If you think English Pronunciation is Weird this will Help you Understand it

[@joshadams8761]

When I was a kid, I used to spend hours reading etymologies in the Oxford English Dictionary. Little did I know I was learning about spelling!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

You read dictionaries as a kid? I can relate to that.

[@joshadams8761]

@@LetThemTalkTV Yes, that’s how/why I learned the Greek alphabet. OED etymologies often include Greek words in the Greek alphabet. Great observation that French stress patterns are preserved in certain English words.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

You probably spotted some patterns yourself. If you did then let us know. I might include it in a future video.

[@joshadams8761]

@@LetThemTalkTV Just the obvious stuff like why “chaos” has a k, not a ch, sound. I am constantly peppering my eight-year-old, who is learning to spell, with observations like “That word is from Greek.” He rolls his eyes. Here is a video idea: how the Romans chose to spell theta, chi, and phi as th, ch, and ph, respectively. Ph is wild. Phi was an aspirated p at the time the Romans created that spelling. But phi shifted to an f sound in Greek, and Latin adopted that shift in words with ph.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

very interesting.

[@virginieniel1840]

Best lesson on syllable stress ever. Even reference books such as Scrampher-Azar’s ones don’t explain that… for what I recall. Congrat !

[@Daniula02]

¡Este video es oro puro! ¡Gideon sos el maestro de los maestros! 👏❤️👏❤️👏❤️👏

[@LetThemTalkTV]

eres muy amable.

[@ruxsky7593]

Thank you so much! Your channel has some of the most unique content. ❤️

[@LetThemTalkTV]

that's very kind.

[@user-lr4id9pf8y]

Being bilingual, and English being my second language, the word that "got me" really good was: conscientious. When I was reading aloud in high school, it just so happened to land at the end of the page, so I read "con" and "science" on the second line. Needless to say, it was a bit funny and taught me a good lesson to read ahead lol

[@vivianagambetta9197]

Excellent lesson! Thank you

[@moisesszz]

You are a genius, your tips are incredibly good and super accurate, even though most of the tips are for english, i will love if you make another channel about tips or grammar situations, pronunciations, history etc etc, all that impressive good knowledge that you have but in other language, it would be really a game changing for me as im trying to learn other languages and you are the person that taught me the most.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Which languages are you learning out of interest?

[@moisesszz]

@@LetThemTalkTV im a native Spanish speaker im learning portoguess, italian, and French

[@moisesszz]

@@LetThemTalkTV but honestly It doesn't matter which language you will start to make tips I will learn it,your tips are just to good and accurate they are really impressive, im going with those 3 languages I told you before because they are a little easier for me and I'm trying to fill my curriculum

[@Ankitasharma26]

Respected Sir, you bring more depth to our knowledge of English. Thank you! 🙏

[@volodymyr.brodskyi]

Your explanation was excellent. It addressed my questions about why English can be so peculiar at times.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Happy to hear that

[@asq999]

Fantastic video Gideon, thank you!!

[@usa4496]

such as great teacher❤

[@isabelatence7035]

Valeu!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Unbelievably kind. Thank you much. Your support inspires me.

[@isabelatence7035]

@@LetThemTalkTV your talent with constant humor, my results become positive, I am motivated

[@sergeheute7938]

Thoroughly interesting and even instructive Giddeon, thank you for this lesson, i still have troubles with English pronunciation although i 've studied and practiced it for many years ( and thousand hours !).i hope you are doing well and will in the near future provide us with more quality content like this vidéo.I am modestly trying to write some good quality language, don t hesitate to correct me, it could be of some help to improve.Serge from France.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Hi Serge, all is perfectly written (except the spelling of my name). Glad you liked the video.

[@sergeheute7938]

Hi there, sorry teacher should i spell it like this ? Gideon, only one dee ! Right now i am reading à novel by Agatha Christie, i had never noticed but this afternoon while i was reading (whilst i am walking in the Woods at the same time, is n't it à weird habit?) I was able to comfirm the purpose of your lesson, french origin words are pronunced with the tonic accent on the second sylable whereas anglo-saxons are stressed on the first sylabble.Thanks for all Gideon.best regards.

[@meteoman7958]

and don t should be don't.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Excellent!

