How To Improve Your Pronunciation - Foreign Language Studies

[@bassbusterx]

I am a Brazilian who speaks english with a russian accent i don't know where it has gone wrong

[@kekero540]

Bass Buster X to much CS GO I see

[@xiaoenxu1875]

I heard somebody say once Portuguese sounds like a Russian trying to speak Spanish lol

[@KamonPlays]

I said that in my comment like 10 minutes ago... albeit I phrased it as "a drunk Russian trying to speak Spanish." lol

[@xxfurio90]

Do you wear adidas?

[@lerquian1970]

Xu Te Rangatira i heard that from jhoanna in the flama charnela

[@tysonmccorkle1036]

"Take a dog, cut a leg off" - Metatron, 2017

[@TheRealMamoot]

tyson mccorkle putting out of context 101 :D

[@CrisMW98]

tyson mccorkle 8:12

[@meuclone]

i laugth litres! rotflol

[@apalsnerg]

Hahahahahahhaa! That is what he said in da video!!

[@VeXoNCoNvIcT]

I remember when I first started watching you, I thought you were english

[@OliverCovfefe]

ONE DAY I WILL BE ABLE TO PRONOUNCE THE FRENCH "R" One day

[@lucbuydens1783]

Oliver Cromwell Did Nothing Wrong I've given up.

[@aendranireho6038]

Luca VASILE Errr...being French, I can tell you, that's not how we do it. When I pronounce a "r" I use the very back of my tongue, in this soft area at the back of my mouth. All the while using my vocal cords.

[@KalishAlexander]

German r is harder to grasp for me, can't do it yet, it's just so in between of the 2 other r sounds that I know well - the Russian and the English, that I just can't help but to use one of them instead...

[@pasijutaulietuviuesas9174]

KalishAlexander Yeah, I'm with you on that. I can pronounce both R's, soft and hard, really well, but I just can't get the German R.

[@MrTryAnotherOne]

Try the german "ch".

[@MOOEYSMITH]

I don't normally comment, but I found this video both entertaining and informative. Thank you.

[@metatronyt]

I'm glad you did ^^

[@skymandoesyourmom]

My teacher uses your videos for examples

[@thewoodworkingmetalhead2712]

he must be her crush

[@medievalpotato918]

bigfoot makes weapons Who said his/her teacher was a she?

[@whale3473]

Did you just assume his teacher's gender???

[@Miaumiau3333]

+Fattybot Did you just assume Skylar's gender???

[@UnstopablePatrik]

2nd best teacher after Metatron.

[@bradleyh8044]

Pronunciation was sooooo important in my Arabic instruction, to the point that I wish my other languages had focused on it in the same way. I think it's actually a deficiency in contemporary language instruction.

[@CELIAXIII]

Arabic is really complicated, but in the end its a beautiful language.

[@bradleyh8044]

RedSpear XIII Actually it isn't that complicated grammar-wise. It follows a pretty strict structural formula. The real terrifying part of Arabic is the vocabulary, which is vast beyond belief.

[@bradleyh8044]

Yamen .S You're right, but my original instructor was a local sheikh, so we focused heavily on pronunciation anyways. It has made the absence of pronunciation lessons apparent to me though in my French, Spanish, and Turkish lessons over the years.

[@rebeccahicks4949]

Yamen S. Some of the Arabic consonants are very difficult for speakers of English. Though I agree that the irregularity of plural forms, etc, is more difficult. As far as the different forms of the verbs goes, I actually enjoyed that part. But then again I'm advanced in Latin which has a very complex system of conjugated verbs.

[@RainASMR101]

"English is not my first language" Me: WHAT?!? (explodes)

[@calebevans3690]

yeah, I am a native English speaker and I think he speaks it better than I do.

[@apalsnerg]

Hahahaha! U r a combustion!

[@googlesword9209]

Now I really want to hear you speak in a video with an american accent.

[@KamonPlays]

I'd like to see him try several of our major accents. General American, Texan, Georgian, Californian.... but a Massachusetts accent from him would be the best.

[@mimimomooxo391]

that would be great good lord....

[@johnlavender7062]

Ken Andrews I'd love to hear a NY accent.

[@ceruleanjove634]

Ken Andrews ayyy

[@hxcAMBERhxc]

As a Georgian, I would be very interested in hearing him do our accent lol I've been struggling against it for nearly 2 decades, and people still say I have such a heavy accent xD Would be cool to hear it from the other direction, a non-native trying to emulate it.

[@jamil5615]

Metatron, you are a magnificent person

[@metatronyt]

Thank you for that!

[@MrMJAWhite]

Jack M I wholeheartedly agree! What a brilliant video and channel

[@parthiancapitalist2733]

No, he's a god

[@buineto]

To get the chicks, your accent you must keep.

[@ballerini08]

^this

[@bigdrippa6945]

buineto Truth

[@Siegbert85]

Depends oon the accent. I don't imagine a Russian or Arab accent will be much of a panty dropper ^^.

