Группа Learning English.
Весь текст, к сожалению, не умещается, продолжение здесь: [bad word] /downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/6minute/6minute_081015_pron.pdf

Yvonne: Hi, this is '6 minute English' and I'm Yvonne Archer…
Callum: I'm Callum Robertson. Hello!
Yvonne: Hello Callum! In this week's programme, English words that are often
'mispronounced'. Callum – can you explain 'mispronounced' for us?
Callum: Certainly. If you MIS-PRO-NONCE… if you 'mispronounce' a word, you
don't say it correctly. You get some of the sounds wrong in that word.
Yvonne: Very good. And is there a word that you often mispronounce, Callum?
Callum: Umm – not really.
Yvonne: I didn't think so - so I've got three difficult ones here for you! But, before you
read them out, any thoughts?
Callum: Well, looking at these words on paper, I think there's a good chance that some
people would mispronounce them. Yeah.
Yvonne: And that's why you're saying them instead of me! So, off you go…
Callum: Okay, the words are: regularly…ethnicity…and anaesthetist. Whew!
Yvonne: Yeah, but you said them slowly, Callum. Yeah, that was tough. But there are
three thousand other Brits who also agree that those words are difficult to say.
They were recently questioned by [bad word] called Spinvox and the research
showed that 'regularly', 'ethnicity' and 'anaesthetist' – ooh, I said it - are some
of the most mispronounced words in the English language. Now before we
hear more about that research, I've a question for you, Callum: How many
sounds do experts say we need to be able to pronounce - so that we can speak
English clearly? Is it:
a) 44
b) 104 - or 400?
Callum: Well, I'm fairly confident on this as I've just made a series on pronunciation. In
British English, there's generally about forty-four sounds that are needed to
pronounce English words. So, about forty-four – there's maybe a few more -
but forty-four; that's my answer.
Yvonne: Well, I'm not telling you! You'll have to wait until the end of the programme.
Now as we hear an extract from the BBC's Today programme on the most
mispronounced words in English, try to foind – whew – I can't pronounce
'try…' - try to find out which word was the most mispronounced…
THE TODAY PROGRAMME
If you find 'statistics' and 'ethnicity' difficult to pronounce, it appears you're not alone. The
Daily Mail says they're among the top ten most troublesome words in the English language.
Researchers who questioned three thousand people found that the most mispronounced word
was 'phenomenon' followed by 'anaesthetist' (anaesthetist) and 'remuneration'.
Yvonne: Callum, which word was the most troublesome – the most difficult to
pronounce?
Callum: Well, that was 'phenomenon'… phenomenon.
Yvonne: Phenomenon… phenomenon… Yep, I have to say that I have to take that one
really slowly - and just looking at it on paper makes me nervous. So why do
you think so many of us get it wrong, Callum?
Callum: Well of course, when we get nervous, we generally make more mistakes. But
here, it's the mixture of the particular sounds that are in words – that's what
causes the problems. So having the 'm' and 'n' sounds – the 'mmm' and 'nnnn' in
'phenomenon' – having so many of them so close together – that makes it a
difficult word to pronounce.
Yvonne: Hmmm - and what about 'anaesthetist'?
Callum: Well 'anaesthetist' - it contains an odd mixture of 't' and 'th' sounds – there's
also an 's' in there as well before that group of consonants and that also makes
things difficult to pronounce.
Yvonne: Oh dear, it certainly is!
...