[@brolol3136]

There's no other way apart from Comprehensible Input ❤

[@КотяУткин-н5ш]

I am watching BBC's Miss Marple TV series (1984-1992) with Joan Hickson playing Miss Marple and I am wondering what dialect or style or accent of English she speaks. I want to know more about this style of speaking English because it is so beautiful, so solemn, full of dignity and self respect. Miss Marple (the actress Joan Hickson I mean) reminds me of my grandmother who raised me. And for me this style of speaking English is so natural. But not so many people in Britain speak in such a way. I want to learn more about this style or accent or dialect. The main thing is intonation, I think, the melody of English. Is there any scientific name for this style? Could you advise some books to read about this style of speaking English? P.S. I hear this style of speaking on BBC Radio Kent/ Essex mostly.

[@Layla-wm8pz]

Wow dissolving certain language ambiguities..:) thank you

[@madamecoeurdemontespan1712]

Dear amazing Gideon, thank you for your magnum opus! Best wishes, 🦋 M.

[@nosotrosloslobosestamosreg4115]

Why didn't I have English teachers as much knowledgeable as you when I was at school? and why your channel si still so far of 1M subs when this content is solid gold?

[@isabelatence7035]

How cool! Your video makes me dance floss dance on Fridays, now I imagine your creative and crazy studio, Patreon is totally amazing to have access to reality, we follow many varieties of content, I really like this topic, pronunciation and origin of words, I'm growing up in English, you make my Friday😅 thanks! Always

[@LetThemTalkTV]

If I could describe a perfect comment it would be this one. Thank, I will try to add some more Patreon videos soon.

[@isabelatence7035]

@@LetThemTalkTV This Variation of words has greatly expanded my vocabulary, absolutely pleased to be a member on Patreon🙌

[@ericb9609]

you do learn something new everyday... i've never noticed that rule on 2-syllable verbs, with the stress being either on the first or second syllable based on the verb's origin

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Yes, indeed. Glad you learnt something.

[@baronderochemont8556]

Don't leave us alone for that long, Gideon!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

I've been busy!

[@janjohnny4945]

Thanks.

[@rodrigocampos972]

That was so nice! Thanks a lot

[@silviaterracciano4513]

Really love your videos!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Love your comments.

[@jeanattali4005]

Clear and brilliant.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Yes you are.

[@cavesalamander6308]

When Gideon looks at me so sternly, I want to jump up, stand tall, click my heels and scream 'Yes, sir!'

[@maya.7057]

Thank you very much for the video! It's really helpful to understand English better (which is my favourite thing). I have a quick off topic question, I have no one around to tell me. The other day I heard the phrase in a video on YT: "They used to not serve food in the morning" (that girl was talking about some restaurant. She is British). As far as I understand this is a construction "used to" about regular actions in the past. If I'm right then she should've said "They didn't use to serve.." with this construction for negative sentenses (at least textbooks say it :) So, why did she say like this? Is this some casual colloquial thing? Or does it put some emphasis? Please, kindly explain it to me, I'm wracking my brain on this riddle :) Thank you!

[@catherine_f_t700]

I'm no specialist, but I think it's a bit of emphasis to underline the change. It gives more weight to the statement.

[@maya.7057]

@@catherine_f_t700 Thank you!

[@user-iw5ow5lf4s]

7:06 Deep - Depth ? Dear Gideon I thought the rule applied for past tense and adjectives . Is 'depth' an adjective ? Thank you

[@LetThemTalkTV]

It's usually a change from the base verb so that could be a noun too (as in this case). Like 'heal' and 'health'

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Tanks.

[@paulbrown1022]

Good luck learning English as a foreigner. Thank God I just ‘know’ this stuff naturally. I’m English and haven’t a clue what this chap is going on about! Interesting video though.

[@nHans]

As of the moment that I'm typing this comment, the title to this video says: *Improve you English Pronunciation FAST with these 3 PRO TIPS* At first glance, it looks like there might be a grammatical error and could do with some improvement. Never mind-Chrome didn't show any red or blue squiggles, so I guess you title is okay.

[@buonleo]

When you said that even in English there are rules, you destroyed all my certainties!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

It's good to have an existential crisis once in a while

[@carlospereda3069]

Hi..I'm from Chile and sometimes i got confused with word using double Os like Door, pool, fool, floor...why theu sound different?... Do you have a video explaining this rule, if any?

