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If English wasn't your first language, maybe if you learned English later in life, were there any words that you had a really hard time learning how to pronounce? Do you think that had to do with the sounds made in your first language?

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Sheet / Sheep / Shit / Ship

[-] spongebue@lemmy.world 15 points 2 days ago

Don't feel bad, everyone. English pronunciation IS difficult, though through tough thorough thought, you can do it!

[-] RockySalad@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 day ago

You must say this out loud as an affirmation.

[-] SigmaStalin@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 1 day ago

For turkish speakers generally, its every single multi-syllable word. In turkish, syllables arent stressed and most syllables are pronounced equally. And since in english stress is very important for pronunciation, my peers' (and teachers in schools) speech is unintelligable

[-] pastermil@sh.itjust.works 47 points 3 days ago

Colonel.

Less of how hard it is to actually pronounce, more like how hard it is to believe it's pronounced that way.

[-] Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.ca 23 points 3 days ago

Just wait till you try “Lieutenant” in Britain or Canada.

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[-] Yaky@slrpnk.net 5 points 2 days ago

I have to perform a context switch between "v" and "w" sounds, so words and phrases that contain both (e.g: "very well") sometimes end up with only "w" sounds. (My native language does not have a regular "W" sound)

But even after 20 years speaking it, English pronunciation is complete nonsense. Most of the time, you just need to memorize the words. Because trying to figure out how to say something, you also need to know if the word is borrowed from any other languages that use Latin alphabet, and then pronouce it pretending to speak that language. Simplest example: Mocha (moh-ka) and matcha (maht-cha). But there are countless borrowed words that don't change spelling in English.

[-] RockySalad@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 day ago

AGREED about English pronunciation, I don't think anybody truly understands

[-] SaraTonin@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

I once watched a German YouTuber talk about learning English and how quickly she improved when she started working in an English office because she _ had_ to. In the video she says one of the things she’s always had difficulty with but is now much better at and almost never slips up on now is vs and ws. Then, immediately afterwards in the next sentence she goes “now in this wideo…”

[-] gucken@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago

My friend has a hard time pronouncing 'teeth'. Just comes out sounding like 'tits'

[-] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 3 points 1 day ago

I'd suggest "choppers" but it would probably come out "knockers."

[-] _deleted_@aussie.zone 7 points 2 days ago

I always pronounced “only” as “on-lie”. I heard other people say “only” and couldn’t understand what they meant.

[-] YICHM@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

texts, clothes. consonant clusters.

[-] davel@lemmy.ml 31 points 3 days ago

Ask a German to pronounce “squirrel.”

[-] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 21 points 3 days ago

The delightful thing is that it works in reverse also: ask a native English speaker to pronounce "Eichhörnchen."

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[-] stiephelando@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 2 days ago
[-] Zoldyck@lemmy.world 24 points 3 days ago
[-] stray@pawb.social 7 points 2 days ago

It helps to break it up.

worce - ster - shire

"Worcestershire sauce is the worst."

"Thousand island is worster."

"'Worster'? Sure."

[-] RockySalad@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 day ago

I say it wuss tuh sure

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[-] monovergent@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 days ago

Words starting with th- (th-fronting) and plurals ending in -ths, -sps, etc.

[-] deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 17 points 3 days ago

The number of native English speakers who can't pronounce "specific" and instead say "pacific" is too damn high.

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[-] Jagarico@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

"sorry". I mainly use English in my daily life and at work for several years now, but cannot make it not sound like "sowy" or roll "r" too much.

[-] TabbsTheBat@pawb.social 23 points 3 days ago

When I was younger it was any word where an R is followed by an L. Girl, world, twirl.. im better at them now tho

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[-] LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

English is my first language but saying "edited it" drives me crazy.

[-] RockySalad@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 day ago
[-] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 points 1 day ago

For most new native English speakers, it's Spaghetti (pisketty) and Elephant (efalent). For my son it was Caterpillar (calapitter). I struggled with pronouncing Uncomfortable. I wanted to say every syllable.

[-] RockySalad@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 day ago
[-] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 1 points 20 hours ago

I know, my wife would melt every time he said it.

[-] LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

You would be accurate if you pronounced every syllable of the word uncomfortable. Americans are just lazy, not pronouncing every syllable. Nobody would look at you strangely if you pronounced every syllable of that word. It would just seem like you're emphasizing HOW UNCOMFORTABLE you are if you pronounce every syllable of the word :-)

[-] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 3 points 1 day ago

No, I mean that as a kid, I wanted to say every syllable, but I found it difficult. I could hear adults saying it the easy way, but I wanted to know the real word. I loved to read as a kid, and soaked up every word I could find.

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[-] huf@hexbear.net 2 points 2 days ago

the things i remember struggling with were getting the stress right and hyperforeignisms (that is, concentrating so hard on getting the difficult "w" and "th" sounds that i would pronounce "v" as "w" and "s" as "th" by accident. i was once asked if my native language had a "v", because that was the one i seemed to be struggling with)

[-] Ftumch@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 3 days ago

"The". The "th" in "the" is the only sound in English I can think of that doesn't have a very similar counterpart in Dutch. The closest you could get using just Dutch phonemes would be "zuh" or "duh".

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[-] gerryflap@feddit.nl 14 points 3 days ago

The th sound is honestly a bit difficult. Three will end up sounding like either tree or free, but not three. Usually I just pronounce it as a slightly weird T. I have quite a Dutch accent anyways and that just something y'all will have to deal with ;p

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[-] linucs@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago

Entrepreneur

[-] enchantedgoldapple@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 days ago

'Anthropomorphous' is still like a tongue twsiter for me

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I wouldn't say struggle, but I did wonder for a while how to pronounce "anemone".

[-] Mobiuthuselah@mander.xyz 2 points 2 days ago

I'm having a whole cognitive dissonance moment because I could've sworn it was "anenome". I even studied this in college and have an ecology degree. Likely over the last twenty years I convinced myself that the common incorrect pronunciation is correct, but I immediately looked it up and then tried to rationalize that it was some sort of mandala effect. The simplest answer is that it's confabulation on my part, and I'm wrong.

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this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2025
87 points (98.9% liked)

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