If You’re Feeling Confused By The English Language, These 30 Tips By The “Pronunciation Mistake” Twitter Account May Clear Things Up
The English language is a tricky matter of business. Whether you came into this world speaking your native tongue from day one or just got on board, many aspects of English are confusing and even ridiculous. The spelling, the grammar, the pronunciations, the meanings that contradict one another, and — obviously — the exceptions to every rule. Even when you memorize everything to a T, you somehow manage to mess something up in the most mortifying way.
I mean, I still lapse into cons-cienc-ious when I'm distracted. And let’s face it, the word necessary is so unnecessarily hard to spell. I mean, how many Cs and Ss do you really need?! But while these blunders may bruise my confidence, they also spark an interest to know more. So allow me to introduce you to one enlightening corner of Twitter called 'Pronunciation Mistake'. With a huge community of more than 212k followers, this social media project is dedicated to the most informative and useful tips for anyone trying to improve their English.
So grab a pen and a notebook because our linguistics-loving team here at Bored Panda has gathered some of their best posts to take your skills to the next level. Scroll down to have a read, upvote your favorite posts, and be sure to share your own experience with the wild ride that is the English language in the comments below.
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Especially given the fact that other languages around here also tend to have some sort of zero level which is ground level.
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Incorrect. Many countries use the American scheme, many more use the (most of) European scheme, and some countries use both. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storey#/media/File:Countries_numbering_floors.svg Countries_...1b-png.jpg 
It just depends on the true meaning of "floor". In many languages there is a specific word for a story/floor above the ground, and often a specific word for the ground floor. In french "rezde-chaussée" and "étage", in German "Erdgeschoss" and "Stock" for example. In that case the british way is the only correct and natural one. But in English "floor" or "story/storey" means "a complete horizontal section of a building" with no difference for ground level or above ground level(s). Therefore it is far more logical to name the floors the american way, the british way in english is technically incorrect.
The British is correct. 1st floor means the first floor above ground level
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What would be "ground floor" in american english? Laying on the pavement?
First floor is ground level, just like noon is midday. I didn't know the British version separated them.
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Living in America. The hospital I work at starts at "ground" floor, not the "first" - that is, unless you enter at the other side of the hospital... in which case you come in on the "first" floor, due to the other side being at a higher elevation. All a matter of perspective (or entrance selection), I suppose.
In South America you find both ways of counting the floors - of course in Spanish (e.g. ground floor is planta baja). In German the floors are counted the british way because the upper "floors" are called "Stock" which is something above ground.
For Americans: Try thinking from the basement, and then by your logic it would be 0. Doesn't make sense because it's called UNDERground for a reason, so -1. And you can't go -2 to -1 to 1 to 2 so
And Basement/Cellar? It's a cellar to me, a place like a loft space, storage in an otherwise small house. All is spidery and faintly reminiscent of horror films imho. And if you have a wine cellar - ha ha ha. You are from a stately home. Or a lovely pub.
I feel the American is correct. I think this because if someone asked how many stories a single story house has, you wouldn't answer 0. You'd say 1.
I lived in Europe. This is all of Europe and I hated it so much. How tall is your building... 8 stories... Where do you live... 6th floor... Soooooo 7th up? Yes.
No. Why even. This picture makes me not want to travel anymore
Now come to BC Canada, we have both. Really messes with American and British tourists
Never understood why... I mean ground floor is exactly right... and then I went to El Corte Ingles in Córdoba city, jeez louiezzz, had to press 4 buttons to finally end up at the right floor, just too many choises 👀
I (Brit) was having a conversation with an Austrian the other day, and she used one twenty, which I would understand to mean twenty *past* one to mean, what in context I understood to be twenty *to* one. I got what she meant but it was a bizarre meaning to me!
Load More Replies... not just British. Most , if not all, of Europe, counts their floors this way. Asia to I think.
We Americans refuse to use the British way of numbering floors because we fear it might be metric.
As a Brit whose parents moved the family to the US, this has been negatively impacting me for most of my life.
It took me longer than I care to admit to understand that when I moved to the USA.
I did not realize there was a difference until about 15 years ago I was reading a novel and it was set in england. In the book, they went up to the first floor and I was picturing one of those houses built on hills where the back has 2 stories and the front is one story. So i thought they were in the basement and went to the ground (first) floor. But it did not make sense with what I was reading. Years later I was reading another book snd the same situation happened so I googled it and realized my mistake.
