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Phonetics Menu

CONSONANT SOUNDS

The pronunciation of consonants is practically the same in American and British English with two big exceptions:

Blue Bullet THE LETTER - R -

In BrE they only pronounce the R when it is followed by a vowel. In American English the R is pronounced in all positions.

sorry arrow3 BrE  US /sɒrɪ/
teacher arrow3 BrE /ti:tʃə/       US /ti:tʃər/
park arrow3 BrE /pɑ:k/       US  /pɑrk/ 

 

Blue Bullet THE CONSONANT -T-

In BrE this consonant sounds / t / in front of a vowel or between vowels. In American English it sounds / t / in front of a vowel, but it is flapped when it goes between vowels, like a quick / d / (we'll use the special symbol: / D / ) [it sounds like the Spanish or Italian flapped R, as in "cara"]

tourist arrow3 BrE /tɔ:rɪst/       US /tɔ:rɪst/
Peter arrow3 BrE /pi:tə/       US /pi:Dər/

But in colloquial BrE that also happens. The difference is that the sound / D / occurs only in colloquial BrE, but in AmE that is the only possibility when the T goes between vowels (it is not optional, it's mandatory).

You can find lots of examples of this change in the following song: Stitches.

See Pronunciations of T for more information.

Blue Bullet PRONUNCIATION VIDEOS

Now, here are all the English consonants, symbol and pronunciation. Watch the video and repeat.
 

And here is a teacher giving some explanations

Blue Bullet LINKS

Consonant sounds and speaking practice

The Phonetic Chart (vowels and consonants)

To see the different pronunciations of T and R in action go to this phonetic lesson based on the pronunciation of the British band One Direction: Phonetics with One Direction - Story of My Life

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