the word 'umbrella'.

This week's Word of the Week is 'umbrella'.  Thanks so much to the user who suggested it!

This is a three-syllable word with stress on the middle syllable. Umbrella, da-DA-da,

da-DA-da.

We begin with the UH as in BUTTER sound. Since it's not in a stressed syllable, the jaw won't

drop quite as much as it would in a stressed syllable, like the first syllable of 'butter'.

Um-. Um-. Um-. Then we have the M consonant sound, the lips must come together for that.

Umb-. For the B, they may press a little bit more than they did for the M. Umb-re. Next

is the R consonant. So our tongue tip, which has been behind the front teeth the whole

time, must pull back and up. The tip isn't touching anything, and the middle part is

touching the roof of the mouth or the teeth about here, umbr-. Now we have the EH as in

BED vowel. This is our stressed syllable, and this vowel requires a good bit of jaw

drop. Your tongue tip will come forward and back down so it's again touching behind the

bottom front teeth, -bre-. Umbre-. Now we have a Dark L. To make this sound, the jaw

will come back up, and the back part of the tongue will pull back, umbrell-. The tip stays

forward, where it was for the EH. Umbrell-. This pulling back of the tongue makes the

dark sound, ul. Next we bring the tip of the tongue up to the roof of the mouth, umbrell-,

and quickly back down so the tip is again behind the bottom front teeth for the schwa.

Umbrella, umbrella. Make that last syllable really short since it's unstressed: -a, -a,

-a. Umbrella. Umbrella.

Make sure you go buy Rihanna's single 'Umbrella', 'ella, 'ella, eh, eh, eh. I'll let her sing it.

Here it is in slow motion.

If there's a word you find difficult to pronounce, suggest it in the comments. That's it, and

thanks so much for using Rachel's English.

Hey guys! Did you know I'm running an online course? The topic: Vowels and Diphthongs.

I hope to see some of you there. Click here for more information.