here, I don’t actually mean that they smell but actually that they’re not good at whatever they’re trying to do.) Like with anything, it’s not as simple as it sounds but there are ways to lessen the pain caused by your honesty. You could tell them that you care about them and that you want them to succeed but that you don’t think they’re not at that level yet. You could then encourage them to keep working hard and hope that they become something great one day. That would sound a lot better than, “You suck.” Just simply lying to someone and telling them that they’re amazing just so you can be liked isn’t helpful either. I only say this if you cherish this friend. What if this person annoys you with their narcissism? (Narcissism is when there's an excessive love or interest towards yourself, like Amber Heard!) Sometimes, the quickest way to get rid of them is to simply agree with them and then pretend you have other things to do and then get out of there.

Ok, guys, it’s time for me to wrap this up. Make sure to get your recordings in if you haven’t done so already. Follow me, if you’d like, on Instagram at hughtran_. Until the next episode, bye!

Day 97.

Day 251