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  • hello and welcome back to real English with real teachers today is a very

  • special episode because we are starting a brand new series of videos and it's

  • all about pronunciation we're going to be talking about minimal pairs what is a

  • minimal pair a pair of words which differ by just one sound and Harry did a

  • pronunciation video with Lucy a while back you may remember this coke cock so

  • we thought that we would take the time to explore some more minimal pairs that

  • you guys have suggested in the comment sections of our videos let's get going

  • so what do you like about me the most oh well your fanny I beg your

  • pardon you haven't even seen it yet You

  • cheeky bugger I mean here Charlie has mispronounced the word funny for the

  • word Fanny Harriet was a little bit shocked because in British English

  • Fanny refers to a ladies genitals so it was perhaps a little bit

  • forward for Charlie to say this on a first date in American English this

  • would have been slightly less offensive because Fanny actually means bottom but

  • it's still not a recommendable thing to say on a first date especially not with

  • a classy lady like Harriet so let's learn how to pronounce these

  • two words correctly so that we don't make the same mistake as Charlie I mean

  • you're funny you're funny oh you think I'm funny do you yes I am

  • quite funny that's one thing you're good-looking

  • really I love your hair looks really good on you

  • thanks My my mum dyed it for me for the vowel sound in the word Fanny keep

  • your tongue low to the front of the mouth stretch out your lips to the side

  • as if you are smiling with your mouth wide open and make a short voiced sound

  • ah ah ah very good Harry, very good. Or, Harriet.. sorry Harriet

  • for the vowel sound in the word funny keep your tongue low and between the

  • middle and the back of the mouth that's it now make a short voiced sound with

  • your mouth open and relaxed ah ah very good and what's that word Harry Harriet

  • funny funny yes you are funny , aren't you Harriet yeah funny, yeah you also have a

  • fanny, don't you Harriet ....no... repeat after us

  • Fanny funny fanny funny very good

  • so another minimal pair that contains the same vowel sounds are bun and ban

  • bun and ban and another example is ton and tan ton and tan so

  • Charlie I like passionate men men who you know have interesting interests

  • What am I talking about? Anyway, what is your biggest passion in life? my biggest passion well I could say I'm

  • very passionate about my whores your whores yeah my whores yeah I love my

  • whores ah I didn't see anything about this on your Instagram I always post my

  • whores on my Instagram... you misogynistic Pig what have you got against my whores?

  • you're disgusting

  • in this scene Charlie has incorrectly pronounce the

  • word horse for the plural form of the word whore so instead of impressing

  • Harriet by showing his sensitive animal loving side

  • Charlie has basically admitted that he objectifies woman sells them for sex and

  • then boasts about it on his Instagram that's no way to get a second date is it

  • let's see where he went wrong here to pronounce the Z sound in whores place the

  • front of the tongue close to the alveolar Ridge at the top of your mouth

  • this is the the small lumpy bit that sits just behind your front teeth and

  • then make a short voiced sound hmm your vocal cords should vibrate hmm yeah they

  • ah yeah very good Harriet very good all right now for the sound in horse the

  • front of the tongue is placed close to the alveolar Ridge the same as the Z

  • sound but this time you need to push the air through the space along the center

  • of the tip of the tongue without vibrating your vocal cords you got that

  • yeah I'll try so I'm pushing harder than before yeah yeah you are Harriet push

  • harder go on

  • so the aspiration of air is what allows you to create this sound and

  • differentiate the words horse and whores really interesting thanks charlie

  • gonna practice those two sounds okay horse horse whores whores oh good yeah so

  • do you like horses or whores I like horses I like riding horses not whores

  • you don't like riding whores you like riding horses good maybe we've got a

  • second date then do you forgive me okay then repeat after us horse and

  • whores whores whores

  • horse horse so another couple of minimal pairs with the same consonant sound on

  • this difficult pronunciation is Moore's and Moore's repeat after us

  • Moore's Moore's very good and another one is course and cause repeat after us

  • course cause very good so in this video we've

  • drawn your attention to the specific phonemes that allow you to distinguish

  • the difference in the word's total sound if you want to get really good at

  • British English pronunciation you need to stop focusing on how the word looks

  • because our language is not written the way that we speak it the way that we

  • pronounce it so what you need to do is to get familiar with these phonemic

  • symbols and start to use a dictionary so that when you learn a new word you can

  • look it up and figure out exactly how we would say it thank you very much Harriet

  • for being such a good sport and I look forward to taking you on a ride on my

  • horse Thank You charlie you're cheeky but you've won me over in

  • the end I'm I'm touched honestly that wig I mean that hair is

  • just lovely lovely it brings out your eyes

  • you're such a you're such a charmer get out of here you see you next Tuesday

  • silly Harriet miss you oh she's gone that's all for today but we hope you

  • have found these minimal pairs useful do remember to keep on practicing them

  • aloud so that you can master them and if you like this video and you think that

  • Harriet is cute please do give us a thumbs up and now finally it is your

  • turn to get active and answer these questions in the comment section firstly

  • what other minimal pairs can you think of which contain the same phonemic

  • differences as the words in this video number two what minimal pairs would you

  • like to see in future videos of ours and number three does Charlie deserve a

  • second date and if not why now before we go we'd like to inform you of our pretty

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  • English learners in the description box beneath this video and lastly give us a

  • cheeky thumbs up go on you know you want to

hello and welcome back to real English with real teachers today is a very

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