British Accent Mistakes You Might Be Making!
I teach people how to do a British RP accent every day and here are some of the most common mistakes I hear people making. Do you make any of these mistakes?
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As a non-native English speaker I have to say this: English is a fairly easy language to learn as a foreigner, I mean in terms of grammar and syntax compared to other latin associated and Greek associated languages. The hardest part though, which funny enough is sth they don't stress as hard as they should when you are a kid learning English as a foreign language, is pronunciation and the rules surrounding it! So congrats for all the effort!
I think English is a bit tricky... You need quite a short time to actually communicate, but to get into the professional level is hell! For a comparison French is quite an opposite: you need a fairly long study to get onto the communication level, but after that, you could develop further by following a row of systematics steps. English seems to be a never-ending story... And missing rules for pronunciation and spelling. You actually need to learn every single word separately and even then you could find differences, which are still "official". But still, it is the most beautiful language :-D
@@magdalenam.4788 What do you mean by "professional level"? To be able to participate in a science convention e.g.? Or to a political conversation between MPs? I don't know how many people would like to reach this expertise. Even locals sometimes have to look up for words of this level. English has a relatively simple grammar (I/You/We/You/They have + He/She/It has and that's pretty much it for all verbs). In Russian e.g. there are, I was told, 7 different conjugations for every verb!! In Spanish there are 2 different forms of the verb "to be"!!! Each one used in totally different circumstances! In French the grammar is endless. Okay vocabulary is vocabulary. Nobody knows everything, even in their mother tongue. But English is all about pronunciation and phrasal verbs (and that's because the language is relatively poor compared to other languages, that's why they had to make up for inexistent/difficult words with phrasals).
@@magdalenam.4788 This is mostly correct. As a native speaker and teacher, students tend to find the grammar quite easy at first, but once they try to get beyond B1 level, they really struggle with phrasal verbs, idioms, prepositions and, of course, many of the issues with pronunciation. In terms of vocabulary, try to learn "chunks" instead of individual words.
@@geogianno7744 indeed, in Polish too. We also have so many forms of same noun and it's super complicated for foreigners to understand the usage of all forms.
Difficulty depends on individual
Only just now noticing some of my editing mistakes 🤦🏻♀️ I was ill when I edited it! Haha
Get well soon then!
Still it's very very interesting watching you. Thanks for the nice video. Loves from Azerbaijan
Gws
Get well soon.💜
Did u get better? Thank you for the lesson. It is my first time 2 c u.I have sub.u already.
Just a note: I don’t speak with a perfect RP accent, I have a mixed accent. So if you hear things in between examples that aren’t ‘RP’, that’s because they’re not supposed to be! I’m teaching an RP accent, not speaking in an RP accent ☺️
Interesting, that last point. I was born and raised in Suffolk, my father's first language was German - although he could speak five - my mother's was English with a Suffolk accent. She was over fifty percent deaf - due to an incident in the Forties. I developed an RP accent, as opposed to most people around me - who spoke the "tha's a rum ol' dew!" accent - simply because my mother told me, when I was a child, that BBC newsreaders were the easiest for her to pick up and understand. Over a half-century later, I usually get the response that my speech " is very educated and eloquent" to - as a friend of mine's sister once shouted - "TERRY! THERE'S SOMEONE POSH ON THE PHONE!" - Although, one time, someone thought that I was Canadian! That was a bit puzzling. So I taught myself RP by listening to - sort of - celebrities at the time. I taught myself RP by listening to Richard Baker and Kenneth Kendall - though I ended up sounding more like Patrick Stewart!
I was going to mention, there's definitely bits of Estuary English in there. I'd describe yours more as Middle Class South-East.
@@davidjames579 Interesting. I don't hear estuary English. I hear traces of a Welsh accent.
Well, our default is that which is familiar to us. If a particular accent is prominant within our formulative soundscape, our primer, then it's going to show up, much like a palimpsest, in whichever manner of speech - through nurture - we adopt. For instance, Patrick Stewart. Even though his speech is a received pronunciation, it still has traces of his Mirfield upbringing. I don't honestly trust that there is such a creature as a received pronunciation that is without those traces. It would be somewhat of a miraculous act of isolation for those influences not to be there since the crowd of voices, including our own, that we have heard during our lives are intermingled in our thought processes.
