English for Hungarian Speakers

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Areas of Difficulty for Hungarian Speakers

Consonants

I.  /t/:

Pronounce the /t/ sound in word-initial, medial, and final position. Be sure to aspirate it in word-initial position and in consonant clusters. Do not touch the upper teeth with the blade of your tongue. Make sure that the tip of your tongue makes contact with the alveolar ridge.

Tackle        tangle               tango               tickle                trace
Between    automatic         fleeting            instigate           litigate
Want          lint                   flint                  stunt                mart
Stand         strand              start                 stride               stake

II.  /d/:

Pronounce the /d/ sound in word-initial, medial, and final position. Do not aspirate this sound in word-initial position and in consonant clusters, and do not touch the upper teeth with the blade of your tongue. Make sure that the tip of your tongue makes contact with the alveolar ridge.

Dollar        dealer               denigrate          dissuade          diligent
Murder      harder              glider               adult                bladder
Stride         crowd              broad               scrod               greed
                              Strand        blind                bland               blonde             scald

III.  /s/ vs. /z/:

Hungarian speakers tend to devoice the English /z/ and pronounce it as /s/. Practice pronouncing the following minimal pairs, paying special attention to the /z/ in different positions:

Sue     seal    sink     sip    sing     bus      muscle   brace    grace
zoo      zeal    zinc      zip    zing      buzz    muzzle   braise   graze            

IV.          Final /z/:

Hungarian speakers of English tend to devoice the English /z/ in word final position.  Practice pronouncing the /z/ in the following words.  Be sure not to pronounce it as /s/:

browse      close    because            cause   raise     braise   pays     lays 
maize         amaze  raise                 graze    blaze    freeze   seize    days 

V.  /w/ vs. /v/:

The /w/ sound does not exist in the Hungarian language. As a result, Hungarian speakers of English have difficulty pronouncing this sound in English. Distinguish between the two sounds in the following minimal pairs. When you pronounce the /v/, be sure to bite your lower lip with your upper teeth:

Wail           West                wine                went                weal         wile                   veil             vest                 vine                 vent                 veal          vile

VI.   /th/:

When you pronounce this sound, touch the upper teeth with the blade of your tongue. Practice pronouncing this sound in different phonological environments as follows:

therapy                  third     thick    thin      theme   thistle   thank   thirst
anthropology         birthday           misanthrope     anther  bathroom
birth           mirth    breath  bath     froth sloth        hearth breadth

VII.       /p/:

Hungarian speakers tend to pronounce this aspirated sound in word initial position as an unaspirated consonant. Pronounce the initial /p/ in the following words carefully, and be sure to aspirate it:

pointer       painter             ponder             pencil               practice
pillow        pirate               pursue             persuade          pension
people        plunder            premium          pounce             pound 

VIII.     /r/:

This sound is particularly difficult for Hungarian speakers. They often tend to pronounce it as a trill. Pronounce the /r/ in different phonological environments in the following words by raising the tip of your tongue towards the alveolar ridge without contacting it. As you pronounce the /r/, try not to move your tongue back and forth.

Rain           rally        rainbow        rancid     railway         rummage
Curtain      certain     correct          burial      marshal         furrow
Core          car          star               scar         painter          mar 

IX.  /dz/:

This sound does not exist in the Hungarian language.  Hungarian speakers of English, therefore, pronounce the voiceless version of this fricative.  Pronounce this sound in the following words carefully.

                              Japan         jury                  German           Judaism           Germane         
Merger      forgery            sergeant           bulging            major
Judge         grudge             smudge            nudge              budge  dodge

Now try the following minimal pairs:

search        March              chain                cheer                rich
surge         Marge              Jane                 jeer                  ridge

Vowels: 
I. /I/ vs. /i:/:
Pronounce the short and long vowels in the following minimal pairs:

Fill             sill       live      hill       sit        skim      skit    fit        hit
Feel           seal      leave    heal      seat      scheme   skeet  feet     heat 

II. /e/ vs. /ei/

Distinguish between the short and long vowels in the following minimal pairs:

Met            red       led       fed       wed     med     set        fret
Mate          raid      laid      fade     wade    made    sate      freight

III.         /U/ vs. /u:/

Pronounce the short and long vowels in the following pairs of words carefully:

Full            foot      should             book                pull
Fool           food     shoot               boot                 pool

IV. /e/ vs. /ae/
Distinguish between these two vowels in the following words:
Ten            bend    men     send     lend     fret       bet       blend
Tan            band    man     sand     land     frat       bat       bland

V. /^/ vs. /a:/
Make the distinction between the short vowel and the long vowel in the following minimal pairs:
      
      curd           heard   curt      burn     hurt      bird      nerd     clerk
                              card           hard     cart      barn     heart    bard     nard     Clark 

VI. /o/ and / / 
Distinguish between the two vowels using the following minimal pairs:

Robe          lope     lobe     mope   hope   boat     coat      code
Rob           lop       lob       mop     hop     bought caught  cod

VII. / / and /o/ 
Make the distinction between the two vowels as you pronounce the following minimal pairs:

Curt           herd                 bird      surd     cull      hull      mull    
Court         hoard               bored   soared  coal      hole     mole   


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