[@bigdrippa6945]

MacX1985 Another truth

[@purple_rei14]

buineto I'm Italian and sorry not sorry, American accent with Italian words is not attractive to me.

[@ottopike737]

"if I watch a video in stead of spending time with my wife, she will flipping murder me!" Metatron: "not a problem". me: XD

[@fedesh883]

¿Qué dijiste? No te entendí

[@facundocadaa9020]

@@fedesh883 "si me la paso mirando videos en vez de estar con mi esposa, me va a cagar matando" Metratron: cero drama Master Yo: equis de

[@GCurl]

9:42 You said "Wort" which is german for "Word" XD You almost nailed it! XDDD

[@zombiejaba3935]

As a Brit who speaks multiple languages I cringed when you added an English accent to the Italian

[@robertdoucet1207]

you a normie: accent me an intellectual: accenta

[@Archontasil]

i just can't picture myself doing click tongue african language

[@thebeesknees1162]

Archontasius Not too hard after a minute of practice.

[@OldieBugger]

It wouldn't be too hard, if you have the time and enough money to spend a year (or any lengthy time) among the native speakers. Assuming, of course, that you have enough basic knowledge to start with and that they are willing to speak to you in their own language most of the time, instead of honing their own English language.

[@Archontasil]

how do you spell a *click* sound? with apostrophe? hyphen?

[@AchaOda]

Oh yeah that sound is hilarious Then again, it's not the most respectable sound you can do. lol

[@PewPewPlasmagun]

It is the - phonetically speaking - the opposite of how 99% of languages work. Instead of being produced by pulmonic egression, clicks are produced by the mechanism of pulmonic ingression.

[@Siegbert85]

What I always wondered: as a foreign speaker which accents are you supposed to adopt? I'm German and in school we tend to learn a bastardized version of British English but since most of the media I consume is American I kinda adopted a sort of American accent. I suppose it will be quite weird for an English person to hear me speak a German-American kind of English accent and he'll wonders what the hell I'm trying to portray.

[@popssnek7007]

I think you should do a full video in an American accent

[@metatronyt]

I did! It's the one of all of us historical youtubers being in a videogame :3

[@jaspervlogt3843]

hey Metatron. your video will really help me getting my Canadian Accent back. I m Austrian but i adapt fast to accents. Could you please tell me the title of the video you just referred to? I would love to see it. I m studying history at university and I will be focusing on the Roman Empire. If I have any questions could I then ask you?

[@trielt1]

Jasper, the video he referred to is "A videogame about us? Here's how it would be!"

[@jaspervlogt3843]

thanks a lot

[@trielt1]

You're welcome.

[@mattn4070]

Fun fact about the common American accent: it was known as the Seattle accent until the 1950's, when television producers who were broadcasting nation-wide needed to pick an accent that was understandable to people from all over the country. They chose the accent from the Pacific Northwest because it had the most common ground between all the other American and Canadian accents

[@JC-Denton]

Interesting. Your Italian pronunciation of word sounded very German - WORT - in the end.

[@bit0159]

Well, they have the same stem after all. It's just the pronunciation that slightly shifted through time and space.

[@jaspervlogt3843]

It does. I was surprised and thought he screwed up.

[@onironauta1303]

Only the first and second examples were about Italian pronunciation

[@Siegbert85]

Germans don't typically pronounce the R though. Not in standard German at least. Some accents do but it would sound different.

[@onironauta1303]

MacX1985 German R is pronounced kinda like an A at the end of a syllable, right? So "voat"? I guess the "vord" and "vort" examples didn't refer to a specific language.

[@frankied2640]

Hi Metatron I'm Irish so English is my native language. When I listen to you, I would say you are a native English speaker. It is only every so often you don't sound like a native English speaker but it is so slight that it is almost pedantic. My question is, your accent isn't the typical posh English newsreader accent. How did you come about your accent The language I want to learn is Italian and I would appreciate any advice in obtaining a neutral accent. Thank you. Your English accent is amazing Frank

[@lisenpedersen]

Hallo Frank. How is that Italian going?

[@SuperBararo]

Your 'word' pronunciation became closer and closer to Dutch

[@rebeccahicks4949]

If I met you on the street without knowing who you were, I'd think you were a native speaker of English. (I just wouldn't know where you were from). I'm American, btw.

[@scolopendragon]

Metatron you forgot to put the Link of the Italian Accents Video in the description!

[@lerquian1970]

if i'm not wrong the spanish z is just used in Spain, i remember teachers told us that that was the real sound for z, but we just pronounce that as s. also in latinamerica we don't make the difference between b an v.

[@chardros]

For us Spaniards actually sound funny when foreigners speak using S instead of Z, or latinamerican expressions. I'm not telling it's wrong at all. It's just unexpected XDD And Z is not even used in all Spain (in most of it though). In some places the S sound is always used (which are the places where most of the people who travelled to America were from, and because of it they have that particularity in their accent), and even some other small regions in southern Spain use always Z sound even when it should be S. In Spain we also don't make the difference between B and V, and most of people don't make the difference between Y and LL. In some places we pronounce all the letters, in some others we don't depending on the letter and position in the word, or we change it for another sounds... even the vowel sounds may vary... Spanish in Spain can vary A LOT, and it can be very difficult for foreigners to get used to some accents.

