How To Say 6 Common Words With Clear English Pronunciation

How To Say 6 Common English Words With Clear Pronunciation

Learn how to say 6 common English words confidently and clearly with American, British and Australian accent!

In this training we’re going to work on how to say 6 common English words with clear English pronunciation. I’d also like to thank one of our students for suggesting these great words.  

These 6 words may look like simple words, but learning to say them clearly and confidently includes learning to use single short and long vowels, a diphthong vowel where 2 vowels are said together, 2 and three consonants said together including the ‘ksth’ tricky combination in sixth, and the schwa vowel.

You can also use this video to double check that you’re saying these words on target, and to practise and revise some of the tricky 2 and 3 consonant blends. 

We’ll practise saying it the Australian and British way first, and then the American way. 

The first word is group. The ‘ou’ is saying the long ‘oo’ vowel as in ‘food’.

 ‘oo’, same as in the word soup

Also practise using your English /r/ sound. No flicking or rolling of the tongue.

Let’s say it the Aussie way:

group /ɡruːp/

Don’t forget  to release air out or aspirate the /p/ at the end in this case because there isn’t another word after the P.

Now British accent with the British ‘oo’:

group /ɡruːp/

And now with an American accent:  

group /ɡruːp/

You need the American /r/ and ‘oo’

The next word is rice:

rice  /raɪs/

Don’t forget your correct /r/- whichever accent you are doing. Your ‘ie’ diphthong made of 2 vowels – ‘ah and ‘ee’- making sure you say a short ‘ee’ before the ‘s’ – don’t leave it out. 

Riees-  not ‘rahs’  but  rice, 

Australian: rice /raɪs/

British: rice /raɪs/

For the American accent:  rice /raɪs/

The next word is sixth:

sixth /sɪksθ/

The ‘x’ here is borrowing the /k/ and /s/ sounds ‘ks’ a bit like saying kiss without the ‘i’.

Then you add the unvoiced aspirated ‘th’ – you only need to stick your tongue out a little bit for ‘th’, but you do have to aspirate or release air at the same time.

The only difference between the 3 accents is the ‘i’ vowel in the word which you can learn in our audio and video training lessons in our speak more clearly(British, Australian or American) accent training courses .

If you’re having trouble with this consonant blend just practise it very slowly for 4-5 days so your mouth gets used to the sequence of movements, and then very slowly speed up. 

The next word is person.

In the British and Australian accents in the ‘er’ vowel, the /r/ is left out. The ‘er’ is a separate vowel, and we have video and audio training on how to make this sound in our online courses. 

For the American accent this sound is an /r/ diphthong. That is, the ‘r’ is pronounced.  

The ‘o’ in this word becomes a de-stressed schwa vowel because it’s in the weak or shortened syllable. So it’s a schwa /ə/ vowel.

It’s not person but persən.

Australian:   person /ˈpɜː.sən/

British:  person /ˈpɜː.sən/

American: person /ˈpɝː.sən/

Our 2nd last word is first.

Again we have an ‘er’ – no saying the ‘r’ for British and Australian and we do include the ‘r’ for the American accent.  

Then we have the consonant blend made from /s/ and /t/             

Make sure your /t/ sound is made the English way – that is with your tongue tip on the bony ridge behind your front top teeth, and NOT coming forward, and NOT  touching the back of your front top teeth.  Try it again.

Australian:  first /ˈfɜːst/

British:  first /ˈfɜːst/

American: first  /ˈfɝːst/

And last but not least we have script. 

Ok so for this word we have a 3 letter consonant blend first, and then a 2 letter consonant blend at the end. 

Let’s say the SCR first.

s plus cr as in cry.

Note: Here it’s important NOT to release air between the k and r sounds – the k is not aspirated.  So it’s not skr  but scr.

Then you have pt. 

Australian: script /skrɪpt/

British: script /skrɪpt/

Same for the American accent except for the American /r/ and ‘i’. 

American: script /skrɪpt/

Phew – we got through it! 😅🥵😁 You did great! 😋 I hope this has cleared up a whole lot of sounds and words for you!

For more pronunciation tips, check out this video lesson on how to pronounce the words Privacy, Semi And Mobile with an American, British and Australian Accent.

We have more in depth training on how to speak confidently and clearly with an Australian, American or British accent in our online accent courses.

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