How to pronounce 50 difficult words in English

Espresso English Podcast

Welcome to the final lesson in our pronunciation power-up mini-course! So far we’ve practiced 200 English words for jobs, food/drink, countries, and brand names – and I’ve saved the best for last. The theme of today’s lesson is difficult words to pronounce, so I’ve selected 50 of the words that English learners often find hard to say. If you’re serious about improving your pronunciation and you want to practice more with me, you can join my American English Pronunciation Course, which will help you speak English more clearly and confidently. Are you ready to try these difficult words? Let's jump in - listen and repeat!

If you’ve made it to the end of this list, great job! Those words aren’t easy.

A lot of students ask me, “How can I know if I’m pronouncing a word correctly or not?” and I always encourage you to check an online audio dictionary.

For example, if you look up a word in thefreedictionary.com, you can click on these audio icons to hear the American pronunciation and the British pronunciation.

Whenever you learn a new word – or if you’re just not sure how exactly to say any word – go to an audio dictionary, listen, and repeat. You want to get into the habit of using the correct pronunciation so that you don’t have to try to fix problems later.

Another great way to evaluate your pronunciation is to get feedback from an English teacher or a native English speaker – someone who can tell you exactly what you’re doing well, and exactly what you need to change or improve.

When you join our American English Pronunciation Course, you actually get a pronunciation evaluation included with the course!

At the end of the course, you can send in two audio recordings of yourself speaking English, and a teacher on our team will listen to you and then send you detailed comments and any corrections on your pronunciation.

Some teachers or schools charge around $100 just for a personalized evaluation like this, but you’ll get one included right inside the American English Pronunciation Course when you join. Don’t miss the opportunity!

Thank you so much for joining me in this mini-course :-)

I hope you’ve enjoyed this pronunciation practice - and just remember, your pronunciation training shouldn’t end here.

Keep doing a little bit every day, and those small exercises, over time, will add up to a big improvement in your pronunciation and confidence.