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As a British man born in Kent with Grandparents who taught English at Oxford, and a mother who went to a private school, I speak RP and though I live in the USA now in the South people think my vocals are almost linking me to royalty. It's comical, but I deal with it. I love my British roots and wouldn't ever forget them.
I grew up with my english father and dutch mother. I talk in a RP accent because my parents taught me it. I grew up in Holland, so all of my classmates made fun of my typical British accent. I don't mind it now and I'm lucky I don't have to worry about people not understanding. It's really nice to see a video about RP, I feel represented in a way. Thank you!
Very interesting video, I am from Northern Mexico where I learned American English and have lived in London for over 10 years and just realised that I've done many of these pronunciation changes through the time without being instructed to. Probably you should try to teach Scouse or Glasgow accent next time, those are quite special ones =)
Quite similar my life, my family's from Mexico City and live in Tijuana (border with San Diego), therefore there're exposed to American English. I lived for a while in London and they say sometimes don't understand me because the accent, besides I use plenty of British slang... Don't really fancy American accent, but I always enjoy leaning 😁
The difference between "can" and "can't" illustrates your point about 'a' pronunciation. It's an interesting distinction for North American ears, because we use the same 'a' pronunciation in both, leading to frequent confusion (something that RP pronunciation avoids).
what? I say the a
Avoid "can't". Say "cannot". Write it too, it's only one more keystroke. Let's eliminate the confusion.
As an Aussie whose parents really emphasised the proper way to pronounce things, I'm hearing quite a few things that transfer across and realising how much the RP/English accent has influenced the Australian accent. I've realised my "official" or "important telephone call" voice is definitely a little RP. Hanging out with my mates... not so much. LOL
GREAT video as usual, fun to watch and so interesting to listen to!! I found that one particularly interesting as it focuses on pronunciation mistakes that often go unnoticed. Keep up the good stuff, you two are awesome!
It's amazing how you, a native English speaker, know the very way I, as an ESL student, would think about the details of British accent in my mind and may deduce some wrong results sometimes 😂. Plus you're so energetic and I like it. Also you explain things in a way that I can understand. And something like certain ways of pronuncing words are considered as "sounding too posh" is something that some one out side of the native place probably cannot understand on their own. Thanks for sharing.
I wish I found your channel back in 2016 when I started my English Language Education major at uni, where I was still a confused little fish around a bunch of friends who are so 🌟🌟🌟 and made me think I had to work on so many things to be able to be in their level. 😁 Thanks for the video, Laura! Edit (right after posting this comment LOL): Ok I noticed you started this channel just a year ago. :)
This was great. I've been learning English for 30 years or so and I still need to work on those precise sounds of British RP. Only quite recently I realized my accent is not really RP (as I always thought) and the reason is KZhead. I hear so much American English online that I naturally use American accent in SOME words because I've heard it so much. I need to get rid of that 😄
Thank you! The thing that helped me the most was simply watching videos of the accent that I liked and shortly after I was already speaking a lot better! Also stopping and repeating specific phrases helped a lot ^^
Very good! Clear and useful explanations! I don't see many teachers talking about RP nowadays. Thanks!
i love your channel you are very funny and smart you explain things i don't see on other channels and in a very original and dynamic way keep going!
As a non native english speaker, all of these things about pronunciation confuses me a lot, but i find it so interesting and funny to learn all of this, it's amazing and weird how much sounds can change from language to language. And now i know i definitely need more practice because i don't feel completely comfortable speaking english yet 😅
Learn between 50 and 200 completely new and a bit forgotten English words a DAY. A day! This will make thousands of words every year, just imagine your vocabulary then. Write them all down, translate, make lists and always write them by hand, the brain memorises better if you write something on paper. Concentrate on the most difficult words you can't pronounce, spell or remember. Find synonims for them, read newsletters and articles aloud like BBC news presenter, at least 10 minutes a day. Try to imitate all the smallest details in pronunciation as much as you can. In order to speak in any foreign language you need to do just 2 things: learn new words and 'season' them with new grammar knowledge. 50-200 words a day, a bit of grammar and then use both thereafter. And repeat such approach every day. 'Muscles' of your brain will become as strong as gym geek's biceps and you'll be absolutely confident in your abilities.
