🧠 Master English Words That Don’t Play Fair
Some English words just don’t sound the way they look — and that’s where this section comes in.
In my short, focused videos, I’ll guide you through how to pronounce some of the trickiest words in the language. These are the ones that confuse even advanced learners — the ones that make you second-guess yourself in conversation or feel like skipping them altogether.
Together, we’ll break down:
- Silent letters (like in salmon or Worcestershire)
- Weird spellings (like in queue or colonel)
- Deceptive stress & syllables (like in comfortable, hierarchy, or vegetable)
- And the rhythm and melody that make you sound more natural when you speak
And yes — all in clear British English 🇬🇧
🎬 What Kind of Videos Are These?
Each video is:
- Under 60 seconds
- Focused on one tricky word (or a set of related tricky words) at a time
- Packed with pronunciation tips, phonemes, connected speech and shadowing
- Shot in a fun, dynamic format that makes it easy to remember what you learn
You’ll see the word, hear it broken down, and repeat after me — like having a pronunciation coach in your pocket.
🔥 Most Popular Episodes (So Far)
These are the ones my followers just can’t get enough of:
1. Queue
Spelled like it wants to confuse you. But in British English, it’s elegant and simple — just /kjuː/
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▶ Practise this episode: interactive script and exercises
2. Hierarchy
A nightmare to spell and say. But once you know where the stress goes — you’ll never hesitate again.
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▶ Practise this episode: interactive script and exercises
3. Comfortable
You think you know how to say it… until a native speaker says /ˈkʌmftəbl/.
▶️ Watch it next!
▶ Practise this episode: interactive script and exercises
📱 Where to Find These
These shorts are available on all my platforms:
Just search: @AlexAdventuresInEnglish
👉 And don’t forget to like, follow, and share if a video helps you out!
💬 Got a Word That Winds You Up?
If there’s a word that you keep tripping over, let me know!
I might feature it in the next breakdown.
📧 Send me a tricky word
💬 Or drop it in the comments on any of my videos
Let’s beat these words together — one syllable at a time.
🗣️ Want a personalised accent training session? You’re in the right place.
Choose your path and let’s level up your pronunciation together — one step at a time.
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How to learn a tricky word so it sticks
When a word trips you up, the problem is rarely you. Usually English spelling and English sound went their separate ways a long time ago. Colonel kept its old spelling, but we say it like kernel. Worcestershire lost its middle syllables in everyday speech long before anyone thought of fixing the spelling.
So here is my simple routine for any new tricky word:
- Find the stress first. Say the word slowly and clap on the strong syllable: COMF-ta-ble, HI-e-rar-chy. If the stress is in the right place, people will understand you even if one sound is a little off.
- Cross out the silent letters. Write the word and strike through the letters you don’t say: sa
lmon, island, Wednesday. - Check the weak syllables. Many unstressed syllables become a quick schwa, /ə/. Vegetable is /ˈvedʒtəbl/, not veg-e-ta-ble.
- Put it in a sentence. Practise the word inside a phrase you’ll really use, like “Sorry, is this the queue?” Words are much easier to remember in chunks.
- Shadow it. Play one of my shorts, pause after the word and copy me three times. Then say your own sentence again.
Little and often is the key. One tricky word a day adds up to more than 300 words a year that will never scare you again. If you want a challenge, try my lesson on though, through, thorough, thought and throughout, five words that confuse even advanced learners.
Got a word that just won't behave?
Bring your list of tricky words to a live lesson and we’ll fix them together, sound by sound, with practice you can use straight away.
Book a lesson →