REPLAY - Embarrassing English Errors: Wonder & Wander

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In today's episode...

In today’s Embarrassing English Errors episode, I teach you guys the slight difference in pronunciation between the words WONDER & WANDER.

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Transcript of REPLAY - Embarrassing English Errors: Wonder & Wander

G'day guys, and welcome to Aussie English. My objective here is to teach you guys the English spoken Down Under. So whether you want to speak like a fair dinkum Aussie or you just want to understand what the flippin' hell we're on about when we're having a yarn, you've come to the right place. So sit back, grab a cuppa and enjoy Aussie English.

G'day guys. Welcome to this episode of Embarrassing English Errors. Today I want to do the words 'wander' and 'wonder'. 'Wander' and 'wonder'. So both of these words can actually be a verb. 'To wonder' or 'to wander' and a noun 'a wander', 'a wonder'.

With regards to the word 'wonder' as a verb, it means to desire, to know something, to feel curious, so 'to wonder'. "I wonder what job I'll have in the future." "I wonder what I'll do tomorrow when my friend comes over."

As a noun, 'a wonder' is a feeling of amazement and admiration caused by something beautiful, remarkable, or unfamiliar, 'a wonder'. "Have you explored the wonders of the Great Barrier Reef?" So that's an example of that one.

'Wander' as a verb, 'to wander' means to walk or to move in a leisurely way. So it's kind of like to walk slowly with no real speed to it. It's just to take your time and enjoy the walk. "I'm just wandering around town at the moment." "I'm just going for a wander in the park."

And the noun 'a wander' is again a walk with no specific destination. So a leisurely walk with no real specific destination. So you could say, "I'm going for a wander in the park." "I'm going for a wander in the forest." "Do you want to go for a wander with me?"

So what are some words in English that sound like 'wonder'? Blunder. Thunder. Plunder. Sunder. And what are some words in English that sound like 'wander'? Squander? Yonder. Ponder. Responder. Transponder.

And I guess too, something to discuss here quickly before we move on to the next exercises, the word 'wonder' is spelt with an O. W O N D E R 'wonder'. So one way of thinking about the spelling of this when you write it, if you're trying to say that "I wonder why" is to think of the word that is the past tense of the verb 'to win', 'I won'. It sounds exactly the same. Wonder won wonder.

Wander, on the other hand, is a difficult one because there aren't too many words in English I think that are pronounced like an /un/ sound, but spelt with an A. But one cheat or one little trick could be if you're thinking of going for 'a wander' like a walk, a wander, to think of the pronunciation or the spelling, think of Harry Potter and his 'wand'. Because that's said in exactly the same way. He has a wand. "He uses his 'wand' while he goes for a 'wander'". So that's one way of thinking about it.

So let's start by practising the two different vowel sounds guys back to back ten times. An. On. An. On. An. On. An. On. An. On. An. On. An. On. An. On. An. On.

So let's go through and practice some different consonants in front of these two different vowel sounds, guys. One. Won. Ton. Ton. Sun. Son. Lon. Lon. Can. Con. Fun. Fawn. Stun. Stone. Plan. Blown. Drun. Drawn. Yan. Yawn. Van. Von. Zahn. Zohn. Pun. Pawn. Ban. Bon. Nun. Non. Mun. Mon. Run. Ron.

And let's finish up with some pronunciation practice of these words in their entirety ten times. Back to back. Wonder. Wander. Wonder. Wander. Wonder. Wander. Wonder. Wander. Wonder. Wander. Wonder. Wander. Wonder. Wander. Wonder. Wander. Wonder. Wander. Wonder. Wander.

So that's it for today, guys. If you have any other suggestions with regards to sounds or words that you have difficulty pronouncing in English, feel free to send me a message on Facebook or comment below on this link when I post it up and let me know what you'd like help with. Until next time guys! All the best!

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