[@danielscalzi2130]

I'd definately be interested in a series where you explain how to mimic the accents of different Italian regions. I've studied the language (more or less) for about 5 years in high school and now university, and the only accent I've constantly understood has been the standard. When I went to Italy, I tried to understand my relatives in Salerno and it was quite different than what I learned (maybe that's a bit of an overstatement but it was definately hard to me to pick things up). I have also noticed that when my grandparents speak on the phone to my other side of the family in calabria the words tend to end in "u" a lot. I'm sure this is due to dialect but I am still able to pick up some of the standard words I'm familiar with. I really enjoy your videos by the way, I find them very interesting and helpful. I went through the entirety of this one and remained interested throughout all of it. Your content is very well done and I appreciate the work you put into it.

[@Pedro_Colicigno]

Comment digging a bit, but I'm a brazilian learning italian with a family from napoli, I can't understand shit of "standard" Italian haha. IMO, Veneto has the best accent in italy...

[@likeamaninthewilderness4368]

ZA WARUDO!

[@likeamaninthewilderness4368]

Oh yeah!

[@vlanhondermoslin9088]

ROADA ROLLA DA

[@jakkla01]

Time has stopped....

[@KhanggiTanka]

I'm studying Italian at the moment. its hard but such a fun language.

[@Mode-Selektor]

Do you make all your videos in the morning or do you just post them in the morning?

[@seb2750]

Most likely he scheduled them to post.

[@Mode-Selektor]

I did not know that was a thing!

[@Gwyn1stborn]

Quickly becoming one of my favorite youtubers. I've loved every video, never stop my friend

[@pimptoking]

3 years on! Is he your favourite now?

[@YerMawsDa]

Your Italian? Thought you were English 😂

[@aesthetic4109]

LH Grunge just so you know, it is you're or you are not your. (Not trying to be rude or anything. and I hope I spelled everything correctly, not a native english speaker.) ^_^

[@YerMawsDa]

+unknown commented on my phone, auto correct. Mind you, I am Scottish, so maybe it's my Celtic ancestors genetics making me not want to speak this god awful, Anglo-Saxon crap. And speak the Celtic tongue.

[@DMSBrian24]

Wow, I've been telling the exact same thing to all my friends since i noticed it myself, and i'd often use the word 'word' as an example as well, curiously enough :v I feel like more people should see this video, pronunciation is a vital part of every language and one can't justify neglecting it with their having an 'accent' (which in most cases shouldn't even count as an accent but quite simply, a set of pronunciation flaws one refuses to deal with)

[@DMSBrian24]

I was once bothered with the fact that people from different countries can be just as fluent and have the same level of understanding of a language and yet some will sound much better than others because their native tongues share more common phones with said language, I thought it's unfair, and i feel many people think the same because they're not taught properly. After i started analysing the English pronunciation, intonation and rhythm and began to pay attention to my own mistakes, it took me less than a year to get rid of my accent completely as well as to adopt many features of the English one to the degree than most Europeans take me for a Brit and the English themselves at the very least don't have a clue where i'm from as my accent, much like yours, while not being quite native-like, is still visibly English (or hearibly, rather... is that even a word? xD) I just wish i could have been taught all of it as a child, pronunciation is often overlooked in early language education, causing kids to use their own, native phones for foreign words, this issue should at last be addressed

[@DRakshasa]

I really hate it when people complain that someone is "Fakin an accent" :S Like, at least he TRIES, you know? xD But on another note, it can be quite challenging to develop a British accent simply because we hear American accents all the time. It can get quite confusing at times :O

[@francescomercanti4696]

Ardhacandra In Italian school we learn British pronunciation and words. For example: Flat, not Apartment.

[@DRakshasa]

We also learn british words in the Netherlands or at least we SHOULD. It all depends on the quality of the teacher what you will get, which varies greatly here.

[@mrhose3577]

SAME! I speak English as a second language. I'm from Venezuela and my family moved to America when I was 12, I could already speak English, but I had a HEAVY Venezuelan Spanish accent. "Jelo, Jawaryu?" but then I went to school and started being on the internet more in English, so I developed a "General American" accent. (Some people said I had no accent at all) But during a summer I started listening to many British people on the internet, so I developed kind of a "General British" accent, so when I returned to school, (this was my first year of highschool so I didn't know anyone) people started asking if I was British. (Although I still think my "General British" accent is not good enough) People need to understand that accent is a fluid thing that changes depending on what you're exposed to. XD

[@danidadog6]

Tonguetwisters / はやくちことば / скоропоговорки / really help too!

[@alkotreshnik]

Скоропоговорки - what language is this?

