3 Ways to Sound More British | Pronunciation Lesson

Do you want to sound more British? I'm going to teach you three very simple ways you can adjust your accent so you instantly sound more like a British English speaker. And remember, I teach my accent, modern received pronunciation. There are many different wonderful varieties of British English. I'm just focusing on mine in today's video. And if a modern RP accent, my accent is what you are aiming for, I have something I think you'll like. I've recently launched my five-day British accent bootcamp. Over five days, I will guide you through modern RP sounds and help you build steady, reliable pronunciation habits. You'll start to notice an improvement in the way you speak from the very first lesson. We are running a special offer at the moment with a huge discount. To learn more and join, click the link in the description box or scan that QR code there. Okay, tip number one, focus on the R sound, the R sound. When do you need to pronounce the letter R in British English? And when is it silent? The answer is actually surprisingly simple. Using the R sound effectively will make a huge difference to your British English pronunciation. Let me show you the answer with two examples. Listen to how I pronounce the R words in each sentence. One, it's raining and I didn't bring my umbrella. Rubbish. And two, pop under mine, there's space for two if we huddle together. So, did you notice that I only made R sounds in the first sentence? That's because the letter R comes before a vowel sound in the words raining, bring, umbrella and rubbish. In the second sentence, I didn't pronounce any of the R's because they either came at the end of a word like under, four in its full form and together or before a consonant sound. There's, no R sound there. So, if you want to sound more British, remember this rule. Only pronounce the letter R when it's followed by a vowel sound. To make the R sound in British English, curl the tongue back slightly, but make sure it doesn't touch the top of your mouth. That's the really important part. Shadow me now to practise. Raining, bring, umbrella, rubbish. I don't pronounce the letter R at the end of words. Most British accents follow this rule. Not all of them, but most. So, if you want to sound more British in general, make sure you finish with the vowel sound instead. In our examples, all of the words ended in the uh vowel, the schwa, uh, uh. And notice how I don't curl my tongue back. Instead, it just stays down behind the bottom teeth. Uh, uh, very relaxed. Under, fuh, together. Now, in a North American accent, these words would generally sound very different because they'd end with the curled R sound. Can you hear the difference when my American friend pronounces these words? Under, fur, together. I'm so used to doing it the British way, I find it quite hard to do. Let me have a go. Under, fur, together, together. I feel like Siri when I do that. Okay, let's compare the full sentences. First, shadow me. Then, listen to my American friend's pronunciation. Pop under mine. There's space for two if we huddle together. Pop under mine. There's space for two if we huddle together. Now, all of our examples ended with a schwa vowel, but we often end words spelt with R with other vowel sounds too. For example, transfer, indoor, radar. The key to sounding more British is to drop the R sound from the end of these words and be careful with words that end in a silent E. In British English, we don't pronounce the letter R in words like here, there, more, and are. One more thing before we move on to our next point. Read this sentence out loud. Okay, now compare with my version. Your umbrella abandoned you in your hour of need. So what did you notice about the words umbrella, your, and our? Well, I did pronounce the letter R in these words and I bet you're thinking, but why, Lucy? You just told me not to pronounce R's at the end of words. I know. But here, they're followed by a vowel sound. Your umbrella abandoned you in your hour of need. And I know the letter H is a consonant, but remember we're talking about vowel sounds here. And our begins with the ow diphthong. And those of you who are experts in the er sound might have heard one where there's no written R at all. Umbrella abandoned you. So this is called an intrusive R. There's a lot more to learn about that and I cover it in detail in my British Accent Bootcamp. It's one of the parts my students enjoy most because once you understand these linking sounds, your speech suddenly feels much smoother. Click the link or scan the QR code to learn more and join. Okay, let's move on to tip number two. We're going to talk about the traditional t sound. So quintessentially British. Or should I say British? So in many British accents, this crisp t sound is sometimes replaced with a glottal stop. Let's take a closer look. So to make the traditional British t sound, place the blade of your tongue, this part here, not the very end, the part that's a little further back, place that part of your tongue just behind the top front teeth. Take shelter. Torrential rain. Now let's practise that traditional t sound with a few phrases. Shadow me or listen and repeat. I appreciate it. Not at all. Let's wait it out. Now in many North American accents, this t can sound quite different. Instead of firmly placing the blade of the tongue at the top of the mouth, just behind the front teeth, sometimes the tongue taps there quickly and lightly. This makes the t sound more like a soft th. It's called a flap t. Let's bring back my American friend, Joel, to demonstrate the difference. I'll repeat the phrases again and then we'll hear Joel's version. I appreciate it. Not at all. Let's wait it out. So did you hear the difference? Not all t sounds become more like a d. It generally only happens when the letter t appears between vowel sounds, like in those examples. Now I'm not going to say that I never use a flap t, and many Brits do, but if you want to sound more British than American, stick to a traditional t most of the time. Now another option to sound more British, or British, is to use the glottal stop I mentioned earlier. To make the glottal stop, we need to block the flow of air down here in the throat, or glottis, block it, and then quickly release it. British, British, F. Can you hear that slight pause and release? British, British. Now in some British English accents, this sound replaces t in the middle of words, like water, water, better, better, shelter, shelter. We'd better find some shelter. Now, I personally don't tend to do this. I do use the glottal stop, but in a different way. In my modern received pronunciation accent, it's much more common for me to use a glottal stop instead of a t sound at the end of a word, not in the middle of it. For example, I appreciate it, but it's getting heavier. Now I don't always use it. It depends on many things like who I'm speaking to and how quickly I'm talking. But if you want to sound British, it's definitely a sound you could try to throw in here and there. See how it feels. If it feels really forced, don't bother with it. There was a glottal stop there at the end. Right, it's time for my final tip to help you sound more British, and it's the y sound. In many English words, we insert an invisible y sound as in yes before a vowel sound. And this happens in words like new, due, Tuesday, to, and assume. But in most North American accents, this y sound is dropped. Let's compare my accent with my American friend's accent. New. Due. Tuesday. Tube. Assume. Did you notice how that y sound disappeared in the North American accent? So if you want to sound more British, keep the y sound in words like new and assume. Now there are also alternative British pronunciations for due, Tuesday, and tube that are very common. They're actually the versions that I tend to use in fast speech. So let me explain. When a d and a y sound combine, many British English speakers make a j sound like in job. So instead of due, you can say ju. When t and j combine, we can make a ch sound as in change. So Tuesday becomes Tuesday. Tube becomes tube. Let's practice the British English pronunciation of these words in some full sentences. I'll model with words with j and ch as they're what I usually use. Shadow me or listen and repeat. When is it due to stop? Next Tuesday, I assume. I knew it. Let's just take the tube. Okay, I explain all of this in much more detail with lots of practice activities in my British Accent Bootcamp. Across the five days of the bootcamp, you'll get steady modern RP practice with clear guidance on how to make these sounds feel smoother and more consistent so that they don't feel forced and unnatural. To learn more and join, just click the link in the description or scan the QR code there. And that brings us to the end of today's video lesson. I really hope you've enjoyed it. I hope you've learned something and I will see you in the next lesson. Bye.