I love this video! You have such a nice teaching style, thank you for making this! 😄
I've just found your channel and I absolutely loved it!
What a great teacher! Thank you so much!
Wow, you’re such a lovely teacher! Thank you, this video helped me a lot!😻
Fascinating! I grew up in a very RP background in the 1950s/60s. It has evolved quite a bit since then. Older Aunts and Uncles used to pronounce A as in Cat as an e in Bet. That had slipped into what you state in your video by our generation. I was told off many times for saying ".. piece u' cake" - Dad always corrected us to say distinctly "...piece of cake"....the "of" is brushed over quickly and softly but the f sound IS there with the upper front teeth hitting the bottom lip momentarily - not skipped altogether. We were told that "piece ur cake" rather than "piece uf cake" was a way of spotting someone who had been "elocuted" rather than a natural RP speaker!!! Dreadfully snobby, but that was the 50s/60s.
Our headmaster wanted us to say "Coal" like the beginning of "colon" . I find this VERY DIFFICULT (but I don't know why !!!!! ). I think "hole" would be like the beginning of"holy" too, but I'm not sure now how far he went with this
Taking someone's primary accent into account, it can be a sign of poor education. Some places like Worcestershire (where Black Country meets Wessex), we have our own rules & a lot of what this teacher is saying is simply nonsense! 🤣🤣🤣
Sensational tips! Got a new subscriber! Cheers, Laura!
Thanks a lot. Such a great video!! I really love it❤ BTW, you are my celebrity for RP accent. :)
Thank you. That was quite an interesting video. I do hope you make more videos with similar content about common mistakes in RP.
I LOVE this video, I love your energy, character and accent ❤❤❤ thank you xxo
Perfect. Just what I needed to practice my lines for a play I'm in!
Hello Smashing English - again a most informative and entertaining vid! Big Thank You!
Brilliant lesson, Laura! Cheers
Great video ! Very well explained as usual !! Busuu, LingBodie, etc ... are also very useful web resources for language learning. Laura .... You're awesome! ❤️
Thank you for such an informative Tip!
Brilliant! Thanks for your great lesson. GOAT!
Very informative, thanks for sharing Laura
Your pronunciation is remarkably clear that I couldn't stop listening to you.
Thanks, that's a nice video. It's alway good to repeat some information from the other videos.
You have great teaching skills. Thank you for your videos. Regards from Spain
Awesome video! Thank you for that!
Loved the video and the way you speak, your dynamism
Greetings from Middle Earth. Thank you what you are doing, amazing. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
As a Scot I wince a bit when foreigners (usually Americans) refer to a "British" accent when they mean an English accent so it's really heart warming that you took the time to explain this. People rarely do this, so thank you!! For anyone wondering Britain is actually made up of three countries - England, Scotland and Wales. Each has its own distinct accent (and we'll ignore the many regional variations to keep it simple). When people refer to an English accent as 'British' it implies that it's the way people speak in Britain. It isn't. Even the most well spoken and educated Scots do not try to imitate an RP English accent. It comes down to people not knowing that Scotland and Wales are British too or thinking that Britain and England are the same.
Actually everyone knows it's just in England, everyone knows there are different accents in the united kingdom; Scotland, Ireland and Wales have very different accents, you can tell quickly so it's not big deal to mistakenly say Brittish accent when referring to England.
@@happymoments6971 I refer to them as London northern southern
Ok sure there is like scous Birmingham but no I’m not going to say all thay
You say so as if not every single person who talks about accents didn't make this 'no such thing as a british accent' disclaimer everytime. I'm so sick of hearing it by now, I'm always like 'not this again, everybody knows already, get to the bloody point for god's sake!'