[@Bultras88Plovdiv]

Дмитрий Коренев Bulgarian

[@Bultras88Plovdiv]

I think

[@qcklu]

i would say that "скоропоговорки" is russian or ukrain or something (or something else close to russia)

[@СтефанДимов-д2с]

qcklu niets It's in Bulgarian actually

[@parthiancapitalist2733]

I'm trying to learn Russian. It's (C)(C)(C)(C)V(C)(C)(C)(C) structure is very hard along with all coronal consonants being dental, which is very foreign for me, however the alphabet was easy to learn because there are lots of characters borrowed from Greek, which I am familiar with I listen to the Red Army Choir in my car, :/ lol

[@fridamusic]

You're a good teacher and coach, your video's are actually motivating in a lot of ways...very nice :-)

[@SneakyBadAssOG]

I learned English by first watching South Park with my native language subtitiles. Later when lot of verbs and sentenced repeated, i got sorta used to it and know what these words mean in my language. It continued to the point, that i didn't need subtitles anymore. So i tried movie without subtitles, and lo behold, i could clearly understand what they mean. Sure some words get lost, but i remember each sentence. Later on Red Dwarf. David had different accent, yet not hard. Just different words for same meaning one. Then i found barrier. Doctor Who. Especially accents. I thinked David Tennant Scottish accent was hard to understand, then Peter Capaldi come out and i was fucked to the point, that i needed subtitles to understand. Later i didn't need them anymore and start practicing Scottish accent, because it have very similar pronunciation to my language. Then i changed basically every media to use to English. English news, English mobile language, English KZbin channels of course. Now im creating subtitles for my language from English. All this took less then year.

[@ndulj7460]

Very useful, please do more videos on the subject :)

[@Brocklebury]

0:12 and he already did something right which many native English speakers struggle with: pronounce "pronunciation".

[@CJ-rx5fi]

Come to America with your Italian accent and you'll get all the chicks. ;) We love men with accents. And luxurious Sicilian hair.

[@funnysecksnumber6998]

...another reason that i chose a british accent as opposed to an american one, is because the vocabulary is a lot more similar. for example, theres no translation for the word "taşak" in american english (its pronounced tashaq, all straight, single sounds) but it does in british english, which is "bollock" also i prefer the spellings as well, and its closer to how i normally speak turkish, not close, but closER

[@clare5one]

Our cable carrier dropped NHK and Japan TV. 💔😢 My friend Takashi moved. SAD. Ya must visit Na' Yawk, Lawn Guyland and Joisey.

[@poxlittlestool4273]

Awesome video, you should visit Wales learn Welsh and then give us a song. Enjoy your content take care and have fun.

[@ZarlanTheGreen]

Pronunciation should have a much larger role, in language instruction. (at present, instruction of pronunciation, in language classes, is almost non-existent)

[@77thNYSV]

Ciao Metatron! Would you happen to know anything about iTalki? If so, I'd love to know your opinion on it. I'm an American of Italian descent and I've been studying Italian for a year now trying to reintroduce it back into the family so your language videos are some of my favorite and are really inspiring.

[@jbonkerz]

Most people don't even bother trying to pronounce words in their first language properly.

[@Ken19700]

You have a thick British accent. Come to America and no one will think you are Italian.

[@jeova0sanctus0unus]

Metatron i love you but i am Already SO afraid of my Job interview ill just pass up on the rest of this Video. Ok? I promise ill be back for the next one.

[@La.máquina.de.los.sueños]

In Québec province (Canada), we're studying in international French-Québécois (use by scholars, on TV, at the hospital or for job interviews)… but on a daily use, we're using an old french dialect called "joual" / "québécois" (with a thick northern France accent and containing tons of archaisms) mixed with anglicisms. If encountering someone talking with an international Québécois accent, he'd be perceived as a pretentious snob. We tolerate the French accent but we are horripilated when Quebecers speak with a French accent. We're writing not as we speak.

[@La.máquina.de.los.sueños]

Part of my family is English-Welsh, but i never learnt English until I moved in Montreal. Forced to train myself into it, people were constantly correcting me on everything… therefore i earned some sort of weird Welsh accent (mix of my first language matrix + the sustained English accent of those people who kept correcting me). When stumbling on Welsh tourists, they're use to 100% think that I'm Welsh too… it not displease me though! XD

[@ArrowsInTheMoon]

on an unrelated note you should do a video on Tomoe Gozen or Hattori Hanzo, both seem like interesting topics that you might have a lot of information on!

[@metatronyt]

Mate I have a video on Tomoe Gozen

[@AdamCeladin]

Excellent Video Metatron!

[@vysheslavuzumati1269]

For some reason I have a non rhotic New Yorker type accent( people often mistake me for being Italian American)and I am from Texas. No one I know speaks like me and I honestly don't know where it came from lol but I'm glad I have this accent cause it would be harder for me to learn Russian with a thick Texas accent like most people I know

[@lucillefrancois150]

*I subscribe* *he uploads a language video* *has a degree in linguistics*

[@lukutiss1324]

So you're saying I should watch anime to learn Japanese? (Just kidding).

