Speaking English Like a Native Speaker

How important is it to speak English like a native speaker? How do you pronounce the ‘th’ sound in English? All this and more in this episode of Aprender Inglés with Reza y Craig

A shout out to Lisa_111 from Spain who left a lovely review and 5 stars on iTunes. Don’t think we don’t see those!

Review on itunes from kaysersose9 from Spain – not to ‘blow our own trumpet’ but to let you know there are other things to help you improve your English:
“He oído muchos podcast de inglés hasta la fecha y este es sin duda el mejor.
No solo por su podcast, también por su web, su facebook, sus cuadernillos quincenales… la cantidad y calidad de su material es increíble.
For you guys I just can say thanks (All I can say is thanks). Many thanks for everything. To do some work like this without expecting nothing (anything) in exchange is awesome.
I wish you all the best and the greatest of success.

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Question on the website from Ainhoa:
Hi Reza and Craig! thank you very much for your podcasts I like them very much.
I’d love it if you could talk about the “th” sound, I have doubts about its correct pronunciation, it’s different in words like: “the”, “thing”, “Thomas”, “Thatcher”… Thank you very much!

1. Voiceless – No vibration in the vocal chords: thank you, thanks, think, three, Thatcher, thing
2. With voice – Vibration in the vocal chords: these, this, those, bother, brother, weather, the
3. Same as /t/ (not common) – Thomas, River Thames, thyme

Test your listening of pronunciation of “th”. Is it type 1, 2 or 3?
Thunder – 1
There/Their – 2
Thick – 1
Thirty – 1
Through – 1
Them – 2
Throat – 1
Then – 2
Health – 1
Wealthy – 1
Worth – 1
Worthy – 2
Maths (UK)/ Math (USA) – 1
Thailand – 3
Gothic – 1
Thompson/Thomson – 1
* Sweetheart – compound word = sweet + heart
* Lighthouse – compound word = light + house

Voice message from Lyan who wants to speak like a native English speaker

Please don’t call me Mr. It makes me feel old!
XGive some advicesX (give some advice)

Why do you want to sound ‘more British’ or more ‘North American?
Some people have an ear for languages
There is no such thing as one accepted single accent. RP (received pronunciation) is spoken by less than 2% of the population in the UK.
‘Embrace your individualism and local identity’
Don’t be afraid to be French, Spanish, Mexican, Argentinian, Irish etc.
Foreign accents sound sexy!
English accents are more mixed than ever.
Be proud of your local accent.
It’s only a problem if people can’t understand you.
I love the Scottish accent.
Around 250 million people speak English as their first language.
There are anything from 470 million to 1 billion non-native speakers in the world. David Crystal puts the ratio of 3-1.

Lyan wants to be an English teacher. Does that change anything?
I asked Lyan why it’s so important for her (voice message)
Which would you prefer, a British or American or Australian or New Zealand or Irish or Canadian or Jamaican or…. accent?
Antonio Banderas and Penelope Cruz have earned millions without having a British or American accent.

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) for standard British English pronunciation on La Mansión del Inglés:

http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer01_3.htm
http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer04_6.htm
http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer06_6.htm
http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer08_6.htm
http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer10_7.htm
http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer08_9.htm
http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer12_7.htm
http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer14_7.htm
http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer17_3.htm
http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer19_4.htm
http://www.mansioningles.com/cursointer/cursointer24_7.htm

*Dispones de más PODCAST en inglés publicados en los cuadernos anteriores
a los que puedes acceder directamente así como al índice de su contenido.