Mispronunciation of words - English language learning

English is a funny language. Many words are not pronounced according to what is written.
Did you know that each country has got a different way of pronunciation but the two main different ones are the British and the American.

Most commonly mispronounced words in English

• Mischievous [MIS-chuh-vus]
• Niche [neesh] or [nitch]
• Colonel /ˈkəːn(ə)l/
• Choir /ˈkwʌɪə/
• Tomato - pronunciation differs in America /təˈmɑːtəʊ/
• Syndicate - funnily, in India, it is pronounced something like Syndikate
• Chassis /ˈʃasi/ - in our village, the people mostly the workshop mechanics pronounce it as Chaasis - Cha as in chair and sis as in sister
• Penguin - the Americans say different from the British. More like Peng- win and the British be like - Pen-gwin. Am I right?
• Hotel - Hoh -tel in America, Ho - tel in British

Likewise, there are a large number of words that are pronounced differently throughout the world.

Even the word Chocolate for example. The British say it with a little more drag to the Ch whereas the Americans give more stress to Ch and make it short.

When teaching children, please do revise a bit on the correct pronunciation before taking the actual lesson. Children pick up fast and it would be too late to correct, later on. If you are teaching Briitish English, stick to the spelling and pronunciation. If you are using the American version, likewise.

There are a lot of videos online that give examples of how to do it right.

Did you know that the movie 'My Fair Lady' was focused on the Pronunciation of the English language.
I am sharing a delightful clip from the movie. Please do watch it.

The movie is a classic and is still loved by many. Professor Higgins, who decides to teach a flower girl how to speak English properly and the mannerisms of a society girl wins the wager. It is a must-watch and can also be shown to students of the language.

When teaching English, students can be told to enact short plays so that they actually get to play the roles and speak or learn to speak without hesitation. it will also help in training them to speak fluently.

Reference - https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/