[@fekundulo]

Your British accent is amazing! By the way, I just adore the thick Italian accent. It makes me want to order a large pizza.

[@kymelionentertainment8340]

I am improving my pronunciation with your videos ;)

[@NotMeButAnother]

Were you quoting Nicole Smith at 17:38? Also a thing I've noticed with English speakers (including you): Why is "et cetera" so comonly pronunced "exetera"? Is it just because it's quicker to say?

[@phoenixmcshannon7107]

In my experience, it's just a very common basterdisation of the word. Enough people make the mistake for it to become commonplace.

[@NotMeButAnother]

Certainly, but it's interesting when even people such as him, who clearly know the real meaning, origin and written form of the phrase, still do it. It's a bit like how I wouldn't expect an Italian to pronounce "espresso" as "expresso" even though it's quite common in other countries.

[@AlboTheMinstrel]

Grazie per questo video dolorosamente veritiero XD Vorrei però invitare te e gli altri a una riflessione. Quando studiamo una lingua nuova, uno degli aspetti principali che influiscono sull'apprendimento è quello emozionale, che però mi sembra tu abbia trascurato: al di là dei talenti linguistici, per i quali tale ragionamento non vale, molto spesso uno straniero tende a mantenere l'accento perché è legato alla propria identità e non ha intenzione di lasciarsi completamente "assorbire" dalla lingua (e/o cultura) straniera (indipendentemente che viva nel paese in cui la lingua è parlata o no). Anche se il paragone è un po' azzardato, questo potrebbe anche spiegare perché tanti italiani del Sud che si trasferiscono al Nord per studi o per lavoro (specie dopo il periodo della scuola dell'obbligo) mantengono un accento regionale molto marcato pur vivendoci da decine di anni e non adattqno il loro italiano alla fonetica del Nord. Sentono quotidianamente di avere un accento diverso rispetto a chi li circonda ma non riescono/non vogliono cambiarlo (per me non è un problema, sia ben chiaro XD).

[@nietsnieckarchimedes8139]

作為一個壞學生，我的英語非常差，但我很喜歡刀劍，歷史，所以常常看您和Scholagladiatoria的頻道，以前的youtube好像沒有字幕的，也或許是我不會弄，總之一年後我發現我已經基本能聽得懂您們的內容，也能和外國人作基本溝通，到國外旅行時我都是負責為我親友溝通翻譯，溝通算不上流暢，但也能傳神逹意，不過我身邊的朋友不怎麼相信我的經歷。 抱歉我沒有寫英文，因為我的讀寫能力和以前一樣，沒怎麼改善，不過我也記得您說過歡迎任何中文留言，如果我沒有聽錯的話。

[@bizarreworld2510]

Who else clicks like before the host starts to talk

[@sethr.c1065]

This has motivated me to take up refining my French, even though I'm not taking a class on it anymore.

[@PhattyBolger]

You should do a TEDx talk.

[@elgranlugus7267]

Water pronunciation: UK: /wɔːtə/ USA: /wɔɾɚ/ Me: /wæter/

[@JenLaRock]

honestly I've always heard english native speakers pronounce grazie like grazii rathern than grazjej ( sorry I don't know the phonetic transcription but I think you got it all the same xD). Btw we are not arrogant :((((((((((((((((((( ahah

[@secutorprimus]

"Just DO IT!' - Raphael LeBouf

[@Stettafire]

3:00 I speak English and I don't know what half those words even mean :O 7:14 Yes, I can understand you 100% perfectly. One of my lecturers is a fantastic teacher, and she speaks English very well, but occasionally I find it hard to understand her if she talks quickly. Daily! Dyddiol? :D

[@stevewaldorff4327]

The greatest difficulty I ever had understanding someone, was in Naples. He was an African man, who was asking for directions in BBC English, with a combined Germanic and native language accent. Mind blown.

[@numbers9to0]

I will watch CrazyRussianHacker to improve my English pronunciation. :)

[@ZarlanTheGreen]