Please. There are regional differences or ALL languages in ALL countries. French is quite different in France as compared to French in Quebec. The same goes for Spanish around the world and Portuguese. If this is just America bashing, just say so but please stop with this "there is no American English" nonsense. When detached from the motherland, a language evolves differently. Sheesh.
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Why is America the only country that HAS to do things differently. Sometimes the "first floor" is just a lobby. If anything it makes it more confusing
Finland uses the American system. You count starting from 1, not 0.
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Although the 'Pronunciation Mistake' project was founded only in May, it has already gained a strong foothold on Twitter. In just a few months, it has grown into a popular outlet that focuses on sharing helpful language advice for anyone willing to learn. At the time of writing, the account has amassed more than 212k devoted fans trying to elevate their English skills to another level.
As the creator plainly states in the bio, "Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken." While this is absolutely true, a brief scroll through this list will show you pronunciation blunders are not the only thing they’re after. The account has been branching out to feature an array of different tips and tricks, from spelling and grammar to the many exceptions this beautiful language has to offer.
Pretty much this :D I understand almost everything, but when I have to open my mouth to speak english, no words come out.
English is the most widely spoken language across the globe. According to Statista, there were a mind-bending total of around 1.5 billion people worldwide who spoke English either natively or as a second language. This is slightly more than the 1.1 billion Mandarin Chinese speakers, while Hindi and Spanish accounted for the third and fourth most widespread languages this year.
The reason behind this is that our world has become hyper-connected, and English has gained a position as the dominant language of global communication. Thanks to the internet, the spread of English has almost certainly accelerated.
No other language has ever been used so widely or stretched across a greater portion of the planet. It has become synonymous with opportunity, a means to reach the realms of education and global business. It has become the language of international commerce, science, diplomacy, and so much more.
But everywhere it goes, it tends to leave a trail. Its mark can be easily traced in the way its vocabulary has infiltrated so many other languages. As Jacob Mikanowski explained in a piece in the Guardian, English has become an exporter of words. For example, researchers at the IULM University in Milan have noticed that, in the past 50 years, Italian syntax has shifted towards patterns that mimic English models. Moreover, both German and Swedish languages are increasingly adopting English grammatical forms and changing the rules governing word formation and phonology.
The influence of the English language is undeniable. But as every second language speaker knows, it is also full of weird oddities that are sometimes incredibly difficult to comprehend. Some words are spelled the same but pronounced differently, others sound alike yet have completely separate meanings, and these are just a few examples that make this tongue seem so challenging.
Sure, we absolutely adore the English language with all its twists and turns and quirky in-betweens, even when they are hard to grasp. To improve your level, you must dedicate time and effort and be comfortable with failing. You will mess up sentence structures, passive voice, genders, and even forget the simplest words. It’s a fact. But while it's easy to feel discouraged, it won’t take long to realize that it's the only efficient way to master a foreign language.
Is the first You the singular you, and the second You the plural you, referred to in the South as y'all?
Previously, Bored Panda reached out to Dr. Lisa McLendon to learn more about the pitfalls of learning English, how to keep our linguistic skills sharp, and how social media affects our grammar. As the News and Information Track Chair at the University of Kansas School of Journalism and Coordinator at the Bremner Editing Center, she happily shared her insights.
According to her, some parts of the English language can be hard to learn for foreign students. But the difficulty often depends on the languages they already speak. For example, learning English as a native speaker of another Indo-European language (think Italian) might be easier than being a native speaker of a tonal language (think Vietnamese).
"For students whose native language lacks articles (a, an, the), articles are by far the hardest category of words to master. Verb tense/aspect is also really hard — the difference between 'I read,' 'I am reading,' and 'I do read' is nonexistent in many other languages," the professor explained.
I am sorrowful and distraught. For a brief period I shall be destitute and only able to buy stingy food. This is due to a colossal bank error, about which I am furious! No one speaks like that...
Memorizing common words, however, won’t help overcome these difficulties. To truly elevate your skills, try to change your mindset and practice, practice, practice — repeat everything until it becomes second nature. "These don’t pose any difficulties for native speakers who use them correctly without even thinking about it," Dr. McLendon said.
But second language speakers are not the only ones messing up when it comes to English. An astonishing number of native speakers often make spelling and grammar mistakes such as mixing up 'there', 'their', and 'they’re' or 'your' and 'you're'. Dr. McLendon stated that they have other problems with English, too.
