It's Written But Not Always Pronounced

English is a language that has gotten words from many other languages. Because of this, it is very common for some words to be spoken in a similar way to the language where it originated. Although sounding out a word works very well for smaller words, it can be difficult to use for longer words.

Pronunciation of smaller words

Learning short words such as cat, bit, man and others are easier to say. Connecting the hard c sound like a k with a short sound of a and an unvoiced t sound can make for a relatively easy sound in c (k) - a (ah) - t - cat.

This would be true for the other examples as well. However, if we want to say the word "salmon" then things get more confusing. L is not pronounced in this word. The sound is s-ah - m sound - o that sounds like a short u - and then an n sound so "sahmun".

Another set of words that can be confusing to say are many words that end in the letter b. Words such as climb, lamb, comb, numb and thumb are pronounced without the ending letter. Climb would be said as Cl (combination sound), i like the name of the letter, and then the sound of the letter m. The b sound is never said.

Comparing English to other languages

In many languages every letter is pronounced, but this is not true in English. In fact, words ending in the suffix ous are often pronounced like the word "us". The word "continuous" is said as con - tin - u - us so you can see that what is written is different than what is said. A student of mine once asked if many Americans misspell words because of how differently words are pronounced. I responded that this type of mistake happens very often. In addition to the writing versus speaking confusion, abbreviations in texting can also lead to misspelling. These are two of the reasons why many students struggle in writing essays in school. Most colleges in the United States have English tutors for this very reason.

Confusing words to say in English

Jewelry is a frequently mispronounced word. It is actually said as joo uhl ree but it sure doesn't look that way. Wednesday is another one. It is pronounced Wenzday because the d is not spoken. Unfortunately, if these exceptions are not taught to native or non-native speakers, some people may question how much they know or understand. People can be very smart and know a lot in their subject area, but just may not know how to speak English correctly. It is an unfair bias that occurs very often.

My perspective on American English

I know the feeling of wanting to speak correctly and honestly not knowing how. Where do I put the stress on a word? How do I say this combination of letters? Not understanding the rules of speaking or writing can cause a lot of stress for a person. My view is that speaking correctly does not define a person. We all can confuse words. There was a television show that showed how easily a character could confuse the word "polish" such as used in the color people put on their finger nails with the ethnicity Polish talking about people living in Poland. The words are spelled exactly the same except for the ethnicity having a capital letter at the beginning. These kinds of confusing situations happen all the time in English. I see my job as teaching the rules, the exceptions, and remembering that mistakes are part of learning. Mispronouncing a word doesn't express the value of a person. Sometimes a mistake is just a mistake.