A poem (named The Chaos) on English pronunciation and its connection to spelling, by Dutch writer, traveller, and teacher Gerard Nolst Trenité: Dearest creature in creation, Study English pronunciation. I will teach you in my verse Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse. I will keep you, Susy, busy, Make your head with heat grow dizzy. Tear in eye, your dress will tear. So shall I! Oh hear my prayer. Pray, console your loving poet, Make my coat look new, dear, sew it! Just compare heart, beard, and heard, Dies and diet, lord and word, Sword and sward, retain and Britain. (Mind the latter, how it's written.) Made has not the sound of bade, Say-said, pay-paid, laid, but plaid. Now I surely will not plague you With such words as vague and ague. But be careful how you speak: Say break and steak, but bleak and streak; Previous, precious, fuchsia, via; Cloven, oven, how and low, Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe. Hear me say, devoid of trickery, Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore, Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles, Exiles, similes, and reviles; Scholar, vicar, and cigar, Solar, mica, war and far; One, anemone, Balmoral, Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel; Gertrude, German, wind and mind, Scene, Melpomene, mankind. Billet does not rhyme with ballet, Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet. Blood and flood are not like food, Nor is mould like should and would. Viscous, viscount, load and broad, Toward, to forward, to reward. And your pronunciation's OK When you correctly say croquet, Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve, Friend and fiend, alive and live. Ivy, privy, famous; clamour And enamour rhyme with hammer. River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb, Doll and roll and some and home. Stranger does not rhyme with anger, Neither does devour with clangour. Souls but foul, haunt but aunt, Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant, Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger, And then singer, ginger, linger, Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge, Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age. Query does not rhyme with very, Nor does fury sound like bury. Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth. Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath. Though the differences seem little, We say actual but victual. Refer does not rhyme with deafer. Feoffer does, and zephyr, heifer. Mint, pint, senate and sedate; Dull, bull, and George ate late. Scenic, Arabic, Pacific, Science, conscience, scientific. Liberty, library, heave and heaven, Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven. We say hallowed, but allowed, People, leopard, towed, but vowed. Mark the differences, moreover, Between mover, cover, clover; Leeches, breeches, wise, precise, Chalice, but police and lice; Camel, constable, unstable, Principle, disciple, label. Petal, panel, and canal, Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal. Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair, Senator, spectator, mayor. Tour, but our and succour, four. Gas, alas, and Arkansas. Sea, idea, Korea, area, Psalm, Maria, but malaria. Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean. Doctrine, turpentine, marine. Compare alien with Italian, Dandelion and battalion. Sally with ally, yea, ye, Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key. Say aver, but ever, fever, Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver. Heron, granary, canary. Crevice and device and aerie. Face, but preface, not efface. Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass. Large, but target, gin, give, verging, Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging. Ear, but earn and wear and tear Do not rhyme with here but ere. Seven is right, but so is even, Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen, Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk, Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work. Pronunciation-think of Psyche! Is a paling stout and spikey? Won't it make you lose your wits, Writing groats and saying grits? It's a dark abyss or tunnel: Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale, Islington and Isle of Wight, Housewife, verdict and indict. Finally, which rhymes with enough- Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough? Hiccough has the sound of cup. My advice is to give up! P.S. There is no shame in having some trouble with this poem. Even as a native speaker. The words are chosen for their problematic nature, and some are kinda obscure. I still have trouble pronouncing a few of the words and some I didn't know how to properly pronounce, before encountering this poem (and some subsequent looking up of stuff, as well as finding audio of someone reading it in, I believe, proper pronunciation. Mind you, there are some variations of accent/dialect, but...).

[@lucykortsmusic]

I literally got notified that you uploaded this 'as' I was watching your language video's, YESSSSSS! Brilliant content 😌

[@metatronyt]

I'm glad you are happy ^^

[@andrelaferriere7017]

There is also a pronunciation difference between "I think this book is very good" vs. "I think this is a good book" - the grammar/syntax. As an example, in English you'd say "I swam across the river" whereas in French (I'm francophone thus the French example) it would be said "J'ai traversé la rivière à la nage" - litterally "I crossed the river by swimming". A native speaker would understand but notice the difference. Thus, how you structure your sentences/ideas also speaks to your fluency.

[@IvanKravarscan]

TL;DR Engligh can't do vowels right. Biggest problem with native English speakers is butcher vowels, they add double sounds and associate wrong letters for sounds: "a" is pronounced as "ei", "e" as "ii", "i" as "aji", "o" as "ou" and "u" as "ju". It makes their scientist sound ridiculous when pronouncing ancient Greek or Latin. But there is a fun fact: "cats" is the example how to pronounce Slavic "c". Thing it, it's "ts" part, not "c" :).

[@jameshudson169]

always remember that the days of the week in english are best pronounced like italian: sunDEE, monDEE, tuesDEE, wednesDEE.......

[@seniorsasquatch6185]

This is my sign. I'm a care giver. N work with alit of Africans. Who watch football...or..soccer..so I don't know my mainland or it's language... bt I'm learning.. mainly African and Mexican and I struggle with my Mexican accent when speaking Spanish. Bt I can speak.. it's the spead n fluency.. and I'm learning how to pronounce Japanese words even those it's one word answers or sentences. I tend to play my video games where I know what's being said ... in a specific language bt with English subtitles so I hear how the words should be said..generally.. bt a tru bilingual individual helps

[@flaviospadavecchia5126]

I don't think deciding which accent to learn should be a particularly hard question to answer. If we're talking about a language that is spoken in several countries, then any standard variety of any of those countries will do, but it would be wise to choose either General American or Received Pronunciation (Estuary is probably better, though), just because it would be easier for everyone to understand. As for the Italian language, I don't see why anyone would want to learn the accent of Rome, Naples, Milan etc, Neutral Italian will be the most effective in most cases, even though your average Italian will not speak like that, it's still the pronunciation that's easier to understand for everyone. The situation is different if you're living in the country of your target foreign language, it's completely understandable if a foreigner living in Milan develops an accent that's closer to the Italian spoken my Milanese people :P

[@byronwilliams7977]

Great video. As a friendly suggestion, you miss pronounce video regularly not all the time but regularly. You seem to be stretching the first vowel.

