English Language Discussion Forums

HaraKiriBlade · #31 31-May-2005, 22:08

The word 'quarter'. It's funny because I've been working at convenience stores as cashier clerk for half a decade, and I must've said it countless times but can't get it right. I either resort to pronouncing it sort of British way, since I don't have to pronounce that r in the middle, or pronounce it 'quorer'.

#32 01-Jun-2005, 11:05

have of you ever thought of the word ''confidentiality''

japanjapan · #33 06-Jun-2005, 04:53

i can not pronunce "sixth" even today, the day after i studied english for 15 years. it is so hard to pronunce the /s/ and /th/ when they are next to each other. similarly, it is hard for me to pronunce "months" for the same reason.
i need help, guys.

**Tdol** · #34 06-Jun-2005, 08:23

Many Japanese speakers say 'monthis'. Is that the way you say it? If so, it's mother tongue interference and very hard to stamp out.

HaraKiriBlade · #35 06-Jun-2005, 21:30

for th sound, try sliding your tongue between your upper and lower teeth, but don't let your tongue stick out from your teeth. The tip of your tongue should be caught in between the teeth. As you do so, exhale though them.

That should do for 'sixth'.

When 'th' is followed by other alphabets, for ex, 'this', 'thyroid', and 'parenthesis', you quickly retract your tongue from your teeth.

At least that's how I learned.

By the way, is 'the tip of your tongue' correct? or should I have omitted 'the'?
how's my explanation overall? Could I have used better structure and words?

HaraKiriBlade · #36 06-Jun-2005, 21:34

Oh yeah, I was wondering about words such as 'months' or 'clothes' - I just omit 'th' sound and go like 'mons' and 'clouz'... It just seems impossible to pronounce th and s right next to each other. How would you pronounce them?

**Tdol** · #37 07-Jun-2005, 01:57

Your explanation was fine. The trouble is when you have to do tongue gymnastics. In connected speech, many native speakers would do what you're doing and remover or almost remove the 'th'. It's not impossible to say for us, or we wouldn't have the sounds. Your strategy is a good one because 'I'been here for six mons' is easier to understand than for 'six monthis'.

far-mash · #38 07-Jun-2005, 12:37

I do agree with a suggestion that we pronounce months as mons until we are able to pronounce it the right way . Same applies to clothes . It is all a matter of practice. Good luck to you! :

trustM · #39 14-Jun-2005, 20:29

"particularly" And I have problems with "-tly" endings, I find it hard to make "tl" combo sound good. But I'm not a native speaker and maybe it's just difficult to me.

Carmelita · #40 12-Jul-2005, 22:53

For me, it would have to be "Schedule" and "Moustache", try as I may, I cannot pronounce it correctly. Most of my students have a hard time with "Refrigerator" and they pronounce it syllable by syllable and it sounds fine, but once they put it all together they get many variations on the word.