English Sound Building - British Pronunciation
Join me, Tamsin, to smash some English language learning goals and flex your pronunciation muscles! English Sound Building is an advanced pronunciation podcast where *you* do the work to build muscle, muscle memory, and master new sounds. Each episode will focus on one or two British English sounds, looking at how they're pronounced in common words, and then practising them in some trickier phrases. Always remember that successful communication is possible in any one of the thousands of global English accents. This podcast is for those of you who enjoy playing with sound 😊
Episodes
54 episodes
Season 5 recap - Burger burglars and other tongue twisters
Welcome to season 5 of English Sound Building! Today, we’re reviewing all the sounds from season 5, and many others too, with ten tongue twisters.Practise as often as you can to build muscle memory, and make sure you subscribe so you don...
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Season 5
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Episode 54
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12:35
Luxury and Tranquility - words with /r/ and /l/
Welcome to season 5 of English Sound Building! Today, we’re looking at words with both ‘l’ and ‘r’.Practise as often as you can to build muscle memory, and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss the next one. The Podcast...
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Season 5
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Episode 53
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8:33
Completely problematic - clusters with /l/
Welcome to season 5 of English Sound Building! Today, reviewing a lot of sounds in tricky clusters with /l/.Practise as often as you can to build muscle memory, and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss the next one. &nb...
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Season 5
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Episode 52
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13:08
Probably brilliant - tricky clusters with /r/
Welcome to season 5 of English Sound Building! Today, we’re reviewing /r/, and a lot of other consonant sounds besides, to look at clusters with /r/.Practise as often as you can to build muscle memory, and make sure you subscribe so you ...
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Season 5
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Episode 51
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21:37
Hey, hey, hey! The diphthong /eɪ/ in English
Welcome to season 5 of English Sound Building! Today, we’re practising the diphthong /eɪ/.Practise as often as you can to build muscle memory, and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss the next one. The Podcast script i...
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Season 5
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Episode 50
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15:22
Her hair - contrasting /ɜː/ and /eə/ in English
Welcome to season 5 of English Sound Building! Today, we’re following on from last week, and contrasting two sounds we’ve looked at before, but not in relation to each other: /ɜ:/ and /eə/.Practise as often as you can to build muscle mem...
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Season 5
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Episode 49
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14:04
Very varied - contrasting /e/ and /eə/ in English
Welcome to season 5 of English Sound Building! Today, we’re contrasting two sounds we’ve looked at before, but not in relation to each other: /e/ and /eə/.Practise as often as you can to build muscle memory, and make sure you subscribe s...
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Season 5
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Episode 48
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12:01
Four or five - intrusive /r/ in English
Welcome to season 5 of English Sound Building! Today, we’re back with connected speech and another intrusive sound: intrusive /r/. Have fun! Practise as often as you can to build muscle memory, and make sure you subscribe so you don...
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Season 5
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Episode 47
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18:58
Order, order! More on pronouncing the letter 'r' in English
Welcome to season 5 of English Sound Building! Today, we’re continuing from last week’s look at the /r/ sound, thinking about places where we see the letter ‘r’ in writing, but do not pronounce it in a standard RP accent.Practise as ofte...
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Season 5
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Episode 46
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16:43
I'm terribly sorry - saying the letter 'r' in English
Welcome to season 5 of English Sound Building! Today is the first of a few episodes this season looking at the /r/ sound. In particular, this episode considers words where the written letter ‘r’ is always pronounced, and practises the /r/ sound...
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Season 5
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Episode 45
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18:31
Season 4 Recap - Tongue twisters, rhymes and a song
Welcome back to season 4 of English Sound Building! Today, we’re recapping the sounds from this season, as well as a few from others, by having fun with some tongue twisters, rhymes and a song. Practise as often as you can to build ...
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Season 4
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Episode 44
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17:31
How are you? Intrusive /w/ in English
Welcome back to season 4 of English Sound Building! Today, we’re back with connected speech, this time looking at another 'intrusive' sound: /w/.Practise as often as you can to build muscle memory, and make sure you subscribe so you don'...
