By anon - 25/09/2014 05:48 - United States - Germantown

Today, I have learned a lot of "big" words from reading so much, but can actually only pronounce about half of them correctly. FML
I agree, your life sucks 29 887
You deserved it 6 803

Same thing different taste

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I wish there was some device to pronounce words for us, maybe an online source of some mysterious origin, Idk. Guess we're out of luck for now.

I think anyone who teaches themselves new words by reading shouldn't be embarrassed by other people's reactions because they can't pronounce them correctly. At least those people are going out there and teaching themselves something new, and heightening your knowledge isn't something anyone should be making fun of.

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I wish there was some device to pronounce words for us, maybe an online source of some mysterious origin, Idk. Guess we're out of luck for now.

I don't know if you're being sarcastic or not. My sarcasm meter has been off lately. Anyhow, the Dictionary app pronounces the words. I will gladly admit I use it to make sure new words (new to me, at least) are pronounced correctly.

Dictionary.com actually does pronounce the words for you online. Try it.

Is that on the internets? Y'all be gettin fancy on me now.

use the voice option on google translate

You know, with regional differences those apps aren't necessarily reliable. For example, look at the difference between the American and UK pronunciations of the word dynasty.

Great, now you made OP more frustrated on how to pronounce phonetics.

skittyskatbrat 19

Which is handy IF you are reading online or near a computer, and aren't trying to remember the word hours or days later to look it up. Not always convenient. And there's always the words that LOOK easy to pronounce, like facade, but are freakin' weird due to a foreign origin!

Rayth 19

Don't most online dictionaries nowadays have a voice over to show how its pronounced?

They do -- but most people don't bother to look up a word if its meaning is clear from context, especially if they first encounter the word as a kid while reading an interesting book that they don't want to leave to go look something up. (I've been in the same boat as OP.)

At least she doesn't have any children locked in a cage in the basement.

sweetnsourrr 11

Wait..you're not suppose to lock your children in a cage in the basement?

acedriver98 8

I didn't know that either I guess they re free now

Just tell people you're foreign. You'll be smart AND exotic. What a sexy combination!

As a foreigner myself, I'll share a personal dirty secret of mine with you. I had troubles pronouncing the word foreign itself, so I used "mi no sbeak veri englizia" instead. Needless to say, it did add a lot to my charm and exoticness. Yes.

Actually, now that I think about it, I still do! Fo-ren? Fo-rin? Fo-reen? Fo-rain? Fo-re-jin? Fo-ri-gan? Fus-ro-dah? Potato? The possibilities are endless! Curse you Internet for teaching us non englizians to write English like Shakespeare and speak it like a boiled egg!

I pronounce it "FAR-in" but that's just me being all north American. Btw, you're funny. :P

kingdomgirl94 29

I pronounce it almost exactly like the word foreign

I say it like fo-ren. It just goes to show that there really isn't a right way.

Maybe you should try reading Dr. Seuss? I'm sure it will make you will feel a lot smarter

I think anyone who teaches themselves new words by reading shouldn't be embarrassed by other people's reactions because they can't pronounce them correctly. At least those people are going out there and teaching themselves something new, and heightening your knowledge isn't something anyone should be making fun of.

I agree. When I read on my iPhone or Kobo I am always looking up words. I find there are a lot of words I know, but I don't really know the definition of and couldn't explain it well if I were asked about it. I think it's good to gain more knowledge and understanding of things. Op, when I highlight the word and the dictionary tell me what it means I usually try and read the pronunciation (which is usually right beside the word full of dashes and letters) and I can usually get the gist of the pronunciation from that. When in doubt, ask someone.

You're not alone, OP. I have the same problems like you do. At least you know some big words.

Same here. If it wasn't for special Ed in school Id still be in grade 5. lol. Don't worry OP. I was in grade 8/9 and reading at a kindergarten level. You can get better with practice. It just takes effort and sounding it out. :)

I don't think you understand the problem. OP understands the words because they figured them out from context clues in the books. They don't know how to pronounce the words in conversation.

tony1891 22

supercalifragisticexpealidoucious.

Even though the sound of it is really quite atrocious, if you say it loud enough you're apt to sound precocious...

starcaller17 16

What's "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" in German? (pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is the longest English word and it is joked that all English words are elongated when translated into German).

It's supercalifragilisticexpalidocious, if I can remember back to 2nd grade properly. More than 15 years ago.