English Pronunciation: Speak MethodWatch Video Hundreds of flights in Britain and Ireland have been cancelled due to a volcanic ash cloud which has arrived from activity in a volcano in Iceland. These high density ash clouds are very dangerous because they can stall jet engines. This cloud comes from a different volcano than did the one from last year which caused many disruptions. This one is not as bad because it is not above 35,000 feet. Most airliners that cross the Atlantic cruise at about 37,000 feet because the thin air density reduces fuel burn. |
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| Word |
Pronunciation Focus |
| Britain (BRI-tun) or (BRI-N) | Americans often change a T before N to a hard N sound |
| volcanic (vol-CA-nik) | use a short A |
| volcano (vol-CĀ-no) | use a long A |
| ash cloud (ASH CLOUD) | use good vowel sounds |
| high density (HI-den-si-dee) | stress "high" |
| jet engines (JET EN-jins) or (JE-den-jins) | T can be reduced to a light D when speaking quickly--or it can be a stopped T |
| not above (NOT-u-BUV) or (NO-du-buv) | T can be reduced to a light D when speaking quickly--or it can be a stopped T |
| Atlantic (at-LAN-tik) or (at-LAN-ik) | T after N can be dropped, especially when speaking informally |
| fuel (FYOOL) | put a small Y before the long U sound |
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