Tip: Practice actively listening to speakers of the new language you are learning. Listen closely for sounds that do not occur in your native language. If you can hear the difference in sounds, it will help you to say them.

What is the hardest English word to pronounce for you?

Learn the difference in pronunciation between the "ʊ" sound as in "Full, Book, and Good". And the "uː" sound as in "Fool, Boot and Food".

🗣️ Pronunciation Challenge: Which word has a different vowel sound from the other three?

🟢 The word built to catch French speakers out There's an everyday English word that seems engineered to trip up French speakers: clothes! It sits right at the intersection of two reasonable French instincts -both wrong for English: 1. Trust the spelling: French spelling has silent letters, but follows predictable rules. English offers no such deal: the same letters produce wildly different sounds depending on the word, with no pattern to rely on 100%. So when a word looks like it should have two syllables, as ‘clothes’ does, trusting that instinct seems reasonable - it's just that English betrays that trust here. 2. Use the nearest sound: The middle of clothes needs a voiced "th" (/ð/). French doesn't have this sound, so speakers substitute a hard /d/ or /z/. Combine both, and 'clothes' becomes clo-dez, clode-zis, or clo-ziz (adding a second syllable like houses). The hack: English gives you two accepted pronunciations: keeping the "th" (/kləʊðz/) OR dropping it entirely (/kləʊz/). For French speakers, /kləʊz/ is your best friend - it sounds identical to 'close' (as in 'close the door'). Say "CLOSE the door!", then say "I bought some new CLOTHES" using /kləʊz/. Same sound. If what comes out is closer to "clo-dez" or "clode-zis," now you know exactly why. It's not a knowledge gap, it's two reasonable instincts applied to the one English word that refuses to cooperate. 🕵️ Ready to catch the others? Book a trial lesson and we'll find out which sounds are quietly working against you. Hester

Si viajas al Caribe o hablas con nativos, usar el español del diccionario te hará sonar como un robot del siglo XIX. Los cubanos preferimos el ritmo, la calidez y las palabras que tienen "sabor".¿Quieres saber qué significa realmente "asere" o "nos vemos en la concreta"? Comenta abajo tu expresión coloquial favorita en español y te diré cuál es su equivalente en Cuba.