Name: Words that are hard to say in British and American English
Uploaded: 2019-04-24T12:39:21.000Z
Duration: 11 min 6 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Hello everyone. I'm Vicki and I'm British.
And I'm Jay and I'm American.

And we're back with another 10 words that
are hard to pronounce in British and American

Thank you to everyone who has told us about
words you find hard to pronounce.

Yeah, that was great. Let's get going.
OK, here's the first one.

That's funny. This word looks nothing like
it sounds.

Yeah, the spelling is so different.
Queue. Queue. Queue.

Queue. Queue.
But we don't usually say queue in American

English. When we're waiting, we wait in
line.

And British people wait in a queue. We do
it a lot because we're very polite.

Yeah right. Let's see what's next.
Iron. Iron. Iron.

Ah, not quite. This words is tricky. In British
English, the r is silent.

So you write r but you don't say it?
Yes, we say iron. Iron.

Mmm. I think you say it a little differently
in American.

Iron.
Ah, so you pronounce the r, but it comes after

OK, several people suggested this one.
Chocolate. Chocolate.

That's not right.
Yes, it looks like it has three syllables

but it only has two.
Chocolate. Chocolate.

They're good! It has 2 syllables – chock-lit-
and the final vowel sound is I, not ay

Now I come from Brooklyn in New York and we have a
different sound at the start too.

Chawklit. So like chalk?
Yeah, chawklit! Chawklit.

Don't say it like that! Chocolate! OK, what's
next?

Ah, it's not veer, it's vai. Environment.

You've got to get the rhythm right. Vi gets
the stress.

EnVIronment
Let's back chain it. Say it with me. Ment

ronment -vironment - environment
So that n sound is very weak?

Yes, and sometimes it disappears. Say it with
our learners.

Environment. Environment. Environment.
Next one?

Not quite. OK, so there's a question here.
Is it three syllables - Wednesday or two syllables, Wednesday?

And remember the first D is silent. Try it!

Wednesday? Wednesday. Wednesday. Wednesday.
Next one?

Yep.
This one will really get your mouths moving.

Is it the th sound?
Yes, very few languages have this sound. Unfortunately

English is one of them. Sixth. Sixth. After six you've got to get your

sixth
We should make another video about that th

Sixth. Sixth. Sixth.
Hey, they were pretty good. Is there an easier

way to say this?
Yes. You can cheat. Skip the th sound and

siks
We sometimes say that when we're speaking

Tongue. I don't know.
The spelling and pronunciation are so different.

Yes. This is your tongue. Tongue.
Tongue. So we don't say tong. It's tongue.

Yeah. It's an ^ sound. And there's no g sound
at the end. It's just ng. It's in your

Tongue. Tongue. Tongue. Tongue.
OK, the next one's interesting.

What's that?
Infamous. Infamous. Infamous. Infamous. Infamous.

Ah, they're all wrong!
It's hard. So what's the problem here?

The word stress – we say INfamous. Not inFAMous
INfamous. It means famous but in a bad way

- not in a good way.
Yes, like an infamous killer.

infamous
The prefix 'in' can change the meaning

of a word into its opposite.
Like, incorrect is the opposite of correct.

Yes. Independent, indirect, inexpensive. They're
all opposites.

OK, next one?
Yeah. Let's have something easier.

February. It's very difficult this word for French people.
They're pretty good.

Yes. We can pronounce this word in different
ways. We can say the r sound - roo - Feb|roo|ary

or we can make a j sound Feb|you|ary.
Feb|roo|ary Feb|you|ary. Oh yeah.

I think most people say Feb|you|ary. It's
a little easier.

Another question. How many syllables does
it have?

Feb|you|a|ry – 4 syllables.
OK, in British English we also say Feb|you

|ry.
Feb|you |ry. 3 syllables. February. So say it however

you like and we'll probably understand.
Chocolate. No, not Chocolate, but February.

That's easy to say.
Yes. Now let's finish with a hard one. OK.

Worcestershire. Worcestershire.
Worcestershire. OK. Worcestershire. What is that?

This is the name of a place in England, and it's also the name of this sauce.

It's hard to say.
Oh my god! Worcestershire

She nearly got it right!
Yeah, we say Worcestershire (Woostershire).

It's the name of a county in England, so
an area that has its own government. And Worcester

is the name of a town.
We have a town called Worcester in Massachusetts

– same spelling and pronunciation.
You got it from us.

It's the same in British and American.
But there's another town in Pennsylvania

called Worcester, so some people might say
that. Worcester.

Well what's this?
Well I say Worcestershire sauce.

In British English we drop the shire and just
say Worcestershire (Wooster).

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Words that are hard to say in British and American English

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pronunciation

rhythm

tricky