Rosalyn Sega from Coconut Creek, FL, is the October winner – Congratulations!

You hear expressions like “Please send it ASAP” which means 'as soon as possible' or “FYI” which means 'for your information.' Each letter represents a word and the name of each letter is pronounced. These expressions are commonly referred to as acronyms. However, acronyms are words made of letters representing other words but pronounced as words, not letters. Abbreviations describes words that are pronounced by the letters they contain. So, ASAP and FYI are actually abbreviations!

Now here’s the contest:

Which word is pronounced as a word, not by the names of the letters?

ID
ATM
RSVP
NASA

Some words have “silent” consonants. That means the sound is not pronounced. For example, we don’t pronounce the D in “Wednesday” or the S in “island.”
It's October—the month we celebrate Halloween with jack o' lanterns and trick or treating. By the way, the first 2 syllables of “Halloween” may be pronounced like “hollow” or rhyming with “shallow.” Both are acceptable, so take your pick!


Now, Here’s the Contest!

Which words associated with Halloween have a silent consonant?

bat
costume
ghost
goblin
haunted
scare
skeleton
pumpkin
vampire
werewolf

Words have syllables (beats of energy) that can be counted. Use your fingers to tap each time you hear a syllable when you say the word “September.” “Sep”-1, “tem”-2, “ber”-3. Three, right? If you tap just the way you say this word you will notice that the second tap is louder than the first or third—that means the second syllable is stressed: “Sep TEM ber.”

Syllable stress can be difficult for non-native English speakers to master but here’s a rule that may help. When a word has the suffix “-ic” as in “static,” the syllable before “-ic” is stressed—“STA tic.” Here are some other examples: “dy NA mic,” “an ti SEP tic” and “dra MA tic” Are there exceptions to this rule?

Now, Here’s the Contest!

Which of these words do NOT have syllable stress on the syllable before “-ic”?

Arabic
enthusiastic
microscopic
organic
scientific

The April winner is Susan Alles from Rio Rancho, NM – Congratulations!

Now, Here’s the Contest!

Vowel sounds can be especially challenging for non-native speakers to pronounce. The letters AU
may be pronounced several different ways: A (as in Olive), AE (as in blAck), or AY (as in grAY). We use the A sound (as in Olive) for "August."

Now, here’s the contest!

Which words below are NOT pronounced with the A sound?

aunt
automatic
gauge
fault
laugh

The April winner is Susan Alles from Rio Rancho, NM – Congratulations!

Now, Here’s the Contest!
(We’ll be accepting contest entries through June and July.)

Most consonant sounds at the ends of English words are pronounced, but a few words have “silent” endings that are not pronounced, like “comb.”

buffet
climb
debris
debut
depot
numb
valet

The April winner is Susan Alles from Rio Rancho, NM – Congratulations!

Now, Here’s the Contest!

Words have syllables (beats of energy) that can be counted. Use your fingers to tap each time you hear a syllable when you say the word “possible”: “po”-1, “ssi”-2 “ble”-3. Three syllables, right? Again, tap your fingers in the same way when you say it. You’ll notice that the first tap is louder/longer than the others—that means the first syllable is stressed: “PO-ssi-ble.”

School is ending soon in many places, so these words are related to summer. Which word on this list that has three syllables with stress on the second syllable?

activities
calendar
camping
holiday
summer school
traveling
tourism
vacation

Some words have “silent” consonants. That means the sound is not pronounced. For example, we don’t pronounce the T in “mortgage” or the L in “would.”

Now, Here’s the Contest!

Each of these words has a silent letter. What 3-letter word results from these
three silent letters?

doubt
side
depot

James LeVeque of Troy, Alabama, is the September contest winner – Congratulations!

Each American English vowel sound may be spelled many different ways. This can make pronunciation confusing. That's why it is important to listen carefully to how a word is pronounced and not depend on the spelling to know how to pronounce it.

Now here’s the contest:

Now, Here’s the Contest!

It's spring and time to do some gardening! If Janie likes using a rake and Jim likes using a drill, by matching the vowel sounds, pair these names to their favorite tool.

1. Julie.......................a. shovel
2. Buzz.......................b. pruning shears
3. Lola........................c. axe
4. Zach.......................d. mower

To submit, fill type in your email address and answer, then hit the submit button!

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Your Answer:

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Submit your answer by March 31st, 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.



All correct entries are entered in our drawing. Please, just one entry per person . . .

Visit us in April for the next contest!

James LeVeque of Troy, Alabama, is the September contest winner – Congratulations!

Sometimes the letter T or letters TT are pronounced more like a D than a T. “Letter” sounds almost like “ledder” and “party” like “pardy.” It is called a “flap” T because the tip of the tongue flaps (or taps) the ridge behind the upper front teeth. (When does a “flap” T occur? Send us your contest entry and we'll send you the rules at the end of the month.)

Now here’s the contest:

Which words do NOT use a “flap T”?

1. Saturday
2. antiques
3. tomorrow
4. between
5. little

James LeVeque of Troy, Alabama, is the September contest winner – Congratulations!

It’s January! “January” is pronounced with the AE sound, as in “blAck.” British English usually uses the A sound, as in “Olive” instead of this sound. It may be spelled several different ways.

Now, Here’s the Contest!

Which word(s) are pronounced with the AE sound, as is in “January”?

ladder
later
add
glasses
make
plain
plaid