ESL pronunciation activities are a fundamental part of any English as a second language course. Without a grounding in proper pronunciation, students won’t be able to communicate effectively, leading to some awkward moments as they loudly tell their colleagues that they have been ‘angry’ all morning (meaning, ‘hungry’) or that they have been growing their ‘bird’ for a while (meaning, ‘beard’).

How to teach pronunciation

Here are some simple English pronunciation exercises for your TEFL lessons. 

1. Tackle big pronunciation problems by writing difficult words phonetically between slashes next to the correctly-spelled word.

For example: Character /ka-ra-ct-a/.  Or, using phonics /kær.ək.tə/)

Personally, I use the normal alphabet because asking students to memorise phonetic symbols adds another layer of complexity to the task.

2. Separate the syllable sounds with dashes.

For example: The three syllable sounds of ‘literature’ becomes /lit-ra-cha/.

3. Word stress: underline the stressed syllable

This is very important as words often change meaning depending on where you put the stress.

For example, ‘REC-ord;’ (the disk for playing music) and ‘rec-ORD’ (the verb for recording videos).

Ask your students to say the word out loud, several times to themselves. This is a vital step. The student needs to understand which muscles to use to product the sound correctly.

4. Identify and practise minimal pairs

Minimal pairs are words which sound similar. Help your students understand the difference, by practising the words together. For example, ask your students to repeat ‘angry’ and ‘hungry,’ in the same sentence. More on minimal pairs later.

Now on to our list of the top 100 difficult words to pronounce and how to teach them.

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The most difficult pronunciation rules

Follow this guide below to discover the most difficult parts of English pronunciation and how to fix them.

Th

Most students will have problems pronouncing the Anglo-Saxon ‘th’ sound. There are two types of ‘th’; voiced and voiceless.

Voiced ‘th’

The voiced ‘th’ is pronounced with a ‘tha’ sound at the front of your mouth. The tongue does not meet the teeth like the voiceless ‘th’.

Voiced ‘th’ words include:

That, than, the, their, then, there’s, they, they’d, they’ll, they’ve, this, those, themselves, therefore

Mother, other, bother, brother, breathing, clothing, father, feather, gathering, lather, rather, soothing, weather, worthy, brotherly, together

Pronunciation practice

To practice the ‘th’ sound, ask your students to try some of these words out in their mouths to see how they feel.

Next ask them to slowly pronounce some of these tongue twisters.

• They’d rather those other clothes belonged to my brother.
• There’s their mother, gathering feathers with their father.
• Therefore they’d rather go together.

Voiceless ‘th’

The voiceless ‘th’is pronouncing with a lisped ‘thee’ sound by placing your tongue against your teeth.

Words pronounced with a voiceless ‘th’ include:

Thank, thick, thief, thin, think, thing, three, thousand, Thursday, thirty-eight, thunderstorm.

Athlete, author, nothing, toothache, wealthy, everything, worthwhile, anything.

Bath, earth, teeth, cloth, north, myth, mouth, youth, faith, underneath.

Pronunciation practice

Ask your students to try some of these words out in their mouths to see how they feel and how they are different from a voiced ‘th’ word, such as ‘they’ or ‘those.’

Next ask them to slowly pronounce some of these tongue twisters.

• He thanked the wealthy author on Thursday for the third time.
• The athlete ran three thousand metres to the north.
• It is a myth that when you are thirty-three you have lost your youth.

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Or and er sounds

You may not realise it, but the ‘or’ syllable in a word such as ‘world’ is actually pronounced with an ‘er’ to make /werld/.

Attorney /atterni/

World /werld/

Work /werk/

Worker /werker/

Worse /werz/

Worth /werth/

Word /werd/

Worship /wership/

Worm /werm/

Al and or sounds

Conversely the ‘al’ in words such as ‘talk’ is actually pronounced ‘or’ /tork/.

Chalk /chork/

Stalk /stork/

Talk /tork/

Walk /w-ork/

Warm /worm/

Kn

As you know when a ‘k’ comes before an ‘n’ then it is silent. These words include:

Knapsack /nap-sac/

Knee /nee/

Kneel /niel/

Knife /nife/

Knit /nit/

Knight /nite/

Knock /nock/

Knuckle /nuck-l/

Knot /not/

Know /no/

Ch

Most ‘ch’ words are pronounced with the proper ‘cha’ sound such as ‘chair’ or ‘china.’ However, there are a few words where the ‘ch’ is actually pronounced ‘k’. These words include:

Ache (i.e. toothache) /ake/

Character /kar-act-a/

Charisma /kar-is-ma/

Chemist /k-emist/

Chemistry /k-emistry/

Chemical /k-emical/

Chemotherapy /kemo-the-ra-py/

Choir /k-why-er/

Christian /k-rist-ian/

Christianity /k-ris-ti-an-iti/

Christmas /k-rist-mas/

Cuit

‘Cuit’ is actually pronounced ‘kit’ in English. There are only two main words with have this structure. These are:

Circuit /ser-kit/

Biscuit /bis-kit/

Ough

‘Ough’ is pronounced ‘uf’ or ‘off’. For example, ‘tough’ /tuf/. These words include:

Tough /tuf/

Cough /coff/

Enough /en-uf/

Rough /ruf/

Laugh /larf/

Silent ‘b’

Debt /det/

Doubt /dowt/

Subtle /sut-il/

Plumber /plum-er/

Comb /com/

Lamb /lam/

Climb /clim/

Thumb /thum/

Tomb /toom/

Limb /lim/

Numb /num/

‘Et’ at the end of the word

‘et’ at the end of a word is pronounced /ay/. This comes from French.

