Speak English like a North American: 4 Pronunciation Rules for the Letter T

Everyone has an accent. If you want to sound more like a native English speaker, you need to work on your pronunciation. I am from Canada, and I have a particular accent, too. Today, I will teach you four rules to help you pronounce words that have the letter T in them. This is the way Canadians and many Americans pronounce this letter. There are hard T sounds and soft T sounds. There are Ts that sound like Ds, and there are Ts that sound like a stopped sound. So many Ts! Don’t worry, though, because after watching this lesson, you will be an expert. Take the quiz at . TRANSCRIPT Hi. My name’s Ronnie, and I have a bottle of water. What? So, sometimes when I go to a restaurant and I order water, people don’t understand me. I’m in Canada, I’m speaking English, and I said: “Water“, and they look at me strange. And I go: -“Oh, you know? Water?“ -“Oh, water. Yes, water.“ -“No, no. It’s water.“ It’s a t, right? W-a-t-e-r. This, in Canada, we call a bottle of water. And I go: “Oh, that’s really crazy because it’s a bottle of water.“ Now, I get called out all the time on having an accent. Everyone has an accent. You have an accent, depending on where you’re from. Everyone has an accent. So, first of all, I hate people who go: -“Oh, I don’t got an accent.“ -“Oh, mister, you have an accent. Okay?“ Everyone has an accent, and I’m going to teach you how to improve yours or damaged English-I don’t know-to speak with an American/Canadian accent. Oh my god. Where’s this going? So, I’m going to teach you a trick, and the trick is about the “t“. I am very excited about this because I’ve been thinking about this for, oh, maybe ten years. Why do Canadians and Americans say “d“? It’s a “t“. I found the reason, and I’m going to teach you. Let’s have some water, shall we? We have three... four. I’m good at counting, again. We have four rules. Okay? So, the “t“ pronunciation. Sometimes, as I told you, we actually say the “t“ like a “d“. So, this is the rule. Rule number one: If it’s between... If the “t“ is between two vowel sounds. So, check this out. This “i“ is a vowel, and “y“-sneaky bugger-sometimes is a vowel, but it’s a vowel sound. So, we don’t say: “ability“ in Canadian and American English; we say: “abilidy“. That’s really strange, people. Canadians, Americans, maybe you were drunk or cold when you were doing this. I’m not too sure, but just nonsensical, really. We don’t say: “computer“, as we should; we say: “compuder“. Hey, look at that computer, eh? So Canadian to say “eh“ at the end. So, again, between two vowels-“u“ and “e“ are vowels-we’re going to pronounce it like: “compuder“. This is crazy. The next one, as I said in the beginning: “water“. “a“, “e“ are vowels, and it’s going to be said like: “wader“. When I was in Jamaica, they said: “wata“, and I was like: “Yes! Good. Got it.“ Again, so what I’ve done to help you-you’re welcome-is I’ve just underlined the vowel. So, “a“, “e“; “e“, “e“; “er“, “er“, “er“, “er“. And again, this one, watch out: “i“ and “y“. “y“ is a vowel sound. So, all of these guys, magically, you’re going to go from speaking your language to speaking Canadian and American English with the crazy accent, because we say: “header“. The thing that keeps you warm... Canada’s cold in the winter. We don’t say: “heater“; we say: “header“. And this is even more confusing now, because it looks like “header“, but it’s actually this pronunciation: “heeder“. Turn on the heater, eh? It’s cold. This word, if you say it... Not “better“ in my books. If you say it with a Canadian/American pronunciation; crazy way; we say: “bedder“. Then we say: “madder“. And then, even though we went to “university“, we say: “universidy“. Eh? You following? I don’t know why it’s crazy. Just say the “t“ or write the “d“. The other rule with the “t“ sounding like a “d“ is if it’s between a vowel and an “l“ or an “r“. So, as I said in the beginning... I can’t even say it. “Bottle“. It’s not a bottle, Ronnie. So, if it’s between an “o“ and an “l“, it’s going to be said like a “d“, so we say: “boddle“. This is my vowel “a“, and this is an “l“. We don’t say: “battle“; we say: “baddle“. Into battle, soldiers. One of Ronnie’s favourite words: “dirty“. So, we don’t say “dirty“ because we have an “r“ and a vowel sound. So, this is the example of a vowel and an “l“; this is the example of a vowel and an “r“. Okay? So, a vowel and “l“; a vowel and “r“. With our numbers, again, we have a vowel and an “r“, so these ones are going to sound like a “d“. So, we’re going to say: “dirdy“, “fordy“, and “thirdy“. Have you turned thirty yet? As a joke, we like to say... Or some people like to say: “It’s my dirty 30.“ We won’t go into detail with that. About that. I will let your imaginations run wild on that one. And just make sure you say: “dirdy“ because no one is going to understand you if you say “dirty“. You’re a dirty, wee cow. […]