There are many foreign words in the English language. In the era of the Internet and market globalization, different languages easily get in touch and frequently borrow words from one another.
English has many words from Arabic, Russian, Polish etc., and here are some of the commonly used ones:
http://saundz.com/which-words-has-english-taken-from-other-languages-and-how/
Read more language stories on our English pronunciation blog.
The grammar of English can be very difficult for foreigners, but there are many efficient ways to master it. English grammar rules are not difficult in comparison to many other languages. However, there are so many exceptions to these rules and this tends to confuse new learners.
Here are the top 10 English grammar mistakes that even native English speakers make:
http://saundz.com/10-english-grammar-mistakes-that-almost-everyone-makes/
Try to pronounce the sentence she sells sea shells by the seashore and you will probably understand what a tongue-twister is. Tongue-twisters are usually used as word games in the English-speaking world, often as a form of entertainment for children. These phrases are designed to cause the speaker to make mistakes, which are usually just meaningless words. However, the phrase can also be designed to make the speaker unintentionally say specific—and sometimes even obscene—words.
Read more about tongue twisters on our English pronunciation blog:
http://saundz.com/pronunciation-practice-with-english-tongue-twisters/
Even the beginning learners of English as a second language know how complex the spelling system of English is. The long history of language development has introduced some specific rules for English spelling and this is why it is challenging to learn not only spelling, but also pronunciation.
In English, every sound could be spelled in multiple ways, which is not the case with languages that have phonetic spelling. In these languages each sound has a single letter to represent it in all words.
To be able to understand correct pronunciation of words that have a strange spelling, you must know spelling rules of both British and American English pronunciation.
In the following blog post you can read about possible spellings of the sound /k/: http://saundz.com/the-spellings-of-k-how-to-pronounce-biscuit-and-mystique/
Japan is one of the most attractive destinations for teachers of English. This is due to the fact that Japanese ESL market increasingly demands native English instructors, so that the students could acquire better conversational skills in this foreign language. One of the most problematic language areas for Japanese students is conversation, which is increasingly becoming has become a key skill necessary for better career prospects.
Read about the practices of teaching English in Japan: http://saundz.com/teaching-esl-in-japan-opportunity-for-diversity/
A lingua franca is a language used for international and interethnic communication. If a city has 2 or more ethnic groups living in it, communication usually takes place in just one language. If a city has 5 different language groups, it makes the most sense for everyone to learn just one language. Otherwise, everyone would have to learn 4 languages, which is time-consuming and impractical.
English is the modern world’s lingua franca, but this hasn’t always been the case. In ancient Mesopotamia, it was Akkadian language that had this role. In the Roman Empire, it was Greek and Latin, while in the Soviet Union it was Russian. These languages were certainly influential, but at some point they lost their pre-eminence, but there was always one that would replace them.
Read the whole article: http://saundz.com/english-as-the-modern-worlds-lingua-franca/
If you can hear the difference between the words ship and sheep, then you already know something about long and short vowels of English.
The same idea applies to pairs such as look and Luke. These pairs are differentiated by their vowels only, which are often thought of as “long” and “short” variants of one vowel.
READ MORE: http://saundz.com/the-long-and-short-vowels-of-english/
Everybody sometimes feel tired of constant learning.
However, this doesn't mean you should stop getting closer to your goal. It means you should probably try some different methods of learning.
There are plenty of ways to avoid the feeling of exhaustion, here are 10 tips for doing that http://saundz.com/10-tips-for-better-and-faster-learning/
More language related and pronunciation lessons on our site.
Recently, we published an article related to language prejudice and accent discrimination in the workplace. Now, the latest post on our blog describes how people in the USA generally perceive southern accent, which encompasses several dialectal varieties in a wide region of southern USA countries.
Language prejudice can exist everywhere in one form or another. Whereas it is natural that different regions have different accents, it is a bad thing to judge people on the basis of their accent. Though, the purpose of it is to reveal our geographical and cultural background it shouldn't be a thing to be discriminated about.
READ the whole post here: http://saundz.com/southern-accent-and-its-perception-accross-the-usa/
Or enjoy some other topics related to American English!
When you start working with Saundz, your first impression may be that the application is too simple. However, this is exactly how it should be, considering the fact that you’re starting from the basics in your pronunciation learning.
All these sounds will seem familiar to you. But, do you know how to pronounce them correctly?
READ MORE HERE: http://saundz.com/never-feel-embarrassed-about-your-pronunciation-again/
English pronunciation is full of contrasts. Let’s explore voiced and voiceless consonants.
Most consonants come in pairs. This can be illustrated by the fact that... READ MORE HERE: http://saundz.com/contrasts-in-english-pronunciation-voiced-and-voiceless-consonants/
This is a close historical connection between French and English. Not only do they both belong to the Indo-European family of languages, but England and France are neighbours, so there has been a significant amount of interaction between their peoples over the centuries..... READ MORE HERE: http://saundz.com/english-pronunciation-for-french-speakers/
Every learner of English will have different problems when it comes to practicing pronunciation. Most non-native speakers of English tends to replace the natural English sounds with the equivalent sounds from their own language, which gives them a specific overall accent.
When it comes to Russian speakers, here's where they usually make mistakes in English pronunciation: http://saundz.com/challenging-english-sounds-for-russians/
Teaching English pronunciation requires including many varieties of English with all their grammatical, lexical and pronunciation features. American English pronunciation may be the most popular among students nowadays, but teachers still tend to rely on textbooks that include British English variety only.
Read more on our blog: http://saundz.com/approaches-to-teaching-pronunciation/
Learning English pronunciation can be a complex task for most of the learners. Depending on the features of your mother tongue, you'll find different challenges when it comes to learning English pronunciation.
If you are Chinese native, here are the things you will most probably find difficult: http://saundz.com/english-pronunciation-lesson-for-chinese-speakers/
The knowledge of spoken English increasingly becomes a key skill for getting a better job almost everywhere in the world. English pronunciation tends to be very difficult for some learners and in South Korea, they even have tongue surgeries to help them speak English better.
Read the whole story on American English blog - Saundz.
http://saundz.com/south-korea-tongue-operations-for-better-english-pronunciation/
English spoken in India has some distinctive pronunciation features that differentiate it from both British and American English. The blog post outlines the most notable features of Hinglish and makes suggestions for what should be practiced when it comes to English language learning in this surrounding.
Read more on our English pronunciation blog: http://saundz.com/hinglish-and-its-distinctive-pronunciation/
Even though they belong to the same branch of Indo-European languages, English and German are very different languages. This is why learning English frequently represents a difficult task for German learners.
Read more about American English pronunciation on our blog: http://saundz.com/american-english-pronunciation-lesson-for-german-learners/
Sometimes it may be difficult to find the most relevant resources to learn English online. Our blog post outlines the most important blogs for learners of English as a second language.
Read more here: http://saundz.com/10-best-blogs-on-learning-english-pronunciation/
Market globalization has created numerous opportunities for non-native speakers of English to get hired in an international company. Frequently, foreigners are hired as customer service representatives where one of the major requirements is good knowledge of English. However, these workers often get discriminated for their accent and this is why it is essential for them to improve their pronunciation and reduce their accent.
Read more on Saundz - American English Pronunciation blog.