Ballet /bal-ay/

Bouquet /bou-kay/

Buffet /buff-ay/

Chalet /chal-ay/

Duvet /dou-vay/

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Other difficult to pronounce words

Anxiety /an-zi-et-ti/

Author /or-tha/

Clothes /clothz/

Depot /dep-o/

Flour /flower/

Heir /air/

Hierarchy /hi-ra-key/

Inherent /in-hair-ant/

Island /ireland/ (like the country)

Imagine /im-ag-in/

Image /im-age/

Literature /lit-ra-cha/

Mayor /may-er/

Mortgage /mor-gaeg/

Muscle /mus-il/

Patient /pay-shant/

Produce /pro-dus/

Product /pro-dukt/

Receipt /res-eat/

Recipe /res-i-pee/

Sword /sord/

Thought /thort/

Thorough /tha-ra-ow/

Taught /tort/ (past of ‘to teach’)/

Weigh /way/

Weight /wait/

Pronunciation speaking activity

‘As I was going to St Ives, I met a man with seven wives,‘ is a repetition game. Player one says, ‘As I was going to St Ives, I met a man with seven wives who had… [object, e.g. ” an island”]’. The next person repeats that sentence and adds another object and so on.

The game ends when someone can’t remember an object or gets the order wrong. It’s a great way to get your student to repeat difficult words.

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Minimal pairs: words that differ by one sound

Minimal pairs, as explained above, words that sound similar with just one syllable to tell them apart. To differentiate them, students should practise the two words together to master the distinct sound. Common minimal pairs are:

Angry vs. Hungry

Fix: Ask your student to think of the game Angry Birds when they pronounce ‘angry’ and the country Hungary when they pronounce ‘hungry’. They need a strong ‘h’ sound to differentiate this word from ‘angry.’

Uncle vs. Ankle

Fix: Ask your student to make a lower pitch ‘un’ sound when pronouncing ‘uncle’ and a higher pitch ‘an’ sound when pronouncing ‘ankle.’

Ball vs. Bald

Fix: Your student will know how to pronounce ‘ball’. Now, to pronounce ‘bald’ say ‘ball’ and add a ‘d’ /bal-d/.

Bird vs. Beard

Fix: ‘Bird’ is actually pronounced /berd/. For beard, ask your student to say ‘beer’. Now add a ‘d’ /beer-d/.

Ear vs. Hear

Fix: Ask your student to say ‘ear’ now make them say a hard ‘h’ to make ‘hear.’ This is why it is very important that students do not drop the ‘h’ in English. It will make a different word.

Ship vs. sheep

Fix: This is the difference between a long ‘ee’ sound and a short ‘i’ sound. Ask your student to say a long ‘ee’ like ‘eat.’. Next add the ‘sh’ at the beginning and the ‘p’ at the end to make ‘sheep.’ Now ask them to make a short ‘i’ sound like ‘it’. Add the ‘sh’ and ‘p’ to make ship. It is important to learn the difference between a long ‘e’ and short ‘i’, because there are two other words; ‘sheet’ and ‘shit,’ which students do not want to confuse.

Though vs. through

Fix: Ask your student to pronounce the word ‘though’ /thow/. For ‘through’, ask them to say /threw/ (past of ‘throw’). They’ve got it.

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Heteronyms: same word, different pronunciation

Heteronyms are words which are spelled the same, but pronounced differently. For example ‘tear’ /t-air/ as in, ‘to rip’ and ‘tear’ /tier/ as in, water from the eyes. To practise, write the pronunciation for each word on the board and model the difference. Next, ask students to give you an example sentence.

10 common heteronyms

To close (v) /cloze/ ─ to shut

“Close the window please, it’s getting cold in here.”

to be close (adj) /CLOS/ ─ to be near

“The station is close to the post office. You can’t miss it.”

To lead (v)/leed/ ─  to be a leader, or to have followers

“The manager leads the team.”

Lead (n)/led/ ─ a type of metal

“We now use unleaded petrol in vehicles.”

Invalid (adj) /in-VAL-id/ ─ not valid.

“This passport is invalid. It has pasted its expiration date.”

Invalid (n) /IN-val-id/ ─ an ill person.

“Sadly, she has had this disease for more than 6 years. She is an invalid.”