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

moor soar store shoe who

[@carlospereda3069]

I mean why some sound like o and others like U like door and pool

[@LetThemTalkTV]

It's irregular. Just think of it as "Du-bel"

[@carlospereda3069]

@@LetThemTalkTV then there is no rule for double O's?

[@marieparker3822]

As a native English speaker, I always learn something from you, Gideon. BUT, just to say: people from North of Hadrian's Wall pronounce the 'h' in 'wh--' words, eg 'whales', and we get annoyed by people thinking that it is a homonym of 'Wales'; also, the 'intrusive "r" ', which is horrid. Thanks, 🙂

[@nHans]

10:00 _“... apparent anarchy of English spelling and pronunciation ...”_ Bravo - *_anarchy_* is the perfect word to describe it! However, learning the etymologies of words to just pronounce them properly ... that’s a bit of an overkill, isn’t it? The problem isn’t with pronouncing words that you already know. I mean, if you know the word, you likely know its pronunciation as well. It’s when you see a written word that you haven’t encountered before-that’s when you start wondering what its pronunciation might be. Like _loch._ Does that come from Greek (hence /k/)? Or Old English (/tʃ/)? Or French (/ʃ/)? As an ESL/EFL learner, I prefer to look up its pronunciation directly. Studying its etymology and then trying to deduce its pronunciation ... is error-prone, to say the least. Maybe I’m biased because of the way dictionaries are organized: _word, part of speech, _*_pronunciation,_*_ and meaning._ The etymology is the last thing mentioned, if at all. In fact, OED online makes you pay for a subscription if you want the etymology. So, yeah, ⟨loch⟩ - among other things - is the Scottish word for “lake.” Its most common pronunciations in British English are /lɒx/ and /lɒk/. I don’t know its etymology. I’m guessing it’s the same as _lake_ or the French _lac_ - but it doesn’t matter. I know what it means and how to pronounce it. It’s sufficient for my needs at the moment. I’m not planning to bore people to death at parties by talking etymologies. I’ll leave that to you, Gideon 😜

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

"Howbeit" is pronounced "hou-bee-it" and originated in Middle English between 1350 and 1400. It's thought to come from the contraction of "hough be hit" or "how be it", which means "be it as it may, notwithstanding, nevertheless, yet". A la prochaine Gideon. 🖐

[@LetThemTalkTV]

I'm impressed by your research. A+

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

I am astounded by your style and the way you explain things. You are more than the dog's bollocks, as matter of fact; you are the GOAT's bollocks, the Brobdingnagian ones.😀

[@saphorr]

At 5:33 when you only got 94%, the app highlighted the "missing" r. I suspect it hasn't been sufficiently trained on non-rhotic dialects of English.

[@nHans]

So, what would you call a partially burnt French tank made of digital alphabets and numbers? A *char char char.* I'll show myself out ...

[@w-hisky]

Oh boy, this is so super interesting, I could watch you channel all day, but I have to behave myself and get sh*t done. 😅

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Very kind of you to say. Good luck getting sh*t done.

[@Manigo1743]

The more you study the rules of the English language, the more you find out that there aren't any.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Yes, there are rules - you should watch the video.

[@Manigo1743]

@@LetThemTalkTV I am sure you can find exceptions to each of those "rules".

[@gaufrid1956]

You are good at what you do, Gideon. Having seen the video of Elton John singing "Sacrifice" earlier this evening, it reminds me that "rules ain't always rules". I pronounce the word "direction" as you suggested it would be, with the accent on the last syllable. Sir Elton accents the first syllable in the song. So, if I sing it in karaoke, I sing "die-rection" as he does. English is like that. I'm Aussie, living in Mindanao Philippines. The languages in the Philippines are phonetic, which makes them relatively easy to pronounce, although the grammar and vocabulary is completely alien to native English speakers. Filipinos learn English in school as their second (or maybe third language if their mother tongue is any apart from Tagalog). Somehow, they learn to speak quite good English. As far as "schedule" is concerned, I'm fully with the Americans. Hey, we never say that "school" is pronounced "shool". By the way, here in the Philippines, in both Tagalog and Cebuano, "school" is "eskwela", while the building itself is "eskwelahan". Derived from Spanish, and the suffix "-an" denotes a place.