[@TheRealMamoot]

ok so here's my problem. when im alone and i talk with myself i genuinely feel that my speech is good. i describe stuff in the house, i imagine a scenario for myself and just keep going. and i speak well...well, well enough :D but when i try to speak to others (others being mostly my foreign friends on psn) the whole thing gets ruined. i actually feel the difference and im like "what is this ? im better than this". proper words dont come to my mind, i mess up the intonations and so on. what am i supposed to do ? -.- btw i got a Transformers ad...ARE U SERIOUS ? ANOTHER ONE ? for fuck's sake stop already...

[@kamilgregurek9314]

A very interesting video. I have a few point to add though: 1) I don't know if you've watched your own videos but you use a lot of gesticulation which is sort of like your non verbal accent. There's nothing bad about it, actually it somehow puts the things in a more explanatory way. In one of your future videos you might compare non verbal expressions when speaking other languages because it definitely adds a new dimension to the communication 2) I'm a L2 English speak, my level might be around B2-C1 but I couldn't ignore your pronunciation of the final -s sound. When you say "stupid ones" shouldn't be the final -s pronounced as /z/? Just an observation. 3) Regarding the varieties I have to say that in case of Spanish particulary you can achieve neutral pronunciation, intonation and what's called "accent" because there is such a thing as neutral Spanish. I'm a neutral Spanish speaker myself and no native speaker can actually tell where I'm from while they're convinced I'm a native speaker. In case of Spanish, speaking it's neutral variety will give you an advantage in international environment for sure. Keep up with the great work, Greetings from the Czech Republic

[@EmethMatthew]

Nope your accent is not thick, nor is it especially English. Some of it is pretty American sounding, probably from KZbin and tvshows/movies?

[@kelvottomatpelaajat3797]

Finally being a Fin has actual benefits! 🤣 Similar to the Italian, we pronounce every letter of our words, therefore we can learn languages of that nature easier. And we are constantly exposed to media which is in English, so we are in a position to learn English as well. ☝🏻😑 We are like America done right! 😝 "That was a joke", said EDI. 😐

[@Philoglossos]

Awesome video Raff! One thing you should know if you wanna pronounce Spanish words is that b and v are not distinguished, so it's pronounced /konbeɾsaˈθjon/ rather than /konveɾsaˈθjon/ xP.

[@PontusWelin]

Speaking of improving pronunciation =) You pronounce "variant" wrong. You say something like "vayriant".

[@andk9999]

i like how he built from the english "word" to the german "Wort" (meaning the same) and pronounced it perfectly. Metatron: "You couldn't understand" German people: erm…

[@cennethadameveson3715]

I still hear in your accent the fact you picked up english in Landan/sarf east Engaland.....! Fact, you have great English. Speak to some of the 2nd3rd generation Welsh /Italians, welsh accented English spoken with an Italian rhythm! I love it.

[@TheOpinionizer]

You appear to be a highly motivated and driven person. Good stuff! They're should be more youtubers and 'public figures' like you with a 'get it done' attitude! Maybe you could make a video where you give your perspective on work ethic, motivation, discipline and such. Especially for the youngster (i.e. young adults, students, teens, etc) I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be interested in your views

[@annalaing7103]

Thank you. I feel like you made this video for me. With my northeast "Yankee " accent is so strong. We joke up here. We say my English is horrible. But, my "Bostonian " is excellent. I am from The Great Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Yes that's the official name for Massachusetts. Have a great day.

[@maanvis81]

If I know perfect pronounciation it might surprise people too much if I do something that is culturally less acceptable. For example, dutch people are very direct, and don't weigh what they say by the rank or standing of the person they are speaking to. If they think something sucks, they say it sucks. So pronounciation not being perfect might show the listener that the cultural implications of what is said shouldn't be taken as a given :).

[@F3rnando666]

Metatron, dovresti fare un video sulla pronuncia della r nel giaponese. Visto che gia hai alcuni sulla pronuncia della r in altre lingue. La mia madrelingua è lo spagnolo e adesso imparo il giaponese e pronuncio la r come [ɾ] (la vostra r in [kaɾo, ɾoma], la prima "standard" r nel tuo video di Pronuncia Siciliana :) ). Sin embargo, me confunde escuchar que los japoneses, a veces, pronuncian la r como [ɾ] y a veces como [l] y a veces con un sonido entre los dos. ¡Sería excelente una explicación linguística / fonológica de este fenómeno de tu parte! ラリルレロ Viene pronunciato a volte [ɾa ɾi ɾu ɾe ɾo] oppure [la li lu le lo] oppure [la ɾi ɾu ɾe lo]... Is there some method in this madness? I know that in your third video on Japanese basics you deal with this, but a much profound explanation of this variation would be much appreciated! And while you're at it, you should include the r in chinese words like 人, 日 and the Beijing (english like) 儿. (I'm also learning some chinese). Te agradezco por tus videos, no conocía nada del mundo oriental y el mundo medieval hasta que encontré tu canal hace muy poco. BTW: I'd love the italian accents/dialects series! Keep up the great job you're doing! Greetings from Venezuela.