Minute (n) /MIN-it/ ─ 60 seconds. 

“If you believe the pop songs, it only takes a minute to fall in love.”

Minute (adj) /my-NOOT/ ─ tiny, very small.

“This car is minute. How are we supposed to fit a family inside?”

To live (v) /liv/─ to inhabit, to be a living thing.

“He lives in the city.”

Live (n) /lie-v/ ─ to see a performance in person or to be connected to electricity.

“Oasis are playing live this summer.”

To permit (v) /per-MIT/ ─ to allow some event to occur.

“We can’t permit you to enter the building at this time. It is unsafe.”

Permit (n) /PER-mit/ –a document giving permission.

“Do you have a permit for this type of vehicle? Because they are not normally permitted in cities.”

To record (v) /re-KORD/ ─ to write down information for future use.

“We record all births and deaths in this city.”

Record (n) /RECK-ord/ ─ a list, a music record or when someone ‘breaks a record’ in a sports or activity challenge.

“We know all the transactions he completed yesterday from the bank record.”

To row (v) /ROH/ – to row a small boat with oars.

“They row down the river on a summer’s day.”

A row (n) /ROH/ (the same pronunciation as ‘to row’) ─ a line of numbers or seats.

“I have tickets to the theatre. We are in row 10.”

A row (n) /ROUW/- a verbal fight or argument (British English).

“My parents just had a row with their neighbours. They are now speaking to each other – how awkward!”

To tear (v) /TARE/ ─ to rip paper or material.

“I tear the paper because I am bored.”

Tear (n) /TEER/ ─ fluid in eye.

“A tear rolled down the girl’s face when she realised that she had forgotten her homework.”

To wind (v) /WINE-d/─ to coil, for example, ‘to wind a watch.’

“My grandparents wind the old clock every day.”

Wind (n) /WIN-d/- the blowing air.

“There is a lot of wind today. I think I’ll fly a kite.”

For further practise, check out this short video on the topic.

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Past regular verb pronunciation rules

A final pronunciation issue is with ‘ed’ in past tense. This sound changes depending on last constant in the infinitive of the verb. For example, instead of pronouncing ‘worked’ with an ‘ed’ (/work-id/) native speakers pronounce it /work-t/. This is because of the ‘k’ at the end of the verb.

The rules

‘T’ sound: If the root verb ends with a ‘k’, ‘p’ or ‘h’, the past tense of the verb is pronounced with a ‘t’ sound. For example, ‘worked’, ‘stopped’ and ‘laughed’ are pronounced /workt/, /stopt/ and /laught/.

‘Id’ sound: If the verb ends in either ‘t’ or ‘d’, the past is pronounced with an ‘id’ sound. For example, ‘wanted’ and ‘decided’ are pronounced /wantid/ and /decided/.

‘D’ sound: For all other verbs the past is pronounced with a ‘d’ sound, omitting the ‘e.’ For example ‘stressed’, ‘rained’, ‘closed’ are actually pronounced /stress’d/, /rain’d/ and /clos’d/.

How to teach it past regular verbs pronunciation

Draw three columns on the board and head each one with a sound. Explain the rules and ask your students to fill the columns with the appropriate verbs. Here are examples:

Verbs which end with K, P and H: To work, to talk, to walk, to look, to like, to ask, to pick up, to cook, to park, to check, to escape, to jump, to stop, to hop, to help, to watch, to laugh, to push, to finish, to reach, to wash.

Verbs which end with T and D: To decide, to depend, to defend, to avoid, to divide, to include, to add, to attend, to create, to count, to taste, to hate, to want, to cheat, to last, to visit, to rent, to paint, to act, to contact, to invite, to print, to rent, to start, to treat, to wait, to waste.

Other verbs (a selection): to answer, to deliver, to call, to believe, to travel, to kiss, to stress, to travel, to listen, to arrive, to change, to play, to show, to study, to try, to use, to save, to pull, to move, to explain, to carry, to agree.

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How ESL students practice pronunciation in their own time

Your students will never learn to pronounce English without a foreign accent from your lessons alone. If they really want to get a native speaker accent, they must do a lot of work in their own time. Here are some ways to practice outside of class.

Podcasts and films: Ask your students to listen to podcasts and watch films and TV in the accent of their choice.

Songs: Singing along to songs also improves your accent. Ask them to find the lyrics of a clearly sung song online and sing along. If you’re students are keen on this method, they may enjoy Lyrics Training. A paid app that helps you learn English through songs.

Specialist videos: To practice a North American accent, try Rachel’s English. This comprehensive video guide will walk your students through all of the sounds in the English language. In addition, she has videos on the rhythm of English, elision (when speakers drop vowel sounds as they link words together in a sentence) and common idioms.

To practice a UK accent, try BBC Learning English Pronunciation Guide which covers all the common sounds in the English language.

Looking for great content for your ESL lessons? Check out our TEFL vocabulary book