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Season 4
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Episode 43
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16:06
Beer or bear? The diphthongs /ɪə/ and /eə/ in English
Welcome back to season 4 of English Sound Building! Today, we’re picking back up on the /ɪ/ and /e/ sounds from last week, and seeing how they behave in two schwa diphthongs: /ɪə/ and /eə/. We’ll look at the sounds individually, in common words...
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Season 4
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Episode 42
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20:44
The left lift - /e/ and /ɪ/ in English
Welcome back to season 4 of English Sound Building! This week we're revisiting two short vowels we've looked at before: /e/ and /ɪ/, and contrasting them with each other. Practise as often as you can to build muscle memory, and ma...
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Season 4
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Episode 41
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16:57
Several business interests - disappearing syllables in English
Welcome back to season 4 of English Sound Building! Today, we're looking at "syncope" in pronunciation: otherwise known as words with disappearing syllables. Practise as often as you can to build muscle memory, and make sure you sub...
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Season 4
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Episode 40
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11:45
Record the record! Word stress in two-syllable verbs and nouns
Welcome back to season 4 of English Sound Building! Today, we're looking at word stress in two-syllable nouns and verbs. Practise as often as you can to build muscle memory, and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss the next one...
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Season 4
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Episode 39
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16:30
My best vest - /b/ and /v/ in English
Welcome back to season 4 of English Sound Building! Today, we're picking back up on /b/ from last week, but contrasting it with the fricative /v/. We’ll look at the sounds individually, in common words, and in sentences. Practise as...
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Season 4
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Episode 38
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17:12
Buy pies! /p/ and /b/ in English.
Welcome back to season 4 of English Sound Building! Today, we're looking at our last voiceless/ voiced consonant pair: /p/ and /b/. We’ll look at the sounds individually, in common words, and in sentences. Practise as often as you c...
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Season 4
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Episode 37
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19:43
'E 'as an 'ard 'at on 'is 'ed... dropping /h/ in English
Welcome back to season 4 of English Sound Building! Following on from last week's episode all about /h/, this week we're discussing when /h/ is dropped - both by most speakers, in the weak forms of grammar words, and by some speakers, much more...
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Season 4
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Episode 36
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16:06
Hip hip hooray!
Welcome back! To kick off season 4, we're practising the /h/ sound. Have fun!Practise as often as you can to build muscle memory, and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss the next one. If you use social media, c...
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Season 4
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Episode 35
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20:38
Season 3 Recap - More Tongue Twisters, Rhymes and Songs
Welcome to season 3 of English Sound Building! It's season 3 recap time already. We're having fun with the sounds we've focused on this season (as well as those from previous seasons) by working on some tongue twisters, a short rhyme, and two s...
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Season 3
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Episode 34
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15:26
She sells seashells - contrasting /ʃ/ and /s/ in English
Welcome to season 3 of English Sound Building! Today, we're contrasting two sounds we've looked at separately before: /ʃ/ and /s/. We're looking at a lot of minimal pairs, and we're practising with some sentences and a famous tongue twist...
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Season 3
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Episode 33
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16:04
Be afraid, be very afraid - intrusive /j/ in connected speech
Welcome back to season 3 of English Sound Building! Today, we're looking at how /j/ is heard between sounds in connected speech.Practise as often as you can to build muscle memory, and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss the next o...
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Season 3
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Episode 32
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13:45
Yeti on a Jetty - the /j/ and /dʒ/ sounds in English
Welcome to season 3 of English Sound Building! Today, we're revisiting the /ʤ/ sound we looked at last season, and contrasting it with /j/. We’re looking at the sounds in words, minimal pairs, and sentences.Practise as often as you can t...
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Season 3
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Episode 31
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15:08
Sing a song! The /ŋ/ sound in English.
Welcome to season 3 of English Sound Building! Today, we're looking at just one sound, the nasal consonant /ŋ/. Practise as often as you can to build muscle memory, and make sure you subscribe so you don't miss the next one.&nbs...
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Season 3
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Episode 30
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15:01