[@ethnomuse]

Good pronunciation can get you into trouble...I speak minimal conversational Japanese, but I work to get the pronunciation correct. The person(s) I am speaking with assume I know more than I do and start speaking very quickly!! Of course this encourages me to expand my vocabulary and phrases too!!!

[@chabis]

When you were transmutating "word" you got a very decend German right before you moved it over to Japanese ;) I guess for my Italian I could chose the Ticinese accent. It's probably about 1/3 Rumantsch :-)

[@schlirf]

Nice try, and GREAT advice; but in my case I can murder every foreign language I attempt to speak in. Sigh....

[@Saalach-Spiele]

I seriously thought you were a native english speaker. Wow. Your pronouncation struck me as really good when you said "Zweihänder" in a video. There are very few people who get German right without speaking it! But choosing an English dialect, wow. Just wow. Tricked me. Native German speaker here. I do get mistaken for a native speaker when I actually speak a language I'm learning, so I guess I have an ear for it. Thanks for the "daily" recommendation to tell my brain it needs to remember this stuff.

[@tubekulose]

My accent, when talking English with any foreigners but native English speakers, is rather British, but whenever I talk to native English speakers, I tend to enforce my native Austrian/Viennese accent for some reason. ;-)

[@BrazenBard]

Norwegian here. Ye Gods, the "common" Norwegian accent of English is pretty damn horrible. I fully concur with the argument that one should work to diminish one's accent as far as possible.

[@sirguillaume]

I'm learning Polish(Brazilian, already an english speaker), and I'm starting to surround myself with the language using the Polish dubbing in Witcher 3, with english subtitles. After I finish the game, I'll turn off the subtitles an play it again!

[@ZarlanTheGreen]

In Swedish, we have two different words, for this. "Accent"s being ways natives speak ...whereas "brytning"s (breakings?) are ways in which Second Language speakers, speak in a broken version of the language, due to retaining a foreign accent, and not managing to learn a proper, native, pronunciation. A good distinction, I find.

[@freemax9920]

I can't roll my r's like an Italian, but I can like a Scotsman and I found that is good enough. Also, whenever, I'm in Italy, no matter where I go, they not only know I'm American, but they can tell I'm from New York-- every time! Uffa!

[@toresaetre7793]

I actually disagree with you a little. Now, speaking clear and understandable is important of course, sounding like a native is not. Sometimes an accent can be like a trademark. Think of f.ex Antonio Banderas without the accent?

[@tearlach61]

I operate in two languages other than my native English. French-Canadian (from later childhood) and more recently Scots Gaelic (Gàidhlig). In both instances I put put a great emphasis on pronunciation and on both instances I reached the point where native speakers didn't realize I was a non-native speaker unless I told them. I can tell you it really helps in being accepted. In one instance I was having a conversation in Scotland with a Gàidhlig speaker and they asked me where I was from. I said Alaska. They then asked where my parents came from. They were trying to place my accent. My accent sounded native but they couldn't place it. Anyway the conversation went on like that. I had another native speaker tell me that my accent sounded native but that you couldn't really place it geographically. But the thing is if you sound at least kind of sort of like a native speaker you will get much more acceptance. I'd go so far as to say that it is way more acceptable to screw up the grammar than it is to screw up the pronunciation when it comes to being accepted. Bottom line: pronunciation über alles!

[@Oakbard]

I have reached a decent level of Italian proficiency without living in the country and I can backup what Metatron says about daily practice. Every opportunity for exposure and practice must be taken, particularly if you do not live somewhere where people speak the language all around you. The strategies I use are: audiobooks in the car for listening and comprehension practice, children's story books for vocabulary and grammar, I even installed Microsoft Office in Italian so I am constantly exposed and learning words/concepts in Italian that I otherwise wouldn't come across. I take my daughter to Italian playgroup which used to be really daunting and nerve racking but now I am comfortable and can understand and communicate well. Of course, I throw in a healthy dose of instructional KZbin videos too! Many objects in my house have been labelled with the italian word (eg. the stapler, door stop, high chair etc) and also importantly the verb that is associated with using that object! There are also websites which match up people for language exchanges and I have been speaking to someone and helping with their English whilst learning Italian from them once a week for over two years, which has been invaluable. A big hindrance to progress is often being too nervous to speak to people, just imagine you wouldn't judge or laugh at someone attempting to speak your language, would you? That means that nearly every person you attempt to speak your second language to will not think you silly for making mistakes. Daily effort and exposure is the key to actually making progress. From my experience most people embark on learning a language and give up after a few paltry efforts over a couple of weeks with a language app on their phone, that is not going to cut it! I know people are after Metatron's opinions and not mine but that's my two cents anyway! (I am currently studying a Masters of Linguistics too so have some formal background) Ciao da Melbourne, Australia