@@astrius4125 Your reply has also been seen many times…
I found that it's not only the pronunciation that makes natives sound like they do. Cause every time I listened to someone that's not from the UK talk, I can hear that they're not, even though their pronunciation is correct. I also find this to be the case when I speak. I try shadowing and practise it, and it sounds fine in my head. However, when I recorded it and listened back, for some reason, it has that sort of "melody" from my native tongue and I don't think it's because of the pronunciation. I don't have a teacher to correct me if I'm wrong though, I mostly correct myself so it makes it harder to know which aspect is wrong. People can understand me alright but I just like to be able to sound as closely as possible to natives. It's like you guys have that sort of melody or intonation (I don't know how to explain it) like the speaker on the BBC radio which is one of the many reasons that I like accents from the UK. They usually have a stronger "melody" than the normal natives when speaking. I don't know what it is so I don't know how to train/fix my accent. I searched for accent training and I seem to only found out about training the pronunciation, rhythm, and intonation. Although it seems to me that it's less detectable if the one that attempts to do another English accent is a native English speaker (people not from the UK). When people are not from an English speaking country, I see that it's more noticeable. What're your thoughts?
You're absolutely wright. Brtitish English sounds deeper and darker then my mother tongue. It sounds funny when I try to speak like that. But its sounds better then
look into the rhythm of RP (stress-timed), word stress, sentence stress, intonation, and weak vs strong forms. The change of weak and strong syllables is what gives English its rhythm and pace. DeDUM deDUM deDUM. For example the sentence. "I want to go to work." You only stress the words WANT, GO and WORK. You wouldn't stress the words I or to. To is pronounce like Teh so t plus schwa NOT like the number 2. So you want to say "I WANT teh GO teh WORK."
PS the other thing I forgot to mention is. RP GLIDES from stress syllable over the unstressed syllable across. You do that by using linking words together and leaving out or adding consonants to smooth out the speech helps you glide better. E.g. "Not at all." becomes "Nota tall." The other thing is the actual resonance/placement of the RP. It's much more forward than American or other European languages where further back in the mouth and you don't use the lips and jaw that much. One thing that could help is a bone prop which over time brings the vibration more forward in the mouth.
@@beatamichalska6220 What education do you have in English studies to say that?
I've found that native english speakers tend to use the words accent and pronunciation interchangebly, however, in my native language they are two widely different concepts. No matter how good your pronuntiation is, it's your accent what makes you 'sound like' you're from somewhere. Conversely, a native speaker can make pronuntiation and grammar mistakes and they will still sound native because of their accent. Copying and accent is more than pronuntiation: it's your tone, your cadence, which words and sounds you stress, the melody of your speech... learning an accent is like learning how to sing.
#s 1-3: you caught me... Thanks for your content! I subbed during my First Video fromm your channel which was the "should" one. I liked both hosts.
Your lessons are amazing!
Thank you so much for this fantastic video! English isn't my native language. It took me more than 20 years to learn to sound natural. I still practise every day. If I stop practising for at least a week, then it becomes harder to speak.
this is really good, highly appreciated. thank you :)
Thanks I have learnt alot in this short video
Thanks a lot Laura, that is excellent.
I really like the way you talk clearly and beautifully and explains things. Important and true tips which many English students don't pay attention to when trying to learn the RP accent. Funny but the biting the apple example does seem to help me get that ae sound right and remember it. A video to be watched over and over. Thank you Teacher Laura
@John Smitb Because she is an English teacher for foreign learners. In this video she (respecting different regional accents) is teaching the Standard English known as RP, which is possibly the most neutral and common form of English in the media, schools, airports, hotels etc, to facilitate understanding, communication and learning for us foreign students. Personally, as a foreigner, I don't feel discriminated against, I have my accent and I look for good references of English like Teacher Laura to improve my pronunciation and facilitate communication. Allow me a question, please: if you are a native British speaker, why are you watching a video for foreign English learners?
@John Smitb I understand people don't always stick to standardized rules as taught in schools etc, and it is good to know different accents, but I think the way she speaks is easier and less confusing to foreigners to keep simple as we try to learn. But thank you for the tip and also for understanding.
