Easy Questions
You may think that some of the questions are easy, but believe me, all these questions are based on pronunciation problems from different countries that I have found over the years. There are the following sections.
The Difference Between Sounds
Sometimes the difference between English pronunciation sounds can be very small. Can you tell the difference between them? All the answers have short explanations to help you pronounce the word correctly. Improve your skills at differentiating between sounds using the videos here.
The Difference Between Vowel Sounds
Vowel sounds can cause huge problems for English learners. Can you listen to the words that sound exactly the same apart from the vowel sound and tell the difference? Finish the quiz to find out if you are correct. To improve your pronunciation of vowel sounds, go to the main pronunciation page here.
The Schwa, and it's problem
There is a sound in English, that is so common it has it's own name. It's the weak form of most vowel sounds, that means it's the sound of unimportant vowels that don't affect meaning. It's called The Schwa. In many languages the majority of words end in a vowel sound, so when the speakers if these languages learn English, they add an extra sound which turns into a schwa. This usually adds an extra syllable which can easily cause misunderstandings to a listener. Which pronunciation is right? Do you add the sound? If you do, try pronouncing the words correctly.
A Difficult Sound for Some
The /zh/ sound is very difficult for some English learners because it doesn't exist in their own language. It's only the voiced version of /sh/ Which pronunciation is correct? Finish the quiz to find out if you are correct.
Another Language Another Sound
The Y sound is difficult for some English speakers, which pronunciations are correct? Finish the quiz to find out if you are correct.
Sentence Stress
A sentence can change meaning depending on which words are stressed. Can you hear which words are stressed in these sentences? The short explanations in the answers give the meaning of the correct answer. Are you right?
Intonation
Intonation can express different feelings using the same word or words. However, here you have to choose which intonation is correct for each kind of question. What are the differences? The short explanations in the answers will help you to understand.
Connected Speech
When native speakers speak, the words are like a river, all joined together. In some languages it is the opposite, each word is clear, so instead of sounding like a river of words they sound like a machine gun. Can you understand these sentences and phrases? Find out if you are correct when you complete the test. There are short explanations with each answer as usual.
When You Finish
Choose an answer for each question, then when you are finished, press Submit.
When you press Submit, a results page will be shown which will have your results including short explanations of the answers.