[@angelbear_og]

It would still be diRECtion (or diRECTing or diRECTed) because diRECT is the base word. You can't go by singing, since by it's nature it will often alter pronunciation of multiple words to fit a melody; hence the prevalence of "mondegreens".

[@gaufrid1956]

@@angelbear_og Agreed.

[@mrops]

ELSA is mainly for the American pronunciation, isn't it? I would really wish Elsa supported British english as well

[@ottohardwick5323]

It bugs me that so many people don't shorten the "i" in "privacy" but pronounce it the same as the "i" in "private".

[@watchmakerful]

I don't understand why "schedule" is still pronounced with a [ʃ] sound, if all other Greek-origin words with "sch" have [sk] sounds. Scheme, schism, school, scholar, schizophrenia etc. Even non-Greek words with initial "sch + vowel" are often pronounced [sk]: Schenectady. "Schedule" should have aligned with all these words by analogy even without understanding its origin...

[@LetThemTalkTV]

It all depends on the etymology. "schnorkel", "schmalz", "borscht" for example don't have a "k" sound. "schedule" came from French "Cedule" pronunced with a "sh"

[@ildarmingazov2304]

Howdy!

[@jamesMartinelli-x2t]

Basically the secondary stress disappeared - but not here in America.

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

Elsa, it's like having a native English speaker right next to you 🤔 You've shot yourself on a foot mate ! How could you promote some robot that may get you out of your business?😮 Are you having a bubble sunshine ? Oh well ! You will be deeply missed Gideon. I won't be taken aback if I see you queuing at the job centre ! Nice knowing you gaffer. Warm greetings from Casablanca ❤ Fare thee well for now and stay mellow. Have a terrific weekend. Much obliged for your dog's bollocks lessons, as well as your time. Always appreciated.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

I promote whatever works. I'm in favour of AI but there'll always be a place for flesh-and-blood teachers.

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

Fair enough ! Don't be a stranger. See you next week.

[@carloshortuvia5988]

I stick faithful to old ate (et) pronounciation. Semper fidelis to old clear RP.

[@LetThemTalkTV]

"et" tu?

[@meteoman7958]

@@LetThemTalkTV I 8 my food.

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

Hey Gideon, just stumbled upon this new word * Howbeit * do you ever used it ? Is it a twin brother to * Albeit *? It is, innit?😉

[@LetThemTalkTV]

It's a word but I've never seen (or heard) it being used in modern English. You must be reading old books again.

[@user-cc2ux9ew1r]

So, are you ! Right? Ciao for now.

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

Defenestration is the latest English word I learned, it is what is about to happen to Mr. Putin apparently :)

[@LetThemTalkTV]

Defenestration has happened to many of Putin's enemies. Or perhaps they all just coincidentally fell out of windows by accident.

[@trien30]

Why do British people insist on saying "dye-nasty" while Americans say "dye-nisty" for the word dynasty? Some people say hostile rhyme with "hot stile" when coming from French should be "hostil" which somewhat rhymes with nostril. And I thought British people were Francophones after the Normandy French entered England and so that's why they still use Old French spellings like honour, colour, jewellery from jewellerie from French. If British English were like French, all final consonants of a word is singular or plural won't matter anymore and we might be silenced, unless the following word (or abbreviated form) starts with a vowel. 😂 In Greek, "kh" or Χ(uppercase)/χ(lowercased), "khi"/"khee" in Greek is literally /k/+ a puff of air, where in IPA, it's a k with a superscript h instead. Should we just call it "an attempt to pronounce the glottal stop?"In Greek, Russian, Hebrew or Vietnamese, it'll be romanized as "kh" but when pronounced and depending on who is speaking can sound like /k/ in the morning, "/h/" in the afternoon, and "/k/+a puff of air" in the evening. I always tried to pronounce all words of Greek origin this way.😮

[@aram5642]

As much as the topic itself is interesting, a lot of ornamental "clip-arty" insertions couldn't go unnoticed. A bit verbose intro. Personally, I preferred the old, modest, low-profile videos.

[@aicelsmash1168]

My man on the minute 9:13 you got the æ sound up there, but its wrong it should the the dipthong aɪ as in /məʊbaɪl/, i dont know if you can edit the video to make the correction. Anyways thanks for uploading these videos, for non-english speakers this is pure gold!

[@LetThemTalkTV]

I'll check the phonetics. Glad you liked the video