@@emerson3853 This isn't true at all, unless the UK is your starting point. But there are only 60 million Brits, and 340 million Americans [including myself]. Technically, the Standard American accent is the most neutral English accent, especially accounting for TV and Hollywood movies (For professional purposes I use this accent, I much prefer a slower and more melodic Southeast drawl /twang in casual conversation) . The RP pronunciation is the one to learn if you want to sound fancy...and the Queen's English to go beyond fancy. I would recommend the fanciest if you're scared. As for why I watch these videos: Native speakers have blind spots. For my profession, I have to be aware of them and correct them, and then make sure my own kids aren't using them, or learning from here where it won't be completely helpful [American is closer with the spelling, but also a little faster unfortunately]. Also we don't look at dialects like you do....which is also why most Americans are just as bad at speaking RP as you, even if they can understand it just fine.
@John Smitb Not true at all. English pronunciation is far different from spelling. You can't figure out grammar mistakes in speaking or listening the way you can with reading or writing. That stuff is hard enough with languages where everything does sound like it's spelled, but English makes that harder.
@@Warriorcats64 You said well "the starting point" for English is England. I respect all the dialects that have deviated from English from England over time, including the American one you mentioned, as well as the Australian, Caribbean and all the accents of former British colonies etc; I believe that currently most English speakers are not native with even more different accents, and I think it's important to know several accents to understand people, but as the reference for learning and clarity I prefer Standard English (not "the queen's English", but modern RP like Teacher Laura speaks) because I find it clearer and also more beautiful.
I love your videos, your English lessons and the way you teach are great. Speaking of this video, I absolutely agree, I think the best way to talk is with RP, and without exaggeration. Greetings.
Beautifully explained
hahahaha ..your How now brown cow is an example from The Nanny! loved it! Thank you for a fantastic little vid with the most common mistakes us foreigners do when trying to imitate Brits
“How Now Brown Cow” is from the early 1900’s, 50 years before “The Nanny” came out.
Very fun video - I love your style!
Great, very useful! Love it
This was amazing! Thanks.
I was raised in what was then Rhodesia, and taught by rp British school teachers so my accent is very different to the South African accent, the country in which I now reside. I keep second guessing my pronunciation and it is so good to have it confirmed as “pukka English”!
Thank you for all your tutorials but I must admit I’m crazy about the Londons Eastend accent but RP is always correct 😉
I've just discovered you!! And I LOVE your vídeos and youuuuu!!! The way you explain everything si great!!! 😍😘
Yay!! I’m so glad you like the videos!! 😁❤️
Nice of you trying to explain it, I'm not able to understand it, but I liked how you really made an effort in making us getting to know english, and the difference between engslish and american english :)
In my view the hardest English sound for foreigners is " the " . You could have elaborated on this sound . On the whole it's a helpful video . Congrats .
Bravo! Well explained!!! Do you have a video about the H sound? Especially in words like him, her, he, of her,of his. Do you drop it in these words in speech? How to pronounce correctly for fluent speech?
So useful, Thank you 🤍💘
In Finland we have letter Ä (A with dots) for the "apple A" or [æ] sound, in addition to the "normal A". And also Ö (O with dots) for the "O" in work, etc, which differs from the "normal O" sound. :)
Hi! As a fellow ESL teacher I hear the same things. As I teach children in China a lot of them also have problems pronouncing the 'l' and 'r' sounds. I never realized until I studied for my TEFL qualification what a DIFFICULT language English must be to learn, so kudos to all the commenters on here who are learning English as a second language! 👍👍👍
@clare stubbs, I'd say grammatically English is remarkably easy compared to, say, Finnish, my native language. (Check it out if you haven't.) But pronunciation...it's all over the place. Let's take "nature" and "mature". There's no logical reason for pronouncing the "-ature" differently, is there? Or did majors really predate maturity?
@@thisworldofwater8017 Yes the pronunciation makes no sense. Look at bough, brought, cough the ough is pronounced in completely different ways! Also we have so many tenses! It must be a nightmare to learn! By the way, your English is excellent!! 👍👍
coming from someone who's spanish and is learning korean, i don't think that the children's problem pronouncing the "l" and "r" sounds is because english is hard but because in their native language they have only one sound that encompasses both. at least this is what i think, and i'm speaking solely based on what i know of korean, but since they're close languages i'm assuming that for chinese it's similar as well. now, grammatically i think it's easier (? in comparison to spanish grammar and all of it's verbs and tenses or, for example, russian/ukrainian in which the verb has a gender according to the speaker or the person you're talking about. this is actually something i love about english, words don't have a gender so you don't have to worry about picking the right terms everytime you're talking to someone haha.
