Challenge Yourself to Pronounce These Foreign Phonemes [Audio]

To learn a language well, focus first on speech sounds

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One of the biggest challenges of learning a new language is hearing and reproducing unfamiliar sounds. Often teachers focus on vocabulary and practicing simple sentences. But new research suggests people could master languages more rapidly by practicing pronunciation first.

This strategy can help in identifying the subtle distinctions between similar phonemes, or speech sounds, across languages. For example, below are 10 sibilant (sounds such as s,sh, ch, zh) syllables from English, French, Russian and Hungarian. Click each one to hear how it is pronounced, then try to reproduce the sound yourself.

Syllable	Language	Pronunciation
Sue	English
Su	French
Sous	French
Shoe	English
Шу	Russian
Щу	Russian
Chew	English
Tyu	Hungarian
Gyu	Hungarian
Jew	English

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Emphasizing phonetics first may also help learners achieve fluency faster. This approach makes a big difference when students face daunting terms like the complex vocabulary below. Tap on a word to hear its pronunciation and see if you can repeat it yourself.

Word	Language	Meaning	Pronunciation
eichhörnchen	German	squirrel
streichholzschächtelchen	German	matchbox
höchstgeschwindigkeitsbegrenzung	German	maximum speed limit
écureuil	French	squirrel
sovramagnificentissimamente	Italian	extremely magnificent
превысокомногорассмотрительствующий	Russian, 19th century bureaucratic	a very polite form of addressing clerks, like your excellency or your highness
fényképezőgép	Hungarian	camera

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