American accent: How to pronounce 10 Difficult Words in American English [Student Request]

By Julie Cunningham, MA, CCC-SLP, licensed speech-language pathologist

(Video Transcript)

Hi, I’m Julie with San Diego Voice and Accent, and in this video you’ll learn how to pronounce 10 difficult words in American English. See also: How to Pronounce 12 Difficult Words in American English [Another Student Request].

So let’s get started. In this video, you’ll hear me pronounce 10 different words. I’ll say them at my normal pace, and also up close and in slow motion so you can really see the pronunciation in detail. Let’s get started with word #1.

Cumbersome 

Cumbersome

Continuous

Colonel

Tired

Taught

Through

Dropped

Bud

Suds

Fifth (2 pronunciations)

I hope you enjoyed this video from San Diego Voice and Accent. Thanks for watching, and have a good day.

For more practice, see my list of 30 hard words to pronounce in English, grouped by what makes each one tricky.

If you'd like feedback on your own speech, I offer private American accent coaching on Zoom.

English Pro Lite, my free online American accent course, takes you through the sounds step by step in 45 lessons and 2.5 hours of video. Start English Pro Lite free