Episode 200
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Follow the text while you listen, then repeat useful sentences aloud.
Hi, everybody! I am Georgiana, your English teacher and founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com. My mission is to help you speak English fluently.
Today, we will look at some English words that are very difficult to pronounce.
Also, let me say that I'm really happy because this is episode number 200!!
It's been five years since I launched the first episode of the Speak English Now Podcast!!
Thank you so much for your support and sharing the podcast with your friends and families.
Ok, let's start.
1. Cavalry and calvary
People often confuse cavalry (armed forces on horseback) with calvary, an experience of extreme suffering, especially mental suffering.
We call metathesis the change of one or more sounds within a word. And yes. Metathesis is also a hard word to pronounce.
Anyway, let's practice the two words a little bit.
Listen and repeat after me:
[ kav-uhl-ree ]
Cavalry. Cavalry. Cavalry.
[ kal-vuh-ree ]
Calvary. Calvary. Calvary.
2. Comfortable and Vegetable
These two words are the most difficult for my students to pronounce. Most Spanish speakers pronounce comfortable, and vegetable as "comfortaibal" or "vegetaibal" and I guess it's because both words end in "table."
So, let's practice the two words a little bit.
Listen and repeat:
[ kuhm-fer-tuh-buhl, ]
Comfortable. Comfortable. Comfortable.
[ kuhmf-ter-buhl ]
Comfortable. Comfortable. Comfortable.
[ vej-tuh-buhl ] Vegetable. Vegetable. Vegetable.
[ vej-i-tuh-buhl ]
Vegetable. Vegetable. Vegetable.
3. Deteriorate
Another word that my students find difficult to pronounce is deteriorate.
Let's practice it for a bit.
Listen and repeat after me:
[ dih-teer-ee-uh-reyt ]
Deteriorate. Deteriorate. Deteriorate.
4. Explicit
Don't worry. Almost everyone sounds a little funny when they pronounce the word "explicit."
Let's practice it!
[ ik-splis-it ]
Explicit. Explicit. Explicit.
5. Exponentially
Yes, I understand you perfectly. Sometimes exponentially gets exponentially harder to say the more you try to say it. 🙂
Let's practice this word.
Listen and repeat after me:
[ ek-spoh-nen-shuh-lee ]
Exponentially. Exponentially. Exponentially.
[ ek-spuh-nen-shuh-lee ]
Exponentially. Exponentially. Exponentially.
That's all for today; I hope you had a good time practicing these complex words. Next week we will practice more of these difficult words in English.
Now, let’s practice.
Want more speaking practice? Continue with a complete audio course.
GRAMMAR MADE EASY
POV Story: Grammar in Context
Read the same story in two different points of view and notice how the grammar changes naturally.
Present Tense - First Person
Hi, I'm Tom, and I'm reflecting on my life in my office. I am delighted. I live a comfortable life. You could even say I am living in a fairy tale. I have a high salary few responsibilities, and it seems like nothing wrong ever happens to me.
When I talk to customers, I explain irrelevant details and sometimes even get too explicit. However, the relationship with customers never seems to deteriorate; it improves exponentially.
And my colleagues are very envious of me.
Besides, I always give everyone advice on how to live, but I never act on any of it.
I think to myself. "Rules for thee (you), but not for me."
While I am pondering all this, a strange noise sounds...
Oh no, it's the alarm clock. It was all a dream. It turns out that I have a normal job, just like everyone else. I am not living in a fairy tale, but my life seems more like a calvary.
Past Tense - Third Person
Tom was in his office reflecting on his life. He was delighted. He lived a comfortable life. You could even say he was living in a fairy tale. He had a high salary few responsibilities, and it seemed like nothing wrong ever happened to him. When he talked to customers, he explained irrelevant details and sometimes even got too explicit. However, the relationship with customers never deteriorated; it improved exponentially.
And his colleagues were very envious of Tom.
Besides, he always gave everyone advice on how to live, but he never acted on any of it.
He thought to himself. "Rules for thee (you), but not for me."
While he was pondering all this, a strange noise sounded...
Oh no, it's the alarm clock.
It was all a dream. It turned out that Tom had a normal job, just like everyone else. He was not living in a fairy tale, but his life seemed more like a calvary.
Past Tense
Tom and Alice were in their office reflecting on their lives. They were delighted. They both lived a comfortable life. You could even say they were living in a fairy tale. They had a high salary, few responsibilities, and it seemed like nothing wrong ever happened to them. When they talked to customers, they explained irrelevant details and sometimes even got too explicit. However, the relationship with customers never deteriorated; it improved exponentially.
And their colleagues were very envious of Tom and Alice.
Besides, they always gave everyone advice on how to live, but they never acted on any of it.
They thought to themselves. "Rules for thee (you), but not for me."
While they were pondering all this, a strange noise sounded...
Oh no, it's the alarm clock.
It was all a dream. It turned out that both Tom and Alice had a normal job, just like everyone else. They were not living in a fairy tale, but their lives seemed more like a calvary.
Thanks for listening, and I’ll see you in the next episode.
Review
Vocabulary
Review the most useful words and expressions before listening again.
cavalry
soldiers who traditionally fought on horseback.
calvary
an experience of extreme suffering.
metathesis
a change in the order of sounds within a word.
comfortable
providing physical ease or relaxation.
vegetable
a plant or part of a plant used as food.
deteriorate
become progressively worse.
explicit
clear and direct, sometimes in great detail.
exponentially
at an increasingly rapid rate.
Want more speaking practice? Continue with a complete audio course.
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