In her experience as an editor and a teacher, she has found that native speakers face issues with past passive participles in speech (e.g. saying 'I had went'). Meanwhile, in writing, they have problems with punctuation, homophones (peek vs. peak, etc.), and misplaced modifiers.
But even if you feel confident in your English, Dr. McLendon explained your journey isn’t over. "Read! Read widely and frequently. Read magazines, newspapers, novels, even cereal boxes."
"But be careful when scrolling through social media, which, although it can give you a good idea of current slang and shorthand, is often not a great model of clarity, accuracy, or good grammar," the professor concluded.
these are not advanced, these are idioms. In particular, american idioms.
Note: this post originally had 33 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Normally I don't harp on spelling since this is social media but if you're going to present "useful tips" on a language then bloody check your spelling!
Does it count as "irony" that so many of these are so wrong??😆
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There are so many of these that are completely incorrect or just miss the subtleties of English
English is a difficult language. It can be understood through tough thorough thought though.
Please proofread your work. There are many mistakes here (typos, duplications, etc.).
I know I'll get a few negative responses for this. Language is for communication, so if we're communicating we're not doing too badly, even if the Grammer isn't spotless.
Most of these have nothing to do with pronunciation. (Nothing wrong with that, but the group is called "pronunciation mistake"...?) Also, tips on actual pronunciation are more useful when taking into account the learners' native language. German natives, Spanish natives etc. all tend to make very specific mistakes respectively.
To be fair it says (currently, let's not forget BP change their headings) useful tips from the pronunciation mistakes twitter page. They are branching out!
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They totally missed the issue of people saying supposably instead of the correct supposedly. Also, artic vs. arctic, excetera vs etcetera, probly vs probably and my newest fave (not), Chipoltay vs Chipotle.
May I suggest "Would of" instead of "would have" as your new favorite (not)?
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Too bad the account never addressed dialect. As in, Brummie vs Scot vs Southern US vs eastern Australia vs...
We would still be reading this thread until next Christmas if you included dialects and accents (which people often confuse with dialect).
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Let's talk about how people will take off an ending 't' in a word sometimes. "Let's inven' it!" "I don' wan' it."
Our can be pronounced like hour or like are and both are correct. Listen to Madness sing 'Our House' where 'are' sounding ours proliferate. This is not wrong. An explanation is provided here: https://youtu.be/ZEa4OQjAMds
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More commonly pronounced the same as 'aren't'. It is very rare to hear 'aunt' pronounced to rhyme with 'haunt'.
Load More Replies... Normally I don't harp on spelling since this is social media but if you're going to present "useful tips" on a language then bloody check your spelling!
Does it count as "irony" that so many of these are so wrong??😆
Load More Replies... There are so many of these that are completely incorrect or just miss the subtleties of English
English is a difficult language. It can be understood through tough thorough thought though.
Please proofread your work. There are many mistakes here (typos, duplications, etc.).
I know I'll get a few negative responses for this. Language is for communication, so if we're communicating we're not doing too badly, even if the Grammer isn't spotless.
Most of these have nothing to do with pronunciation. (Nothing wrong with that, but the group is called "pronunciation mistake"...?) Also, tips on actual pronunciation are more useful when taking into account the learners' native language. German natives, Spanish natives etc. all tend to make very specific mistakes respectively.
To be fair it says (currently, let's not forget BP change their headings) useful tips from the pronunciation mistakes twitter page. They are branching out!
Load More Replies... They totally missed the issue of people saying supposably instead of the correct supposedly. Also, artic vs. arctic, excetera vs etcetera, probly vs probably and my newest fave (not), Chipoltay vs Chipotle.
May I suggest "Would of" instead of "would have" as your new favorite (not)?
Load More Replies... Too bad the account never addressed dialect. As in, Brummie vs Scot vs Southern US vs eastern Australia vs...
We would still be reading this thread until next Christmas if you included dialects and accents (which people often confuse with dialect).
Load More Replies... Let's talk about how people will take off an ending 't' in a word sometimes. "Let's inven' it!" "I don' wan' it."
Our can be pronounced like hour or like are and both are correct. Listen to Madness sing 'Our House' where 'are' sounding ours proliferate. This is not wrong. An explanation is provided here: https://youtu.be/ZEa4OQjAMds
Load More Replies... More commonly pronounced the same as 'aren't'. It is very rare to hear 'aunt' pronounced to rhyme with 'haunt'.
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