@@soobmarine Yes! Eastern languages like Chinese don't have those sounds, so they are hard to learn! That is a good point! At least English doesn't have genders for inanimate objects like German and the Latin-based languages (French, Spanish, Italian etc) that is one thing you DON'T have to contend with when learning English! LoL! I still struggle to remember when speaking French whether things are masculine or feminine and German is even worse with a neuter as well!! 😂😂
@@thisworldofwater8017 a friend of mine is dyslexic and tends to spell in a phonetical way very often, I always think wow, they should introduce that as the official way to spell because his version makes a million times more sense.... e. g. instead of "take care" he wrote to me "tayek caer"
Really amazing! Thank you
My very sincere Congratulations! You're an outstanding teacher! Your knowledge, charm, charisma and beauty make a perfect class. I've really enjoyed so much your lessons and will recommend to my students. Best regards from El Vigia, Merida,Venezuela. Prf. Ruben Porras
I have been to El Vigia, Merida. I loved it. I don't remember much of the trip, but I remember the feeling that "I like it here".
Very useful, thank you.
Wonderful lesson. Thank you!
You're very welcome!
Thank you for your precise explanations. Can you tell us about Irish accents? Thank you!
Thank you so much for your lesson! Can you make video about /tn/ and /dn/ sound, please?
Thank you for this video. I love how you speak English.
So useful!
Thanks for the video! I think you forgot to mention that when saying "walk" or "almost" (first vowel), we should make our mouth as small as possible.
That's a really good job you performed! 😃
Such a good video to fix our mistakes. Thanks, Love from "Simple English With Rakib"
Thanks so much.. fantastic teacher
I am a native English speaker in Canada and I find this brilliant.
Haven't thought about the similarity of "Work and Walk" before. The difference is quite simple cause we already use the letter "Ö", so work is like you saying "Wöök" and walk "Wook" 😂😅
you're gonna be my second favourite british english teacher 😍😍!!!
Hahaha its so rear listening your real voice here after I saw the video of James Bond haha so diferent! Both videos are great 😍, Thanks!
It's funny how similar the Australian General (not broad or yobbo accent) accent is to a RP accent, whilst sounding obviously very different. Great vid. Cheers.
Best teacher ever! 🤩
Thanks a million. Very helpful lesson! You are a GREAT teacher!!
Excellent!!!
The Ts are confusing. This was very helpful! Thank you ❤
Glad it was helpful!☺️
WOW Very good teaching ❤
Nice video! Is it primarily based on Asian learners? I'm Italian and I don't make any of these mistakes, except those related to the London accent
The way she moves her hands I bet she has some italian roots! loved the video btw :)
you're too nice!!! thank you
When I first heard the wonderful musician Birdy, I didn't understand some of what she was saying, as she uses ooll for all.The song "Wings" is full of that.
Interesting, I stumbled upon this video by accident. I'm an RP accent speaking Englishman and I've always wondered how to describe my accent to others who ask. In the past, I have just said that I speak with a newsreaders accent so it's lovely to finally have a name for it.
Very useful!
Great! Thank you💙👍
Great accent video for watchers who might be doing well in learning British accent.
Which british accent? She’s talking about the english accent
I love the sound :D I'd love to do an instagram live with you one day. A lot of British people say my British English is indistinguishable from a native soeaker's British accent, and I would love to talk about some methods, tricks how I managed to hone the British accent - mind you, I had an "American" accent before, because of rap music. I wonder if it would be a useful live session for other non-natives. And obviously, you can "judge" how authentic I might sound... ;) Ta for responding back.
so beautiful and so clear!
The moment we start spelling words like bath, path, etc with an 'R' in them is when I may consider rp as an ok way of speaking
you are delightful!
Awesome, you rock
Wow great, thank you!
Thank you sooo muchh.
Brilliant thank you